A project born in 2013..

Matt and Emm met on a year-long Sustainability and Permaculture course in Bristol, after which they embarked on a life changing journey. With eclectic backgrounds ranging from hospitality and small business to Chinese medicine, and, having never touched soil (before the Permaculture course), they dived straight in and bought a 26 acre plot of land on a sunny hillside in Somerset. Very inspired from the course, they went all out and in the first year planting 2000 native woodland trees plus 800 more for coppicing, 140 heirloom apple trees, building poly-tunnels and set up a micro-market garden supplying local businesses and friends.

Matt and Emm wanted to inspire, be inspired, educate and be educated around low impact lifestyles and so quickly started to host volunteers from around the world (Wwoof and Workaway). Some volunteers stayed for 2 weeks while others stayed for a whole season. To date they have hosted around 70 people, all who had a part to play in the progress made on the holding. Some of the volunteers went away and completely changed their lives, becoming market gardeners, small holders and natural builders.

Matt and Emm (along with their 2 children and rescue dog) continue to try to live a lower impact lifestyle. The farmhouse which they built, is off-grid and much of the energy is sourced from solar and wood from the land. As life changes, twists and turns, Matt and Emm continue to explore new ideas around diversification, holistic management and regenerative farming.