Nick Taylor

Nick Taylor of Taylor Organic Farms comes from a farming pedigree that stretches back 300 years. The family started farming pigs, expanding to include dairy and vegetables, and eventually converting the pig business to organic production.

Nick set up an organic vegetable and pig business with his father in 2003 and, like many organic farmers, developed a passion for farming this way. “Going organic was a purely commercial decision, but within twelve months of being in it, I just fell in love with it,” he says. “It is a beautiful way to farm, and a really lovely way to spend the next forty years of my working career.

“It is something I believe in. It’s very easy to fall in love with the animal side, and we progressed from that to vegetables ten or fifteen years ago. It is just a great way to live. It’s more than a job. It’s a life.”

Looking out over his organic carrot fields, Nick says farming organically doesn’t just produce great tasting, healthy carrots, it also transforms the landscape.

A myriad of colourful flowers borders his fields, including bright yellow sunflowers and marigolds, blue cornflowers and red and crimson clovers. He says: “The flowers are beautiful and attract beneficial insects that will then eat the pests. On a sunny day you’ll see swarms of butterflies and lots of natural predators like hover flies, parasitic wasps and ladybirds, which predate aphids. You get other insects here like spiders, which also go in and eat the aphids.”

Organic production needs dedication, which Nick says is in plentiful supply on the farm. “The whole team here is passionate about producing quality food,” he says, “and, because we’re a good, successful organic business we attract good local guys who drive and operate the machines. They all believe in what they’re doing and we’re a really good team.

“My favourite part of organic farming? It’s harvesting that crop. That’s a really good feeling, because, A, we’ve grown the crop organically, and B, we’ve tailored a lot of the machines to work in the organic conditions. There’s a lot of research and development that’s gone into that, and a lot of hard work. It’s the fruit of all that work, when the harvester’s going down the field, and the carrots are coming out, and they’re good quality and it’s all running like clockwork. It’s that feeling of seeing it all work – that’s the best bit.”

Meet the growers…