20 May 2013
This moody shot was taken just after dawn yesterday, as we prepared the ground for a new lavender plantation at Foxbury Farm. The landscape may look somewhat monochrome, but come in summers to come it will be filled with scent and colour. Ninety thousand baby lavender plants will be bedded in here over the next few days.
20 September 2012
Our cobnuts, whose ground shell is the secret ingredient of our new Kentish Cobnut Scrub, are now being harvested. There are several plantations (or ‘plats’) on the estate, some dating back over 50 years. The Kentish Cobnut, a cultivated form of wild hazlenut, is unique to our locality. The shell makes a particularly fine exfoliant, and the nuts themselves make the most delicious seasonal snack. Watch our for a cobnut serving suggestion from Xanthe Clay in the next Foxbury Gazette and, to learn more about this singular nut, you can visit the website of the Kentish Cobnut Association.
25 July 2011
This weekend’s harvest was unexpectedly bountiful. In spite of variable conditions throughout the spring, our precious true lavender (lavandula angustifolia, seen above) has produced our second-highest essential oil yield ever. The oils will now be ‘dried’ and aged, before being blended by our perfumer with other fine natural essences and used in Mitchell and Peach products.
5 September 2010
For our recent shoot we collaborated with Jaeger, the luxury British fashion house. In this image, Chloe Mitchell wears a ‘Houndstooth Print’ dress from its summer collection. Like Mitchell and Peach, Jaeger has a distinguished heritage and a meticulous eye for quality and detail.
The shoot, images from which will be released this autumn, marks the fact that Mitchell and Peach formulas now include pure honey gathered from hives on the Mitchell estate. The images were taken by Mark Harrison, an award-winning photographer whose subjects have included former US President Bill Clinton and actors John Hurt and Natascha McElhone. www.jaeger.co.uk; www.markharrisonphotography.com
1 August 2010
Harvest is complete and the results are spectacular. Thanks to a hot, sunny June, our fine lavender yielded 30% more essential oil than last year – a result to exceed our most optimistic predictions. The oil will now be ‘dried’ to remove water and impurities. It will then be matured for at least nine months (to achieve a fully rounded aroma). Only then will it be ready to be hand-blended by our perfumer with other fine essences and used in the Mitchell and Peach range.
13 July 2010
June’s glorious heat and sunshine has brought the lavender crop on apace, making up for the cool Spring. As usual, the ‘Maillette’ (the finest lavender – that we use in the Mitchell and Peach range) is flowering first; the ‘Grosso’ is following close behind. In this photograph, Ian Mitchell is testing the aroma of the fresh florets. We think this year’s harvest – which takes place late-July – could result in our most productive harvest yet. Watch this space…
21 May 2010
In May the Mitchells celebrated 100 years of farming at Foxbury Farm in Kent, England. The event, in the shade of Foxbury’s magnificent six-roundel oast house (seen below in 1910, and still part of the estate) included an exhibition of family archives, a traditional hog roast and swarms of children gleefully ‘driving’ antique tractors. Learn more about our heritage here.
