LOOKING AFTER NATURE

Like every family, we have inherited sayings from our grandparents that we still use today. One of these is “Good, better, best” – full version: “Good, better, best, never let it rest, till the good is better: good, better, best.” It reminds us of our grandmother Ivy’s determination and appetite for hard work, two of the reasons that she created her delicious recipe for vintage Cheddar and farmhouse butter.

Another saying from Ivy is “Look after nature and nature will look after you.” This one reminds us of her love of the countryside here in Somerset, and her desire to preserve it for the future, an inspiration for our commitment to sustainable farming and net zero, and all the work we now do to look after the land and the animals that live here, and to give back more than we take away.

Ivy grew up in Somerset and lived here all her life, just like our grandfather Tom. Although she worked hard for most of the day, much of it indoors either in the dairy or the farmhouse, she was never happier than when she was in the countryside – or at least looking out over the fields from the kitchen window, as in the picture above.

For her, as for all of us now, spring was a particular favourite time of year. She made the time to enjoy the fields and trees bursting into green, seeing the cows out in the pasture and hearing the birdsong. She would always notice the arrival of hares in the fields and the budding flowers in the garden.

Like her, we’re grateful to have grown up in the Somerset countryside and we treat our home with respect, whether it’s the lush grass that feeds our cows and gives us such rich milk, or the insects that gather in our wild meadows. Ivy’s love of nature taught us that, and it’s in everything we do. To use another of her sayings, we always remember to “tread lightly on the land”.

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