A Co-operative is formed
Aldermoor Community Farm is officially formed as a cooperative. This gave us a governing body for the farm that could ensure things are run safely and could obtain insurance.
We got the keys to the Farm
We could now begin clearing the rubble and weeds and establish a safe place on the land to host our first volunteer sessions.
We discovered the Spring
Beginning to make a pond we discovered the spring – it has been our source of water for irrigation ever since.
Three British saddleback pigs arrived
Pigs were a natural way to clear the nettles and brambles from the land. They dig up the roots and leave the soil ready for planting.
We began volunteering sessions
We want to make regular times for members of the local community to join in the work on the land. So fortnightly on a Saturday, we opened up the Farm for people to come and help us work the land.
The geese arrived
Rescued from a farm that was closing down, our three geese have been a noisy part of the farm ever since. Sid the goose is a big part of the Farm and protects the other two geese.
‘Permaculture Southampton’ gatherings
We wanted to draw together people interested in permaculture to share our learning with each other. We began meeting monthly with ‘Permaculture Southampton’.
Logo designed
We wanted a logo to show we nurture the land, grow vegetables and work as a community. We are very pleased with what our friend, Josh Pink, came up with and it is reflected throughout the farm in various creative ways.
Our first sale!
Whilst working with volunteers, we want to produce great vegetables from our work on the farm so volunteers can see the benefit of their hard work. We made our first sale to a greengrocer!
Delivery to local offices
Using a cargo bike loaned from the council, we delivered our home-grown vegetables to a local office and stocked an ‘honesty shop’ in their staff kitchen.
We merged with Alder Trust
Through conversations with Alder Trust trustees, we realised we had very strong alignment to the Alder Trust vision. We folded our co-operative and merged with Alder Trust gaining charitable status and giving ourselves more capacity to focus on volunteers, leaving the administration and governance to our new umbrella.
