Our History

My grandparents moved to Throop in 1938 with the intention of rearing chickens on the 3.5 acres of land that came with the house. War broke out and the government encouraged such small holdings to plough up the land and grow cabbage and in the spare buildings keep pigs.



As rationing ended Stanley, my grandfather started to grow more varieties of vegetables and serve the grocers of Moordown and Winton. He delivered by horse and cart. At that time Wimborne Road could boast 14 green grocers, Stanley would frequently run out of produce before he got to the last couple of shops at Winton Banks. The back bone of the business was my Grandmother, who worked in a bakery, but spent much of her time in the field weeding and harvesting as well as bringing up two children.As time went on my Grandfathers health which had never been good deteriorated and he handed my Dad the pig cheque in 1971.



Dad gave up work to concentrate on the holding with ambitions to expand the business. The pig herd grew to 400 and as more land became available we expanded. At this time the greenhouses were turned over to bedding plant production rather than growing tomatoes.

My grandparents worked in the greenhouses into their 90’s, when Stanley became bed ridden we had to bring the work to him, Nan worked outside until she was 99, she said her idea of heaven was a garden where weeds did not grow, bless her. Our secret to producing wholesome veg is manure that originally came from the pigs but as we gave them up in the late 80s, it now comes from the cattle at Holdenhurst and Hurn owned by the Sears family. My mother continues to be an integral part of the nursery even though she is past retirement age.



Using methods that my grandfather and father have developed over decades, keeping the weeds at bay and feeding and watering in drought, I like to think with years of market gardening under our belts we produce quality and fresh vegetables for you.

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Jim Hooper