Oak Barton Farm

 Alexa has been using herbs on her healing journey for over 20 years and has been buying organic food for the last 12 years. She is passionate about this way of healthy sustainable living and nutrition and to be able to self support our whole being with natural herbs and nutritious foods. This passion and experience has led her to feel deeply connected with the land and what grows here and feel like its now time to be growing for ourselves and the community and to be able to share this passion with others. 

Felix is a self employed ecologist and has a masters degree in environmental sciences. He has a keen interest and experience in regenerative, organic and biodynamic farming and land management and in permaculture design. Farming, foraging, nature connection and the outdoors are among the most important things in his life. It is not only his profession but his passion and life goal to care for nature and to protect wildlife and the environment and to leave this planet a little bit better than he found it. 

The possibility to combine our passions and life experiences into a project like this is something that could only become a reality together.  We both feel incredibly grateful and blessed that we have this opportunity and that we can create something that we deeply feel is necessary for ourselves and the people around us, for the land and nature.  We feel we can do our bit to support this beautiful planet in this way, by being guardians of a piece of land to nurture and support it along with the people that come here to enjoy it too.   

The story of Oak Barton Farm so far 

We are Alexa and Felix, we came to South Devon at the start of 2023 to start this journey When we found this land ( or the land found us), we could see its potential hiding under all that was here.  We started with two empty paddocks surrounded with high thick dense bramble along with 6 tonnes of rubbish, scrap metal and a few old cars scattered about the place.  It looked like it had been abandoned for many years.  The first four months were focussed just on clearing.  It was a wonderful opportunity for us to connect to the land by clearing away and enabling the land to be able to breathe again with a fresh sense of renewal and life.  An important step on the journey for this land that we are now so blessed to be the guardians of.  

The foundations of our ideas and aspirations for Oak Barton Farm started with the vision and feeling that it needed more hedgerows and trees; to welcome back wildlife and to create smaller, more diverse, more manageable spaces. We were fortunate to receive funding from Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest project to plant approximately 7000 trees and hedgerow plants. We planted 32 different species of native trees and shrubs, creating about 1 km of new hedgerows, an orchard, coppice and broadleaved woodland.  

Oak Barton Farm CIC – What we would like to achieve for you 

It was always clear for us, that our project would be one that intends to benefit the community around us and people who come to visit the area.  We founded a CIC at the beginning of 2024 and are working towards three main goals: 

• Production of healthy, nutritious food and medicinal herbs in harmony with nature 

• Provision of a space for nature connection, healing, learning, events and community activities 

• Restoration and enhancement of sustainable farming ecosystems, biodiversity and ecosystem services 

We would like our community to have access to locally produced healthy, nutritious food and herbs.  

The community can benefit through access to locally produced healthy, nutritious food and medicinal herbs. This will be made available through a community supported agriculture scheme (CSA) at low cost and on a sliding scale in which participation in the project can be traded against lower financial contribution. We hope to encourage the community to engage with and get involved in the natural, sustainable production of food and herbal medicine.  

This can help to increase both physical and mental well-being in the community. 

Oak Barton Farm will provide a space for the local community to participate in all farming activities as well as other activities that will take place on the premises. It will be a place for small events, workshops, sharing knowledge, connection to nature and self. The activities at Oak Barton Farm will be fostering a community spirit and sense of belonging into the natural and social environment. Members of the community will be participating in projects that support positive change and growth within themselves, the community and nature. This will increase both physical and mental well-being as individuals and within our community.  

Oak Barton Farm is creating a sustainable farming ecosystem which will not only produce high quality, organic food and medicinal plants but also benefit the local community and nature in other ways. This will be through the increase in local biodiversity, increase in tree cover, increase in carbon sequestration and through this mitigation of the effects of climate change, mitigation of floods through increased water retention and an increase in resilience of the local ecosystems to environmental stresses such as climate chance and habitat loss. These positive effects will benefit the local and wider community of South Hams and on smaller scales further afield. 

Any surplus made will be re-invested into Oak Barton Farm CIC to maintain, enhance and extend the above activities and to support members of the local community with different financial and physical abilities to participate in activities and access to our produce. 

Where we are now? 

Year 3! Check out our blog or Instagram page for latest news!