tolhurst organic
Tolhurst Organic lies just outside the village of Whitchurch-on-Thames in south
Oxfordshire. Nestled between the Chilterns and the river Thames, the farm is
situated in the picturesque Hardwick Estate, with 17 acres in two fields and 2
acres in the 500 year old walled garden.
Iain Tolhurst, along with his business partner Lin, have held the organic symbol
for over 30 years, thus making Tolhurst Organic one of the longest running
organic vegetable farms in England. The farm doesn’t only hold the “Soil
Association” symbol but was the first to attain the “Stockfree Organic” symbol
in 2004, and has had no grazing animals and no animal inputs to any part of the
farm for the last 10 years.
In may 2014 we registered as a Community Interest Company limited by guarantee.
This shows that our activities benefit the community, and it offers more
opportunities for business development.
We supply in-season organic vegetables and fruit delivered to your neighbourhood
weekly, via a Neighbourhood Rep’ scheme. Almost all vegetables are harvested the
day of delivery to guarantee their freshness. The bags will vary from week to
week according to the season and availability of produce. You cannot choose the
contents of your bag – if we were to pack to individual requirements it would
double the cost, so this approach keeps our box scheme affordable and accessible
to all.
The delivery round covers Reading, Pangbourne, Wallingford and Oxford areas,
every Thursday. Our produce is dropped off to points run by Neighbourhood Reps.
Your orders are placed with the Rep, and produce is collected from him/her. As
well as helping to keep prices down, this way of delivery minimises food miles
to almost zero. If you are in Whitchurch-on-Thames or Pangbourne, we can deliver
to your door.
To allow some flexibility with contents, we have a list of Extras available, so
that you may order extra items, such as quantities of potatoes, carrots, onions,
salad packs and less usual things such as organic flowers.
We pride ourselves on being able to grow as many of the vegetables as possible
ourselves and can in an average year manage to produce at least 85% of the value
on our own land. We believe that food should be as local as possible, and try as
far as possible only to buy from other organic farms in the area. We are founder
members of Thames Organic Growers, a group formed to encourage the production of
local food for local people, so where possible we trade within our group
members.
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