Matt Morton took his PDC with Bill Mollison in 1996.
We start of with a casual mention of helping build a permaculture project over a derelict strip mine…
In 2000 he moved to London, and picked up a traditional gardening job to get the experience. He still earns his living implementing aesthetic gardens, but has been working on creating a permaculture demonstration site on an old farm, which for many years laid underutilized.
The project has been positioned strategically on the outskirts of Oxford, next to a woodland frequented by university staff and students taking regular records of its ecology. Close ties with various local, and national charities give it a high chance of success, by employing a multiple income stream model from the start. Find more information over at http://westhillfarm.weebly.com/about.html, or connect at https://www.facebook.com/westhillfarmproject
Ideas and opportunities
- map local resources, start small processing businesses
- local democracy project – create a platform for close neighbours to collaborate
Projects and people mentioned
- Island quarry project
- The Garden Rescue Centre ran by StJohn Steven
- local producer of apple juice, using fruit harvested from back gardens
- Hogacre common (they issued a correction to what is said during the interview: “Although just to correct the information given, we’re not a farm (we are home to OxGrow a one acre community gardening project out of which grew Cultivate though) and we are community run rather than student run. “)
- An Oxford food project called: http://cultivateoxford.org/
- Community harvesting in … yes, Oxford again (they seem very busy there, don’t they?) https://abundanceoxford.wordpress.com
Music used: Luxe by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License.
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