It has been a long long 6 years since we set up New Forest Aquaponics CIC. We have been at the greenhouse that we have been renting since November 2007, it was set up as a quarantine unit for the coldwater fish, pond fish and specialist koi.
Because of this it wasn’t really set up for growing food with aquaponics. For a while we had hoped we could stay there and adapt, but it soon became clear that the site no longer worked for us.
That set us on a journey of working out how we could find a new home, one that would allow us to fulfil our mission of demonstrating regenerative culture through healthy food and community actions. But at the same time provide a permanent and secure home for our fish, who are at the centre of our work.
That was not as easy as we thought it would be. For a long time we believed that the only way we could do this was to purchase land. So many sites came and went without us being able to afford them, or having the support to purchase as a community. This was the universe showing us none of these sites were the right thing for us.
All the time we have been waiting we have started to run some of the non farming projects, and building our community. It has been amazing, and hard at times, but we now have a wealth of knowledge in community actions, and even better a wide number of friends and supporters who not only are helping us, but helping with other projects that are helping the local community whilst keeping the planet in mind.
Dave and I have taken part in lots of courses and training that will make sure we are successful and helped us see that we could look for somewhere to rent that would meet our needs, and provide the long term security for the fish I would especially like to give a shout out to the Landworkers Alliance and the NESS course we took in 2023 https://landworkersalliance.org.uk/ they understood we needed their help and enrolled us on their south west course - Thank you !
And now is the time to show you what we found!
This is our new home in Boldre, New Forest.
https://newforestaquaponics.com/new-home-video/
The move has started but it is going to be slow, and we need to raise some funds in order to move - but not as much as we would if we were buying!
To buy in the New Forest area and move would have meant raising around £750k or more. To move to the site and start with no equipment or fish around £100k. But we are not buying, and we have most of what we need to get going at our new site. This means we only need around £25k, that's a huge difference and much more achievable. Even better, we don't need to have all of it to get going. If you would like to support us there are a number of options on how you can do that at the bottom of this post
What will the new site offer?
A secure place for our sturgeon and other fish to live, and to start demonstrating ethical fish farming and caviar production through aquaponics.
Space for our community to come together to learn, grow, heal and play.
Growing healthy ethical food and helping others do the same.
Composting - food waste collections and producing living soil.
Upcycling and waste prevention of everything from plastic to wool.
If you would like to help us financially with the move you will find a donation link on our website. Every penny will help us move..
https://donorbox.org/our-new-home-6
If you would like to come and help us physically on site drop us a message, we would love to meet you!
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