12:30pm
Room 3, Foyer upper floor
We need more people running successful smallholdings, growing healthy food for themselves and their communities, making this part of their livelihoods and protecting the soil, local wildlife and our wider environment alongside.
We all know there are many challenges to achieving this – the cost of entry is high, competing against agri-business is hard to produce an income and time is always short.
Pippa will share some of her own experiences of ways to overcome these hurdles, exploring:
– Food forest gardening, as a very productive, low maintenance way of growing food,
– Income diversification, with a look at Runach Arainn eco glamping, and
– Educational add on activities, to spread the word both on line and in person.
As smallholders, we are outliers in the food sector, but by being creative and supportive of each other, we can help build environmental and financial sustainability into our lives going forward.
permaculture.org.uk
Facebook- @arranglamping
Instagram – runacharainn
@ArranGlamping
Pippa Downing
Pippa is a gardener, conservationist, entrepreneur, community advocate and campaigner for the protection of Scotland’s temperate rainforest.
Over the past 12 years, she has established a three-acre smallholding on the Isle of Arran. The site is run on permaculture principles and specialises in food forest gardening. There is an award winning eco-glamping site incorporated which helps support the venture and educational activities are run alongside.
The smallholding is a Permaculture Association accredited demonstration site (ScotLAND site, part of their LAND demonstration network).