“It’s very cutting edge; very leading”
(The Barbara Sturgeon Show, BBC Radio Kent, 14th April 2003)
“Lady Sondes seems an unlikely spokesperson…. but it is her particular style, coupled with an impressive knowledge of a complex subject, that may be the key to alerting a wider audience to her message.”
(Country Life, 24th April 2003)
“She has managed to engineer this unlikely union between an English farm-based business and the sophisticated world of American marketing.”
(Country Life, 24th April 2003)
“To survive you’ve got to diversify. When it comes to that, there’s one woman who’s head and shoulders above the rest”
(BBC 1, Inside Out, 19th May 2003)
“You don’t find many Countesses prepared to get their hands dirty, but this is farming twenty first century style”
(BBC1, Inside Out, 19th May 2003)
“Lady Sondes has taken a lead in British Farming”
(The Guardian, 25th July 2003)
“Strange plants, dismissed by some as kerbside weeds, are emerging as a valuable commodity on the Lees Court Estate… as a new aristocracy begins to tap the market for non-food crops.”
(The Guardian, 25th July 2003)
“There aren’t many other estates like this in Britain” (BBC Radio 4 – ‘On Your Farm’, 27th July 2003)
“[The Countess] is succeeding where a lot of estate owners are failing, so I wonder if [she is] the new model of the English aristocracy, is [The Countess] the aristocratic land owner for the next century?”
(BBC Radio 4 – ‘On your Farm’, 27th July 2003)
“The blossoming fields of flowers have been harnessed into the sweet smell of success by [this] Kent Countess”
(BBC South-East Today, 28th July 2003)
“The grain is being used in a highly unusual way: a revolutionary process is used to produce oil.”
(South-East Farmer, September 2003)
“[re: the East Kent Ploughing Match] This year many are hoping that the Lees Court Estate may provide something extra as a model for farming in the future.”
(The Barbara Sturgeon Show, BBC Radio Kent, 29th September 2003)
“A South-East landowner has become a nationwide pioneer in what’s being seen as a farming revolution.”
(BBC South-East Today, 1st October 2003)
“We’re at the beginning of a new era of farming. The Lees Court Estate is pioneering some of the latest diverse and environmentally friendly methods.”
(BBC Radio Kent, 2nd October 2003)
“It’s what’s in the box that makes “out-of-the-box” diversification on an English estate so unique”
(Crops, 4th October 2003)
“The [East Kent Ploughing Match] provided visitors with a look behind the scenes of one of the most forward thinking farms.”
(The KM Group, 9th October 2003)
“You get the impression of a woman with exacting standards and a determination to succeed…. It’s not surprising that she’s opted for a very different “farm” enterprise”
(Farmers Weekly, 17th October 2003)
“One farmer who has recently made headlines by using lateral thinking was Countess Sondes”
(Business Works, November 2003)
“Lees Court Estate… is notable for its forward thinking and cutting edge approach to farming”
(Kent Profile, December 2003/January 2004)
“Lady Sondes has masterminded a radical re-think of agricultural ideas”
(Kent Messenger Group, April 15th 2004)
“The 700 year old estate now sports new crops, new country colours and new customers”
(Kent Messenger Group, April 15th 2004)
“Her aims are to keep the estate going, by trying new crops alongside the traditional ones, but also to spread the word, to explain how and why an estate works to an increasingly urban population.”
(Kentish Express, 15th April 2004)
“Countess Sondes’ view is holistic: The Game Conservancy, and interrelationship of arable and non-food crops and Seeds each bring something to the estate, yet the whole is more than the sum of the parts.”
(Kent Life, July 2004)
“It is pleasing to see that Lady Sondes’ concern for the countryside is contributing to maintaining a way of life and interesting to see how the diversification into new crops, a challenge for a lady left alone and with no training in farming, has opened new vistas in Kentish farming.”
(Kent Life, July 2004)
“Lady Sondes … has become one of Britain's foremost advocates of non-food crops.”
(Daily Telegraph, 5 August 2004)
“…the diversification elements and non-food crops for which Countess Sondes is a superb advocate.”
(British Farmer and Grower, August 2004)
“…we learnt enough to appreciate the Estate’s position at the forefront of cropping technology.”
(British Farmer and Grower, August 2004)
“A new non-food project implemented on the Lees Court Estate, Kent, home of the Countess Sondes, is providing a runaway success”
(Town & Country Properties, Autumn/ Winter 2004)
“Lees Court Estate, Kent, … is being developed as a model of sustainable agriculture at the forefront of non-food crops research and production.”
(Fortune Magazine (European Edition), 6th- 13th September 2004)
“… this singular lady of the manor threw herself into transforming the 4,500-acre Lees Court Estate into a model farm for the 21st century”.
(YOU Magazine, The Mail on Sunday, 19th September 2004)
“The widow of the late swashbuckling Earl Sondes is quietly revolutionizing British farming as part of an ongoing romance”.
(YOU Magazine, The Mail on Sunday, 19th September 2004)
“Determined to keep the land that her husband so loved, but mindful of the crisis in British farming, she [The Countess] began to think of alternative ways to secure its [Lees Court Estate] future. Her solution was ingenious: she pioneered the cultivation of non-food crops, such as hemp, calendula and echium for use in industry, pharmaceuticals, neutraceuticals, personal care products and bio-fuels.”
(The Lady, 28 September – 4 October 2004)
“I thought of her life as a modern day fairy tale…I could see it had all the necessary ingredients.”
(The Lady, 28 September – 4 October 2004)
“But she has triumphed over adversity and emerged as a strong businesswoman on the cutting edge of an amazing rural revolution.”
(Faversham Times, 8 December 2004)
“A rural revolution is taking place right under our noses. In the Swale countryside, pioneering new farming methods are being put to use that look certain to change the face of agriculture the world over”
Faversham Times, 8 December 2004)
“Sometimes it takes someone from outside to see the potential in something that others might simply have taken for granted.”
(Farm Life, March 2005)
“England’s newest oil fields…an American woman who’s transforming her Kent Estate”
(Farm Life, March 2005)
“Rather than selling up and tottering back to Park Avenue in her stilettos, Phyllis has thrown herself into transforming the 13th-century estate into a model 21st-century farm.”
(Daily Mail, 22 March 2005)
“The Countess is an ambassador for the growing non-food crop sector.”
(Farm Business, March 2005)
“… the dowager Countess Sondes, following the sad early death of her husband, has devoted herself to managing the estate farms, and pioneering several new non-food crops, which may well be the key to the future of farming in much of Britain.”
(Kent Life, March 2005)
“… the Countess is helping to transform her corner of the Garden of England”
(CLA South EAST, Summer 2005)
“The latest skin-care for the smart set on both sides of the Atlantic is down to lotions made from milling wheat grown on the Lees Court Estate in Kent”
(CLA South EAST, Summer 2005)
“Who knows, we may be seeing a new agricultural revolution led by the most innovative country landowners.”
(Kent Life, July 2005)
“… perhaps this is the future of farming in Britain”
(Kent on Sunday, 24 July 2005)
“One pioneer of alternative crops in Kent is Countess Sondes, who farms the 4,500-acre Lees Court Estate, near Faversham.”
(Kent on Sunday, 24 July 2005)
“Lees Court, one of the oldest estates in England, is home to one of the newest trends in farming.” (The Financial Times, 26 August 2005)
“Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, leader of the county council, was persuaded to push for the (United Nations) centre after discussions with The Countess Sondes, steward of the 700-year-old Lees Court Estate in Kent and a longtime champion of non-food crops.” (The Daily Telegraph, 26 September 2005)
“The Countess Sondes has been the driving force behind the plans to bring the (United Nations) Centre to Kent.” (ITV Meridian, 28 October 2005)
“A major new development in this part of Kent, which throughout history been in the vanguard of England’s agriculture, is the collaboration being worked on between the Lees Court Estate and the United Nations… to introduce non-food crops to the developing world. In this is the chance of a revolution in agriculture worldwide.” (The North Downs by Peter Brandon, Chpt. 24, December 2005)
“The 700 year old Lees Court Estate, an hour South of London, is the traditional home of a very untraditional aristocrat. American born Countess Sondes is a farmer who’s championing the latest trend in agriculture… non-food crops” (CNN, January 2006)
"An exotic feature of the scheme is an international centre... This is the brainchild of The Countess Sondes". (The Sunday Times, 28th May 2006)
"One gets the impression that The Countess Sondes will take some stopping...jetting back and forth to New York to meet representatives from the United Nations to discuss the importance of non-food crops as money spinners for developing countries". (Evening Standard Magazine, 7th July 2006)
"...her work on the 700 year old Lees Court Estate has led her to be recognised as one of the country's strongest champions for the use of non-food crops in agriculture and industry". (Kent on Sunday, 19th June 2006)
"At the moment, this (International Non-Food Crops Centre) is the work in progress, but it may well play a significant part in the future development of farming and fuel globally" (Shooting Gazette, August 2006)
