Middle Earth Growers.qxp_Layout 1 28/01/2022 18:50 Page 1
COMMUNITY | FARMING
Crops for the community
Middle Ground Growers grow organically on a two-acre orchard and market garden in Bath. We talked to Head Grower Hamish Evans about how it all started, what it means for the community and his ambitions for the future You live on a solar-powered boat on the Kennet and Avon Canal. What is life like on a canal boat, especially when it’s chilly? I moved to live on my own canal boat when I was 16 – my first independent home. This invited me into a way of living that was closer to nature’s cycles, surrounded by a diverse and supportive community. I am still on a boat, eight years on, which is powered entirely by solar panels and a bicycle mechanism that moves the boat, so I don’t have an engine or any need for fossil fuels. What I enjoy about living on the water is the everyday inspiration and excitement from being immersed in nature and getting to know new people as the community ebbs and flows along the canal. It’s a lifestyle choice, just like farming, and it comes with its own challenges: being off-grid and being responsible for my own waste, filling up the water tank every fortnight, and collecting firewood. Once I even ran out of power as I was in the middle of an online exam at university (I studied Social Sciences at the University of Bath and did much of my coursework from the boat rigged up to solar panels). What is your background in Bath and what are your favourite natural areas to explore in the region? I’ve lived in Bath all my life – I was born in Combe Down and moved around rented houses until Mum and I decided to move onto canal boats for a simpler and more natural life with real community. Living on a boat and farming here has completely changed my perspective of place, shifting focus away from the built environment and towards the ancient roots of the bio region itself, including its woodlands, soils,
bird life and water. It is the sacred city of water, and yet our waters have been mostly polluted, and the abundance of springs is largely ignored or taken for granted.
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Our farm is powered by the sun, and the tools are powered by our hands, legs or electric batteries charged from the solar barn
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What was the idea behind your business Middle Ground Growers? When I finished school I left for two years of travelling and working on organic farms across the world, exploring the best (and worst) models of ecological growing, community organising and sustainable living. This trip took me to the pioneering organic farms of New Zealand and to the ancient indigenous farming practices of the Middle East, India and South East Asia where I learnt about agroecology, food forests and permaculture. On my return to the UK I volunteered in community growing projects such as Dry Arch Growers and started as a grower at Avonleigh Organic Orchards. In 2020 I quit my paid work to focus on establishing my own market garden enterprise on 1.5 acres of leased land in Bathampton, initially selling a few lettuces to the local shop and then building up to the 120 weekly veg boxes we are supplying this year. We also supply wholesale to restaurants and local outlets who champion our organic produce to those wishing to eat a regenerative and sustainable diet, grown locally and delivered by bike. What does ecological market gardening mean? We tick all the boxes for organic growing such as no fertilisers or pesticides, and yet we believe that truly sustainable growing must go a step further. Organic food can still be grown in industrial-scale mono cultures (one crop variety) using deep tillage, a harmful cultivation practice which destroys soil health. Ecological market gardening is the cultivation of diverse crops for local communities, grown in a way which actively improves biodiversity, regenerates soil health and sequesters carbon. Not only this, but the business practice must mirror the growing, so we deliver only by bike and source our 46 TheBATHMagazine
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FeBRUaRY 2022
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