Farmerama

Is it possible or productive to organise around a common language in order to reimagine how we produce grain and bread? In the third and final part of Good Bread, Kim and Ruth reflect on some of their experiences working on the project and consider what the future of good bread might look like. This series is in response to the Body Lab, a participatory arts and research project by baker Kimberly...

Consistency is at the heart of industrial bread production, from the field to the mill to the oven. But what is it costing us? This series is in response to the Body Lab, a participatory arts and research project by baker Kimberly Bell (​​@smallfoodbakery) and artist Ruth Levene (@leveneruth) which explores the industrial processes of grain testing. Over three episodes, Lucy Dearlove explores what...

This series is in response to the Body Lab, a participatory arts and research project by baker Kimberly Bell (​​@smallfoodbakery) and artist Ruth Levene (@leveneruth) which explores the industrial processes of grain testing. Over three episodes, Lucy Dearlove explores what the body lab is, what the work around it has entailed so far, and what the outcomes might be. In part 1, she explores the ques...

This month we learn how some people importing Brazil nuts to the UK is supporting the indigenous people of the amazon. We visit a restaurant who are making use of spare growing space in their community and learn about agro-ecological approaches to managing vineyards across Australia.

This month we begin in Ibiza where we learn about a project matching new and diversifying farmers with abandoned farmland to grow more organic produce on the island. We hear from a food growing project in London that teaches to produce food and care for the land and has a foundation in traditional African philosophy. And we dive deep into the world of, potatoes, looking at them in a fascinating ne...

In this months episode we head to Scotland to hear about a Beltane celebration for young people in rural areas. We speak to the organiser of the London-based Black Farmers Market, and we check in with another farmer benefiting from the Pasture for Life mentoring program. This episode of Farmerama was made by Abby Rose Jo Barratt Katie Revell and Dora Taylor. A big thanks to the rest of the Farmera...

This month we meet two people who are building a community group to celebrate an earth-based connection between their religion and the land. We learn about the success of a mentoring programme for farmers. And we end with a request from a Botanist.   We're very grateful to those of you that support us and allow us to bring you these stories every month. Even the smallest contribution makes a big d...

This is a short episode about the Jumping Fences report. Jumping Fences is about understanding the barriers that prevent Black people and people of colour from accessing land for agroecological farming in Britain – and addressing those barriers. The report is a collaboration between the Landworkers’ Alliance, Land in Our Names and the Ecological Land Cooperative. It builds on a previous project, R...

This month we start by hearing about the possibilities of supply networks fuelled by sailing ships. We are encouraged to think again about water in the landscapes we are part of, and we hear how one woman in Mexico is working on connecting people in the financial world and those who work with the land with the aim of re-orienting our economy so it serves life. We're very grateful to those of you t...

This month Severine von Tscharner Fleming tells us all about the work she's been doing as part of the Seaweed Commons, an international learning and advocacy network for conservation minded seaweed farmers, wild harvesters, marine biologists and researchers. We also have the third and final installment of our series on animal feed made in collaboration with Wicked Leeks. This episode, Wicked Leeks...

This special episode features a conversation recorded with Vandana Shiva at the 2023 Oxford Real Farming Conference. Following the publication of her memoir, Terra Viva: My Life in a Biodiversity of Movements – which coincided with her 70th birthday – the writer and activist was at ORFC to reflect on her life and to take part in a discussion on the future of GM in the UK. We asked her about her fo...

This month, we continue to share some of the conversations we had at the Oxford Real Farming Conference at the beginning of the year. First, we meet Satish Kumar, founder of Schumacher College and editor of Resurgence and Ecologist Magazine. Satish shared his meditation practice with the conference, and talked to us about his connection to food and nature. Next, we hear from Pete Ritchie and Anna...

In this special episode, we hear about the project “Agroecology: Enabling the Transition”, which brings together farmers, crofters and growers across Scotland to exchange knowledge and experience. Through farm visits, conversations and shared meals, the project aims to create supportive spaces where participants feel comfortable to ask questions, voice opinions, and learn new things. Funded by the...

This month, we are at ORFC celebrating the first in-person conference for three years! We learn about beneficial beetles, alternative forms of land ownership, and some of the potential problems with the overproduction of soya. Thank you to everyone who signed up to our Patreon. We appreciate every one of you - your support helps us to keep bringing you the stories of regenerative farming around th...

Welcome to Farming Fashion, our three part series co-produced by Southeast and SOuth West England Fibresheds and Farmerama Radio. In this third and final episode we talk to three designers from independent design studios who work with native natural fibres and dyes and who are pioneering a shift toward a new paradigm for fashion. While none of them would claim to be fully ‘regenerative’ they are t...

Welcome to Farming Fashion, our three part series co-produced by Southeast and SOuth West England Fibresheds and Farmerama Radio. In this second episode of the Farming Fashion series we will hear from three farmers or growers who have diversified their businesses explore fibre processing, responding to one of our biggest farming fashion challenges in the UK today - the lack of small to mid scale f...

Welcome to farming fashion, our three part series co-produced by Southeast and South West England Fibresheds and Farmerama Radio. In this first episode we speak to farmers who grow and produce yarns from their own flocks and explore what regenerative fibre farming, and adding value to that fibre, really looks like on the ground. The first voices we hear from are Leila and her mother Ellen from Tam...

In this episode we have 2 interviews for you. First, Olivia visited a community garden in her homeland, and then Abby chatted with a winemaker in California who walks us through the organic no-till vineyard system he has co-created with his team. This episode of Farmerama was made by Olivia Oldham, Jo Barratt and Abby Rose. A big thanks to the rest of the Farmerama team Katie Revell, Fran Bailey,...

This month we are hopping all over the world. Firstly we hear from Andre Miguel of Hortas de Cascais about how community gardens have spread across a whole region in Portugal. Next, we head to Amaqanda Learning Garden in Philippi Village, South Africa where we speak to Yanga Gceya of Captain Fanplastic about how kids are connecting with their ecosystem by becoming plastic pirates. Then, we’re in B...

This month we hear how one ranch is managing to build green cover in its 22nd year of drought in California.. And about the vineyard they’ve designed to allow for grazing sheep below the canopy all year round. And we learn about the roots of the Fibershed movement, again in California, ahead of the release of our upcoming mini-series Farming Fashion from Fibreshed UK. This episode of Farmerama was...

This is a bonus Cereal episode featuring an extended interview with Anne Parry, miller at Felin Ganol watermill in Ceredigion, Wales. Anne features in episode 4 of Cereal: “The Miller is Missing”. In this episode, Anne shares how she and her husband Andy restored and revived their historic watermill, and explains how the Welsh Grain Forum is working to rebuild local grain economies. If you haven’t...

‘Cereal’ bonus episode: Scotland the Bread This is a bonus Cereal episode featuring an extended interview with Connie Hunter, Miller-Manager at Scotland the Bread, “a collaborative project to grow better grain and bake better bread”, based at the Bowhouse in Fife, Scotland. Connie features in episode 4 of Cereal: “The Miller is Missing”. Connie mills small batches of heritage grain using a cool-ru...

This is a bonus Cereal episode featuring an extended interview with Fintan Keenan, a regenerative grain farmer, miller and mill designer living in Denmark. Fintan features in episode 4 of Cereal: “The Miller is Missing”. Abby Rose spoke to Fintan at PX+ festival. Fintan tells us about his innovative hybrid stone/roller mill – which allows millers to produce a huge range of flours while retaining t...

This is a bonus Cereal episode featuring an extended interview with Angus McDowall and Alison Campbell of Mungoswells Malt and Milling in East Lothian, Scotland. Angus and Alison feature in episode 4 of Cereal: “The Miller is Missing”. In this episode, Angus explains how he – accidentally! – came to be milling the grain he grows on his 550-acre farm, and Alison gives us a tour of their very unusua...

Welcome to Cultivating Justice! Our 6-part series in collaboration with Land In Our Names (LION) and Out on the Land (OOTL, part of The Landworker’s Alliance) which weaves together interviews, conversations, music and reflections from Black people, people of colour, trans people, queer people and women, on their relationships with land, growing, and identity. In the final episode of this series, o...