CUSGARNE FARM
- Since 1803 -
ABOUT CUSGARNE FARM
Cusgarne Farm has been farmed by the Pascoe Family, since 1803. With the 8th generation now living on the farm, read on to learn a little about our history and our ethics.
ABOUT CUSGARNE FARM
ABOUT US
Cusgarne Organic Farm is a small working farm of just over 110 acres of organic land in the heart of Cornwall.
The farm has been in the Pascoe family for over 220 years, currently with Greg and Teresa at the helm, along with their daughters Zennor, Lamorna and Veryan who are the 6th and 7th generations of Pascoes to farm the land at Cusgarne.
Its fields, orchards and tunnels have been organic since 1988, when one crazy young farmer and his wife had a baby and decided that they didn't fancy spraying chemicals on their new family's salad any more.
...Which got them thinking, probably other young families didn't particularly want petrochemicals in their dinner either.
So they stopped using all chemicals, and had a crash course in organic farming. A steep learning curve, a polytunnel and a few acres of veg turned in to one of the first food box delivery schemes in the country, taking fresh organic vegetables to local families (with their daughters squeezed in among the boxes)
Fast forward nearly 3 decades and Cusgarne is quietly farming in a way that does not sacrifice profit or productivity at the expense of environment and the incredible array of wildlife that we share our home with. Supported by an incredible team of staff and volunteers who are passionate about the environment, ethically produced food and green farming practices, the farm is more of a mindset and community than a business.
SUSTAINABILITY AND ETHICS
Our general ethos is to farm in a way that does not degrade the land, but supports nature and does not involve the use of artificial pesticides, herbicides, fungicide and fertilisers. This important in many ways. First for the health of all of the people who eat our food, who work with the food or who live in the area around where our food is grown. Its also incredibly important for our environment, chemicals have a devastating impact on biodiversity and ecosystems. Finally for climate change, the manufacture of artificial fertilisers is incredibly fossil fuel heavy.
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Instead, we farm organically, and source food from other organic producers, where we rely on natural fertilisers such as cow and chicken manure from our own livestock and hens. This is called a closed loop system, where we do not bring in manure and fertilisers from else where.
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Our farm shop is powered by a blend of solar, with battery storage and supplemented with grid energy on a renewable tariff. In the summer we are entirely off grid.
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Our general ethos is also one of minimal waste and consumption. We opt to mend, reuse and recycle, rather than buy unnecessarily.
We ardently believe in the value of antibiotics for our livestock where required for animal welfare, but we do not give our livestock 'preventative' antibiotics, and we don't need to, as our chickens are freerange and live in small flocks, while cattle are kept in small herds and on pasture for the bulk of the year, apart from during our very wet winters where they are kept in a barn and fed on silage (our baled grass).
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Because we have been organic for so long, we have impressive levels of biodiversity, which we are incredibly proud of the biodiversity. We often welcome studies and students from Exeter University to survey and measure our biodiversity levels on the farm. Living on the farm are rare and endangered bird and butterfly species, along with really healthy populations of bees, bumblebees and other invertebrates.
HISTORY
The Pascoe family first came to Cusgarne in 1803, where Joseph Baynard Pascoe, aged 40, moved his family from Helston. Mining was still a very important industry in the region, and so we imagine, as a yeoman, he was chasing the opportunity that came with the region. Prior to the Pascoes coming to Cusgarne, James Watt had been living at Cusgarne House.
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By the turn of the 20th century, this area of Cornwall's fortune had changed profoundly and the Joseph Pascoe who was then running the farm (Joseph is a bit of a theme in the Pascoe family) ended up working in the mines in South Africa after time on the front in WW1. He died in his 40s, due to damaged lungs from his time in the mines, and left his widow Alice and young sons Ken and Rex in charge of the farm and its fortunes.
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WW2 saw the Kenneth and Barbara Pascoe (Greg's parents) in reserved occupation, focussing on growing food and feed. After the war, the farm kept pigs and grew field crops.
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Which brings us to Greg, who has worked on the farm his entire life and took over the reins in his 20s (while also converting a 1 bedroom barn to be a family home).
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Greg continued with conventional farming, and supplying wholesalers and supermarkets. But in the mid 80s, when he met Teresa this all changed.
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If you've met Teresa, you'll know she isn't exactly shy and retiring. She persuaded Greg to move to organics, as farming a small farm conventionally was hopeless from an environmental and financial perspective. They were branded mad by the community, but they persisted and now here we are. Incredibly fortunate to be able to supply food to such a diverse, interesting and caring community.​
JAMES WATT
James Watt (1736–1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist renowned for his work on the steam engine, which played a critical role in the Industrial Revolution.
Watt's improvements to the Newcomen steam engine significantly increased its efficiency by introducing a separate condenser, reducing energy loss. This innovation enabled steam engines to be used more widely in industries such as mining, textiles, and transportation.​Watt also developed the concept of horsepower as a unit of measurement and contributed to the development of the rotary motion steam engine, which allowed for more versatile industrial applications.
In recognition of his contributions to science and technology, the unit of power, the watt, is named after him.​Watt's collaboration with entrepreneur Matthew Boulton provided the financial and manufacturing support necessary to bring his innovations to market, profoundly transforming industrial processes and the global economy.
POLDARK AND WINSTON GRAHAM
The connection between Poldark and Cusgarne House and Farm in Cornwall ties real-life history to Winston Graham's fictional series. Cusgarne House, historically associated with James Watt during his work on steam engines for Cornish mines, later inspired elements in Graham's novels.
During World War II, Graham visited Cusgarne, speaking with the Pascoe. This visit influenced his depiction of Elizabeth Chenoweth's family home, which became a key setting in the Poldark saga. The house exemplifies Cornwall's mining heritage and its literary transformation in Poldark.
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In 1783, the Chynoweth family were impoverished and their house was nearly falling down. In 1793, George Warleggan proposed to Elizabeth Chynoweth at her family house in Cusgarne.
