BRISTOL'S Two-Acre
Food Forest Market Garden
Compost-Powered Farming for Soil, Food and Community
Generation Soil CIC operates a two-acre horticultural market garden in Bristol, transforming local food waste into living compost and fresh food.
This working agricultural site produces vegetables, fruit, herbs and perennial crops while rebuilding soil health through regenerative growing practices. The garden forms part of a wider agricultural holding and demonstrates how compost, agroforestry and market gardening can work together to strengthen local food systems.
This is practical agriculture rooted in soil regeneration.
Regenerating Compacted Farmland With Living Compost
When we began managing this land, the soil was compacted and biologically depleted following years of inactivity.
We started by applying living compost produced from Bristol’s food waste. Rich in beneficial microorganisms, fungi and bacteria, this compost rebuilds soil structure, increases organic matter, and improves nutrient cycling.
Season by season, land responds.
Earthworms return.
Water infiltration improves.
Roots penetrate more deeply.
Crop resilience strengthens.
Alongside compost applications, we use:
• Mulching and cover crops to protect and feed the soil
• Biochar to improve carbon storage and nutrient retention
• Bokashi fermentation to stimulate soil microbial activity
• Agroforestry planting to integrate trees with productive cropping
This is long-term soil restoration through active horticultural management.
Compost-Powered Farming:
From Food Waste to Food Production
The compost produced through the Bristol Living Compost Project is now used directly within the market garden.
Food waste collected from homes and businesses is fermented, matured and transformed into living compost. That compost builds soil fertility. That soil produces food. The loop closes.
By integrating compost production and food growing within the same system, we reduce waste, reduce food miles, and improve soil biology at the same time.
What We Grow
Our agroforestry market garden produces a diverse mix of crops for local consumption, including:
• Seasonal vegetables
• Culinary and medicinal herbs
• Fruit from young orchards of apple, plum and cherry
• Tree crops such as hazelnuts and elderberries
• Companion plants that support pollinators and natural pest balance
All crops are grown without synthetic chemicals and in alignment with soil biological processes.
Tree planting and perennial cropping are being integrated gradually across the site, strengthening biodiversity while maintaining productive growing areas.
Agroforestry and Orchard Establishment
We have planted mixed native and fruit trees across the site, including apple varieties suited to local conditions.
These trees form the backbone of a developing agroforestry system where annual crops are grown between tree rows during establishment. Over time, canopy structure, root depth and soil organic matter will increase, enhancing both productivity and ecological resilience.
Grass and clover groundcover is maintained between plantings to protect soil structure and improve nitrogen cycling.
This is working land evolving through careful management.
Community Participation in Agricultural Work
As a working horticultural enterprise, the site also hosts small-scale volunteer sessions and practical workshops related to composting and soil care.
These activities directly support the agricultural management of the land. Participants assist with compost application, planting, mulching and crop care while learning practical regenerative growing skills.
Educational activity remains ancillary to the primary agricultural use of the site.
Living Compost Sales
We produce living compost from Bristol’s food waste for use within the market garden and for sale to local growers, gardeners and allotment holders.
This compost is microbially active and designed to rebuild soil biology, not simply provide short-term fertility.
Compost sales form part of our integrated soil and food enterprise.
Partnership within a Wider Agricultural Holding
The market garden operates within a wider agricultural unit at Leigh Woods Meadows.
This setting allows regenerative horticulture to sit alongside other agricultural activity, contributing to a broader landscape-scale approach to soil improvement and biodiversity.
Why This Matters
Soil degradation, biodiversity loss and food insecurity are deeply connected.
By rebuilding soil organic matter, increasing biological activity, and integrating tree crops with annual production, we are strengthening long-term land resilience.
This work contributes to:
• Improved soil structure and water retention
• Increased biodiversity
• Reduced waste through composting
• Greater local food production capacity
• A more resilient circular food system
Agriculture can restore as well as produce.
This site demonstrates that approach in practice.
Get Involved
You can support this work by:
• Volunteering during practical growing sessions
• Joining the Bristol Living Compost Project
• Bringing a small team to assist with seasonal agricultural tasks
Together, we can grow food in a way that rebuilds soil, strengthens community and regenerates land.
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.
Generation Soil can design and install 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.
