Joshua Sparkes
Joshua Sparkes is a Market Gardener trying to develop a form of Natural Farming inspired from his work abroad in countries like Japan.
Josh first set out on this journey after reading One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukoka and has always tried to mimic the beauty from the book in his work. Josh’s work revolves around the idea of growing food more in balance with nature, where weeds and pests are accepted and materials or inputs are kept to a minimum. Having worked In Japan and America Josh now incorporates other farming ideas that share a similar idea to natural farming such as syntropic agriculture and KNF.
Josh is now Head gardener for The Collective, in North Devon, Woolsey. Where they have developed a new 17 acre farm called Birch Farm. On the farm wildlife and ecosystems are the key focus with beetle rows, slug encouragement and over 14 acres of intensive agroforestry inspired by syntropic and Miyawaki systems. Birch Farm also uses complex polycultures that grow in balance with weeds to be foraged and help with pollination and currently undertaking a project to create a more perennial food system to phase out annual production.
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