7/27/2019 Introducing Brook End
1/116 '')s.Os7INTER
By Nicole Vosper
Nicole is supporting our Membership
Secretary Jill and helping with adminis-
tration of our websites.
I remember distinctly the first timeBrook End was described to
me by myexcited Mum and Stepdad, "It just
goes on forever. There's a stream all the way round, an
orchardwith a most beautiful quince tree, eight greenhouses and
apolytunnel, a cabin, small woodland, so much wildlife"They could
barely contain their excitement about a house theyhad found with 4
acres of land in Somerset, in a little villagecalled Compton Dundon
just outside Glastonbury in the UK.
For the previous year I had been gardening at Her
Majesty'spleasure, studying horticulture and completing a
permaculturedesign course via distance learning to help me make the
mostof the time spent inside for animal rights campaigning. Nowwith
Brook End on the cards I knew it would be a potential
permaculture playground for a lifetime.
Opportunity knocksI couldn't believe my luck that I had the
opportunity to accessland on this scale after years of growing on
windowsills. InDecember 2010 I joined my family and the design
process
began as to how we could: restore this beautiful land,
increaseits abundance of food and yields, craft 'right livelihoods'
andprovide a space to build community. This column will chartthis
journey and some of the challenges we face in a culturethat
promotes the opposite.
The first year was a test of patience as I'd committed
tospending an entire year cycle observing before making any de-sign
decisions. I kept a detailed diary of what I was witnessing:areas
of shade sun, and the way the frost styles on a winter
morning. I especially made notes on how we interacted withthe
land, which jobs took longest, where I was walking onsite, access
points and so forth. It was also a year focused ongetting our house
in order as my Stepdad, Ian, and I, builtour annexe that is now
home to his 91-year-old Mum, henceone of the reasons for
moving.
Careful planningI realised as winter came and we started to
really re-designfor the changes we had observed that the year of
observationswere not only about the garden, they were about us
and
what we craved and desired. My Mum, Michele, a stressedmental
health nurse envisioned a roundhouse as a space forearth-centred
spirituality practices, while I was daydreaming ofpermaculture
plant nurseries and a centre for veganic land-basededucation. The
design process bought all of these ideas togetherand ensured they
were communicated among our family.
'Small and slow solutions' is one of the main principles
ofpermaculture and this is how we are approaching Brook End:with
thoughtful care before interaction. We know that it is aproject of
a lifetime but we feel the urgency of 'Earth Care'and our
community's needs to see real examples of plant-basedpermaculture,
and that growing food and medicine for ourcommunity without inputs
from exploited animals is not onlypossible but desirable.
This column will describe that journey: the navigation
ofmanaging land with non-vegans, the personal and practicaldesign
process and implementation of our family's vision andthe learning
that we experience through all the ups and downsof trying to live a
heart-centred way of life.
In the meantime keep an eye on our adventures at
www.wildheartpermaculture.co.uk or www.brookend.org.uk
The photo is copyright Wild Heart Permaculture (feel free to
use them for any other publication support of VONs aims).
Introducing Brook End
Herb garden at Brook End. From Wild Heart Permaculture
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