Info, news & debate
Recent Posts
How we escaped suburbia by embracing exchange and life on the road
Visual artist Emma Moody-Smith shares the story of how she and her partner Shawn have spent the past 9 years downshifting, swapping suburban England for life in a motorhome and, crucially, embracing exchange. Here she offers insight and advice to others looking to do the same.
Reclaiming our ancient indigenous wisdom and a sense of ‘the village’
I think I am unusual. I can find a confidence inside that allows me to take risks. This confidence allows me to initiate things that I feel passionate about and because I see their worth in the world. I can do this even if I think I don’t know what I’m doing.
Making raw cultured butter from grass-fed Jersey milk
I made some winter butter this winter from the raw milk of my grass-fed Jersey cows. Butter made in the depths of the bleak midwinter from winter milk is a deeply flavoured, rich, indulgent treat.
Diary of a tree planter
During winter, while the animals hibernate and the trees sleep, magic happens on hillsides across the land – forests are created! A brief account of the ups and downs of life for a tree planter this winter… creating a woodland on a farm in Devon.
Lords vs commoners: week of action for land rights, April 14-22
Land ownership in Britain is one of the most unequal in the world. This is a call out to groups and individuals all over the country who think the time has come for us to have more control of our land.
How to make a Japanese plaster hawk for clay plastering
Inspired by the magic of traditional Japanese clay plastering, USA-based natural builder Ziggy Liloia of The Year of Mud shares his step-by-step guide to making a Japanese plaster hawk.
New no-dig, organic market garden for Manchester: how you can help
We are starting a new NO DIG MARKET GARDEN that will bring fresh organic food to Manchester. You can help by joining our crowd funder at
How to use solar power in woodlands and on woodland smallholdings
I have been running our home for the last decade or so using wind and solar electricity. The experiences of building this system have been distilled into a book, of which we are now in the third edition.
How to grow your own woad: from seed to harvest
A natural dye you can harvest from the garden, textile artist Teresinha Roberts of Wild Colours explains how to grow your very own ‘indigo’ woad plant.
Internships on off-grid, established experimental woodland smallholding: learn how to set up your own project
Having been WWOOF hosts for over 10 years we have decided to expand what we offer to provide a more focused and valuable experience. The Pentiddy Woods Internship is an opportunity to join our family for 9 months living off-grid on an established experimental woodland smallholding.
The Wool Journey Part 8: wool scouring and drying
In the eighth installment of The Wool Journey with Sue Blacker at The Natural Fibre Company, we learn about the first stage of processing: wool scouring and drying.
Opportunity to live very close to nature, rent-free, in an Irish intentional community and education centre
There are two rent-free bedrooms available (one immediately, one soon) in the farmhouse at An Teach Saor. But this is not a place for people who want to save money. It’s a place for people who want to radically reduce their dependency on it all together.
Who can afford artisan goods? For truly green businesses, we have to kick the money habit
Hi, how’s business? As an artisan working with wool, January and February are usually peak season for me, but this year they’ve been the worst months on my records, despite the big freeze.
A feast of fermentation: from atchara to zymology
Sophie Paterson of Lowimpact.org takes a look at the diversity of tastes offered by fermentation, a low-impact form of food preservation which has endured through time and across cultures.
Sunflower Cohousing community looking for members
Our journey into community living started one evening in the Summer of 2009 when we were grouped around a campfire with friends discussing possible future lifestyle alternatives.
How might hunter-gatherers have lived on this land?
Emily Fawcett explores what it might be like to live like our ancestors, to live the old way, on this land. What would it mean to experience life and the land like the indigenous people of these islands – as hunter-gatherers, to return to the Old Way?
A beginner’s guide to lambing: from tupping to lookering
Adapted from an original post over at Indie Farmer, founder and editor-in-chief Nigel Akehurst shares his beginner’s guide to lambing as smallholders and sheep farmers prepare for one of their busiest times of the year.
Interview with Matthew Slater: what’s mutual credit, how can it boost the Solidarity Economy, and what can we do to help? (plus webinar)
See yesterday’s blog post for an introduction to this article. This is an interview with Matthew Slater, who co-authored the Money & Society MOOC, a free masters level multidisciplinary online course. He co-drafted the Credit Commons white paper, a proposal for a global solidarity economy money system
The next great transition will be to the Solidarity Economy with a mutual credit exchange system
I’ve been working in the environmental field for over 20 years, and I believe, like the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, that we’re headed for ‘biological annihilation’, and like the good folk at the Dark Mountain Project, that a crash is coming that we may or may not recover from
Fancy volunteering for the summer at an off-grid, Ecological Land Coop smallholding?
Hi – we are James and Sukamala, tenants at Wild Geese Acres, Greenham Reach, which is an off-grid, low-impact farming project established in north Devon by the Ecological Land Coop (ELC) – see website. http://ecologicalland.coop.