Heal the soil, feed the world

Farmer says natural fertiliser is good for more than plants

- Ruth Hayes

GARDENERS are the custodians of the earth, nurturing it for future generations, but if we want to be able to hand over a healthy planet, we need to start at ground level, literally.

Being a friend of the earth is the ethos of an organic Cumbrian farming business that produces nutritionally balanced, vegan, liquid plant food as a by-product of the farm’s day-to-day business.

EcoGro was started by Richard Harrison six decades ago. He built an anaerobic digester (a ‘concrete cow’s digestive system’) to break down the farm’s organic waste and then realised that the liquid residue had excellent plant-growing qualities and would benefit the soil as well.

A need to produce maximum yield

This end product is a natural plant food now marketed by the farm as BioPower. It contains balanced NPK (nitrogen, phosphate, potash) as well as lots of other essential micronutrients and, because it’s completely plant-based and natural, it feeds the soil as well.

The business is run by Richard’s son Chris – Richard sadly passed away from coronavirus earlier this year – and his business partner Kevin Beaty, and they currently sell BioPower across the north of the UK, with plans to expand.