Coombes Farm Tours

About

In Coombes, near Lancing, West Sussex, England UK where the Passmore family have been farming for 5 generations since 1901.

Church Farm itself is a fully working farm set in 1000 acres or 420 hectares within the beautiful South Downs in West Sussex. There is 140 acres of land down by the River Adur, 2 metres below high tide. This land was traditionally used for Summer Grazing and could not be used in the winter as it becomes water logged. As it is good rich alluvial soil, it was drained with porous pipes which run into a ditch system, enabling us to now be able to grow crops down by the River. Also in 1990 we dug Passies Pond.

Crops that we grow: Hard wheats for breadmaking, Soft Wheats for cakes, biscuits and animal feed, Barley for beer and animal feed, Lucerne (Alfalfa) is grown for hay and Rape for sheep feed in the winter The rest of the farm is Downland. The South Downs are predominantly chalk with a thin layer of top soil and by tradition have been grazed by sheep. However in times of shortage of food, they have been ploughed up to plant other crops.

There are conservation areas, some of which the Passmore's started being planted in the 1950's to produce habitats for the wild life, and been aided by the Women's Institute in 1979 as well as being planted up over the years. The Bank of flowers has over 200 different plants. The Cowslips are a picture in the Spring, then there are Orchids, Poppies, Eggs & Bacon, Bedstraws, Clovers, to mention but a few - the Autumn is a mass of Scabius.