Mark Eastwood

Tell us about the history of the farm?

My grandfather. Joseph Eastwood came to Grovehurst Farm in 1910. He was a tenant farmer. Grovehurst Farm was part of an estate made up of 4 farms. In 1915 the Estate came under financial problems and my Grandfather was offered the chance of buying the farm which he did. He passed away in 1935 and my father John Eastwood and his brother Donovan Eastwood took over the farm.

The farm was then 165 acres. It was quite a mixed farm then growing apples, cherries, blackcurrants and pears. Also hops, cereals, as well as sheep – and there was a brief period when pigs were kept but they caught swine fever so that was the end of that.

Around 1989, my father and uncle wanted to retire so it was decided to split the farm up. My father would have about 100 acres and my uncle would take the remaining 65 acres. There were some very old listed farm buildings which were sold on for development as they were becoming impractical for modern day farming. I, Mark Eastwood, took over the farm in 1989 and decided to concentrate on just fruit growing as this was my passion.

How has it changed since you took over the farm?

When I took over the farm from my father, the orchards were quite old so I had to undertake a replanting programme. Originally, I planted a lot of Coxes and Egremont Russets but as time went by consumer preferences have changed plus we weren’t producing large tonnages. In 1997, I started by experimenting with growing Braeburn and I was one of the first to do so. I have found the Braeburn more profitable.

As well as apples, what else do you grow at the farm?

In 2002, I started growing plums. We now have 4 acres growing 4 varieties – Opals, Victoria, Marjorie Seedling and a new variety of Meritaire.

What sustainability initiatives do you have at the farm?

In 2010, after several dry summers I decided to irrigate the fruit, as we had a natural area full of springs on a steep south facing bank. We dug a small reservoir, installed pumps and irrigation lines and we can irrigate now 90% of the farm. This has been very beneficial but we are finding now as the trees have become more established, the roots are finding enough water to give good fruit size and also lately buyers are tending to go for more smaller fruit, as opposed to larger fruit.

Over the last 20 years, we have built 4 large C A stores for the fruit and this enables us to pack and offer fruit right round to early March, which has made the farm more profitable.