The Holding The land is comprised of approximately 42 acres of which 17 acres are semi-natural ancient woodland, 22 acres are pasture and the remainder is naturally regenerating scrub and hedgerows. There is a stream along the most north-westerly boundary.
The people The co-operative’s members have a diverse range of backgrounds and skills such as sustainable land use, organic horticulture, woodland management and wood crafts, ecology of biodiversity, conservation, arts, education, group facilitation and working within co-operative structures. Most are trained in Permaculture design.
The residents have the intention to create a thriving low impact community, a place where we can explore ways of living gently on the earth and inspire others to do the same. We feel this is an appropriate thing to do in order to take personal responsibility for climate change and the current environmental crisis. We also wish to live like this out of a sense of responsibility to future generations.
The Landmatters Documentary
7 years in the making! The film is now available on DVD. It tells the story of the beginnings of the project and the planning battle Landmatters had to fight... The documentary is available to buy for only £12.
If you want to purchase a copy of the one hour long documentary, send your address and a cheque of ₤12 (payable to Maren Girgensohn) to: Maren, Landmatters, Allaleigh, Blackawton, Totnes, TQ9 7DL
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Visiting Landmatters
If you’re interested in visiting Landmatters we host guided tours on the second Saturday of every month for a donation. Ring us to book a place, on: 01803 712718 Or for a longer visit you can stay as a volunteer or by hiring the Holly Retreat Yurt. All visitors are asked to call before coming and to avoid using private motor vehicles if at all possible. Thankyou!
Last Updated ( Monday, 30 April 2012 )
Greetings from Landmatters!
Written by M. Freeland
Tuesday, 12 June 2012
Greetings from Landmatters!
Hello from beautiful sunny Devon. Things are busy here at the Landmatters Community. Our lives here are filled with such things as gardening, child care, animal care, processing firewood and managing woodlands, pumping water, hosting volunteers and visitors, having consensus meetings, maintaining and building structures, running courses and events, fixing things, maintaining solar and wind power, and personal development work to enable us to be sufficiently equipped to live in community! Phew! Busy! Some people have a romanticised view of living at Landmatters, its true we feel blessed and life on the land is full, nourishing and surrounded by beauty. However it can also be demanding, frustrating and restrictive,and like most people we struggle to find the right balance between being and doing. So, as the wheel of the year turns we would like to thank you for your continued support and wish you the blessing of finding that healthy balance between doing and being!
Earth Care
Woodlands
Over the winter we have been working hard in our woodlands. A small section of the woods has been cleared of scrub and established as an ash coppice. The planting of new ash saplings paid for with a grant from our local council. We have also done some thinning work which will provide oak for building projects on site.
Goats
The goats, which are a good milking and meat breed, have settled in well. To date they have made a useful contribution to land management helping us to maintain our pastures by munching through enormous quantities of encroaching bracken and brambles. Four kids are expected born this summer and we hope the goats will provide us with enough milk to meet most of our needs.
People Care
Communal Space
During the last year or so most of the work has now been finished on our new communal. It comprises an 18 ft yurt which we use for meetings, councils, short courses, children’s play space and other small gatherings. Attached to the yurt is a larger bender which houses an office, kitchen and large dining table. We have installed a rocket stove, which is an extremely efficient cooking stove using small twigs. We have also bought a new range, which has an oven and will eventually supply us with hot water. We have built a grey water system which cleans up the waste water leaving the kitchen and bath house. Our phone line and internet connection has just been fixed again after several frustrating months of not being able to locate the problem, if you have tried to get in touch and we have not responded please try again, the problem should be fixed now! Outside the communal on the village green children and adults both helped to create a living willow dome as play space for children.
Way of Council
In 2010 we adopted a new process called “The Way Of Council”. We have found it to be an extremely effective and supportive way of clearing and sharing emotional and personal issues- the kind of stuff that can often hinder community life and good collective decision making. We sit together in a circle and make a commitment to sharing with the following 4 intentions; to speak from the heart, listen from the heart, to be succinct and to be spontaneous. We now hold councils every six weeks at each of the celtic festival times.
Fair shares
Education
We continue to develop our educational work. Last year we hosted an extremely successful Earth Activist Training. A two week Permaculture design course for activists. Taught by Starhawk and Andy Goldring and incorporating earth based spirituality. The course ran in our new education space, a 28ft yurt, and delicious organic food was provided in our new outdoor kitchen marquee. We also hosted two visits from Kingsbridge Community College. Each year over two hundred, eleven year olds have descended on Landmatters to learn about our way of life and practice bushcraft skills. They have enjoyed songs about compost toilets, campfires and much more. The experience has been very enriching both for the community and the children and feedback from staff has been exceptionally positive leading the headmaster to write an article about us in the Times Educational Supplement!
LAND Project
In the last year we have hosted 29 course, events and guided tours, with 645 people visiting. Our work has been recognised by The Permaculture Association of Britain who have designated us as part of The LAND Project, a network of Permaculture demonstration sites. We have been chosen because the association thinks we are good demonstration of Permaculture.
The Holly Retreat Yurt
We now have a 16ft yurt available to hire for retreats and low impact holidays, for bookings email
Salad Days
Our gourmet salad continues to be sought after and appreciated. Salad is for sale at the local market and is supplied to local retailers. More raised beds have been built to increase production.
The Landmatters Documentary
7 years in the making! The film is now available on DVD. It tells the story of the beginnings of the project and the planning battle Landmatters had to fight... The documentary is available to buy for only £12.
If you want to purchase a copy of the one hour long documentary, send your address and a cheque of ₤12 (payable to Maren Girgensohn) to: Maren, Landmatters, Allaleigh, Blackawton, Totnes, TQ9 7DL
