Guardswell Farm

30/03/2025

“Rustic luxe: the new breed of British farmstays“- the biggest thank you to for including us! We’re beyond thrilled!! A message came through from Fiona to Anna… “I think your legs, hens and eggs might be in the FT?!”. What a glorious day we’ve had on the farm today- sunshine, an adventure to the swings, a little yoga and a lot of eating. Hope you’ve all had a wonderful Sunday

https://www.ft.com/content/3b949122-0119-4f9e-b499-df4514ff6865?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYA1Cwi7yIItf2sBYWfOuQ_HX8tRMfIYHNW5FOL09dtL8qG9N77oS_qPDs_aem_k8THVxWBHnwlhaGRpGjHyw

30/03/2025

27/03/2025

It’s very nearly blossom time. With over 2500 apple trees on the farm, of varying ages… it’s definitely a time of year that we look forward to. Think about all of those lovely blooms for our critically important pollinators. have a wonderful Carse of Gowrie Orchard Project planned, which we’re thrilled to have our orchards included in. The Pendicle bath is framed by the oldest apples on the farm- 4 beautiful trees that would have once formed part of a small orchard next to the farm Steading and Farmhouse- lovely gnarled, lichen covered oldies. Blossom confetti landing in the tub with you as you bathe sounds pretty idyllic.

22/03/2025

Thrilled to be at the Wool Producers Showcase in Perth today, with our 100% Scottish Mohair, 100% Hebridean and our “Guardswell Blend”- a 50/50 mix of the two.

It’s been a pleasure to speak to those who’ve already knitted with our yarn and are back for more, and even those who’ve travelled half way across Europe to buy some (wow!!).

If you’re looking for some lovely single farm yarn, you can also find it on our website.
https://www.guardswell.co.uk/store

22/03/2025

Calves, goat kids, hatching chicks and lambs… all on the horizon! They’re nearly here!! We’d love to introduce you to some of them when you’re staying with us. Lambing is due to start from the beginning of April with calving and kidding kicking off in May, and into June- so if you fancy a wee farm escape, with bountiful new life- then please come and join us, children and adults alike- perhaps you’ll even see one take it’s first breath. We have some lovely midweek availability in May + June- but if we can help provide any extra info about a stay on the farm, please just drop us a wee note

20/03/2025

Running into spring!! Happy spring equinox. What a beautiful week it’s been. Everything is waking up- despite the chilly mornings. If you’re planning a wee escape over the next few weeks or months- this is a particularly lovely time of year on the farm

10/03/2025

Exploring the farm. One of the things we care about the most is getting you out and about and exploring the whole of the farm. Whether that’s a short walk to say hello to the goats, or a longer one over the moor to our north- admiring the wind pruned oaks, and spring time wood anemones. Maybe through the Big Wood to Jamie’s steps- 198 little steps carved through the steep banking- which will soon be surrounded by unfurling ferns and bluebells. We are so fortunate to live in such a beautiful part of the world, and we really love sharing our little slice of Perthshire with you. Over the years- we’ve built stiles and put in pedestrian gates across the whole farm- and we’ve got more planned. Before staying with us- if you would like a local suggested walking route- whether that’s a short loop around the farm, or further afield- we’re more than happy to make some recommendations for you.

06/03/2025

PRESSED 2025. A celebration of Scottish Cider. Saturday 10th May. It’s happening guys. Join us on the farm for all things cider with some of Scotlands most wonderful cider makers. Wonder around with your own Pressed glass, sip and chat, enjoy the view, and really immerse yourselves in the knowledge and passion of these producers. Tasting tickets are £18 for the day- and also include some music and a cider bar after tasting finishes. Then if you want to keep the cider love going, we’ll be hosting a wicked cider themed dinner that evening with on the pans. We’ve got camping and caravan tickets! And we’ve just released all of our accommodation for that weekend too… phew all the info! You’ll find tickets on the website, some are pretty limited, so grab ‘em whilst they’re hot. Come stay, drink some Scottish cider and hang out with us on the farm.

04/03/2025

Cheese cheese cheese.

Would you love to learn to make some glorious burrata (with unctuous oozing stracciatella), silky soft mozzarella pillows and beautiful cultured butter?

As promised, is joining us on the Farm on Friday 23rd of May- for a day of all things cheese.

A farm walk and chat about micro and nano dairy with our lovely Shetland cattle, lots of time in the Cart Shed Kitchen learning from Kristen- plus a gorgeous lunch which she will be making herself.

It’s honestly going to be an absolute delight!

Head on over to our website and bag a space fast as we haven’t got very many.

https://www.guardswell.co.uk/events-calendar/spoon-carving-with-louise-forbes-2-adrmk

02/03/2025

Back in the late 80s and early 90s- Robert, Sylvia and Gillian, and then Fiona (Anna’s mum), ran a bit of a Carse of Gowrie institution. The Buttery. A little cafe in their farmhouse, surrounded by parterre herb beds, serving chervil laden quiche and herbie open sandwiches- then for the occasional evening, they’d open up the doors for three set courses which booked out weeks in advance. A Farmhouse in the Carse of Gowrie… reviewed by !! We’ve popped the extract into the comments. Fiona will be horrified- but we’ve included a few photos from the pages of in 1990, just before Anna was born, scuppering the whole operation. It was also the start of Scotherbs- but we can tell that story another day. The Buttery- and Scotherbs- and Nanas (great granny’s) Milkbar (I guess that’s where the Nano Dairy excitement comes from) were all huge inspirations for Guardswell, and we’re so incredibly lucky to have generations of creative, entrepreneurial people to help us get to where we are now. Thank you, lovely family.

23/02/2025

Nano Dairy. Have you heard of nano or micro dairy? Or a House Cow? One of the reasons behind our breed choice of the Shetlands was their “dual purpose” breed- they’re both a beef and dairy breed. A lovely butterfat content to their milk, not enormous yields- but that’s ok, and their small size and friendly nature is super important to us. One day- maybe in the near future, maybe a little bit longer- we would really love to have a very small dairy on the farm. Located very close to the main Steading and our accommodation so we could show guests the process, and in an absolute dream world- our own little cheese and butter making space. It would be a very high welfare, calf at foot dairy. It’s quite obvious already that there seems to be some genetic divergence in the Shetland breed- some are chunky and “beefier” and others finer in their features and “milkier”. In the mean time- watch this space- as we’re planning some exciting cheese making workshops with - which will also include a bit of time with our Shetland cattle and some Nano Dairy chat. We’ll let you know when the tickets are up on the website. (A Nano Dairy is defined as 1-5 cows, a micro dairy up to 40). Anna’s Grandfather- Robert- ran a dairy milking Ayrshires until the late 80s, at which point quotas were introduced- and in a strange turn of fate, the dairy closed and he started growing herbs commercially in Scotland. It would have been wonderful if he were still around to give his valuable insight! We have popped a few photos in the mix from the wonderful micro dairy at - which is, as ever, incredibly inspiring!

21/02/2025

Meadows to search for cowslips and buttercups (do you like butter?), donkeys who need scritching, dens to build in the woods, a firepit for toasting giant marshmallows. The Cottage is the perfect wee space to spend a couple of nights exploring the farm. It sleeps 4- whether that’s friends together or a family looking to switch off their iPads (there’s no wifi or tv, on purpose). Board games, books and wood burner for days where the weather is a wee bit chilly too. Come and switch off.

17/02/2025

Brilliant and beautiful hedgerows. Today we attended a wonderful event organised by at Peelham Farm . We thought we’d share a little after and before shot- looking at a gate from a 90* out angle- and you can clearly see the difference 9 years makes. Today we did a deep dive into hedgerow rejuvenation and maintenance as well truly how wonderful hedges are. A study by R. Wilton (2015) found 2070 species within a 85m stretch of hedge!!! Megan Gimber from is the best hedgerow champion we’ve ever heard talk or had the pleasure to meet- go and look up any of her videos or podcasts! This summers job- as well as to make a plan for next winters hedge work- is to do a full hedgerow survey on the farm, as well as some more before and after photos (from better angles!!). If you want to document your own hedgerows- download the Healthy Hedgerows app. One of our biggest hedgerow mistakes 10 years ago- was not leaving enough space between our fences for hedge maintenance. So watch this space as to how we work around that.

16/02/2025

February dooks. All three of our huts have these seriously beautiful tubs… wood fired, cosy, outdoor baths. We’ve got some super last min availability next week if you feel like you’re needing to soak all day in the fresh air. Also- we flipping love dogs coming to stay. This is Travis- he’s Moles bf and Pommes dad- and he’s wonderful. We just ask they stay on leads around the farm, and there’s no extra charge for them. We can’t imagine going on holiday without ours.

14/02/2025

Ever been for a walk and come across an electric fence?

Well- you’ve most likely found yourself a farmer who really cares- it’s most certainly not there to be annoying.

It’s probably a farmer who is not only considering the nutritional welfare and overall health of their stock, but also really working to improve the soil and plant diversity across their farm.

Electric fences are used to move whole groups of animals (in our case- a “flerd” of sheep and cattle) quickly through smaller temporary paddocks within a larger traditional field system or on a large open swathe of land.

This create a greater impact on that area in a short period of time- they munch away at everything (quickly, causing stress to the plant who then reacts, and pings deep roots down into the soil), they stomp lots of it into the ground (adding organic matter back into the soil) and then most importantly the farmer leaves that area alone for a long time before grazing again- allowing even deeper roots to be put down, more plant growth, flowering (awesome for pollinators), seed setting and regeneration.

This type of grazing improves soil water-holding capacity as well as increasing soil fertility, and nutrient loss. It helps capture carbon. It’s a decent amount of hard work, moving fences daily ideally (but starting somewhere is better than not starting at all- we’re currently on moves every few days).

We’re really fortunate to have near by (not an ad) and we get our kit from them, with brilliant solar powered energisers- and if you want to know the real detail and real science, go and check them out (the above was just a mini high level intro). Or do a little reading on Mob Grazing or Adapative Multi-Paddock (AMP) grazing verses traditional set stocking or continuous grazing.

Our wee intro… all from an electric fence.

13/02/2025

Join our team! We’re looking for three new team members to join us on our beautiful farm in rural Perthshire. We’re looking for a “Guardswellie”- someone who can muck in with everything, from housekeeping to the odd event. There’s a freelance events role for a little help on Sundays. Plus a full time position as our Gardener + Groundskeeper! You can find more info on the Guardswellie, and Groundkeeper role, via links in our bio now, with the events role being up there later this afternoon. Drop us a wee note if you have any questions what so ever!

11/02/2025

In my work basket today…

I’m making some more of my ‘Peedie Naturals’ range of baby soft shoes/ booties.

This time I am using some gorgeous Scottish Mohair (creamy white) and Hebridean/ Scottish Mohair (natural dark grey) produced by Guardswell Farm 🧶 Based in North Fife, Scotland, Guardswell Farm produce wool from their Hebridean sheep and Angora goats 🐑🐐The farm actively advocates biodiversity, carbon reduction, and have the very highest levels of animal welfare. Guardswell Farm will be attending the Scottish Wool Producers showcase in Perth on the 22nd March 2025 The Scottish Yarn Festival

I'm so happy to continue promoting ’Natural-Sustainable-Traceable’ Scottish wool.

I’m very excited to say that I’ll be joining in at the showcase and will be bringing my handmade booties along to show what I do.