Ian’s Orchard Report2023-01-13T10:37:32+00:00
Fourayes Farm Manager Swailey

Our Farm Manager Swailey

Our Farm Manager Swailey has had an impressive career growing a range of fruit, including, apples, pears, plums, and strawberries to name a few. He has dedicated his career to fruit farming since leaving school, starting his journey on the family farm owned by his grandfather.

In a similar way to the inception story of Fourayes, Swailey’s grandfather’s farm was passed down the generations, and is still part of the family, being used as a haven for horses.

Swailey’s knowledge of the land, understanding of the fruit and expertise in running a farm has come from many years of managing land for other farmers. Long before joining Fourayes, Swailey perfected his craft, mastering the intricacies of planting, working in harmony with local wildlife and learning the needs of each tree; just call him the fruit whisperer!

Swailey’s Farm Reports

112, 2022

Swailey’s Farm Reports: Winter 2022

December 1st, 2022|

The last apples have been picked but the apple growing process is never over. As winter approaches at Fourayes Farm and the apple harvest has been picked, you might think that there is little left to do until spring. [...]

507, 2021

New luxury accommodation at Fourayes Farm

July 5th, 2021|

The hot news is that we’re putting up hotels all over Fourayes Farm. Most of my posts focus on events in our factory, so it’s a welcome change to focus this time on the Farm. [...]

1402, 2020

Orchard Report February 2020

February 14th, 2020|

Orchard Report Fourayes Farm: February 2020 At the time of writing we are just edging into February in what has, for the most part, been a mostly mild but wet winter. Our orchards have been [...]

811, 2019

Orchard Report Autumn 2019

November 8th, 2019|

Orchard Report Fourayes Farm: Autumn 2019 At the time of writing, we have just finished the Bramley harvest which started very dry, sometimes very hot and dusty, until 24th September when the heavens opened. By the end of the [...]

2406, 2019

Orchard Report Summer 2019

June 24th, 2019|

Orchard Report Fourayes Farm: Summer 2019 At the time of writing we are just edging out of quite a dry May after a cold April in which our bees struggled to find any warm days [...]

1810, 2018

Orchard Report Autumn 2018

October 18th, 2018|

Orchard Report Fourayes Farm: Autumn 2018 At the time of writing we are nearly half way through the first pick of the Bramley. The end of spring brought us a hail storm which [...]

1306, 2018

Orchard Report Spring 2018

June 13th, 2018|

Orchard Report Fourayes Farm: Spring 2018 We are emerging from a very wet and cold spring: we had 42mm of rain over the Easter weekend alone. The orchards are a sea of mud making spraying [...]

1310, 2017

Orchard Report Winter 2017

October 13th, 2017|

Orchard Report Fourayes Farm: Winter 2017 At the time of writing we have just finished our first pick of the Bramley. It has so far been a fairly dry harvest: we lost two [...]

1105, 2017

Orchard Report Spring 2017

May 11th, 2017|

Orchard Report Fourayes Farm: Spring 2017 We are emerging from an early spring which has been colder than normal. The bees have struggled to find small windows of warm weather to pollinate the Bramley. [...]

2010, 2016

Orchard Report Autumn 2016

October 20th, 2016|

Orchard Report Fourayes Farm: Autumn 2016 We are about a third of the way though our second pick of the Bramley. For the most part it has been a dry summer with almost no rain [...]

1505, 2016

Orchard Report Spring 2016

May 15th, 2016|

Orchard Report Fourayes Farm: Spring 2016 We are heading into a late spring with another cold weekend ahead to slow things down again. Our own winter was very wet, and March and early [...]

2909, 2015

Orchard Report Autumn 2015

September 29th, 2015|

Orchard Report Fourayes Farm: Autumn 2015 We are about half way through the first pick of the Bramley crop. It now seems hard to believe that we have had, for the most part, [...]

2310, 2014

Orchard Report Winter 2014

October 23rd, 2014|

Orchard Report Fourayes Farm: Winter 2014 Our harvest is almost complete, we are on the last full day of the Bramley pick and have one more pick of the Gala to finish, with just a [...]

2005, 2014

Orchard Report Spring 2014

May 20th, 2014|

Orchard Report Fourayes Farm: Spring 2014 We are just edging our way out of Spring. Our blossom has gone and the bees have returned home to Warwickshire after having some lovely sunshine to work in. [...]

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