Nigel and Cassandra Lishman

Plot 8

Cassie, David and Bee. © Cassandra Lishman

We are Cassie, Nigel, Ted, Davi & Bea, and we are now developing our own low impact smallholding. We have experience of yurt living and the low impact life, but have yet to build our own house.

We have started with building a workshop, which will have a turf roof, straw and cob walls, and a passive solar design. We intend to build a rocket stove to heat it. We will live in this structure for the first year, while we build our house.

Our Workshop (Dec 2010)  © Cassandra Lishman

As part of our Lammas livelihood plan, we will mainly be growing willow for sculptures and basketry, keep ducks and chickens for eggs & meat and we will grow top fruit and soft fruit for own use and for sale. We will have an extensive herb garden for medicinaland dying use, and a walled vegetable garden. We will also practice forest gardening using layering and multicropping for example to maximise our production.

Illustrative layout plot 8

Cassie makes felt crafts for sale in local galleries, and creates living willow play structures and sculptures in workshops with local schools. Nigel is a woodworker and creates benches, birdboxes other crafts with children in schools. This work is managed by a local not for profit social co-operative, livelightly. We will continue our work with the co-op in addition to developing our low impact livelihood.

    Beginning to build workshop (Nov 2009)         Garden (Sept 2009)

         Working away (Oct 2009)       Cinema time in the yurt (Aug 2009)

Pictures © Cassandra Lishman

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