Mount Pleasant Farm is Pennine smallholding of about 4 acres. We have 2 really good sledging fields (i.e. steep) and two small woodland areas. We are situated about 1000ft above sea level and enjoy a lot of rain and really good westerly winds. It can be very wet and very wild, but the stunning scenery more than makes up for the sometimes miserable weather.

We have had the farm for a few years and have tinkered with vegetables, pigs and chickens, but we’ve never had a plan, or had any idea how to make the most of what we have (apart from the sledging).

This is where Permaculture reared it’s head. From what little I had read, it seemed to make total sense, and looked like learning more was the way forwards. I wanted to make the most of what we had, and try to make a difference with our small patch of the Earth. If I could get more people involved, especially children, so much the better

The idea of this Blog is to share my triumphs and failures, my thoughts and my ramblings and to share and swap tales and tips. All good advice will be welcomed. I have had lots of eye rolling when people have asked about my ideas (you can see what people are thinking – it’s 2 steep fields of rough pasture – and that’s what it is good for), but I am determined to plan properly and try to do my best (even if it is to convert rough pasture to great pasture).

The launch of this blog coincides with the passing of Bill Mollison, one of the founding fathers of ‘Permaculture’.

There is one, and only one solution, and we have almost no time to try it. We must turn all our resources to repairing the natural world, and train all our young people to help. They want to; we need to give them this last chance to create forests, soils, clean waters, clean energies, secure communities, stable regions, and to know how to do it from hands-on experience.

– Bill Mollison RIP

Wish us luck,

Sara & family