Producing food, drink, and something to sit on....

Welcome to South Yeo Farm West where we rear rare, native and traditional breeds for meat, poultry and eggs; produce apple juice and cider from the orchard; grow vegetables; preserve the fruits of the hedgerows and in our spare time make furniture.  Some of our produce and livestock is for sale, much is for our own use (you'll find a collection of favourite recipes here).   Check out the tabs at the top of the page for further information and do feel free to contact us with any enquiries.

A bit about the farm

South Yeo Farm West is in Devon, a few miles from Dartmoor, just outside of the village of Northlew in The Culm.  The farm has over 100 acres of permanent pasture, with a well-preserved medieval field system, the curving, irregular field boundaries based on early medieval strip cultivation. There is a small ancient woodland of about 5 acres (a County Wildlife Site), small areas of oak copse, and a mill leat fed by the River Lew running the length of the northern boundary. A traditional cider orchard still exists on the farm,  visible on maps from the 1880s.

The farmhouse is a cob and stone cross-passage house and a designated Listed Building (Grade II), thought to be at least early 17th century in date with earlier origins, the farm buildings constructed in the later post-medieval period (C18th and C19th).

When we arrived in 2005 the farm buildings, Devon banks and fencing were in various states of disrepair, ranging from barns in absolute dereliction to slumped earthbanks, neglected hedges and saggy livestock fencing. The wood was open access to sheep and cows, and much of the perimeter was open to the neighbours, which was neither good for them or us; we started to plan for what is probably a 25 year project to get the farm into good environmental and physical repair.

  The veg patch                                                        A tawny owl box                                                  One of the many log piles