Willow Farm Produce, Butterwick: The Yorkshire farm selling handmade Christmas wreaths across the country

‘They are very labour intensive, but that’s how it is when you’re providing something that is 100 per cent natural that more and more people are wanting,’ says Sally Fairweather of Willow Farm Produce in Butterwick where she and husband Neil have a herd of 30 cattle, a burgeoning plant nursery and bees producing Willow Farm Produce honey alongside Neil’s parents’ farm that includes a herd of around 120 cattle overall on just shy of 100 acres.

‘Demand for natural produce is definitely on the increase in all areas and for us that’s good news,’ says Sally. ‘At one time we were producing around 300 wreaths and we were selling wholesale, but now we’re around the 1200 mark and it’s predominantly retail with around 70 per cent packaged and sent right across the country using an excellent delivery service. We’re adding to our regular orders every year.

‘Everything ramps up this week as Neil and I produce around 40 a day, every day, from the third week of November for four weeks. Our online sales are absolutely huge with around 800 leaving here destined for places we’d never heard of before.

Sally says their success is down to sticking to what they do best.

‘Our market is very niche. We are all about the holly and a completely natural product, you won’t find any plastic bows, plastic baubles, no tinsel. We three types of wreath and we have a team that goes foraging and cuts the holly up into lengths for us. When it arrives in front of myself and Neil it’s all ready to make a wreath.

The plant nursery and Christmas wreath business makes up the largest proportion of Willow Farm Produce, with the honey from the bees, which are mainly based on Sally’s 16 acres in Sheriff Hutton also contributing a useful proportion.

Sally says she and Neil both come from traditional farming backgrounds.

‘My dad was a pig farmer and sheep farmer. Neil’s dad is still a beef farmer but also had sheep. They’re both called Bryan. My dad’s now retired, my mum Margaret passed away last year, and Neil’s parents still live at Willow Farm.

‘I rent out my paddocks at Sheriff Hutton for sheep grazing and we use the farm building for the horticultural side of Willow Farm Produce. Neil works on an arable farm for a local farmer and I now work full-time on Willow Farm Produce. I was a scientist working on research into viruses and cancer during my career.

‘But my work now is with bees, honey, plants, wreaths, picking up our two children from school and continually building this lovely business in the countryside where Neil and I both grew up.

Sally paints a picture of how the year works with all areas of Willow Farm Produce.

‘January’s fairly quiet in terms of retail, but it is a very busy month in terms of preparation. A lot of time is spent on husbandry and cleaning up the two dozen bee hives ready for the season ahead. In February we start to receive our plant stock for the coming year. We buy plug plants from British growers that we then plant up and grow on ourselves.

‘March is when our plant nursery opens for the season with the selling of perennial plants, shrubs, herbs and the hardier varieties, and we move into April with vegetable plants and make a start on bedding plants that take over during the month of May. We also have hanging baskets that have become another huge side of our business with currently over 400 sold each year, again primarily to individual customers as well as supplying Malton Town Council. We are always interested in working with villages and towns that are on with ‘In Bloom’ projects.

‘By the end of June the nursery quietens down significantly, but by then my bees are extremely busy and I’m producing as much honey as I possibly can to meet the demands of my customers as we now sell around 1200-1500 jars of honey each year, which once again we sell direct to the customer through local sales at the farm and at local markets such as Sheriff Hutton that we attend every single month. It’s such a well-run, well attended market.

Sally says her focus switches to Harrogate in July.

‘I’m involved with the Hives & Honey section at the Great Yorkshire Show and I show my honey, wax and other hive produce there each year.

‘We have two honeys, a local honey produced at Sheriff Hutton or a moorland honey, because I take the bees up to near the Hole of Horcum in July where they hopefully catch some of the moorland heather honey. We transport them by sealing the entrance and putting each hive in the back of our van. They come back home in early September after the heather has finished flowering.

‘My friend’s father used to keep them and when he passed away his wife asked whether I would like a colony to get started. That was thirteen years ago and I’ve gradually built up the number of hives to what I can manage and know that I can sell all my honey, but if demand continues to outstrip supply I’ll just up the numbers again.

‘In September we hit bulb season for such as alliums, daffodils, crocuses, iris, narcissi, hyacinths, tulips, that sort of thing and winter bedding pansies and wallflowers, which we also sell on our website, from the farm and at Sheriff Hutton Market. The plant nursery is open to public from March to June and September to the end of October. We close in summer holidays so I can spend time with our children Oscar and Honor.

Sally is keen to give praise to her team of volunteers who help at the nursery and to Neil’s parents.

‘We have an awesome group of volunteers including a couple called Janet and Brian, they come one day a week regularly throughout the year. I couldn’t do what we do without them.

‘Neil’s mum Janet and his dad are always supportive. Bryan was born here and has always run the farm. Our 30 cattle are part of Willow Farm Produce.

‘We buy calves to rear on and also have a small suckler herd with our own stock bull. They’re all a mix of continental breeds. We go to Gisburn auction for cattle at the Thursday sale. Bryan looks after them and Neil helps out when needed. We sell all stock directly into ABP in Murton.

Sally says the plan is to continue expanding Willow Farm Produce and to continue with their natural produce.

‘We are seeing great growth online, reaching people further afield, who knows how many front doors our wreaths could on in the future.

https://willowfarmproduce.com/ and on all social media