Boston, Lincolnshire is in an area renowned for the quality of its agriculture. One company that has created a very successful business here is Norman Clow & Son of Friskney, near Boston.
Norman Clow started the business in 1945 by providing a marketing opportunity for local growers to get their produce to retailers and wholesalers. Around 1970, the family purchased its first farmland and moved into growing its own vegetables, expanding as the years went by through the acquisition of further land as neighbouring farmers retired.
Norman’s son John who, with his partner Dorothy Clow now run the business, says “This is still very much a family owned and run business, with my son Adrian (Production Manager) and daughter Michelle (Secretary), Adrian’s son Ross and Lisa (Administration) all actively involved. We now farm around 1,250 acres and we grow, grade, pack and sell everything that we plant to the large multiples, to wholesale markets over an area from Gateshead in the north to Southampton in the south and across into Wales.”
The young plants are bought in as plugs from F A Cropley of Sibsey, Boston and Westthorpe Plants of Bennington, Boston. These are then planted by machines that plant seven rows at a time, with one person loading per row. Given that cabbage for example is planted at the rate of 40,000 per acre, it is easy to see the value of mechanisation!
The varieties used are all expensive hybrid varieties and so the seed cannot be saved and has to be bought new each year. John says, “We are constantly striving for better quality and better yields and so each year we trial two or three new varieties.”
Once the new plants have started to grow, inter-row cultivation is used to move the soil to aerate it and to encourage growth. This will be done tow or three times during the growing season, depending upon the weeds and a check is constantly made for pests and damage to the leaves.
Today, the farm grows cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and green, white and red cabbage. These are picked carefully by machine, sorted, graded and packed into the iceback coldstore – this draws out the field heat, which reduces shelf life and provides a moist atmosphere. They are then taken by refrigerated transport to market. John concludes, “Business is growing steadily at about 6%-7% a year; we are supplying to wholesale markets up and down the country as well as on a smaller scale to local markets, hotels and restaurants.”
For further information please telephone
01754 820666 or visit www.nclowandson.com
