Foods of the Forest

About me

After many years of taking the route along the conventional job route, the burnout, the sense this wasn’t me, the subsequent depression, lead me to follow my true beliefs & dreams.

Having dusted myself off  I’ve found my deep connection with nature & the environment over the last 3 years. That combined with a love of growing healthy produce & ways of working with nature has lead me to study, investigate & experiment in more natural, sustainable & diverse farming methods that work in harmony with & enhance the local environment.

My team...

At the moment it is just myself, my trusty border collie, my 6 sheep & 13 ducks & a huge helping hand from Mother Nature.
But this I’d love to change. I’d love the community to get involved, for the project to enable people to experience that connection with nature & the health & wellbeing benefits of tending the land & animals within it.

The idea....

It’s a little more than an idea. It’s something I’ve been working on since early this year. You’ll find several update posts on my Facebook & Instagram pages.
The concept is a step back in time. A project that utilises a native, predominantly hazel woodland, in which to establish a multi layered food growing system (agroforestry).

The project is mainly geared around growing a variety of fruit trees and fruit bushes and developing a mushroom growing business  

Where our project is different from some you will come across is that within the woodland we graze sheep & have ducks to manage the woodland & fertilise the soils for future growth  

It’s a very simple, sustainable, organic system that provides the animals with a wonderful life, free to forage & provides the growing side of the venture with onsite manure. Soil fertility & working with nature are at the heart of everything.

The produce that is grown, the eggs that the ducks lay, and the fleeces from sheep shearing are all sources of revenue.

Where I want to see this project progress is for it to become a community project with its aims to provide opportunities for others to get involved. From a personal point of view I know the benefits of being out in nature, gardening & being around animals. I’m very keen for this project to benefit others.

This isn’t just for the people or the animals. It’s also a way of farming whilst working with & encouraging nature. Nature is so precious & we want to play our part in demonstrating that farming doesn’t have to be a drain on the environment  

The money I am hoping to raise is to establish this as a community project, to obtain the necessary insurances & legislation to make this a reality.

Any additional monies will be used to invest in additional plants, that volunteers can plant, nurture & harvest the fruits ready for sale.

As a community project the profits would be reinvested back into the project to benefit the community.

I am passionate in my belief that this project will be a pioneering, diverse & sustainable organic farming system that actively works with & encourages nature & protects the local environment. It’ll be a project that gives other people the experiences to improve their wellbeing & benefits the local community in any way it possibly can.

If you have any questions, please do email me at [email protected] and I’d be delighted to answer any questions.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this. It means a lot