The vibrant display we’re now seeing is the result of sowing Herbal Leys and Legume Fallow last September—an important step in our journey to regenerate the soil and transition to organic status. The crops are creating some magnificent colour – the purple flowering Phacelia and red Crimson Clover being most visible at this time of year.  

Soil samples have recently been taken across the arable and permanent pasture fields, and sent off for analysis. This will help us to build a valuable baseline dataset as the regenerative farming system develops.

Since Alscot began practicing regenerative farming across approximately 715 hectares of Alscot agricultural land, the project has sparked widespread interest, both locally and nationally, as we work to enhance soil health—a fundamental component of ecosystem services, human wellbeing, and ecological balance. We are actively collaborating with leading organisations and researchers to provide valuable evidence on the wider impact of soil health on society.

Since announcing our commitment to regenerative farming at an Alscot community event in June 2024, we successfully met our target of implementing practical changes on the land by September of the same year. We were therefore delighted to be invited to share our progress and insights with the local community at an event on 2nd April.

Alscot presented the project to a full house at Clifford Chambers Village Hall. The event, hosted by Wild About Clifford in collaboration with Preston Environmental Group (PEG), was a testament to the strong local interest in nature recovery and environmental initiatives.

Trevor Acreman, Chair of Wild About Clifford, was keen for us to engage with group members and neighbours and share the details of our work, including what they might observe in the area and what potential benefits they will experience over time. The event was well received and we hope to continue our mutual engagement.

The full details of our regenerative farming journey is available to view HERE.

Wrapped up warm again, our resident bird and wildlife surveyor Tom, had to rely on his ears this morning (and his sense of humour) whilst on site identifying birds for the BTO register.

Despite the thick layered fog, it was a successful cold February morning, managing to register 23 species and spot a bright blue Kingfisher, a sienna-brown Red Kite and salmon pink Bull Finch, through the mist.

https://app.bto.org/birdtrack/pubcon/shared?subId=SUB49502452

So today we braved the cold and took a walk over the Alscot Biodiversity Net Gain Site. It’s such a beautiful and peaceful location, teeming with wildlife and looked stunning this cold and icy morning. Bird song was evident and Tom Genders, our wildlife expert, observed 31 species including the Hawfinch! Tom uploaded his findings to the BTO (bird tracker)  app. See the results

https://app.bto.org/birdtrack/pubcon/shared?subId=SUB49389489

February 2025 sees start of a new and interesting project for Alscot.
We are creating a cricket bat willow nursery bed using Tods that have been cut from mature cricket bat willow trees grown on the Estate.
The intention being to create a nursery bed that will provide the Estate with its own supply of Sets (young cricket bat willow trees) every 4 years, that can be planted across the Estate.
Once planted, these Sets will take around 15 years to reach maturity before being harvested for cricket bat clefts, where each tree will then be replaced with another Set grown from the nursery bed on the Estate.
We are in the first stage of the project, starting with 800 Tods, and intend to grow the nursery bed year on year.