Why make an Artisan Cabin as sustainably as possible and put your heart and soul into a project when you have a million other things to do?!

 That is a very good question! Look, it comes down to this. This beautiful part of the world is a place where we have always found it completely enchanting. It really is a special place and for both Nick and I, we have a belief in the power of nature,, sustainability and heritage.

We recognise that diversifying is crucial to the farm and to providing our children with options that doesn’t have to include traditional farming. We recognise that we have an important role to play in making sure this place thrives. That the land is looked after and that we are grounded in the important things in life. Simple living, simple joys, hard work.

Our children should feel free in their decisions with where life may take them and we want to instil in them a belief that they can do anything. Their “anything” might well be far away from a Dartmoor farm and that is completely their decision. We support them wholeheartedly. But for us, it’s important that we make the farm regenerative, to do good things by the land on which we serve and keep it going. Because it’s our home and our passion.

Generally, as a farm, we are two years into a tree planting project with The Woodland Trust, increasing our woodland by 4 acres, to 20 in total, and have hosted a group of ecologists twice this last year who are assessing whether we will gain County Wildlife Status. They have recorded not only an Otter in our pond, but also some rare Lichen, all very exciting!

We are part of the Sustainable Farm Incentive and amongst several environmental objectives, have recently seeded approximately 11 acres with a multi species herbal ley to increase biodiversity. We tap Birch Sap every spring which is sold at Totnes market to raise funds for a local environmental CIC. We have many different projects on the farm, all to help it thrive. My studio sits onsite in what used to be the farm granary and I welcome visitors for workshops throughout the year, to tie into the seasons. During lockdown, Nick completed his permaculture design course in order to design a kitchen garden that could provide for two families. We have thrown ourselves into growing and three years ago I took over the flower farm, growing seasonal flowers to coincide with art.