Ashlyns Farm

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Ashlyns Farm is a 300-acre family-run organic farm near Ongar. It lies in an ancient and largely unspoilt countryside of winding lanes, thick hedgerows and meandering brooks. Like most organic farms it is a mixed farm, growing wheat, potatoes and fertility-building crops such as clover, and raising free-range hens, Lincoln Red cattle, Suffolk sheep and Essex Saddleback pigs.

It is a demonstration farm for the Soil Association and a farm trail has been laid out from which you can view the small thickly hedged fields, the lake, the ponds, and the many environmental features that have been introduced, including beetle banks and conservation headlands. Features such as these are fundamental to an organic farming system that relies on predatory insects to help to control pests, rather than chemical insecticides. They also mean that the farm is rich in wildlife.

The trail starts from the farm shop, which has been constructed on a green oak frame just like a traditional Essex barn. Trail leaflets and a restaurant are available as well as what you would expect: a wide range of organic food products.