Good Small Farms is run by a dedicated team of passionate individuals. Some are full time and some are working less than a day a week but part of what we try to offer is flexibility around timing and hours so that we can accommodate passionate people doing meaningful work on the land. It also means that we have a larger group of people involved than a conventional farm of this size and that, in turn, means we have built in resilience for sick cover, weekend rotas and all the unexpected things that farming throws at us!
Jessie
I acquired my first allotment at the age of sixteen, proudly painting a wooden sign to declare to the world that it was organic. Many years, and quite a few allotment plots, farms, community gardens, smallholdings and growing projects later, I still love growing plants and working with nature. Luckily I also love learning, as there always seems to be more of it to do.
As well as working on agroforestry and the tree nursery at Good Small Farms, I have my two amazing children to tend to, and am planting a new orchard over the road at Oakbrook Farm.
I’m motivated by the rather selfish desire to create the world that I want to live in; a fairer, kinder world full of life and colour, good local food, and thriving community.
Stuart
Diversity seems crucial in life on the whole: diet, society, community, culture, art, exercise, environment. Diversity is a winning formula so it feels logical that is reflected in the way we produce our food.
By ‘our food’ I mean not just food for humans but for every creature in the farm ecosystem because, ultimately, if we provide for the micro organisms in the soil, then we provide for the invertebrates, the birds and mammals, the plant life and of course we humans….!
A diverse farm feels far more egalitarian to all life at the same time as producing high quality organic food and integrates itself with the cycles of life and it’s surrounding environment as opposed to sitting outside of them.
Athene
I grow vegetables, flowers and hopefully the biodiversity above and below ground in the market garden alongside Stu. I am passionate about being part of a local, sustainable food system, producing healthy food from healthy land.
Eric
The links between land, food and community are as important, and neglected, as they have ever been. Developing more resilient connections helps us be appreciate the hard work that goes into growing food and that treating the land well results in healthier, tastier food that is available to the local community.
Every day at Good Small Farms is an excellent combination of physical, mental and emotional challenge that ranges from setting up the next paddocks for the cows, developing financial projections for the business and fully appreciating the term ‘delayed gratification’ when planting oaks and (Dutch elm disease resistant) elms that are mere whips!
Matt
I am Matt and I look after the livestock on the farm.
I used to work in the aeronautical industry, stuck behind a desk dreaming about getting out on the land for an agonising 8 years… I finally took the plunge in 2019 when I quit my job to grow vegetables organically to feed my local community.
2 years later I read Gabe Brown’s “Dirt to Soil” and quickly realised that if I really wanted to heal the land and produce nutrient dense food I was going to have to start working with animals. This led me on my path to regeneratively grazing animals and here I am producing nutrient dense beef and other products on a 100% pasture fed system!
Clara
Spending my time outdoors with a desire to eventually be working outdoors has always been what energises me. Contributing to protecting and caring for the environment has become an increasing consideration in my everyday actions. Working in the tree nursery at Good Small Farms I am learning new skills everyday. Prior to this I balanced a busy job in the NHS with being part of running a community orchard and growing my own veg there which I still do with my neighbours now. I love being part of a community producing local crops at home and at work.
Rachel
I grew up in Colorado, hiking and camping in the wild mountains, and spent every summer on my grandparent’s farm in Iowa, learning how to preserve everything that was grown in the family garden. It instilled in me a deep love of nature, both wild and tended, and I was lucky enough to translate that into a career after I graduated from university. I spent the first 12 years of my career in Fair Trade Agricultural finance, working with small farmers and farming cooperatives all over the world, particularly in Latin America. Whilst it was humbling to see that there are unique challenges to farming all over the world, it was also motivating to know that there are many challenges that can be shared, and all of us working together can make an important difference.
I took a break from the keyboard for a couple of years, throwing myself into chicken farming, mushroom growing, gardening and preserving, composting and soil health, and raising small humans before returning to my spreadsheets to support the local farming community in Stroud. I want to build a world where farmers can build sustainable livelihoods and where everyone has access to healthy, nutrient dense food, and the countryside that it’s grown in.
Mike
My name is Mike (or Maaike if you’re my mum) and I’m managing the sales and marketing side of things here at Good Small Farms!
I have a weird professional background, ranging from apple juicing and market selling, to nutritional epigenetics and sustainable food system policy. After five years of banging my head against Westminster’s finest brick walls, I decided it was time to pour my energy and skills into supporting the excellent work already happening on the ground. Good Small Farms embodies everything I advocated for in government circles; a new kind of farming that has nature, health, and people at its core.
If you’d like to know more about our work or collaborate with us, please do reach out – I’d love to connect! mike@goodsmallfarms.co.uk
Graeme
Our resident ecologist: Graeme studied Conservation & Recreation Management at The University of Hertfordshire. Since then he has worked with Hampshire Wildlife Trust, Test Valley Borough Council and Hampshire Butterfly Conservation. Graeme helped co-found and was vice chairman of a conservation group called TARCA was the Environmental Correspondent for Love Andover Radio. Find out more here about Graeme’s work on the farm
