Who are we and how we got here?

Upper Ballaird Farm has been a dairy farm for hundreds of years. It was in the 90s that it was converted into a mainly residential site. Whilst there were some sheep hanging about when Philipp and his family arrived in 2021, most of the farming infrastructure was either removed or in a very poor state. The sheep are still about and Upper Ballaird Farm is experiencing a new influx of energy and vision. The work happening on site has increased in intensity since Louise and Philipp met.

Louise and Philipp started working together in February 2022. Their values and visions align and both of them see an opportunity to turn Upper Ballaird Farm into a coop that provides socially just and environmentally sound products and services to the local community. Here is a little more about the growers journey…

Louise

Louise went back to school to learn about farming. She completed a practical education in organic farming in 2019, and a masters in organic farming in 2021. She split her time between study and practical work which allowed her to travel and work on many different farms during her studies. She has a particular interest in the role of farming in reducing the impacts of climate change and supporting biodiversity as well as helping others understand where their food comes from.

I love growing. I wanted to create a local vegetable and flower production that is kinder to the environment, growers, and consumers. For this reason I have been striving to start a flower and vegetable production for many years. Now it is becoming a reality.

Philipp

Philipp grew up in a plant nursery. He went to business school, is trained in sustainable horticulture, and has always had a keen interest in developing social enterprises that align with his values. For the last decade, he has been working on bringing about change in the food system by co-founding a vegan takeway, an indoor low-tech mushroom farm, and Kent Food Hubs CIC.

Upper Ballaird Farm Coop is the culmination of 10+ years of preparation. The agroecological visions I am pursuing have been looking for a home for a long time. Having arrived in the Forth Valley I feel I can finally let those visions root.

Upper Ballaird Farm Coop

We started growing as soon as we could, put up a tunnel, made beds, and got help from some awesome people to put in a rabbit-“proof” fence. The rabbits had different ideas but after various iterations we did manage to protect the veg and flowers. We learned a lot about our site (the wind, the soil, the rodents, etc.). This winter we are doing lots of preparation; we are getting everything ready of increasing production in 2023. We will be launching a vegetable box scheme and a flower subscription service. We are delighted to start this project and to share it with you.

If you are interested in any of our Scottish grown veg or flowers please check out our offers section where you can leave your details so we can let you know once we get going in 2023.

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What are we doing here?
Our progress so far