John Letts, Continuous No-Input Cereal Cropping with Heritage Grains Beginning on his small farm in Oxfordshire, and now covering a total area of 1500 acres and still expanding, John Letts has achieved something that even organic experts have labelled ‘impossible’: growing cereals continuously in a stockless, organic system in the same field. In fact, John …
Visiting the Orkney archipelago for the first time, it is striking how the landscape is almost completely dominated by livestock with some patches of cereal crops here and there. Yet, tucked in amongst all of this, on the island of Westray lies Thorncroft which immediately stands apart from (and to a certain extent, towers above) its surroundings on first sight.
The importance of Tolhurst Organic in the world of stockfree farming is immense – a living example of a thriving farm business set in just under 20 acres in Oxfordshire, using absolutely no animal inputs and producing a vast array of vegetables and fruits for a local customer base.
Gina Bates, Highland Veganics Bordering on the banks of the beautiful Oykel River, in the heart of Sutherland’s sheep country, Gina Bates is creating the first plant-protein croft in the Scottish Highlands! At the start of February, 2020, Gina and a crew of volunteers began planting an orchard of 312 hazelnut trees on her 80 …
An interview with Laurence Candy of Northwood Farm
Death informs our relationship to life. Between 2017 and 2019, Laurence Candy of Northwood Farm in Dorset experienced numerous catastrophic events. It began by the loss of almost the entire dairy herd to bovine tuberculosis. Life-threatening family illnesses followed, and then the tragic loss of his brother-in-law.
The Artisan Grower Michelle and Robert Sullivan and family had no experience in growing when they decided to rent one acre of farmland near Insch, Aberdeenshire. In fact, Robert, a former business director in telecommunications, confesses that he had an “extreme dislike of mud”! However, a desire to be sustainable and live the agrarian lifestyle …
For roughly 25 years now, Joost van Strien has run his 90-hectare vegetable farm, Zonnegoed, organically and just last year he took it a step further, obtaining the Biocyclic Vegan Standard. Farming by this standard means that Joost manages Zonnegoed without any animal-based inputs (e.g. manure and slaughterhouse waste products), nor with any synthetic fertilisers or agrichemicals.
Upon moving to Romania in 2004, Christian Hani and his family established Bio-Farmland, an 800-hectare family farm that specialises in growing several different cereal varieties. At the start of 2021, Bio-Farmland became certified with the Biocyclic Vegan Standard, making them one of only a few cereal farms in the world right now to be run using stock-free/veganic methods.
Green Grow Food Green Grow is a project created by Aurora Sustainability located in Forres, Moray. Aurora Sustainability is a circular economy business – meaning that they reuse waste from other businesses to create their sustainably grown product, recycling-on any waste that they themselves may generate. The circular, or regenerative approach, is in contrast to …
Crate to Plate Grow Veggies Anywhere! If you think you can’t grow veggies in your part of Scotland, think again! Former investment banker, Sebastian Sainsbury, founded Crate to Plate – a company growing greens in hydroponic towers in shipping containers. Spinach, kale, lettuce greens, herbs and microgreens are amongst the produce they are selling both …