BRISTOL'S Two-Acre
Food Forest Market Garden
Compost-Powered Farming for Soil, Food and Community
Generation Soil’s food forest market garden in Bristol transforms local food waste into living compost and fresh food, closing the loop between waste, soil, and food through the Bristol Living Compost Project.
The modern food system is broken, but together we can fix it.
By turning Bristol’s food waste into living compost, we are regenerating degraded land, growing nutritious food, reducing waste and food miles, and strengthening community resilience. This food forest is not just a garden. It is a working model of a circular, regenerative urban food system.
Regenerating Compacted Farmland With Living Compost
When we inherited this site, the soil was heavily compacted and low in life.
We began by applying living compost made from Bristol’s food waste, rich in beneficial microorganisms that rebuild soil structure and fertility. Season by season, the soil has come back to life. Earthworms return. Water drains more freely. Plants thrive.
Alongside living compost, we are using:
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mulching and cover crops to protect the soil
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biochar to store carbon and improve nutrient retention
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bokashi composting to feed soil microbes directly
This is soil regeneration in action, powered by community composting.
Compost-Powered Farming:
From Food Waste to Food Security
The same compost produced through the Bristol Living Compost Project now fuels the food forest.
By turning local food waste into microbe-rich soil, we are building a closed-loop system where what Bristol eats nourishes what Bristol grows next. This compost-powered farming model strengthens local food security and reduces the city’s environmental footprint.
Food waste collected from homes and businesses becomes living compost. That compost builds soil. That soil grows food. The loop closes.
Volunteering And Learning at the Market Garden
The food forest is more than a growing space. It is a living classroom.
Volunteers, students, and community members join us each week to learn about soil care, regenerative growing, and composting in action. Whether you are a seasoned gardener or brand new to soil, you leave with muddy hands, practical skills, and new perspective.
Everyone who joins us helps shape a hopeful, hands-on model for regenerative urban food systems.
The Future of Urban Food Systems Starts in the SoiL
This food forest is part of a wider vision: to make cities like Bristol more self-sufficient, resilient, and regenerative.
By linking composting, community farming, and soil restoration, we are building a model for urban food systems that feed both people and the planet. The future of food is local, and it starts in the soil.
Want Your Own Food Forest in Bristol?
Regenerative Garden Design & Urban Food Forests in Bristol
Most city gardens look green but give little back. Lawns, ornamental planting, and chemical inputs demand time while offering little to soil health or biodiversity.
Through our partnership with Regrow Landscapes, Generation Soil designs and installs regenerative gardens and urban food forests across Bristol. We transform underused spaces into edible, low-maintenance ecosystems that build soil, support pollinators, and produce food year after year.
Each design is rooted in soil regeneration, using living compost, biochar, and diverse perennial planting. Gardens are functional, climate-resilient, and water-wise, with optional on-site composting systems such as bokashi bins, wormeries, and leaf-mould bays.
Whether you are a homeowner, school, or business, we help you grow beauty, biodiversity, and food in one living system.
This market garden is the living heart of our circular food system.
Between October 2024 and May 2025, we collected over 13,000 litres of food waste through the Bristol Living Compost Project. That waste was transformed into living compost rich in microorganisms, fungi, and bacteria, now building soil across the agroforestry garden.
By integrating living compost, bokashi fermentation, woodchip, and natural soil inoculants, we are creating fertile ground that will feed generations to come.
The result is healthier crops, improved water retention, stronger microbial life, and a system that supports nature instead of depleting it.
What We’re Growing
Our agroforestry market garden will produce a diverse mix of:
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fresh, local vegetables for the Bristol community
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culinary and medicinal herbs
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fruit from young orchards of apple, plum, cherry, and more
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tree crops such as hazelnuts and elderberries
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companion plants that support pollinators and pest control
All grown without synthetic chemicals, in alignment with soil biology and with care for climate, health, and wildlife.
Roots Allotments Partnership
Our food forest is proudly hosted at Roots Allotments, a movement helping people grow food sustainably.
This partnership allows us to integrate regenerative practice within a wider network of growers, share resources, and inspire more people to reconnect with land and soil health across Bristol.
More Than a Garden: A Hub for Learning and Action
The food forest is also a space for education, engagement, and community building.
We offer:
Compost Workshops
Hands-on sessions exploring living compost, bokashi fermentation, and regenerative soil practices.
Corporate Away Days
Purposeful team days where staff work with soil, learn about sustainability, and support local regeneration.
Living Compost Sales
Fresh, living compost made from Bristol’s food waste, available for growers, gardeners, and allotment holders.
Bristol Living Compost Project
Our citywide food waste collection service is closing the loop between kitchens, compost, soil, and food.
Why This Matters
We face interconnected crises: soil degradation, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, and climate change.
At Generation Soil CIC, we believe the solution lies in the soil. This food forest is our response.
Every tree planted, every compost pile turned, and every vegetable harvested contributes to a regenerative, local food system that:
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draws down carbon
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restores soil microbiology
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supports community wellbeing
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provides nutrient-dense local food
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rebuilds a resilient circular economy
This is about more than sustainability. It is about regeneration, community empowerment, and repairing our relationship with nature.
Join the Movement
Whether you are a grower, chef, teacher, business, or curious citizen, there is a place for you here.
Together, we can grow a food system that gives back more than it takes.