Mole play: Rupert Aker introduces the Soil Association's new friend

摘要

Midsummer brings a riot of colour to Courtyard Farm in Norfolk. Here, our policy director Peter Melchett has created wildflower meadows abundant with poppies, ox-eye daisies and field scabious, reminiscent of a Monet painting. Following its organic conversion, the farm is rich in wildlife: hares have increased threefold, skylarks fourfold and there are five times as many English partridges. Red Poll cattle, a traditional East Anglia breed, are raised on these pastures - helping to give the beef its excellent quality, texture and flavour. The pigs, a cross between a Duroc boar and Saddleback sows, are well suited to life in the open air. They live in tents with straw bedding and have plenty of space to run about. The piglets make the most of their freedom as they chase each other around the paddocks. Their spirit is infectious and I leave the farm uplifted and energised by the open spaces, the wildlife and the animals I've encountered on my walk.