Two Cumbrian agriculturist’s have launched one of the country’s first completely natural and sustainable plant foods.

William Tuer, of Cliburn near Penrith, has launched a new product with Carlisle-based business partner Alistair Wannop which utilises an organic approach in creating a natural fertiliser people can use to help keep plants and lawns healthy and fed.

Will & Al’s Natural Plant Food Company launched its Bloom! product on to the market in February after initially using it on their own farms to help grow their crops.

After seeing its success, they have spent nearly two years perfecting it for the public market and have plans in the future to offer a compost option as well.

The product, which comes in easy to use recyclable bottles, is a liquid rich in nutrients and natural fertiliser such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

William, aged 37, is a full-time farmer and energy producer, and uses anaerobic digestion to generate renewable energy — the process for the Bloom! product.

He said: “It’s as good a product as any consumers will find on the market but is completely organic and renewable, making it the healthiest option for plants and crops. We have just launched the liquid product at the moment to give it a few months to grow our reputation before coming into the season.

“Artificial fertilisers are used by most people but there are no chemicals in our product, it isn’t artificial in anyway. It’s oil based, environmentally friendly and is completely produced locally — that has got to be a good thing.”

The items used to create the product include corn silage, old crops and maize, which are put together in a large sealed container and processed naturally in an oxygen depleted but warm environment following four biological stages of hydrolysis, acidogenic, acetogenesis and methogenic.

Once the methogenic process is complete, biogas and the by-product digestate are produced to finish the forming of the bio-fertiliser.

To reach the stage of having the product marketable and sellable has been quite a feat by the entrepreneurs, taking nearly two years, but they have had a “really positive response” from customers, Mr Tuer said. He added: “This has taken some time for us to get to this point as we’ve been working on this around our day-to-day jobs as farmers.

“It’s been a very difficult journey based on the regulation as it is highly complex and we’ve had to go through a lot of legal hoops and tests to prove the product.

"On top of that, you’ve got other technical issues like sorting the trademark, the website, distribution, the bottling and the barcode, which all takes time and money, but we’re really pleased at where we’ve got.

"It seems to be selling well and we’re getting a really positive response.”

Alistair is a former High Sheriff of Cumbria. Ex-Newton Rigg College student William has an extensive farming background including as Senior Sales Manager for Europe at John Deere tractors.

Will & Al’s Bloom! product is available in Penrith at Greenwheat Flowers & Fika in Brunswick Road, Another Weigh in Angel Lane, in Carlisle at Eden Golf Club and online at amazon.co.uk. They are looking for new stockists.