鈥淚t was genuinely magical right from the start,鈥� Mike says of his GBBO (Great British Bake Off) experience over a cup of tea and a slice of his amazingly good Victoria sponge.
鈥淭he first time I went into the tent was just completely surreal. I felt like Dorothy arriving in Oz because it鈥檚 just this magical wonderland of a place.鈥�
A fourth-generation farmer who farms in partnership with his mum, dad and sister in Wiltshire, Mike has been baking for as long as he can remember.
鈥淢y mum used to bake with us when we were little. We always had a tradition in our house to make birthday cakes 鈥� it would never have even crossed my mind that a birthday cake wouldn鈥檛 be homemade. That鈥檚 just how it was.
鈥淲e used to get really excited about helping Mum bake and I always remember my nan baking loads of desserts and puddings for family gatherings.
鈥淪he鈥檇 have her big white plastic mixing bowls out and that feeling of just being in the kitchen and baking, it鈥檚 nostalgic for me.鈥�
Food brings people together
In addition to his role as farm manager for CP Farming in Malmesbury, Mike says he has always had a passion for cooking, and baking in particular.
鈥淚鈥檝e always loved it and what it brings and enables. It鈥檚 always been a comfort to me and just the process of baking, I find really relaxing. I鈥檓 not very good at de-stressing in the sense that if I鈥檓 not doing something, I quite often feel even more stressed, so I really like doing things that feel proactive but are not necessarily productive. Things like baking or gardening, that kind of thing.
鈥�Food brings families and people together and you can have conversations around a table while you鈥檙e eating in a way that you just don鈥檛 any other time.鈥�
NFU member Mike Wilkins
鈥淎lthough Bake Off was not exactly relaxing! It鈥檚 the most taxing thing I鈥檝e ever done. I need to get it back in my head that not everything I bake has to be perfect because I鈥檓 not a spectacular, amazing patissier or baker. I鈥檓 just a very ordinary at-home passionate baker.
鈥淚 have as many failures as I do successes but now it kind of feels like there鈥檚 a pressure that if I鈥檓 making a birthday cake for a friend or taking something somewhere, it鈥檚 got to look that little bit extra special. But actually, for me, that鈥檚 not the point of baking.
鈥淭he point of baking is to throw something together. It鈥檚 just wholesome, tasty stuff that you can throw in an old biscuit tin which you can get out when friends come over for tea or coffee.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e making food for somebody, no matter what it might be, it鈥檚 with love, isn鈥檛 it? My fellow contestant Illiyin said on Bake Off that food is her love language and that just sums it up so perfectly. I just love baking and cooking.
鈥淭he thing that brings me more joy than anything else in the world is having a massive Sunday roast. Every time I go with my fianc茅 Matt to see his family, I鈥檒l cook a roast in his mum鈥檚 kitchen and that just makes me so happy.
鈥淛ust everyone sitting around the table and enjoying an amazing meal. It鈥檚 such a point of togetherness and is a moment when everyone can just sit down.
鈥淔ood brings families and people together and you can have conversations around a table while you鈥檙e eating in a way that you just don鈥檛 any other time. I just think it鈥檚 very special.鈥�
Sourcing local
123361,123362,123360
Another thing Mike feels is very special, is the importance of using British ingredients in all, or as much as possible, of his bakes and cooking.
鈥淚 felt a huge pressure and privilege to be the first farmer to ever go on Bake Off. It鈥檚 absurd to me that there never has been one before. It鈥檚 shocking the amount of people that don鈥檛 put baking and farming together.
鈥淎t the very core of baking is what we, as farmers, produce 鈥� flour, sugar, butter, and eggs. All of those raw ingredients come directly off of farms. They鈥檙e all very short processing lines from leaving a farm to being in a kitchen.
鈥淭here鈥檚 such a disconnect with food nowadays that there鈥檚 not that many examples of things that people can really trace back the origins of local or British food. The components of baking are a great example of this but people don鈥檛 really think about it.
鈥淎ny farmhouse kitchen anywhere in the country will have that biscuit tin with half a cake in or some biscuits or something. Baking and farming are so intrinsically linked, culturally and societally and it is because we produce these ingredients.
鈥淚t is so important to educate people that this is where their food comes from and to help them join the dots, especially as an increasing number of people are becoming more interested in eating sustainably. We need to tell the stories of these local supply chains and explain why sourcing food locally is so important.
"The best way to eat sustainably is to eat locally and seasonally.
鈥淭o have had the opportunity to attempt to showcase that as a farmer on Bake Off was amazing; it was really special. It was the whole foundation of my entire application. I wanted everything I used in the tent to be not only British, but local because it鈥檚 not spoken about enough.鈥�
Breed preservation
Mike hopes to continue educating the public about the importance of sourcing locally in the coming years, with plans to develop a farm shop and caf茅.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always been a dream of mine and my sister Chloe鈥檚. For around the past 15 years or so, this is what we have wanted to do.
鈥淲e鈥檝e always been predominantly arable but at the beginning of Covid my sister brought livestock back to the farm and now we have quite the menagerie of rare breeds.鈥�
This includes Oxford black pigs 鈥� which is a full-circle moment for Mike whose nan used to rear pigs on her farm 鈥� British white cattle, Herefords, Wiltshire horn sheep, and Exlana sheep.
鈥淲e all, but Chloe especially, feel very passionately about breed preservation and working with rare and native breeds is another way to really tell the story of food and where it comes from.
鈥淲e already have a Click & Collect online farm shop from which we sell all of the meat at the moment but we want to build on that to bring our passion for local sustainable produce really to life because we have a huge volume coming direct from the farm.鈥�
Wedding cake and farm flowers
Wider plans include working with other local farmers to offer milk and veg in the shop and even to grind their own flour on farm.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got a network of people in the area we鈥檇 love to work with. We鈥檝e already proved it works logistically so now we just need to take the step to make it work financially,鈥� Mike says.
But first, is the small matter of getting married. With the date set, Mike is preparing to bake his own wedding cake and desserts and to grow his own flowers on farm.
鈥�I felt a huge pressure and privilege to be the first farmer to ever go on Bake Off.鈥�
NFU member Mike Wilkins
鈥淭he current plan for the cake is four tiers. Starting at the base with a traditional fruit cake, then the chocolate cake that I did for Bake Off, followed by a coffee cake and on top will be a gluten-free lemon cake, which will be based on the recipe that I made for Bake Off.鈥�
The plan is to then decorate the masterpiece with fresh tulip petals. 鈥淚鈥檝e got about 6,500 tulip bulbs that I planted over Christmas to create a meadow for the wedding,鈥� Mike says. 鈥淭hat will, hopefully, keep going for years to come and give us plenty of flowers to cut as we鈥檙e planning to have pots and pots of tulips and mortar troughs.
"We went to a farm sale recently and bought 27 water troughs! Mom was pleased as they鈥檒l go out to the livestock fields post-wedding.鈥�
Food for the soul
As the bulbs work their magic under the soil, Mike says that during the winter months 鈥� which can be so tough for many 鈥� he likes to garden where able, but cooking and baking are, unsurprisingly, the main things which bring him joy.
鈥淲hen I get home late, or when it鈥檚 dark out, I quite often struggle to switch off. I can鈥檛 lie down as my brain is still going 100mph after a day鈥檚 work which makes me feel anxious and stressed.鈥�
To help deal with this, Mike will go into the kitchen or try to find something to do that is methodical.
鈥淚 find this helps me to unravel everything that鈥檚 going on in my head. Listening to a podcast or an audiobook helps me go to bed feeling calmer, as does reaching out to my friends and family or colleagues.
鈥淚t can be tough sometimes. Going through a period like this autumn or the year before when everything鈥檚 going wrong and it just keeps raining, it鈥檚 hard. You can鈥檛 do anything, and you鈥檙e just walking the fields every day just watching the crops die. It鈥檚 really, really not good for your sanity and for your mental health. Having people be at the end of the phone or even better if you can, to see in person is just so helpful to take you out of that environment and headspace.
鈥淪ometimes, all you need to give you a boost is to just invite someone over, or go to them, have a chat and have something good to eat. That鈥檚 something that I just find very therapeutic.鈥�
