Our gorgeous tasting cakes are just part of what we do here on Naish Farm. We take care to step very lightly on our environment and we have developed a nature reserve to surround us. Our BeeGreen projects help us to continue to improve our environment.

We have gently adapted the old farm buildings to house our bakery and packing areas, whilst retaining all of their original features. Our office was originally a set of pig sties- everything from stable doors to floorboards have been reused and recycled.

We've picked up many tips from visiting Pam Lewis's wonderful wildlife garden, Sticky Wicket. We've installed woven willow bird feeders after seeing them being used in Pam's garden. These pretty swirls of willow & hazel allow tits & other small birds to feed without being hassled by the bossy grey squirrel.

Our BeeGreen projects

Live Webcams

We have installed two live webcams so far - one overlooks the yard where Joan and the three donkeys live and the other is installed in a nest box by the bakery.

Tree and hedgerow planting

So far we've planted 6 horse chestnut trees, several oaks and replanted stretches of hedgerow that had been ploughed up. The planting that took place in February 09 is now flowering beautifully and consequentially has encouraged many species of birds to return to Honeybuns to make a home. We are delighted.

In October, Charlotte, Graham and their two trusty canine's Ben and Ollie will be tackling another hedge that requires relaying. Cups of tea and Triple Chocolate Tinkers will fuel the days as winter gently closes in.

Bird Survey

Once a month our keen twitcher Graham is up with the larks to observe and record the species seen on site. We regulary sight redwings, tits, gold crests, wrens, pied wagtails, goldfinches plus many others - our monthly bird-log usually records 25-30 species and is written up on the BeeGreen blog.

Charlotte -a regular contributor to the BeeGreen blog

Operation Goldfinch

This is our ongoing mission to encourage more of these beautiful little birds to feed and feel safe in our wildlife pocket which runs out to the back of the bakery. We've noticed a definite increase in sightings since we allowed the finches' favourite food, thistles, to spread.

Honey Bee

In April 2009, The British Beekeepers' Association identified that urgent funding is needed to combat the threats facing honey bee health. Being affiliated with this very special secies, Honeybuns would like to encourage you to support your local Beekeepers. Our honey comes from Filberts Bees in Muckleford.

Recycling

We recycle all of our cardboard, foil, glass, plastic and paper.

The cardboard is processed locally by J&G Environmental by shredding it into animal bedding - which we then re-use for our horses and donkeys. After mucking out the horses, it finally ends up in a muck spreader destined for local farms.

Other waste, for example packaging from discontinued products, is given to The Scrapstore in Yeovil where it is made available to groups and individuals for use in arts and crafts projects.

We're also installing a new toilet for the Bee Shack cafe which will be using harvested rain water. We have also installed solar power security lights around the site.

Packaging

The packaging we use is getting greener month on month as technology keeps improving. Our cakeboard inserts use card from a sustainable source, are printed with vegetable based inks and are recyclable.

It used to be impossible to find a biodegradable film that didn't become "cloudy" and brittle after freezing. We've now located one & have switched over to this alternative for most of the film we use. Recently some uncertainty has arisen over whether it is better to use biodegradable plastic at all. This is because waste containing a mixture of biodegradable and standard plastic cannot currently be separated, so all goes to landfill, where a load of standard plastic would go for recycling. We are monitoring the situation as is develops and, as always, will strive to take the most environmentally friendly option.

We can still do better & are always striving to improve our packaging.

Traffic Reduction

We are also very aware of the traffic we generate in the way of delivery vehicles to the farm. We have extended our storage areas to enable us to take larger quantities of ingredients and packaging at any one time. We then have to hold more stock than is ideal but, on the positive side, we can order less often and thus have fewer delivery vehicles.

For delivering our products, we do not run any of our own vehicles. Instead our goods "piggy back" on lorries which travel fully loaded and more efficiently on established transport routes.

Recognition at Glastonbury

Each year we take a Honeybuns team to Glastonbury, to offer festivalgoers a chance to sample our gorgeous gluten free cakes. This year they went down a storm, the new Triple Chocolate Tinker cookie sold out within the first two days. Honeybuns was recognised by Glastonbury Festival, Greenpeace, The Soil Association and The Fairtrade Foundation for being a business with low environmental impact. We were proudly awarded the Silver Green Traders Award.

A proud Charlotte and Graham

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