Farm in plea for pumpkins
PIGS and chickens could soon be gobbling up islanders’ leftover pumpkins, as part of an initiative by the Soil Farm.
As the spooky season finishes, pumpkins often end up in food waste.
However, for the animals of Soil Farm, leftover pumpkins are very welcome.
‘They eat anything and they especially love fresh food,’ said Soil Farm co-founder Jock Pettitt.
The animals, which were described as waste disposal units due to their appetites, have a usual diet of biscuit-type foods. But when there is a supply of fresh food it is always welcomed with grinning snouts and beaks.
‘Diet diversity means they’re healthier animals,’ said co-founder Sasha Marsh.
Soil Farm, founded in 2019 in Castel, runs entirely on a natural cyclic system with seeds being the only purchased item.
It does this by turning various waste streams into useful products and by using the animals instead of machinery to turn over and fertilise the land.
The farm is home to a variety of plant and produce and uses its natural compost and no dig garden beds to provide nutrient rich soil to grow on.
‘We strive to take waste streams and put them back into functional use,’ said Mr Pettitt.
After a very successful response to its vegetable boxes left them oversubscribed, Soil Farm is now planning on scaling up its operation.
For the vegetable boxes it aims to increase the number of them 20-fold and is also looking to increase the size of the area for the chickens due to their useful scarifying abilities.
As the chickens roam they turn over the land with their feet.
The co-founders said there had been a positive reaction to the pumpkin disposal initiative.
Soil Farm encourages islanders to email any enquiries to sasha@soil.gg
