Agroecological farming
Agroecology is an ecological approach to agriculture within the context of a fair world.
It refers to sustainable methods of farming that focus on nutritious food production whilst not damaging the resources that it depends on.
Agroecology values cultural and environmental diversity and takes an approach centered around land workers.
It places the soil, the environment, and the health of the communities it serves at the heart of its practice.
The agricultural sector is in a unique position to address climate change. Food and farming accounts for 30% of UK emissions. Not only can the sector mitigate its carbon footprint by changing its practice, carbon can also be sequestered by the adoption of farming practices such as agroforestry and silvopasture.
The land-based agroecological food production on the farm also provide an indispensable opportunity for innovation Âin agroforestry, sustainable and intensive minimum tillage vegetable production, low-input heritage cereal production, climate resilient and adapted seed saving and breeding techniques for agroecological low-input market gardening.
vegetable production
Fivepenny farm has an intensive minimum tillage market garden on 1 acre that produces high value crops for the local wholesale market, including restaurants, cafes and farm shops. The market garden is currently run by Tomas and Lally of Springtail Farm growing vegetables for a local weekly market. As the activism hub develops, the growing area will be managed to produce a wide range of crops to feed everyone involved.
Seed saving of locally adapted crops will also be a focus of this market garden, both for commercial and educational use in adapting to climate change.
sustainable
livestock
Fivepenny Farm has produced raw milk and cheese in the past, in a micro-dairy which is something we hope to revive. Currently Ele Saltmarsh raises pigs and sheep at Fivepenny Farm using a "default livestock" system.
orchards & agroforestry
Fivepenny Farm has an established orchard of heritage varieties of apples, plums, pears and more obscure fruits like quinces, gages and mulberries and an agroforestry field lined with Cider apples.
There are strips between the orchard trees for productions of pulses and heritage arable grain and production, which could be a part of a bakery enterprise based on heritage population wheat, spelt and rye to encourage skills for scaling up to commercial growing.
Skills Training for Farming
The Landskills’ Hub will focus on teaching farming skills to youth from diverse backgrounds, providing a progression pathways towards commercial scale businesses.