The Environment & Us

How does The Gloucestershire Chilli Farm help the environment?

We are big believers in keeping our planet as clean as we can by using many different efficient ways when farming and delivering our products. We even ensure that we use as many producers as we can that live in Gloucestershire so we are immensely reducing our carbon footprint!

Farming:

The watering system - rain water is harvested from all the guttering of the glasshouses which fills up large plastic containers. These are reused from orange transportation into the UK. The water containers are all connected to a drip feed system that uses gravity to supply the plants with water. 

Pest and weed control - we do not use any pesticides or herbicides at any stage of preparing or growing the chilli plants. We suppress weeds with a covering where the chilli plants are growing and we manually weed once a week.

Ladybirds - we find ladybirds to help us control pests and we also outgrow any pest invasions. We find that keeping nature in balance helps us achieve a successful crop without pesticides.

Pollination - We have encouraged the growth of many different types of flowering plants near the glasshouses that provide food for all types of pollinators. We also provide many homes for solitary bees and we have removed enough panes of glass to allow for easy access for flying insects to our crop. This has ensured our chilli crop gets pollinated and it also encourages biodiversity, something we are passionate about!!