A chance for landowners, farmers and market gardeners to hear from those who have made the conversion of all or part of their farm to CSA; how they did it and what the pitfalls and benefits have been; and ask their own questions about conversion. Hear from four speakers about their different journeys to CSA: the opportunities and challenges, and why they chose to make the shift.

Every landscape holds a thousand secrets; of the damage done to it, of those who came before us and of the subtle energies which run through it, similar to the acupuncture meridians in a human body. None of these energies can be seen with the human eye but they all impact on the land, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as "geopathic stress”. The health, fertility and yield in cows has been shown to be affected…

Palestinian farmer, Doha Asous, will speak about the challenges of farming under occupation. She will explain why, in the face of aggression and land grabs by illegal settlers, it’s even more important to tend her land and devote her time to a farming livelihood. Doha farms using the traditional techniques of her ancestors. For over a decade, she has hosted international volunteers who come to support her and other farmers to bring their olive harvest…

A presentation of the process of preparing a sample and a practical view of what can be seen in a microbially rich compost. We'll be sharing our experience of 40 plus compost piles and how it relates to your soil. During the session we will demonstrate how to prepare a microscopy slide for viewing and will run through many fields of view in search of fungi, bacteria, protozoa and nematodes. We will bring samples of…

Daphne Astor and Piers Torday are on a mission to awaken authors, publishers, booksellers, printers and everyone involved with making, selling, reading and buying books to the importance of producing books using more environmentally aware methods and materials.

This session is a journey of stories told by four farmers about what land means to them and how they are fighting to defend their right to it.  They will show why land is common, not a commodity, and people, not corporations, must be able to enjoy it. 

Farms don’t just grow food, they grow opportunity. Research shows that communities surrounded by small farms benefit economically, as small farms circulate income among local establishments and generate jobs. The Hutson-Kadara family is using the power of farming to create opportunities for their town. Allensworth - located in California’s Central Valley - is a small, rural town whose promising trajectory as a Black agricultural haven was dashed by racism in the early 1900s. Today, the…

Building on the successful launch of the Sustainable Food Trust’s Feeding Britain from the Ground Up report in June, this session will explore the need to speed up the transition to more resilient and regenerative food and farming systems and reduce public confusion about healthy and sustainable diets. The panel will focus on how we can align what we eat with the output of genuinely sustainable farming systems, and explore what’s needed to enable this…

From silver back pumpkin in Hertfordshire to some of the world’s hottest chilli varieties in Dorset, this session will explore growing and marketing crops not usually found in the British context. Head grower at Woodoaks Farm, Rickey has ambitious plans to grow exotic fruit, amaranth, silver back pumpkin, mushrooms and micro greens. His Caribbean heritage and journey through different growing systems has given him interesting insight on what works. We will also hear from Woodoaks…