Met. lived in a van. farmed our way around Europe. started a market garden.
Our Story
Hello - we are Grace and Tom! We met in 2021 and bonded over a mutual love of travelling, food and farming. After knowing each other for only a month we bought an old campervan and started planning how we could set up a farm.
In March 2022 we quit our jobs, said our goodbyes to the UK and set off for Europe in our tiny home on wheels. We spent the summer travelling and volunteering on small-scale, chemical-free farms in Spain, Croatia and Montenegro.
We had plans to carry on travelling for the rest of the year but an opportunity to take over a small plot of land opened up so we rushed back to the UK in August and Frensham Market Farm was born!
The Farm
We started Frensham Market Farm in September 2022 on a site near Frensham Little Pond - it was a scorching summer so breaking ground was tough! We started small; we were doing all of our growing on less than 1/4 acre which was a challenge and trying to innovative ways to maximise the space certainly kept us on our toes.
In 2023 we expanded to a bigger site in Wishanger, between Farnham and Haslemere, on which we’ve put up two polytunnels, built 100+ permenant raised beds and installed an irrigation system. We are still a small scale farm which means we are very intentional about the vegetables we grow, choosing only the most nutritious and tasty varieties. We love experimenting with weird and wonderful varieties but we also appreciate and enjoy growing classic vegetables.
We love experimenting with weird and wonderful varieties but we also appreciate and enjoy growing classic vegetables - do let us know if there is anything you'd like us to grow! We are passionate about the land and care deeply about biodiversity and soil health. We are a no-dig, no-till farm and use only hand tools to cultivate our permanent raised beds. We choose to do this for the health of our soil and in turn the health of the vegetables we grow. By not inverting or disturbing the soil in our beds, we let nature’s biology flourish. This method of farming is an environmentally conscious way of growing vegetables as carbon is kept in the soil rather than being released unnecessarily into the air.
We do not use any chemical herbicides, pesticides or fertilisers, choosing to use natural alternatives, insect netting and organic fertilisers. Whilst farming without chemicals has its difficulties, we have no doubt that this approach to farming has the most positive impact on the environment, our customers and the local community. As we are a new farm and whilst we are still very small scale, we aren't looking to gain Organic Certification any time soon as it isn't feasible for a farm of our size. If you have any questions about our farming philosophies and practices, please ask as we love talking all things farming!
