Ethos of the farm



General view on a Saturday morning
All photos in this blog by Wayne Landen



 Stakeholders commit to a minimum of 10 hours work per month, in return for approximately 1% of the total produce sold, at roughly 1/3 of shop prices. A stakeholder can be an individual, a couple, a family or two friends. To become a stakeholder costs £10 for a year’s membership.



Planting directly into the soil

This is a Community project, which means everyone is expected to work together in sympathy with each other, in order to build a strong and self-supportive community. We work as a co-operative i.e. in a very positive relationship with each other. A community effort has to have trust, and a certain amount of compromise, as fundamental components. 

Weeding

We do not seek to make a profit, and no-one gets paid for any work on the project.



Hoeing and watering

 We do not sell food to anyone other than stakeholders unless we have a glut which we cannot otherwise shift, but by growing a wide range we hope to avoid large excesses of any particular crop. All produce is shared fairly amongst stakeholders requiring it so sometimes if a particular crop is in short supply, rationing is applied.

 

Keeping everything well organised

We ask that each stakeholder spends a minimum of 10 hours a month cultivating their two vegetable plots, or fruit, along with the team that they have been allocated to. We like members to work together whenever possible as this helps to build community, although stakeholders may attend the farm at any time that suits them. We say: please keep in touch with your Team Leader, check with them what needs doing if you are going when they are not there, and also let them know if you can’t attend for a period of time for any reason.

 



Working between the bean rows

“Work” includes digging, removing stones, weeding, sowing seed and growing on young plants until they are ready to be put out on the plots, planting, harvesting, preparing food for sale and maintaining the adjacent paths. There are many opportunities for stakeholders to contribute to other parts of the community farm project, for example, by becoming responsible for a particular aspect of the project such as publicity or the website etc, as well as becoming a team leader or just by helping around the site, for example, by repairing a fence line or helping another team with an onerous activity. 

 

!0 hours of work per stakeholder produces good results