We are delighted to be taking part in Agroforestry Open Weekend 2023

Our farm

Broughgammon Farm is a forward thinking, sustainable, family farm, nestled just off the North coast, a stone throws from the giants causeway.  Since it’s creation, the farm has become a hub of good food and community with regular artisan events, supper clubs and a growing online meat box service.

The business was created back in 2011 when Charlie returned home from a stint as an assistant land agent at Baronscourt Estate. Keen to implement what he’d learnt from this and his agricultural studies, he envisioned a forward thinking farming ethos that utilised the waste of the dairy industry in the form of veal calves and kid goats.

Using his parents 50 acres as a base for his ideas he began with a caravan and a few goats. Rearing them by hand he hit a wall when he realised his market for the eventual goat meat had fallen through. Deciding to butcher them at home instead, a delicious and unusual goat meat burger was created and tested out at the local market. 

It was a hit and soon Broughgammon Farm was selling it’s range of artisan meat across farmer’s markets in Northern Ireland.

Since then the farm and team has expanded to include wife Becky, mother Millie and father Robin. The farm now runs a on-site nose to tail butchery, farm cafe and shop, online meat boxes, monthly supper clubs, artisan workshops, farmers markets and award winning street food that landed them a British Street Food Award in 2016.

Over the years the farm has become increasingly regenerative, with concerted efforts being made in maximising biodiversity through Agroforestry, new woodlands, hedgerows, ponds and diverse rotations. It also has many eco credentials with an eco-farmhouse and other renewable technologies.

Our agroforestry

The Agroforestry is a hybrid of research, using similar ethos to Stephen Briggs, specialisng in fruiting variteies only, and integrating them with our farm shops supply chain. Merging this with advice from Wakelyns in terms of row-widths, and practical advice, particularly around inter-cropping. And then finally using some of Richard Perkins ideas in terms of stacking, with the shaded areas being filled further with fruiting bushes that are more shade tolerant.

We’re very grateful for the support that the Woodland Trust gave us in seeing the project come to fruition…

Example of Fruit trees in silvoarable line spacings. Plan to under plant this to fruiting shrubs, stacking to maximise productivity.

These North South running tree lines can be planted to be self-sheltering, planting up hardier species to face prevailing winds, whilst sheltering the more sensitive species.

This would lead to different species being in different tree lines, following the concentric rings of species ‘hardiness’:

Whilst Brexit didn’t go our way for species selection, we were able to get a Plan B into operation.

We have also suffered from Deer Predation, so have now electric fenced the rows too.

We’ve planted on North/South orintation, 23m between rows (18m croppable, 1m buffer and 3m tree line)

These are mulched with woodchip.

These are underplanted with different varieties of the following:

Blackcurrant

Redcurrant

Whitecurrant

chaenomales

Raspberry

Gooseberry

Honeyberry

Amelanchier

Jostaberry

Th reason for the wide variety is to see what does well and go from there.

how to find us

You will find us at:

Broughgammon Farm

50 Straid Road

Ballycastle

Antrim

BT54 6NP

agroforestry open weekend 2023

Over Agroforestry Open Weekend 2023 we will be open Friday to Sunday 11-4

feel free to just turn up

facilities/refreshments

 Farm, shop & café open: Fri-Sun 11am-4pm

parking/access

dogs

On Leads

disability access

Concrete Yard, Stone Laneways, Disabled Bathroom

more information?

info@broughgammon.com

www.broughgammon.com

@broughgammonfrm