In this video blog I take you on a tour of the farm that we built from November 2016 onwards.
When I (Chris) went bankrupt after 20+ years of ridiculously hard work wearing a suit and tie I decided that I would live the next stage of my life by changing almost everything that I did. Jen and the Kids are keepers.
We knew little about nature and growing and hence this was something we wanted to do more of. I wanted to spend more time outside, build things from other peoples waste materials, grow organic food and basically see how much joy we could get from a project like this.
Other changes that I made going from Chris 1.0 to Chris 2.0. Became plant-based (i was a big steak eater), became Sober (I was a big red wine drinker), got up at 5 am (almost every day), started yoga (we all saw what happened with that), the list could go on and one.
But it was at the farm, time spent in nature that really allowed me the time and headspace to find my next passion and purpose. 18 months later, R1SE was a reality.
We were going to host a R1SE Summer party to celebrate the end of lockdown but instead, we'll have to postpone that to 2021. Dates to follow in early 2021.
The farm is about 1 acre, has a couple of polytunnels, a wicked treehouse loads of chickens and ducks and amazing views along the Rivelin Valley. We are lucky to have a natural water source from St. Anthony's Well (an ancient hold well whose waters have medicinal properties) coursing through the farm that we have tapped into to make a duck pond and a large fish pond. It also means we can power loads of hose pipes. We have also added in solar panels and a wind turbine so really it is totally off-grid.
The process of building this farm with friends immediately after going bankrupt really helped me work out what was truly important in life. Suddenly, cars, holiday homes and expensive holidays seemed unnecessary. It was also via digging the land that I hurt my back, this led me to yoga, and then Jen and I to R1SE and now by back pain has completely vanished and I have never felt better.
We'd love to see you all at the farm in 2021 for a party.