FarmStarter Chris 2025
Introducing FarmStarter Chris who tells us how his passion for growing organic food was fired up…
Inspired by early memories of picking home grown vegetables with my grandad and growing up watching the ‘River Cottage’ tv series, I have always tried to grow my own food in a very minor capacity.
Dreaming of self sustainability on the one hand, but also enjoying the far greater taste of home grown produce, I always hoped to one day own a big enough garden for a veg patch and greenhouse.
This aspiration was exponentially increased in scope and scale when through a fortuitous set of circumstances I gained access to an 8 acre farm on the outskirts of Lancaster.
This unbelievable piece of luck filled me with both inspiration and doubt. Whilst I’ve always held onto the fantasy of owning a homestead and living off the ‘fat of the land’, there was never any solid hope of this becoming a reality, and I found myself woefully bereft of knowledge and experience.
I quickly acquired a small library on the subject and spent every spare moment browsing the Internet and making notes, but I much prefer (and benefit from) a more hands on approach and learning from scratch. Fortunately I was told of the Farmstart course about the same time and signed up.
Influenced by love for the natural world
Another great influence on my life has been from an early age a love of the outdoors and the natural world, and growing older like many people I share an increasing concern for the environmental impact we in our modern society are having on it.
The conflict between modern farming practices and environmental conservation as well as wider concerns such as contamination of water systems is an important issue, and with that in mind I knew growing organically and sustainably would be the only acceptable way for myself, which fortunately is what the course offers.
I believe organic practices can bridge the gap between working in harmony with nature and the environment rather than controlling or destroying natural established systems, with the added benefit of producing a higher quality of foodstuffs. I’m hoping the knowledge and experience I gain from the Farmstart course means I can utilise my own little corner of the world responsibly and respectably whilst also growing some mighty fine tasting food as well.
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