Fifty Pioneering Acres - a bit more about Lammas Ecovillage

So how do we move on from industrial agriculture to a sustainable way of producing food (...and everything else we need)? Here's a bit more about the Lammas project which certainly has at least some of the answers.
I thought it sounded brilliant when I first heard about it back in 2008 and went on to volunteer there several times. Check out their website too.

BEFORE: the fields of the 50 acre site were heavily grazed by sheep and didn't produce much of an income for one family

AFTER: a group of nine families bought the site and moved on, each developing their land and building their home on it in their own way. Planning permission was possible because of the Welsh One Planet Development initiative, many more sites have now been developed in this way. One of the planning stipulations was that each family should gain part of their income from working on the land, which they successfully do in various ways. I love the way it's teeming with life now!

There's a lot of preparation work in a project like this, planning roads, paths, fences, gates etc etc etc

Serious road making equipment, I wonder how many man hours it would have taken to put in the roads without fossil fuel...

Nigel and Cassie's plot, they're the couple I initially got in touch with and volunteered for, mainly on their roundhouse.

Start of the roof going up.

That's Simon Dale of grand design fame helping with the reciprocating timbers. His own website has more about his wonderful buildings and natural living philosophy.

That's me! Always though it was funny to be wearing hard hats when you were in much more danger from those wicked hazel spikes used to fix the straw bales to the wall.

The project attracted loads of volunteers and has had a wonderful rippling out effect of inspiration and experience. There's nothing like a practical demonstration of something - worth a hundred books.

Nigel, dry for once...

Nigel and Cassie's finished home.

At the top of the Lammas plot, This is Simon Dale's first house their, another roundhouse, nestling into the hillside.

Reclaimed windows form the inside of the Earthship style passive solar heating.

Simon let the roof timbers to the back of the house go down to the ground, making some useful storage space and allowing a very natural looking turf roof to sweep up over it.

The attached green house gathers the suns heat which is stored in all the earth mass.

Looking comfy!

Home sweet home.

Here's links to my original Ian's Eco Blog posts from 2009 about volunteering at Lammas:First Building Work at Lammas
Lammas: Nigel and Cassie's Roundhouse
Volunteers everywhere!
Simon and Jasmin's Roundhouse