Marina O'Connell is a farm designer, grower, farmer and educator. She was born to seven generations of Dutch nursery men and women from Boskoop in Holland, which is famous for fruit trees. She celebrates the professional women growers who are pioneering the transition to sustainable food systems and re-localising the food economy. Marina, her husband Mark and a talented Apricot Centre team have transformed industrially farmed land into the thriving Huxhams Cross Farm at Dartington, Totnes, Devon, UK. In 2015 the local contractor referred to it as 'a miserable bit of land'. By 2021 it had become a productive, beautiful, community connected and economically viable farm. She has carried out action research on the farm, combining permaculture design with biodynamic methods, and agroforestry systems are woven through the mix. Key line ploughing and the extensive use of deep rooting green manures draw on agroecological practice, and all combined this farm could be called a regenerative farm. She leads by example and as every farm and farmer or grower is unique, believes that each new sustainable farm will be unique to the site and people, as such each farmer needs to be a practical researcher. The farm receives many visitors from around the world, and runs regular courses on these techniques. The team now run a full consultancy supporting other farmers, growers and estate owners to make the transition to regenerative farms for the future.
