Plotgate – Community Supported Agriculture and Agroecology Champions.
Plotgate is a 16 acre smallholding on the outskirts of Barton St David, some 6 miles from Glastonbury. Run on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) lines, it operates without the use of pesticides or artificial fertilisers. The core team of Amy, Dan and Jane is outstandingly committed and innovative.
Careful attention is paid to soil drainage, re-wilding portions of the holding and the planting of trees and hedges. The underlying vision is to produce healthy, sustainable food on healthy land. Plotgate supplies veg. boxes for nearby communities and offers educational outreach as well as community work days.
RtL has, since its inception, supported Plotgate – for instance with grant money to assist Dan with low-tech and recycled farm machinery. For 3 years, RtL ran volunteer tree-planting sessions there.
In Autumn 2022, Glastonbury Town Council launched a project: 5-Mile Food & Farming (5FF) to assess and support local sustainable food production, using a UN-sponsored agroecology model. Plotgate scored very highly on all criteria, reflecting its understanding of and commitment to the principles embedded in agroecology.
More here: https://www.plotgatecommunityfarm.org