Crowdfunding at a 'go big or go home' moment in this little farm's story. Off-Grid Organics moves into it's second full season and grows into the huge opportunity this project presents, for both the community it serves and for my own future living on and working this land.
I've achieved a lot with very little since Off-Grid Organics was born, but in order for it to reach its full potential, I need a little of your help to increase our growing capacity and really get this little farm firing on all cylinders!
With your support
With this injection of funds you'll be helping us to
- Increase our growing spaces, helping us to fence and protect new veg growing areas, to buy compost and feed the wonderful gang of volunteers who help wheelbarrow the 30 tonnes of this worm filled goodness that will form the basis of our extended no dig market garden over the next year or two.
- To go towards the construction of a desperately needed pack house and space for our volunteers to work.
- To create Off-Grid solutions to the winter storage of crops such as onions, potatoes and squash
- To invest in better irrigation systems for collected rainwater
- And finally there are a few tools in particular that would help our very tiny team in being more efficient with our use of time
Meet your local FarmHer and the story of Off-Grid Organics so far...
For those of you that don't know me, I'm Cam, your local farmHer and the heart behind Off-Grid Organics; A 4.5 acre site with an expanding no dig, organic certified market garden, growing and supplying seasonal, unadulterated, real food for our local community and donating to local food resilience projects. And as far as I'm aware the ONLY solo female led Organic food growing business in our corner of the world.
But just two short years ago this was all just a dream (and a business plan)...
And my what a whirlwind these past two years here have been! In Spring 2023 I emptied my piggy bank to buy (via the ecological Land Cooperative-an organisation that exists to bridge the gap between access to land and those who long to farm ecologically) this small parcel of completely bare, unloved land on the Somerset/Dorset border. I hitched up my caravan, moved into that empty field and have since worked tirelessly to turn it into a productive food growing enterprise with my own fair hands. This has included, installing a solar system to power my off-grid site, plumbing a water supply and setting up a rainwater harvesting system, erecting polytunnels, creating more than 1km of permanent veg beds, digging a wildlife pond, employing a flock of Indian runner ducks as part of our organic pest management plan, planting hundreds of trees and new hedgerow, creating a fruit orchard, welcoming bees to land to aid crop pollination and not forgetting the best thing of all that I've grown during that time, my daughter! Yup that's right-I've been either pregnant or navigating the newness of being a single mum for the majority of my first two years of farming and of being a new business owner. And yes I have been called both brave and slightly stupid!
Off-Grid Organics was born out of a belief that we don't need to be wildly wealthy or highly trained horticulturalists in order to live closer to the land and it continues to grow on my passion and unwavering commitment to creating the kind of food sovereignty and access to nutrient dense produce I believe we all deserve. I'm immensely proud of what I've achieved here so far. From that bare field to a small scale food producer respected within its field (pun intended!) to feeding our local community through a sold out Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) 'veg box scheme' and supplying a number of highly regarded chefs/restaurants as well as several of our nearby farm shops.
"Every Friday feels like Christmas as we eagerly await the 'veggie box'. Everything is fresh and tasty and no plastic in sight. A huge well done!"
-Ira, CSA veg box member
Up to now it'd be fair to say this has all been achieved very much on a 'shoestring'. Every part of the project bears the marks of my wonderful family and friends, volunteers and supporters, donations of time and resources, reclaimed materials and low cost innovation. But it is now, in this moment, more than ever that little farm needs a little of your help in order to increase production, to meet our local demand and the business goals on which it's permeance here depends.
A little farm with big ambition
When I dreamt of Off-Grid Organics, I was dreaming of realizing a food and land use system where everybody in our community can access, local, healthy food for their families from a farm they can trust.
I was dreaming of creating an example of how small scale ecological farming can be viable in todays economy. And two years on, I am proud to have become part of a growing number of producers demonstrating an alternative to the current unsustainable, global food system and proving that a thriving, equitable local food network can feed it’s population in a way that is healthier for us and for our environment.
We need only cast our minds back to the pandemic, to a moment we witnessed first hand the vital role our small, customer-facing farms can play. Where the crises of our times converge- the importance in regaining the place of small scale agriculture back at the heart of our communities.
Through our CSA we are empowering people with the knowledge of exactly how and where the food we eat and choose to feed our families is produced. A rarity in todays global market . The world's food system needs to change...one small farm at a time.
"It's about so much more than just buying food"
-Robine, CSA veg box member and regular volunteer
So, if you are local, then this is directly for you. If you are reading this from a little farther afield, then this is not only about supporting my little farm here in Somerset, but in supporting a movement towards a better, kinder, more resilient, more autonomous food system. And if you know me personally, then you know that you are also helping me turn all my wildest dreams into reality.
Off-Grid Organics, has a proven model and a clear and immediate need to expand. Whilst it has an engaged community and the support of partner organisations within the industry such as the Ecological Land Cooperative, CSA Network, Organic Growers Gathering, Soil Association, it was not founded on loads of capital and I'm hoping that's where you can help.
"It's easy to talk about food systems. It's another thing to see it, to feel it in action. We need more of this. And we should be championing the people doing it"
-Sophie, volunteer
Thank you in advance, I look forward to welcoming you into becoming an important part of this little farm's story x
Learn more at www.offgridorganics.co.uk