Jenns Farm

Our aim at Jenns is simple. We are a small market garden and campsite in North Devon. Community minded, sustainably focused, teaching a different way to grow.

We want to invite the local and wider community in whenever and wherever possible; be that through our Parent and Baby Harvest Mornings, our ‘Weeding Room’ Book Club, or our Community Compost Schemes.

Crowdfunder is making it 100% free for community and charity crowdfunding projects during the coronavirus crisis. The Covid-19 epidemic could affect millions of people in the next few weeks. With small businesses, and community projects taking a big hit during the current lockdown situation, we feel it’s even more important for us to be ready to help as soon as this crisis is over.

These are unprecedented times but together we are stronger, and the response is coming from communities across the country.

What have we done...

We have already made an excellent start. In just six months we have transformed our small 3-acre site into a functional market garden and teaching space and put in place some of the facilities needed for our campsite.

This hasn’t been easy, working alone through lockdown whilst being full-time dad for our little boy, but we have made a real dent in the to-do list.

Where possible we have sourced free, organic material, timber and seeds. We have had incredible support from local farmers and the community as well as other small businesses.

What are we doing…

Working with education providers such as Geographia.co.uk we want to be able to offer School ‘eco-experiences’ and host residential school trips. We also want to be able to host teachers, careers advisors and support staff for unique training and CPD sessions.

Our teams will bring together a wealth of experience in design, set-up, management and maintenance of school farms, community gardens and eco-spaces with the creation of strong cross-curricula teaching materials to provide a robust teaching framework, and a motivational experience!

What do we need…

But now we need your help! By pledging to help Jenns Farm go further and hopefully cross the finish line and be ready for the end of lockdown.

We need of a wide range (and multiples) of tools and equipment. We want to be able to showcase the most affective and innovative tools to run small-scale market gardens; both for our visiting helpers, and for students and younger children to be able to work with on the farm.

We also need larger machinery to facilitate the running of larger projects.

And finally, we need to build mobile washroom facilities such as composting toilets and showers.

Some of the companies we would wish to support and showcase:

https://www.johnnyseeds.com/tools-supplies/

Johnnyseeds.com is one of the best producers and suppliers of market-gardening tools. With innovative designs these tools are simple and affective and are able to be used with minimal guidance. Perfect for low environmental impact foodproduction, and for use with children!

With your support we would be able to purchase tools for use on the farm and for further distribution to schools, community gardens and food producing charities. We would use these tools to not only grow food on our site at Jenns, but also in the creation of future educational market gardens. 

https://www.tracmaster.co.uk/

The BCS two-wheel tractor is a game changer for market gardening. With its simple use and multiple attachments, large areas can be farmed and cultivated. This machine is smaller than a standard ride-on lawnmower and can function as a small tractor but is able to get in and out of pedestrian areas, making it perfect for working on school sites.

With the purchase of one of these machines and attachments we would be able to transform a much larger areas of Jenns toincrease food production. We would also be able to help other community projects do the same.

Mobile washroom facilities

As our campsite will not be a permanent fixture at Jenns, we want to be able to remove any sign of it when it’s not being used. This will limit the impact it has on the farm itself and the surrounding area and its flora and fauna.

To this end, we require mobile showers and toilets. These solar-heated showers and composting toilets will be on a trailer, utilising rainwater where possible. These facilities willbe designed and built at Jenns as there are no companies currently providing mobile eco-toilets and showers to this specification.