Laurelbank Farm is born…
And so, on 31 October 23 Laurelbank Farm was born. But I feel this particular origin needs a little explanation…
Seven years ago, I moved into 121 Middle Road - an old farmhouse and 7-acre smallholding outside of Saintfield, Co Down. I moved into this lovely house with my wife Erin and our two cats, Gilbert and George. We set about creating a business based on things we loved; food, cooking, growing food and sharing the things we loved with others. That business was called The Edible Flower.
We did some amazing events and supper clubs, did lots of catering for brilliant and interesting people in fabulous locations, we set up a market garden and even started a family – our twin girls were born in 2018.
2023 was supposed to be the year when we celebrated publishing our first book. It was supposed to be the year we actually started drawing a proper salary from our business. But 2023 was the year it all fell apart. Never have the realities of life and the pictures presented on social media felt further apart!
In 2023, Erin and my twenty-year relationship came to an end. We got together in 2002, civil partnered in 2010, set up The Edible Flower in 2016 and in 2023 we started the process of separating.
To say that it’s been a hard year would be an understatement. Our lives could not have been more entwined and the process of unpicking everything has been arduous to say the least. However, we are getting there. We have a plan of sorts.
Perhaps surprisingly, our kids have been brilliant. We knew we both wanted to coparent 50:50 so it was just the matter of deciding exactly how to split up our time and dealing with tricky things like birthdays and Christmas. Our girls are 5 years old now and wonderfully matter-of-fact about the idea of having two homes. It broke my heart when I realised that they won’t really remember us together at all!
Figuring out what to do with our farm, our business and our brand was another story. I am in the fortunate position of being able to buy Erin out of the bricks and mortar of our home and farm. Erin will take The Edible Flower name and brand going forward. And so, 121 Middle Road becomes Laurelbank Farm and my own new adventure begins.
When the life that you thought you had falls apart, it’s pretty rubbish, but one silver-lining is that it forces you to identify and grab onto the important things that you can control, sometimes with surprising clarity and freedom. I’ve seized on potential friends with an enthusiasm never imagined by my normally-introverted self. And I’ve continued to grow veg, cook, teach and eat, like they were the only things keeping me sane.
But the thought of running our farm by myself was and is terrifying. There was too much to do when there we two of us, let alone going solo. But I so desperately want to continue what Erin and I started. There is so much potential, so many good meals to enjoy, peas to eat straight from the pod, firepits to light, soda farls to cook – too many wonderful moments still to enjoy.
Fortunately, setting up our CSA, Farm & Feast, and our farm volunteer sessions back in 2021 taught me some very important lessons. It taught me that this farm is not about the vegetables, it is very much about the people. It taught me that it’s better to share the highs and the lows than to plough on alone. It taught me that by bringing others in to share a meal, a song, or a whole season of harvests, those joyful things can be all the more joyful.
So, I have started the process of turning the business into a social enterprise – effectively it will be a farm business with a social mission – any profits will be reinvested into achieving that social mission. But perhaps, even more excitingly, it will be a business run by a group of people (currently known as “the steering group”) brought together by a shared set of values and shared vision for what fab things we could do.
We’re still figuring out exactly what the 2024 season will bring, but its definitely going to involve a lot of tasty food, many joyful gatherings at the farm and me talking far too much about soil.
Some day, this year will catch up with me, and I will probably have a small breakdown when I start to comprehend everything that I’ve lost! But on the flipside, I hope that looking back on 2023 I will consider it to be the start of something brilliant & very exciting.
Soda farls cooked over the firepit after our weekly harvsting sessions - one of the simple joys that has kept me getting out of bed this year.