We believe that small choices can have big impacts. Whether planting a tree to bear fruit for the next generation or simply making a conscious decision to eschew the faceless, profit extracting nature of big global business in favour of supporting local crafts, growers and in turn, community. In a world that seems to be moving further away from celebrating treasures made and grown by human hand this is our call to arms to shop sustainably for both people and planet. Let’s benefit the swallows, not the amazons.
Here are some of our all time favourite small businesses...
Old Tree Collective
Where to start with our love for Old Tree and its founder Tom. As well as making delicious kombucha at Old Tree Brewery, Tom also runs the inspirational 'Old Tree Soil' which has a network of compost hubs that directly feed community gardens and land regeneration projects. Tom believes that by getting more people composting, he will enable a compost revolution in our cities and power a regenerative farming revolution in our fields. We'll be with him all the way and have total belief in him. He is quite simply one the most inspiring people we have ever met.
oldtreesoil.org
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Black Mountain Vineyard
Mark Smith is an outstandingly talented natural wine maker. Against all the odds, he is making the most delicious wine in a small shed, without electricity in the unconventional vineyard territory that is the Welsh borders. His vines are tended organically using Korean natural farming methods and his wines created using only grapes, without any additions (as much a rarity in the world of wine as it is in cider!).
Each year, once Mark's harvest is finished in the autumn, he comes and helps us to squish our fruit on our enormous press- we simply wouldn't be able to complete our harvest without his help. Last season we let Mark loose in one of our orchards so that he could create his first cider- watch this space because we've no doubt that it will be every bit as incredible as his wines!
blackmountainwine.co.uk
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Artisan Print
Artisan print are a small family business in the beautiful town of Presteigne- not too far away from our cidery. Heather and Richard have been printing our labels for us since 2017 and were the only company willing to listen to and fulfil our request for a paper label on recycled paper with no plastic. No matter how tight our deadline (and believe me, we can be tremendously last minute!), these printing wizards deliver our labels with perfect colour matching for Lydia's artwork and always days earlier than seems physically possible!
artisanprint.co.uk
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The Soul Shack
Complementary therapist Hannah of the Soul Shack has magic hands. In spite of how much we ruin our backs during harvest, Hannah is incredible at de-knotting our shoulders and getting us back into shape. Her background as a comprehensively trained yoga teacher means that she has a firm grounding in anatomy, but more of interest is what the body is saying, how the muscle and fascia moves and responds. Hannah's way of working resonates with our own approach to cider making- the perfect blend of science, art and intuition!
thesoulshack.org
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Neal's Yard Creamery
Charlie and Grannia make such delicious cheese that I'm pretty sure that it now makes up about 80% of our body mass. They are passionate about not only the cheese production, but also of their power and heating needs. Matching our ethos at Artistraw, this is not something they undertake as a publicity exercise, it is at the core of everything they do, both at home and in business.
Their electricity is mostly generated on-site by windmill and photovoltaic (pv) solar panels, whilst their heat requirements are handled by hot water solar panels and customised furnace, burning locally sourced wood. Come for the cheese, stay for the ethics!
nealsyardcreamery.co.uk
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100% Hay
Joe and Sein have a 14 acre small holding a stone's throw from our cidery on the outskirts of Hay-on-Wye. As well as making absolutely sublime goat's cheese from their small herd of anglo-nubian goats (the small batch cheeses are even named after the goat from which they came!) they also make the most incredible kimchi. Our fridge is never without a couple of jars which we use in everything from stews to sandwiches! This is real food, produced with respect for the soil and the land and it simply couldn't taste any better!
