Growing Perennial Foods – The future of food and farming

Birch Farm will be hosting a groundbreaking two day gathering on April 7th and 8th, 2027, aimed at moving perennial vegetables from niche novelties into mainstream, resilient food systems. We hope this two day event will serve as a truly groundbreaking milestone for the future of UK agriculture offering an ecologically sound, practical alternative to volatile annual production in the face of recent harvest collapses.

We are excited to announce that joining us is world renowned expert Stephen Barstow, author of Around the World in 80 Plants and the visionary who coined the term “edimentals”. Having spent over three decades growing, foraging, and eating thousands of perennial species across the globe, Stephen brings decades of unmatched expertise to help guide participants into the next generation of resilient food growing.

As extreme weather, soil erosion, and erratic seasons increasingly disrupt traditional UK food production, our reliance on annual systems is reaching a breaking point. Perennial crops offer a vital, self sustaining shift toward climate resilience. By establishing deep, undisturbed root systems, perennials stabilise living topsoil, retain moisture through severe droughts, and build carbon rich ecosystems that actively regenerate degraded land. Crucially, moving away from annual soil disturbance creates permanent habitats, protecting pollinators, soil microbiomes, and dwindling wildlife proving that we can produce nutrient dense food while safeguarding biodiversity.

Leading this ecological transition, Birch Farm practices Natural Farming, integrating both perennial vegetables and food forest systems directly into their land management. Birch Farm demonstrates how natural farming creates self sustaining soils and abundant harvests without imported inputs. Over the past four years, Birch Farm has dedicated extensive research to testing the viability, yield, and integration of perennial crops, and the team is now ready to share these proven methods with growers, chefs and anyone who is interested in the future of food.

What to expect over the course of two days;

Day 1: Flavour, Culinary Potential & Perennial Tastings

Bridging the gap between field and plate, exploring how perennial crops can revolutionise modern dining.

• Perennial Veg Tastings with Jack Feeny: Jack Feeny of Tomorrow’s Kitchen hosts an interactive tasting session, introducing your palate to a host of delicious new perennial vegetables harvested straight from the farm.
• Botanical Drinks & Ferments: Experience unique drinks throughout the day, featuring wild-foraged and farm grown herbal brews, perennial infusions, and fermented botanical beverages developed for our own pub, The Farmers Arms, and J Andrew Shop.
• Kitchen Potential: An informative talk about the potential of perennial foods in our kitchens; both commercially and at home. Discuss all the ways to extend the bounty of these short season crops.
• Live Cooking Demonstrations: Join Head Chef of The Farmers Arms, Toby Neal, and his team as they transform unexpected roots, shoots, and greens into extraordinary culinary dishes.
• 40 Years of Edible Perennials: World-renowned author and perennial food legend Stephen Barstow shares extraordinary insights, stories, and flavors from over four decades of growing, researching, and eating thousands of perennial species across the globe

Evening Event:

• A night of great food and drink by our own team from The Farmers Arms, music and fire side chats. A chance to connect, dissucess and get to know your community.

Day 2: Farm-Scale Cultivation, Design & Polycultures

Translating ecological theory into highly efficient, real world farm production.

• Field Scale Perennials: Birch Farm Head Gardener Joshua Sparkes reveals Birch Farms research on how perennial vegetables can be cultivated at field scale proving they can match traditional annual crops in efficiency, yield, and economic viability.
• Polycultures & Food Forests: Discussions focused on designing high yield polycultures, harvesting strategies, and integrating perennial crops directly into food forest architectures with Josh Sparkes and Stepehen Barstow
• Resilient Soil & Fertility Management: Learn practical strategies for managing permanent ground cover, building long-term soil health, navigating winter maintenance, and pairing perennials with agroforestry systems.
• Panel & Grower Discussions: Open-floor Q&A and transparent discussions led by Joshua Sparkes, tackling the honest successes, failures, and future potential of perennial farming and as chance to discuss future ideas with everyone who comes to the event and plan a perennial future

We hope this two day event will inspire growers, chefs and those that care about sustainable agriculture, about the potential for perennial foods. The course will run over two days, lunch will be provided both days along with refreshments and the evening dinner event. £250 per person.

A 20% discount will be offered on all accomodations booked at The Collective at Woolsery, our hotel located walking distance to the farm, as well as 5% off at The Farmers Arms, Woolsery Fish & Chips and J Andrew Shop during your visit with us. This year we are looking at offering furnished bell tents, as well as van camping access, on the farm. Contact us at stay@woolsrey.com for more information.