‘We are what we eat’, goes the saying, but how much do you think about how nutritious your food is? Calixta Killander, a grower from Cambridgeshire, is putting this ethos at the heart of what she and her team does.
Calixta founded Flourish in 2017 which focuses on producing unusual produce for chefs. Initially a market garden Calixta’s enterprise has now grown to include fruits, vegetables, herbs, heritage grains, salads and flowers on 56 acres. Her ambition is to produce nutrient dense food and supply directly to her customers as well as create a truly regenerative farm that goes beyond most people’s expectations. Flourish was built on horsepower with Calixta’s two Comtois horses – Bill and Ben – doing all the farm’s fieldwork from ploughing to cultivating, muck spreading and weeding until 2020. They are now in retirement. But Calixta’s journey towards a life on the land did not start in eastern England but in the United States, where she spent 6 ½ years learning and honing her craft.
Ben Eagle speaks to Calixta for this episode of the Meet the Farmers Podcast, available to subscribe to on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
About Ben Eagle
Ben is a rural affairs journalist and podcaster. He hosts the Meet the Farmers podcast and the Rural Business Focus podcast.
Image credit: Calixta Killander
