The Field

 Plants For A Future's Cornwall Site

The Plants For A Future Site in Cornwall.
Surrounded by conventional fields, the heavily wooded Plants For A Future land stands out clearly in the countryside. Yet, less than 20 years ago in 1989 it was a barley field, just like the one you can see in the foreground of the picture.

History of the site

Plants for a Future, a small environmental group run entirely by volunteers, was established in 1989 when a 28 acre piece of land in Cornwall was purchased as a place to demonstrate the many uses of plants with a very strong emphasis on perennial species.... Read more

Visiting The Field – Tours and Open Days

Some years we have one or more open days during the summer, where visitors can come and be shown around, learn about the land; the plants and our methods of growing them; and also to taste some of the plants where appropriate – without the need to book up in advance.... Read more

Volunteering

There always seems to be more work to do at the land than there are people and time to get it done. Therefore we actively welcome people who want to come and stay for a while with us as volunteers.... Read more

Plant Sales

Letting the old pass away……

We have a large number of old, rather pot-bound but nevertheless interesting and useful plants that are not really suitable for a new plant catalogue.

You are welcome to come and take as many of them away as you want and give them a new home – in return for a donation of whatever size you feel is appropriate. The donation could also be in the form of some of your time helping out.

Please phone to arrange a time to come. You can also arrange to have a tour of the land at the same time – paid for in time or money.

And bringing in the new.

By late summer we are hoping to have a new list of plants that we are able to supply. This list will by posted on the website.

Work parties and music evenings

A number of work parties and music evenings are being held in 2007.

All are welcome to attend the work-parties, for details phone Phil on 01208 873623.

Each starts at 2pm and is followed by a Music Evening at 8pm.

Land Club

Ever since we bought the land in 1989, we have been looking for a way to safeguard its long-term future. We have put our hearts and souls into the land, helping to transform it from a barren field to a lush green oasis that attracts the wildlife from many miles around. It would just be horrendous to think of this land going back under the plough.

In addition, we feel strongly that land should not be owned. It is there for all the creatures and plants we share this planet with and we view ourselves as stewards of the land rather than the owners.

We finally decided to establish a Land Club in order to ensure the long term safety of the land. The Land Club has a legal constitution that is designed to protect both the land and the members of the club. It allows members to grow plants on the land whilst also respecting the rights of other creatures to share the land with us. Members cannot own the piece of land they care for but, so long as they respect the conditions of the club, they are given an annual lease of the land that is automatically renewed each year.

At present we have six full members of the club with another three people probably joining in the near future. There are still some vacant areas of land for potential new members, but there is a fairly stringent procedure for accepting new members.

The Land Club is now an established legal entity, but we are still (September 2005) going through the legal process of transferring the ownership of the land to the Land Club