2026 Speaker Programme

Anchor 1

All of the talks are held upstairs. The lift is accessible from the side entrance. We work on a first-come, first-served basis.

All the talks are free, although we welcome donations from those who can afford it (suggested donation £2)

Hosting the Talks: Hip Hop Eco Artist Ian Solomon-Kawall aka KMT

KMT, known as The Freedom Teacher, is an influential Hip Hop artist, DJ, environmental advocate, and educator who has spent over two decades using music as a platform for social change. He co-founded May Project Gardens (MPG), an award-winning grassroots initiative in South London and Bristol that makes sustainable living accessible by blending nature, food, and the arts. Under KMT’s leadership, MPG’s signature Hip Hop Garden program earned the 2015 Team London Greening and Cleaning Award for its innovative approach to engaging youth through music and sustainability.

KMT has also served as the Climate Change Diversity and Engagement Manager for Bristol City Council, driving efforts to make the environmental movement more inclusive. His Come We Grow events connect grassroots initiatives with international artists, building global community resilience. Through partnerships with organizations like Lush Cosmetics and The National Trust, MPG has expanded its outreach, tackling issues like food poverty and social isolation.

KMT’s projects, such as Fear of a Green Planet, creatively merge music, nature, and social justice, while his Pollinators podcast highlights voices driving grassroots change. His work continues to inspire, empower, and build more resilient and equitable communities worldwide.

1PM Ellen from Winnow Seeds

Ellen Rignall -founder of Winnow Farm Seeds will be sharing techniques for seed saving and demonstrating a zigzag cleaner you can make at home

Ellen runs Winnow Farm Seeds a seed farm and seed company based in Dorset's Marshwood Vale. She specialises in heirloom cut flower, vegetable and herb seed which is locally adapted to our wet, mild corner of England.

Ellen has been growing vegetables, flowers and seeds for over a decade, both professionally and at home. Her horticultural work has spanned organic market gardening, commercial seed production and plant science. She also spent years working at the Gaia Foundation's Seed Sovereignty Programme, coordinating the thriving seed saving network in the South West.

Winnow Farm Seeds is a seed farm and seed company based in Doset's Marshwood Vale. For us, gardening isn't just a hobby, it's an act of joyous resistance - and it all starts with a tiny seed.

We specialise in heirloom cut flowers, vegetables and herbs which are locally adapted to our wet, mild corner of England. We have a soft spot for rare varieties and we dabble in breeding our own genetically diverse populations, focussing on leeks, runner beans, cosmos and snapdragons. We use agroecological practices to produce seed on our 3 acre farm

We record all of our work on our instagram page, (@winnowfarmseeds ) newsletter and on our blog. You can join our community of gardeners and growers by signing up or following us online, one seed at a time.

winnowfarmseeds.co.uk

2 PM Dan Fox and Serge Harfouche

Dan Fox of Two Acre Farm in conversation with Serge Harfouche of Buzuruna Juzuruna.

They will be discussing the collectives history, work and campaigns.

Buzuruna Juzuruna (Our Seeds Our Roots)

are a Lebanese association for sustainable agriculture with a focus on Heirloom seed preservation

Under the most difficult conditions Bu-Ju ( a Lebanese farm collective), grow and supply seeds to farmers and growers in Lebanon, as well as campaign nationally for improvements to seed laws.

With the help of friends and other local permaculture initiatives, Buzuruna Juzuruna Association set up a training curriculum with a focus on agroecology practice. It provides everything that is needed to begin food production (seeds, compost, seedlings, bio inputs, information).

In addition to this training, the Association has also:

Started movement building, driving around the country to meet communities, holding spaces for remembering ancestral practices and thinking about how to apply them now with the support of science.
Inspired contacts made through this work to set up a local seed production network (HOBOB) as part of efforts to make more seeds and knowledge available across the country.
Started a pilot project in Northern Lebanon to integrate olive groves within a more diverse and sustainable production system that includes for example vegetables, eggs, rain water harvesting and ‘wild’ zones.

3 PM Screening of the film "Rooted in Bristol" (approx 35mins) by Tayyibah Aziz Malik and Manu Mangaunidze

"We met and interviewed Black and Afro-Caribbean growers, who were keen to participate and share their histories of growing over the years. We wanted to document their stories and understand the challenges that they may have encountered in obtaining access to green spaces and securing a plot of land. We know that many of the allotment plots were first worked by members of the Windrush generation and in some cases, seeds brought over from the West Indies, were the precursors to much that is grown today. ‘Rooted in Bristol’ looks at those who were working their plots in 2020-22. Amongst many of the questions we had, we wanted to find out how and why they became involved in growing, if their plot had been passed down through the family, and also, if they were aware of any young people (especially since the lockdown) who might have become interested in growing their own food and continuing a family tradition.
Throughout the pandemic, we came to understand more and more the value of self-sufficiency and sustainable living, the value it has for the planet and how it can connect us to the wider community. Above all we became aware of the importance that the connection to a piece of land was, for each of our contributors, in terms of identity, physical and mental health and wellbeing and pride in sometimes, newfound skills and capabilities. Conversations revealed how connections to each other and their plot of land, became paramount during COVID, but was part of a deeper pattern of rituals of belonging shared by the diaspora. Sharing and exchanging both produce and advice played a key role in building and strengthening relationships and community ties on the allotments. " from the filmmakers