VON The Road: 2021 Summer Tour

VON The Road: Summer Tour 2020

By Cherry Chung

In July 2020, the VON crew aka Dan, Cherry and Izaak hit the open road to visit some UK veganic projects.

The objective was to get an overview of the different approaches used, and to record some footage, so as soon as lockdown ended we headed out of Manchester to our first stop, Tree of Life Veganics near Canterbury, where we were welcomed by Jo and Terry Kidd, and their daughter Rosa.

They have established their farm based on agroforestry, they have planted fruit and nut trees, and their aim is to be carbon negative, free of concrete and single-use plastics. Their site is off grid and they combine self sufficiency with community outreach and partnerships, one of example of this is the collaboration with a local bakery, Wild Bread, who make sourdough bread with the heritage wheat variety which they grow. We camped up in their newly planted orchard, which was buzzing with insect life. It’s a great location for the converted truck, beautifully kitted out to provide accommodation for visitors, and which Pavon, a volunteer from Bangladesh, was staying in.

The next day we headed down the road to Rufford Farm, a 50 acre veganic arable farm near Hastings, which is run by John and Denise Berry. They grow wheat, soya and lentils, which they have sold to Hodmedods, a company who supply pulses, grains and flour from British farmers. Their fields are bordered by deciduous woodland, which is home to plenty of wildlife including tawny owls, which we didn’t see although we did find their feathers. The abundance of birds and insects was something that was markedly common to all of the projects we visited, and none more so than at our next destination.

After a night’s camping on Denise and John’s farm, we had lunch with together and bid them goodbye, to head out to Tolhurst Organic Farm, located on the Hardwick Estate in south Oxfordshire, between the Chilterns and the river Thames. The farm is made up of 17 acres over two main fields, and 2 acres within a 500 year old walled garden. Iain Tolhurst has been Stockfree (veganic) since 2004. They supply a wide range of organic fruit and vegetables through a box scheme, their own farm shop, and at local markets. Iain took us on a fascinating tour of the farm, it was impressive and highly inspiring to see how he has developed techniques which enable him to grow commercially: integrating different methods of rotation and using green manures, together with actively providing habitats for wildlife. These are an important part of the whole system, and we saw how areas of beetle banks - strips of land planted up to provide habitat for beetles – were used amongst the crops. The beetles feed on pest species, so that crop damage is practically non-existent. Above the land, buzzards wheeled about, attracted by the small mammals which are part of the rich ecosystem that the farm provides. George Monbiot was also on the tour researching veganic farming methods, and he did a short interview for us whilst he was there. This, and a video from the tour with Iain, plus footage from the other places we visited will be on Vegan Organic Network’s YouTube channel later on this year. The film of Tolly’s farm will be streaming live Thursday 3rd June at 7pm – visit www.veganorganic.net for more info. We stayed for the night at Tolly’s and the next day packed the van up once again for the next leg of the trip: a visit to Shumei Natural Agriculture, a 5 acre site near Yatesbury, run by Shinya and his co-workers.

The Shumei site is uniquely run on principles of natural agriculture – observing which crops suit the land and soil. Seeds are saved and no fertilisers are used. Shinya and his colleagues gave us a tour of the farm, where they have four poly tunnels and beds, all managed on continuous cropping and no dig methods. Many of the crops we saw were grown from seeds many generations old. The methodology is based on the premise that healthy seed is yielded from plants which are adapted to the soil and conditions in which they have been grown, and that year on year, the crop becomes progressively more vigorous and sustainable. Another important aspect of Shumei’s Natural Agriculture is to approach the land and the whole growing process with gratitude and care. In the middle of their site, they have planted a beautiful formation of lavender and other ornamental plants, spelling out a message of ‘WORLD PEACE’.

We stayed for the night with Shinya, and the next day left for Cornwall, with a generous boxful of freshly picked produce, to head to Willow Way near Newquay, where Jon Dale and his partner Jules Horner have recently bought a beautiful 5 acre plot composed of gently sloping field, with a tract of woodland and a stream at the bottom of it. Jon and Jules only began work on the land in 2020. They decided to let the land rest, and wait to see what might come up from the seed bank in the soil. The field was high with grasses and wild flowers, and teeming with insect life. When dusk came we were treated to a sighting of a barn owl skimming low over the land, looking for prey. They plan to grow food for themselves, plant a herbal medicine wheel, and to be as self-sufficient as far as possible - if their allotment is anything to go by it’s going to be bountiful indeed! Both Jon and Jules are experienced foragers, Jules is also highly knowledgeable in Ayurvedic practices, and ultimately they plan to run workshops from the land.

From Willow Way, we travelled to Chyan Community Farm near Falmouth. Chyan was established more than 25 years ago, and is run by Brett and Stephanie Jackson. They have apple orchards, and produce a variety of juices and cider vinegar. The site is well set up for visitors and has a large camping field and a bunk house, and their own wind turbine provides all the electricity needed to run the site, its hot showers and indoor spaces. They have a pool for swimming fed by a natural spring, and their barn and 200-seater geodesic dome provides space for workshops and events.

Chyan regularly hold circus and yoga workshops, and are generously hosting Vegan Organic Fest 2021 in mid August – see our website for details! If you are local you may also be interested in the 2-year Veganic Growing Course BTEC Levels 1 and 2, which Chyan are running.

Our next destination was Plants For a Future, run by Addy and Ken Fern, near Lerryn, where they have a 28 acre site. They acquired the land as bare fields in 1989, and today it is a rich and diverse mixture of woodland, and lush apple orchard, all intermixed with edible tree species and herbaceous perennials. Ken Fern is the author of ‘Plants For a Future – Edible and Useful Plants For a Healthier World’, a uniquely valuable and comprehensive collation of his experiments and research into edible and other useful plants, and many of the species listed are growing on the land. Addy took us on several foraging walks around different of areas of the land, the project is run on the principles of forest gardening, and it was eye opening to realise how many of the plants in our gardens which are presumed to be only ornamental, have nutritional, medicinal or other useful properties sometimes in their leaves and roots, as well as their in their seeds and fruits. We ate rosehips and picked fresh Szechuan peppercorns, tried fresh bamboo shoots, and had sweet cicely in our green salad. We tasted many things we recognised, and many more we didn’t, and our visit left me wanting to return to learn a lot more from Addy and Ken. They have regular work opportunities for volunteers and space for people to stay.

We stayed for a few nights at Plants For a Future, enjoying the quiet, and taking some time out to get to the beach and explore the local area, before packing up the van once again for the next stop on our tour to visit Elaine and Jim at their site, The Naturally Vegan Plot. They have 2 acres in the grounds of the Last Chance Hotel Animal Sanctuary and Wildlife Rescue, and it’s packed with a fantastic array of trees and edible annuals and perennials, not to mention flowers – and who’d have thought that you could eat day lily flowers?! We interviewed Jim and Elaine and took footage on an educational tour around their densely rich plot, both of them are incredibly knowledgeable veganic gardeners with some 30 years combined experience, and common to all of the places we visited; integrating food growing with regard for wildlife and nature is at the core of their approach.

The Naturally Vegan Plot was to be our last stay in Cornwall, and we now had a long journey ahead of us to visit Tony Martin in Wales. Tony is the editor of Growing Green and lives near Carmarthen in Wales. He has a tract of woodland which we reached via climbing a small steep brook, above which he manages his land. The plots were lush with salads and greens and he has created ingenious systems for propagating various crops outside and in his greenhouse.

We’d like to thank everyone for their wonderful generosity and hospitality; we shared so many meals, heard many stories and stayed in beautiful and energising places. It is clear that the people in the vegan organic sphere have abiding passion and energy - not only for growing wholesome food for themselves and others, untainted by animal exploitation - but also for the nurturing of the land, the soil, the waterways and the habitats crucial for native wildlife. It was inspiring to see how vision had been put into practice, and to hear the experiences of those we visited, and we came away from our trip with great respect for these people pioneering a new way for truly sustainable future farming.