WHAT GROWS IN A DORSET ORCHARD?MORE THAN YOU MIGHT THINK...
Our orchard farming system draws on traditional mixed farming techniques and aims to exceed modern organic standards to produce food that's healthy, natural and good for the land.
OUR FARMING SYSTEM
Orchards have shaped Dorset for centuries. Their fruit fed families, paid wages, and filled cellars with farmhouse cider. After the Second World War, many orchards were lost to intensive farming and what was a thriving part of Dorset’s culture survived only in fragments.
Rather than treating the orchard as a relic of the past, we see our orchards as the foundation of a modern, regenerative farm. Chickens forage underneath the trees, fertilising the soil as they go. Pollinators like honeybees and hoverflies work amongst the blossom each spring. Predators such as ladybirds and lacewings keep pests in check, while fungi and earthworms quietly recycle fallen leaves and manure into rich, healthy soil. Even the old trees themselves provide hollows for birds and insects to shelter in, weaving wildlife and farming into one.
By designing our whole system around orchards, we are creating a way of farming that uses natural processes to produce great food while restoring the land. In doing so, we are reviving an old Dorset tradition in a way that works for today.
How it all began...
We’re Ellie and Henry, the husband-and-wife team behind Orchard People — new entrant farmers who took a leap of faith in 2024, moving our family to Dorset to begin a new life on the land.
Our journey began, quite unintentionally, in 2022 — with six chickens: Mabel, Rosie-Sparkle, Petal, Fairy, Glitter… and Boat. These characterful hens quickly became part of the family, loved by our children and doted on by us for their wonderful eggs. We fell in love with the feeling of growing our own food and soon found ourselves creating a mini smallholding in our garden.
ABOUT
ORCHARD
PEOPLE
SEEING FOOD DIFFERENTLY
As our appreciation for the quality of our home-produced food grew, so did our curiosity. Our chickens roamed freely, scratching for worms and mowing the lawn, and in return they gave us golden-yolked eggs for breakfast. It was such a simple, neat loop — and it opened our eyes.
We began to see that much of what we’d thought of as “normal” food came from an extractive system: one without natural feedback, producing food that was nutritionally hollow and environmentally destructive.
We realised that every bite of food is, in essence, an agricultural decision. And we decided not to wait for policy or permission — but to do what we could, within our lifetime, to be part of positive change for the land and for human health.
ROOTED IN REGENERATION
By 2023, we were both craving a slower, more purposeful life — one with more time for family and a deeper connection to the land. So in 2024, we sold our home, left behind our comfortable, commuter life in Winchester, and moved to Dorset to begin again.
Now, custodians of the beautiful orchards planted by Henry's parents, we’re developing a living system where soil, trees, animals, and people thrive together — a farm that feeds the land as much as it feeds us.
We’re so grateful to everyone supporting us on this wild and wonderful adventure, and we warmly welcome you to visit our orchards and see what we’re creating.
LIFE AT ORCHARD PEOPLE
Explore the beauty of our Dorset orchard.
CONTACT US
Ask questions or just say hello!
We’re at the beginning of our journey, but our mission is clear: to grow honest food, nurture the land, and share it with our community. If you’re interested to contributing to a local farm, get in touch.
ORCHARD PEOPLE
Little Burton Farm, Leweston, Sherborne, Dorset, DT9 6EW
OPENING HOURS
Mon 09:00 – 17:00
Tue 09:00 – 17:00
Wed 09:00 – 17:00
Thu 09:00 – 17:00
Fri 09:00 – 17:00
Sat Closed
Sun Closed