We celebrated 100 years of Whetstone Pastures and the Herbert family in 2010

Anthony’s grand father bought the farm from the Swithland Slate owner Mr Hind, leaving us lots of slate tiles, gateposts, an obelisk and a very unusual slate coffin! We arrived in 1982 and have a dual role of growing crops and caring for the environment. Our 800 acres includes wheat, oilseed rape, field beans and a dairy unit with Friesian cows run by Jimmy and Esther Pritt. There are hedgerows, ponds, ancient woodland and abundant bird life. We work hard to preserve this diversity and our aim is to share this wonderful place with others. We welcome groups and school visits and as you see below want to foster strong community links Please get in touch if you want to organize an outing, activity or walk.

Community locally – Community Harvest Whetstone (CHW). This is an exciting new sustainable vegetable cooperative we started in early 2009 with Transition Leicester. Our aim is to grow vegetables in an environmentally friendly way for villages and towns in South Leicestershire. We have rented a plot of land and a poly tunnel on our farm and we are part of a growing movement addressing the need to grow more vegetables and increase the contact between farmers and consumers. We meet regularly for activities and food and its great fun! www.community-harvest-whetstone.org.uk

EDS Support group meets at the farm tea room Ehlers Danlos Syndrome is a genetic condition affecting collagen which is almost everywhere in the body! Our daughter Lucy has it and has been in pain for many years Sufferers have loose ligaments and are often ” double jointed” and have many problems with digestion. breathing. circulation and are prone to infections and fatigue. Pain control often does not work neither do local anaesthetics. For more info re our local group contact Sandra 0116 2774627 sandraherbert@hotmail.co.uk or www.ehlers-danlos.org

Knitting group we have a weekly knitting group which meets every THURS evening 7.30 – 930 Please contact Sandra as we do have breaks in the holidays. Subs are £2 which included tea coffee and cakes ( Sandra home made of course!) this goes towards EDS SUPPORT UK and we have raised almost £2000 so far. We welcome all abilities and those keen to learn will be given a warm welcome and free tuition! We of course have a good natter as we knit!

Community – Globally – Send a Cow Sandra and Anthony are passionate supporters of the Christian development charity Send a Cow which works to lift communities in 7 African countries out of poverty using livestock and natural farming. This is reflected on the farm in lots of ways. Supporting fair-trade and African coffee, African visitors to stay, African weekend, fundraising events, and building a keyhole garden showing how African families can maximize their vegetable production as well as showing us what can be done in a small space in our own gardens. Visit www.sendacow.org for more details.