A LUXURY farm resort in Cornwall has recently acquired a market garden. 

Whalesborough luxury cottage and spa resort, which is set in 450 acres of farmland and countryside near Bude, has taken over Neetfield Market Garden from husband and wife Rosie and Tom Barclay.

The resort has taken back the lease on the land so it can provide its restaurant, and the welcome hampers, with fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables. The produce is grown on the Whalesborough Estate, near Marhamchurch. 

Following on from Barclay's no-dig method, the resort is planning to avoid using machinery, fertilisers, or chemicals on the existing market garden footprint, and instead will use an organic approach with green manures and cover crops. Excess produce will be used to supply food banks, and to feed the animals on the Whalesborough site.

The farm resort is also planning a pick-your-own sunflower and pumpkin experiences for guests later on this year. They also plan to introduce over 15,000 Cornish Black Bees, which will be housed in hand-built hives at the market garden, to enhance pollination and to provide honey for guests.  

Ben Nolan-Stone, managing director of Whalesborough luxury cottage and spa resort, said: “When Rosie and Tom came to us to let us know that they planned to move to a new site, we saw the immediate opportunity to add to and enhance our field-to-fork ethos. 

“Over the last year this approach has seen us raise our own stock, providing The Weir restaurant with lamb and beef. Now, with the transfer of the market garden back to Whalesborough, we can add fresh fruit, herbs, vegetables, and even honey to the list of produce that’s raised, ripened or harvested from our own land. 

“We wish Rosie and Tom the very best with their new venture. They have been wonderful custodians of the market garden. Now, we look forward to an exciting new chapter for Whalesborough with yet more land devoted to the production of fresh fruit and vegetables.”

The Barclays, who took over the lease on the one-acre of land from Whalesborough in August 2020, are moving on to set up a new market garden and hospitality business in Cornwall.