Info, news & debate
Smallholding
Starting a market garden: Q&A with Chris Smaje of Small Farm Future
Chris Smaje of Small Farm Future kindly agreed to share with us a recent blog post of his own about starting a market garden, drawing on his experiences at Vallis Veg, a small farm on the outskirts of Frome in Somerset with a veg box scheme and much more besides. Covering 13 questions collated from …
Opportunity to achieve a permaculture livelihood on a couple of acres on Devon/Cornwall border
Hi, I have a small piece of land (approx. 1.75 acres) with small barn on the Devon-Cornwall border that I would really like to make available to someone committed to creating a permaculture lifestyle.
In sight of Pendle Hill: a glimpse of life at Gazegill Farm
We’re delighted to introduce the first in a series of posts by photographer and researcher Walter Lewis of Feeding Body and Soul. He will be sharing a selection of stories from his journey exploring local sustainable food production in England and Wales, beginning with Gazegill Farm in Lancashire.
Groundswell: an agricultural show for no-till, organic farming with cover crops and grass-fed animals
A groundswell of farmers around the world are working out how to farm in a more ecologically-friendly way. One of the farmers leading the farming revolution in the UK is John Cherry, who has set up a 2-day conference on his farm in Hertfordshire, 28th and 29th of June.
Seeking a venue: course on how to create a One Planet Development
I am seeking venues around the country to run an exciting course that will help participants prepare for starting and living on a One Planet Development.
Ecological Land Co-op share offer extended after exceeding target: help us change the way land is owned in the UK
WOW! We’ve surpassed our initial maximum target of £340,000, and there are still FOUR days to go. Our new investors are helping us continue our work supporting small-scale, agro-ecological farming. Thank you!
Farm Hack : growing innovative open-source agriculture
In response to the pervasive reach of the global agro-industrial complex, growing numbers of farmers across the world are coming together as co-operative organisations to promote and protect small-scale organic food production and environmental stewardship. We take a look below at some of the groups promoting open source agriculture with farmer driven technologies, spearheaded by the …
Help the Ecological Land Co-operative to set up more smallholdings
You can join the Ecological Land Co-operative as an investor, by moving some money from your bank savings account (and receiving a better rate of interest). If you agree with the ELC’s principles, this would be extremely helpful.
How to stop slugs in your allotment or garden, naturally
Ludwig Appeltans shares his top tips on how to stop slugs naturally and keep your garden or allotment thriving – no slug pellets needed!
Smallholding with heart: advice about getting and running a smallholding from Janet Jenkins of Cuckoo Farm
Embarking on a new life in the countryside, away from the trappings of urban existence, is a dream increasingly common to many. This week we interviewed Janet Jenkins about her and her family’s smallholding journey, putting the heart back into the land at Cuckoo Farm.
Two things you can do to help stop the encroachment of GM crops into the UK
Glyphosate is the key ingredient in Monsanto’s ‘Roundup’, the product that farmers have to buy to apply to the genetically-modified crops that they’ve bought from Monsanto. Half of Monsanto’s profits come from Roundup sales.
New Ecological Land Co-op share offer launched: here’s a chance to help bring about change in land ownership in the UK, and receive 3% interest for your trouble!
Please share this as widely as you can. I’m on the board of the Ecological Land Co-op, and so I know how much hard work has gone into this – it’s an opportunity for people to shift their money to help change the nature of land ownership in the UK, and receive 3% interest for …
Very worthwhile and interesting job available with the Open Food Network
Are you interested in helping create food sovereignty in the UK? Would you like to help create food systems in which everyone has access to affordable, nutritious, culturally-appropriate food?
University meets WWOOF: An interview with student and WWOOFer Iona Desouza
Hours spent in the library? Check. Essay and assignment deadlines flooding in? Check. Tractor driving, wool spinning and weeding at weekends? Check!
Would you like to be a chef on an organic farm / cafe, with a small cottage available too?
Sinking into a bit of a depression about both the British and American situation this winter a wise friend kindly reminded me that these issues are merely a distraction from more important things in our everyday lives.
Why self-reliance is so important as part of a secure, low-impact life
I am Andy Reynolds, a long-term practitioner of low-impact living, smallholder, author, forester, teacher, carpenter, builder. I’ve been working with Lowimpact.org since the early noughties, and I’d like to share my philosophy on self-reliance with you.
Come and join us on our organic, off-grid smallholding in 2017
We are James and Sukamala, tenants at Wild Geese Acres, Greenham Reach, which is an off-grid, low-impact farming project established in north Devon by the Ecological Land Coop (ELC) – see website. http://ecologicalland.coop.
Can you help Barbara Jones and Straw Works set up a National Skills Centre?
Barbara Jones of Straw Works / School of Natural Building is the country’s top straw-bale builder. She is the author of Building with Straw Bales, and is the star of our straw-bale building online course.
Interested in setting up a local food co-op? Mobile shop for sale, with free training thrown in
We are a real food co-op in Dorset, and we have been delivering food via our trusty mobile shop, ‘the Charmouth Dragon’. We’re now taking the shop online with the good folks of Open Food Network UK
If ‘agroecology’ is such a good idea, how can we get the planning system to promote it?
The planning system doesn’t currently differentiate between different types of agriculture, and maybe it should. The type of agriculture we prefer could be labelled ‘agroecology’ – but the problem is how to define it and how to get the planning system to recognise it, let alone promote it.