As the walrus once famously remarked to the carpenter, the time has come to talk of many things: cabbages, kings - and daffodils, to be precise.

Entering Fentongollan Farm is indeed like stepping into another world that could have been created by author Lewis Carroll. Nestled away on the outskirts of the deceptively quiet hamlet of St Michael Penkivel, in Cornwall, is a bustling farm industry that not only farms traditional cereals and livestock - primarily autumn lambing Dorset sheep - but enjoys a roaring trade in brassica seedling sales and daffodil bulbs.

The farm has been in the Hosking family since 1883, but it is under the latest generation that business has flourished. Brothers James and Jeremy took control in the mid-1980s, after both studying agriculture at the prestigious Seale Hayne college in Devon. Since then acreage at the farm has increased from 365 acres to 1,800 acres, distributed across the county.

James, 45, said: "We decided we wanted to expand the farm in a way that didn't rely on subsidies. Dad has always been a diversifier by nature but 20 years ago, when we came back, we really pushed the diversification."

Something must have worked because the pair have just taken receipt of two national awards at a ceremony at the House of Commons in London. Collecting the awards on behalf of the two brothers was James, who received the title of Progressive Farmer of the Year and was then astonished when the business was granted runner-up overall Farm Business of the Year at the Farm Business Magazine's Food and Farming Industry Awards.

"We were extremely pleased to win Progressive Farmer of the Year, but then amazed to get runner up in Farm Business of the Year. I think what really caught the eye of the judges was the fact we started the business years ago. We're a mature diversification business, rather than people now who are starting off. The current watchword is diversification, to try and survive. But when we saw the calibre of the other businesses in the room we were just absolutely amazed," said James.

The breakthrough came with technological advances in the production of plant seedlings. Up until the middle of 1995 seedlings were developed using a "bare root" technique, which was accessible to many farmers. However, this all changed with the introduction of module growing, which meant plants had to be developed in controlled conditions.

This has allowed the brothers to corner the Cornish market and they now provide around 80 per cent of brassica seedlings - concentrating on cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and leek - for growers in the county.

Add to that the cereals, livestock and a hugely popular daffodil bulb business - covering 170 acres with 300 different varieties - and it becomes clear why they enjoy such success.

In addition to bulbs, boxes of fresh flowers are also available via their growing mail order business, which is tied in with cancer charity Marie Curie, who receives a percentage of all sales in return for promotion.

A sideline project has been the development of eucalyptus essential oil, which is produced in partnership with their neighbours, Tregothnan Estate, under the heading of Cornish Essential Oils. Their talents in diversification also won them the Royal Agricultural Society's award for excellence in practical farming.

Jeremy, 43, summed up the diversification process, saying: "I think we're both farmers at heart but this allows us to farm."

With such major awards under their belts, the Hosking brothers really are "kings" of their trade.