BRISTOL'S Two-Acre
Food Forest Market Garden
The modern food system is broken, but together we can fix it. At Generation Soil, we transform local food waste into living compost that regenerates urban soil health. By closing the loop, we grow fresh, nutritious food right on your doorstep, reducing waste, cutting food miles, and strengthening community resilience.
​​How We’re Regenerating Compacted Farmland
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The site we inherited was heavily compacted and low in life.
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We began by applying living compost made from Bristol’s food waste, full of beneficial microorganisms that rebuild soil structure and fertility.
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With every season, the soil comes back to life, earthworms return, water drains more freely, and plants thrive.
We’re also 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.
Compost-Powered Farming:
From Food Waste to Food Security
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The same compost made through our Bristol Living Compost Project now fuels the food forest. By turning local food waste into microbe-rich soil, we’re building a closed-loop system where what we eat nourishes what we grow next. This compost-powered farming model strengthens Bristol’s food security and reduces the city’s environmental footprint.
Volunteering And Learning at the Market Garden
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The food forest is more than a growing space; it’s 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’re a seasoned gardener or brand new to the soil, you’ll leave with muddy hands and new inspiration. Everyone who joins us helps shape a model for regenerative urban food systems, hands-on, local, and hopeful.
The Future of Urban Food Systems
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Our 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’re 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?​
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Regenerative Garden Design & Urban Food Forests in Bristol
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Most city gardens look green but give little back. Artificial turf, ornamental shrubs, and chemical-dependent lawns that demand time yet offer nothing to biodiversity or soil health. Regrow Landscapes, in partnership with Generation Soil, is changing that. We design and install regenerative gardens and urban food forests across Bristol, transforming underused spaces into edible, low-maintenance ecosystems that build soil, support pollinators, and produce fresh food year after year.
Each design is rooted in soil regeneration using living compost, biochar, and diverse perennial planting to restore fertility and lock carbon into the ground. Our gardens are as functional as they are beautiful: pollinator-friendly, climate-resilient, and water-wise, with optional on-site composting areas such as bokashi bins, wormeries, and leaf-mould bays.
Whether you’re a homeowner, school, or business, our regenerative garden design service creates a thriving landscape that works with nature, not against it, replacing extraction with regeneration.
Grow beauty, biodiversity, and food in one living system, designed and built locally in Bristol.
​​​A Circular Food System in Action
This new market garden will be more than just a growing space, it’s the living heart of our circular food system.
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Between October 2024 and May 2025, we have collected over 13,000 litres of food waste through our Bristol Living Compost Project, turning it into living compost rich with microorganisms, fungi, and bacteria that feed the soil. This nutrient-dense compost is now being used to build healthy, living soil across the agroforestry garden, closing the loop between waste and abundance.
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By applying our living compost and integrating bokashi fermentation, wood chip, and natural soil inoculants, we’re creating fertile ground that will feed generations to come. The result? Healthier crops, improved water retention, stronger microbial life, and a system that supports nature instead of depleting it.
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What We're Growing
In our market garden, we plan to grow a diverse mix of seasonal vegetables, herbs, fruit trees, and perennial crops. Our agroforestry approach will ensure that plants thrive in harmony, with support from nitrogen-fixing shrubs, mulch-producing trees, and deep-rooted species that bring up vital nutrients from the subsoil.​ We’ll be producing:
​Fresh, local vegetables for the Bristol community
Culinary and medicinal herbs
Fruit from young orchards of apple, plum, cherry, and more
Tree crops such as hazelnuts and elderberries
Companion plants for pollinators and pest control
All grown without synthetic chemicals, in alignment with soil biology, and with care for climate, health, and wildlife.
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Roots Allotments Partnership
Our garden is proudly hosted at Roots Allotments, a movement helping people grow their own food sustainably. This partnership allows us to integrate our regenerative approach with a wider network of growers, share resources, and inspire more people to reconnect with the land. Together, we’re growing a future that puts soil health, community resilience, and nature first.
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More Than a Garden, A Hub for Learning and Action
Generation Soil’s new market garden is also a space for education, engagement, and community building. We will offer:
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Compost Workshops
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Learn the science of living compost, bokashi fermentation, and regenerative soil practices with our hands-on sessions for all ages.
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Corporate Away Days
Join us for meaningful team days where your staff can get their hands in the soil, learn about sustainability, and make a real difference. It's a refreshing alternative to the boardroom, set in nature with purpose at its core.
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Living Compost Sales​
Our garden uses and sells fresh, living compost made from local food waste and woodchip – perfect for growers, gardeners, and allotment holders seeking to enrich their soil naturally.
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Bristol Living Compost Project
Our citywide food waste collection service diverts organic waste from landfill and returns its value to the Earth. Now, that compost is fuelling the growth of fresh produce in our agroforestry garden, completing the circular economy in action.
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Why It Matters
We’re facing multiple, interconnected crises: soil degradation, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, and climate change. At Generation Soil CIC, we believe the solution lies in the soil, and this garden is our response.
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Every tree we plant, every compost pile we turn, every vegetable we harvest is a step towards a regenerative, local food system that:
​Draws down carbon
Restores soil microbiology
Supports community wellbeing
Provides nutrient-dense, local food
Rebuilds a resilient, circular economy
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This is about more than sustainability. It’s about regeneration, community empowerment, and healing our relationship with nature.
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Join the Movement
Whether you’re a grower, a chef, a teacher, a business, or a curious citizen, there’s a place for you in our garden.
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Come volunteer with us, attend a workshop, bring your team for a day on the land, or buy our compost and support regenerative growing in your own space.
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Together, let’s grow a food system that gives back more than it takes.​​