Redefining SUSTAINABILITY

Becky Searle heads up to Cumbria to talk to the couple behind Dalefoot Composts, a company that specialises in peat-free compost, using potash-rich bracken from local farms

- Becky Searle

For generations, Simon Bland’s family have lived on and farmed the Lakeland Fells. He is as much part of the landscape as the rocks and hills. His wife Jane is a professor at Cumbria University, an ecologist at heart and an academic through and through. One would be forgiven for thinking these two were like chalk and cheese. Until, that is, you see Jane cooing softly to her little fell ponies or hear Simon talking about soil nutrients.

Together, they have brought their knowledge, experience and intense love for their surroundings into their business, and they’re on a mission to change how we think about sustainability. Their business is making peat-free compost – Dalefoot Composts – from their home, Dalefoot Farm. It’s a dark and rich compost, as close to the feel of peat as any peat-free compost I’ve tried.

I’ve been using Dalefoot compost in my garden for many years, so I’m unsurprised by the texture and richness of it as I sink my hand into the nearest pile. My fingers tingle with the warmth of it. What does surprise me, though, is how Simon and Jane discuss their ingredients. They talk about it with such care, attentiveness and enjoyment.

“We’ve got over 28 acres of comfrey,” Simon says, vaguely gesturing towards a perfectly normal-looking field with a few sheep grazing on it. “We harvest the comfrey in rotations. We take a little at a time, so there is always some for the bees.” I make a mental note to return in summer, struggling to imagine what 28 acres of comfrey would look like, effervescing with bees and festooned with purple and pink flowers.