Good people doing good things
Shout outs to all the incredible people we have met along our journey thus far. Like minded people doing good things in the world and treating us pilgrims with such kindness. Thanks and love to each and every one of you!
Phytology
Phytology is a cultural institute based at the Bethnal Green Nature Reserve in Tower Hamlets, East London.
We host an annual residency for researchers working across the arts, architecture, science and humanities. Our public programme actively engages with the environmental and social complexities of the surrounding urban landscape.
We hosted an event for Letters to the Earth, run in partnership with Listening to the Land Pilgrimage for Nature the day before the pilgrimage set off.
We were joined by @adelaide.bannerman and @dazeaghaji and the conversation flowed as we wrote #letterstotheearth and reflected on our relationships to the natural spaces that matter to us.
Due to COVID-19 we are only hosting pre-arranged visits to the Nature Reserve. Please check our calendar or social media for updates on our events schedule or email our team directly to arrange a site visit. We host weekly volunteer sessions each Saturday 11am – 1pm. Please get in touch if you would like to join us info@nomad.org.uk.
3 Oaks Orchard
We are a small, family-owned, organic - in all but name – orchard in Greys Road, Henley. We grow apples, pears, greengage and quince. We are too big for a garden, too small for a farm, but we labour for love and many have told us our fruit is delicious.
We are looking for volunteers to help us throughout the year. We normally have plenty of pickers, but need help all year around. Happy for people to pull up in vans to stay with us.
Contact and follow us on our Facebook group.
Oxford Renewables
I come from a farming and woodland management background, and I have run organic farms for 25 years. We still have land around our site, which is why we were able to help the pilgrims find somewhere to camp for the night.
The reason we started Oxford Renewables in 2008 was to pursue environmental sustainability through the use of wood fuel from Britain’s woodlands. Our aim is to make a lasting contribution to the U.K.’s renewable energy infrastructure and expertise, thereby helping to mitigate climate change, delivering resilient renewable energy capacity and providing the foundations for a prosperous and fair economy.
Contact and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter
Hempen
We’ve been on our farm on the Hardwick Estate in the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside since 2015 and is where we met up with Listening to the Land Pilgrimage for Nature to walk with the pilgrims for the day.
Although we’re not currently growing hemp at this site, we’ve been collaborating with other organic farmers since 2016. We’re continuing to cultivate close relationships with existing and new hemp farmers around the UK. We help them grow and develop their crops and source our seed-to-shelf UK organic hemp from them to keep up with the rising demand!
Down on the farm, we lovingly craft the hemp plant into premium hemp and CBD products, for health & well-being, culinary and cosmetic use. Being the first and leading UK-grown certified organic hemp farm, we’re always looking to pioneer new solutions. We believe in bringing you the highest quality hemp products. That means growing and producing our own products wherever possible, with the lowest environmental impact and the greatest transparency.
As well as a co-operative we’re also a not-for-profit, which means we’re driven by our values and not by our wallets.
We believe in living in harmony with the land by creating sustainable rural livelihoods. Blessed to exist as a growing community of beautiful people working together towards our shared vision.
Contact and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or our Website
Coleshill Organics
Coleshill Organics was started on a small farm at Watchfield in 1995; from an initial two acres we now have about seven acres in total. The fruit and veg box scheme now operates from within the walled garden in Coleshill, on the Oxfordshire/Wiltshire border. We thorougly enjoyed hosting the pilgrims for a night and holding an evening ‘Meal and Moot’ event for the public in partnership with Square Food Foundation, so that the pilgrims could listen to what the local people felt about the land and how our food is grown.
The business grew out of a passion to provide local people with the highest quality fresh produce – our enthusiasm and joy for truly flavoursome “real” food is reinforced every evening when we cook what we have grown and taste the difference.
Connect with and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or our website
Square Food Foundation
We've been teaching people to cook for more than 20 years. Square Food Foundation started life in 1998 when Barny taught his first cookery class at his restaurant, Quartier Vert on Whiteladies Road in Bristol. QV Cookery School (as it was then known) quickly gathered pace and popularity and was soon offering a busy programme of classes and courses to people from all walks of life.
We were excited to co-host the event for the pilgrims and the public, cooking up and sharing a delicious French aioli feast made from fresh healthy vegetables picked that very day.
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Gibson’s Organic Liqueurs
We are a fruit farm and winery just outside Burford in the Cotswolds. The story began in 2007 when, after 2 years spent volunteering on organic farms around the UK, I returned home and began planting fruit. The fields had previously been used solely for grazing sheep and I built slowly, experimenting with different varieties, husbandry techniques and field positions guided by what I’d learnt, and most of all by what this little patch of land taught me. After 5 years of gradually increasing the acreage under soft fruit and plenty of fun experimenting with recipes, the first commercial batches of Raspberry and Blackcurrant liqueurs were produced. Both won prestigious awards, from the Soil Association and the Guild of Fine Food respectively.
We have steadily grown year on year, planting more and different fruit and creating new products. The core principles remain the same. Unlike almost every other liqueur producer in the country, we only use fruit and flowers we have grown ourselves to make our liqueurs. The land is worked sustainably, without the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilisers. A wildflower meadow has been sown and 4 acres of native woodland planted, rather than seeking to maximise yield and government grants through intensive farming practices. It is impossible not to taste the generous amount of high quality fruit that goes into every bottle. The liqueurs are designed to taste great on their own, not too sticky and sweet, but will also enhance a glass of prosecco, add a twist to many a cocktail, as well as a wide range of desserts and sauces. The liqueurs are all gluten free and vegan.
I cooked up an extra special liqueur just for our visiting guests called ‘Pilgrims Punch’ and enjoyed an evening around the fire with them all before we walked (with slightly sore heads) the following day.
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Talton Lodge
Talton Lodge & Talton House are located amongst 34 acres of parkland, woodland, orchard and gardens in south Warwickshire, 10 minutes from the Cotswolds and Stratford-Upon-Avon. It's like a private members country manor house and magical micro festival site with no private membership required. So it is awesome for gatherings, events, parties, celebrations, whether for business, birthdays, reunions, parties, hen nights, weddings, holidays, meetings, team builds or conferences.
We hosted the pilgrims for a night of camping and a ‘Moot’ where locals came and we shared how we feel about the land around us the future of this beautiful planet on which we all live.
Talton Lodge comprises a walled kitchen garden and a converted 18C barn. The kitchen garden once fed those living in Talton House but is now your beautiful festival style gathering site. It is brimming with quirky places to have fun or sleep in, from sitting around the big fire in the giant tipi, eating wood-fired pizzas, listening to music and sipping a pint from the pavilion bar.
We grow or source food locally. Hot water, heating and electricity are almost entirely provided by renewable sources.
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