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Category: Gardening and Agriculture

  • Growing Together: A Year of Learning, Cultivation and Conservation at CAT 

    Growing Together: A Year of Learning, Cultivation and Conservation at CAT 

    Volunteers have always been at the heart of CAT for more than 50 years bringing with them energy and enthusiasm to help care for our site, while they gain hands-on experience in sustainable living, growing and land management. As several of our residential volunteers prepare to move on to their next adventures, we asked Charlie Whale and Emma Eberhardt to reflect on the past year and share some of their highlights from the Gardens and Natural Resources teams.

    Looking Back on a Busy Year – Charlie

    As our own residential volunteer experiences draw to a close, and we prepare to move on to new adventures, I wanted to reflect on what we’ve achieved together, the skills we’ve learned and the people who have made our time at CAT so rewarding. 

    When we (Charlie, Jem, Radhika, Hannah) arrived, we had to hit the ground running. The CAT Gardens team Nick, Kait and Veronica had been without residential winter volunteers for some time, and there were big ambitions for the 2026 growing season. We’re proud to say we’ve helped turn many of those plans into reality.

    Garden and day volunteers in a polytunnel at CAT

    Revitalising the Growing Spaces

    One of our largest projects was rebuilding and refreshing the beds in Big Poly and constructing new beds in Small Poly. It was hard work, involving huge amounts of CAT’s food waste compost, leaf mould and garden compost to feed the soil for this year’s crops. What felt particularly special was the circularity of the process. Less great was the huge amount of slate sieving needed, but we are in a disused quarry so what can we expect! 

    Seeing those tunnels produce such beautiful and productive displays this year made every wheelbarrow load worthwhile.

    Grapes and tomatoes and other plants growing in a polytunnel

    Bringing Roger’s Field Back to Life

    Working alongside Nick and Veronica, we helped bring both the Whole Home Allotment and Roger’s Field back into cultivation, including the two additional polytunnels. 

    This expansion has made a real difference to the amount of produce going into CAT’s kitchens and onto volunteers, visitors and students’ plates. Some standout successes this year included grapes, squashes, cucumbers, peppers, apples, borlotti beans and an impressive amount of chard. 

    A huge thank you also goes to the CAT students who joined volunteer weekends and put in mammoth efforts to help restore Roger’s Field. It simply would not have happened without them. We are particularly excited to see future volunteers enjoy the rewards of projects we’ve helped establish, including a new 12m asparagus trench and 30 globe artichoke plants that should provide harvests for years to come.  

    Another rewarding project has been seed saving. By collecting and storing seed from this year’s crops, we’re helping improve resilience, reduce costs and ensure future volunteers can continue growing many of these varieties. Our colourful range of tomatoes have been particularly fun to save. 

    Volunteer working in the Whole home Garden

    Learning Traditional Skills

    If you’ve spotted woven structures popping up around the site this year, chances are we’ve had something to do with them. Under Nick’s enthusiastic guidance, we learned how to use coppiced hazel and willow to create plant supports, hurdles, baskets, fences and woven structures of all shapes and sizes. 

    There were definitely moments when our enthusiasm for intricate weaving dipped late on a Friday afternoon, but it was awesome to learn how to use our native species, to create immense fans, and towering pea-stick fences. These are valuable skills I will take into the future with me and I will never buy another bamboo cane again! Thanks to the Woodlands vols for providing us with such top coppiced materials! 

    The Essential Jobs Behind the Scenes

    Alongside the larger projects, much of our time has been spent on the ongoing work that keeps the gardens productive and welcoming. 

    That has included: 

    • Processing food waste through the Ridan and other composting systems twice every week.
    • Weeding, pruning, hoeing and general site maintenance trying to keep borders, paths and displays aesthetically pleasing.
    • Supporting floral displays and table arrangements for the café and events.
    • Watering crops during challenging dry periods.

    These jobs may be less visible, but they are what keep the gardens functioning day in and day out. Many thanks to the regular Tuesday volunteers whom we have been lucky to work with and learn from. To Nick, Veronica and Kait for their teaching, patience and support and especially thank you to Volunteer Manager Holly for looking after us during our time at CAT! 

    CAT staff and volunteers with fruit and veg harvested from the CAT gardens

    Caring for CAT’s Woodlands and Natural Resources – Emma

    Alongside our fellow volunteers in the Gardens team, those of us volunteering in Woodlands and Natural Resources, (Emma, Corran, Beth and Adam) have been incredibly grateful for the support we’ve received from everyone at CAT. It’s been a privilege to contribute to the management and development of the site, and to feel part of a volunteer community that stretches back more than 50 years. Knowing that generations of volunteers have helped shape CAT into what it is today has made our own contributions feel especially meaningful. 

    Over the past year, we’ve been involved in a huge variety of projects across CAT’s woodlands, estate and conservation areas, gaining practical skills while helping care for and improve the site for future volunteers, visitors and wildlife.

    Volunteer learning hedge laying

    Restoring the Hazel Hollow

    One of our proudest achievements has been bringing Hazel Hollow back into active management. This coppice area hadn’t been actively managed for some time, and our work has included restoring access through new paths and gateways while re-establishing sustainable hazel management. The benefits of this work will continue long after we’ve left, providing hazel for the gardens, firewood, habitat for mosses and lichens, and future opportunities for dormouse and owl box projects that the next volunteers will help put up. 

    We have also continued the woodland restoration work started by CAT’s Woodlands staff Rob and Sven in Coed Gwern, thinning conifers, removing invasive rhododendron and building leaky dams to improve habitat quality and water management throughout the woodland. 

    Conservation, Biodiversity and Estate Projects

    One of the most rewarding aspects of volunteering in Natural Resources has been the variety of work. From woodland conservation to estate maintenance, every week has brought new challenges and opportunities to learn. 

    Some of the projects we’ve worked on this year include: 

    • Surveying trees as part of a tree felling licence application and updating safety checks and recommendations across the site.
    • Beginning clearance work around buildings that are part of CAT’s future redevelopment.
    • Completing a Sustainable Woodland Management short course to develop our practical and ecological understanding of woodland stewardship.
    • Working with Dave from the RSPB to survey bird boxes during the spring and summer and help build new nesting boxes.
    • Building fencing around the orchard to support goat grazing.
    • Supporting water management work, including tackling algae blooms.
    • Carrying out a wide range of estate maintenance tasks, including repairs to the Pole Barn, improvements to the decking in the WISE building, and dismantling old playground equipment.
    Volunteer building a bird box

    Looking After CAT for the Future

    Alongside these larger projects, we’ve also been involved in ongoing work that will continue into the future. 

    This includes developing CAT’s charcoal-making project using burn-pile material, upgrading the WISE water system, and repairing sections of perimeter fencing to prevent sheep entering sensitive conservation and growing areas. 

    Many of these jobs happen quietly in the background, but they make an important contribution to how the site functions day-to-day and to CAT’s long-term environmental goals. 

    More Than Just Volunteering

    While we’re proud of everything we’ve achieved, what we’ll remember most are the people we’ve met along the way. 

    We’re especially grateful to Sven, Chris and Rob for sharing their knowledge of woodland management, traditional crafts and the local area, as well as for their humour, patience and good company throughout the year. We’d also like to thank everyone across CAT who has made us feel welcome and included from day one. 

    Living and working together has given us the chance not only to learn valuable practical skills, but also to build lasting friendships and become part of a community with a remarkable history. It has been inspiring to follow in the footsteps of the many volunteers who have helped shape CAT over the last five decades, and we’re proud to have added our own small chapter to that story. 

    Volunteers learning woodworking skills

    What comes next?

    As we move on from CAT, we’re taking with us new skills, experiences and confidence that will shape our next steps. 

    From our Gardens team, Hannah will remain at CAT for another six months. Radhika is spending some time exploring more of the UK before returning to India to pursue a career in sustainable architecture. Jem is returning to Bristol while looking for new opportunities, and Charlie will be completing a regenerative agriculture course and seeking placements on regenerative farms. 

    Meanwhile, among the Natural Resources team, Beth has already moved on to a coppice traineeship in Leeds, Corran is beginning a Masters at CAT in Sustainability and Adaptation, Adam is joining a WWOOFing project in Wales, and Emma will be staying locally to work in forestry around the Machynlleth area. 

    On behalf of all of us, thank you to everyone at CAT for making us feel so welcome. It has been a privilege to contribute to this special place, and we’re proud to have played a small part in its continuing story.

    Volunteers planting asparagus

    Want to volunteer at CAT?

    Volunteers are what helped create CAT in the early 70’s and to this day, they continue to be an invaluable part of the CAT family. If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming the latest addition to a flourishing network of changemakers, there are many different ways that you can volunteer with us at CAT. 

    From coming along as a day or week volunteer to joining as a 6-month residential volunteer in our gardens or woodlands and natural resources teams, whatever your preference…we’d love for you to get in touch. 

    Find out more

    Looking across the CAT site

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  • From Field to Fork: Growing a More Sustainable Food Future

    From Field to Fork: Growing a More Sustainable Food Future

    Food is one of the most powerful ways we connect with the environment. Every meal we eat has an impact on climate, biodiversity, land use and our health. Dr Rebecca Kent explores this and how creating a more sustainable future means rethinking how we grow, prepare and enjoy our food.

    Why Food Matters for Climate and Nature

    The role of food production in the environmental crisis is significant. The global food system in its entriety, including production, processing, transportation and waste, is responsible for around a third of greenhouse gas emissions. Globally, agriculture is responsible for almost 78% of ocean and freshwater eutrophication (over-enrichment of nutrients) and 75% of deforestation – both major drivers of biodiversity loss.

    Animal agriculture plays a significant role in these impacts, with around 40% of grain production destined for animal consumption and through methane emissions from ruminants which form the largest source of livestock emissions. At the same time, long and complex supply chains often mean food travels thousands of miles before reaching our plates.

    The good news is that solutions already exist. Research increasingly shows that diets rich in vegetables, wholegrains, legumes and plant-based proteins can benefit both human health and the environment. This idea sits at the heart of the Planetary Health Diet proposal by the EAT Lancet Commission (a global group of top scientists exploring sustainable food systems), which explored how a growing global population could eat a healthily diet while staying within the Earth’s environmental limits. The Planetary Health Diet emphasises the importance of plant-based protein, high intake of vegetables, whole grains, low salt, sugar and fat and limited starchy vegetables.Scientists on the commissions used computer modelling to calculate the components of a healthy diet that can be achieved for a global population of 10 billion without exceeding environmental limits, for example in greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient pollution and biodiversity loss.

    While the challenge is global, organisations like CAT can help demonstrate what these ideas look like in practice.

    A Long History of Sustainable Food at CAT

    Food has always been part of CAT’s story. For decades, CAT has championed the importance of food and land use in creating a more sustainable society.

    We opened Wales’ first vegetarian café and developed pioneering organic growing spaces at our Llwyngwern Quarry home, helping generations of visitors understand the connections between food, climate and the natural world. Over the years, CAT has also researched the impact of food and land use through our Zero Carbon Britain reports, with our 2014 report People, Plate and Planet, focusing on this.

    CAT staff and volunteers with fruit and veg harvested from the CAT gardens

    Today, as conversations about climate change, biodiversity loss and public health become increasingly urgent, we are building on that legacy through the work of our Food and Growing Working Group.

    The group’s ambition is to develop a delicious, plant based, low-carbon food offer, monitor the impact of our catering operation and increase the amount of food grown on site. While we are only at the beginning of that journey, exciting progress is already underway strengthening the connection between our gardens and café and creating new opportunities for visitors, students and volunteers to engage with sustainable food systems in practice.

    Joining Menus of Change: A First for Wales

    The Planetary Health Diet may seem a long way from current realities for many of us and putting it into practice represents an ambitious challenge for households and caterers alike. But one approach to implementing it is found in ‘Menus of Change’ an international initiative that brings together universities and institutions committed to creating healthier and more sustainable food systems. Guided by evidence-based principles, the programme helps organisations create healthier, lower-carbon food systems through menu design and waste reduction.

    Earlier this year CAT became the first and only organisation in Wales to be part of the ‘Menus of Change Research Collaborative’, and just the fourth member in the UK. As the smallest member organisation in the collaborative, CAT brings a unique perspective to the network. While many members operate large university catering services, CAT offers an opportunity to explore how sustainable food principles can be integrated across education, food growing and catering within a smaller organisation.

    The menus of change

    CAT became involved with the programme through research carried out by MSc Sustainable Food and Natural Resources graduate Justina Raggett. Her dissertation explored how universities in the UK and United States were implementing Menus of Change principles, including interviews with catering managers responsible for delivering more sustainable food services. Her work was presented at the annual Menus of Change Research Conference and helped establish CAT’s connection with the collaborative. She is now continuing this research through a PhD at the University of Reading.

    Restoring the Link Between Growing and Eating

    Perhaps the most exciting part of CAT’s food story is the growing connection between our gardens and our café.

    For many years, CAT demonstrated the importance of local food production through its productive growing spaces. More recently, there has been renewed enthusiasm for restoring those connections and increasing the amount of food grown and consumed on site.

    Volunteers in Rogers Field

    A key focus has been Roger’s Field, CAT’s main growing area, named after the late Roger McLennan CAT’s Lead Gardener from 1978 to 2023. Since Autumn 2025, staff, students and volunteers have been working together to bring the field back into production. Monthly volunteer work parties have transformed the site, helping prepare growing areas and polytunnels for the seasons ahead. These efforts have been supported by Interim Lead Gardener Nick Robinson, whose knowledge and enthusiasm have helped guide the work and inspire volunteers.

    Produce from Roger’s Field and CAT’s gardens can be used directly in the café kitchen, creating a genuine field-to-fork experience for visitors, students and staff. Fresh vegetables grown on site reduce food miles, celebrate seasonal eating and provide a powerful demonstration of what a resilient local food system can look like. By using the Menus of Change principles as a framework, our cafe have also begun reviewing our menus which feed onsite visitors and staff and also catering for conferences, events and residential courses, to identify opportunities to increase plant-based proteins, seasonal vegetables and fresh salads while maintaining the delicious food that visitors know and enjoy.

    The kitchen team is also exploring ways to reduce waste and make better use of surplus ingredients. With the support of Sustainable Catering Manager Briony Rigby, this work is helping to embed sustainability into everyday food choices. These may seem like small changes, but collectively they can have a significant impact on both environmental outcomes and public health.

    Falafel wrap

    Learning Through Food

    The benefits also extend far beyond the kitchen. The CAT gardens provide valuable learning opportunities for school groups, students and volunteers, gaining a better understanding of the choices and systems that shape our diets. Visitors can see where their food comes from and explore soil health, biodiversity, climate change and sustainable land management while postgraduate students can connect academic learning with practical experience.

    During the first teaching week of our 2026/27 academic year, new postgraduate students were also treated to a food showcase sharing the food story of CAT through the meals they were served. Through videos in the cafe and highlighting on the student menu where food was produced by CAT, the work of our Catering and Gardens staff and volunteers was celebrated.

    There is still much to do, but by reconnecting people with where their food comes from and showing how delicious, healthy and sustainable choices can be, CAT is helping to create a living example to those that visit and learning opportunities from field to fork!

    About the author

    Dr Rebecca Kent is a Programme Leader and Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Alternative Technology. Her work explores sustainable food systems, environmental change and the role of communities in creating a more resilient future. She is a member of CAT’s Food and Growing Working Group and is passionate about connecting research, education and practical action to support a healthier relationship between people, food and the environment.

  • Farming in crisis: PhD research project explores solutions

    Farming in crisis: PhD research project explores solutions

    PhD researcher Bethan John is inviting farmers across West Wales to take part in a community-led research project that tackles the complex challenges facing rural communities today — from economic uncertainty and food security to climate change.

    Through creative storytelling and filmmaking workshops, Bethan aims to bring farmers and environmentalists together to share lived experiences and co-create solutions that reflect the realities of farming in a time of overlapping crises.

    In running the workshops, Bethan’s aim is to create space and time to explore a diversity of views and experiences, building on common ground and collective problem-solving.

    The outcome of the project will be the co-creation of a community-made film or series of films, which capture the voices and vision of farmers and environmentalists, in all the complexity, nuance and richness of real-life experiences.

    A Collaborative Approach to Rural Resilience

    The research project, which aims to explore the issues that are impacting rural communities in West Wales, is a partnership between CAT’s Graduate School, Aberystwyth University and Cardiff University, and is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

    The project will be using co-production and creative methods to gain insights into the issues that are most relevant to the participants, with the aim of creating policy impact.

    The collaborative element of this project will start this autumn, when Bethan will be running a series of storytelling and filmmaking workshops with farmers in Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion.

    Storytelling and Filmmaking: Tools for Change

    There’s a wealth of academic research that demonstrates the importance of storytelling and creative expression, as a way of reflecting on and engaging with complex issues that can help solve real-world problems.

    CAT Senior Lecturer and project supervisor, Dr Cathy Cole says “collective storytelling can act as a bridge to enable cooperative solutions to emerge. This may be particularly important in the context of farming, where media narratives are often divisive. Participants in this study care deeply about the land, and this is powerful common ground.”

    The storytelling and filmmaking workshops will be made up of a small group and they will be facilitated in Welsh and English. The group will be guided through a variety of activities that will generate ideas and discussions, while being trained in storytelling and filmmaking skills. No prior experience is needed, as participants will receive full training during the workshops.

    The first set of workshops are:

    • Bancyfelin Village Hall, Wednesday 1st October 2025, 5.30-8.30pm
    • Crymych Market Hall, Thursday 2nd October 2025, 5.30-8.30pm

    The benefits of joining the workshops include:

    • Free training in filmmaking so that you can tell your story
    • A chance to meet other farmers to discuss ideas
    • Space and time to share your views, knowledge and experiences on issues that are important to you

    Bethan is looking for people from farming backgrounds to get involved in the workshops and is collecting interest via this short online form.

    Bethan Jones

    Rooted in Rural Wales

    Having grown up in a rural farming community near Carmarthen, Bethan now lives in North Pembrokeshire. She’s spent her career capturing the stories of communities and the complex social, cultural, economic and political issues that they face, while trying to navigate and adapt to the ecological and climate crisis. She is interested in how community-based knowledge and grassroots action can drive change.

    “There is a wealth of expertise within the rural communities where I live. One of the aims of this project is to capture and value this knowledge, while exploring a diversity of views and lived experiences to see if solutions emerge”, Bethan explains.

    So far, she has completed a series of interviews with farmers and environmentalists to explore opportunities, challenges and tensions, especially in relation to the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS).

    The interviews gave participants the opportunity to share their views on the issues anonymously and in a private one-to-one setting. The themes that emerged from the interviews inform the development of the workshops’ group work and are a part of the project’s multi-method approach, with the purpose of undertaking triangulation to strength validity claims and to overcome weaknesses with relying on one method.

    If you would like to participate in the project but are unable to make the workshops, get in touch with Bethan (email bsj3@aber.ac.uk or phone 07495999579) to discuss other options that would suit you.

    Filming in a field

    Find out more about CAT’s Graduate School

    CAT’s Graduate School is one of the foremost providers of postgraduate education in sustainability and offers a number of Masters level courses which allow students to gain knowledge, inspiration and networks to make a real difference.

    Find out more about postgraduate study at CAT by joining an upcoming open day or get in touch with our Admissions Team email study@cat.org.uk or phone 01654 705974

  • Planting fertiliser forests for sustainable crop production

    Planting fertiliser forests for sustainable crop production

    New research is revealing the potential of perennial green manures in improving soil health without contributing to climate change. Clo Ward shares the latest findings on this greener way to grow.

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  • CAT Conversations: Rachel Calder, CAT graduate

    CAT Conversations: Rachel Calder, CAT graduate

    Rachel Calder studied Sustainable Food and Natural Resources at CAT from 2021 to 2023, exploring the role of mycorrhizal fungi in meadow restoration for her dissertation. We caught up with her to ask where her experience at CAT has led her and what impact her studies have had on her career.

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  • It takes a village

    It takes a village

    Inspired by CAT’s Zero Carbon Britain project, the village of Wedmore in Somerset has been exploring how to live more sustainably. Paul Allen revisits this community showing that practical climate and nature action starts at home.

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  • Scaling up local action in the Dyfi Valley

    Scaling up local action in the Dyfi Valley

    For 26 years, Andy Rowland, based in Machynlleth, has run Ecodyfi, a not-for-profit development trust supporting and connecting sustainability-based community groups in the local area. Catriona Toms looks at some of the many achievements of this inspiring project and shares lessons for other areas with similar ambitions.

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  • Communities rethinking how we live

    Communities rethinking how we live

    Social enterprises offer communities the potential to solve the challenges they face themselves and live more sustainably. Paul Allen explores the rise in local ownership models and the many benefits they have.

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  • CAT Stories – Edward Macdonald

    CAT Stories – Edward Macdonald

    Around the globe, a community of changemakers is putting the knowledge, skills and networks they have gained at CAT into positive action on the climate and nature crisis. This time, we share CAT graduate Edward Macdonald’s story.

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  • Why we teach… soil health assessment

    Why we teach… soil health assessment

    Next in our series looking at themes and topics explored by students on CAT Masters degrees, Dr Rebecca Kent introduces why we teach soil health assessment and looks at some of the main teaching methods used.

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