Last day for us on this account so thought I'd talk about money. I worked full time for @nationaltrust while running the farm. Gave that up 6 years ago for health issues so had to find another way to bring in income.

My partner joined me on the farm 5 years ago but didn't come from a farming background. She was an artist and worked as a creative producer so brought lots of other skills to the business.

Accommodation in the Lake District is an easy win. Good income for the amount of work required but you have to like dealing with people and market to the right people. We didn't invest much money at first, just had a website made and offered 'back to basics' holidays.

Important to meet expectations. Our campsite has 4 compost toilets and 2 taps with water coming from stream and a pile of logs for a campfire but everyone loves it because we market it to people who like basic camping. Simple really.

We have just put a hot water shower in the barn. Before guests were advised to just jump in the lake! Definitely getting more bookings as improvements are made but we didn't invest money we didn't have.

My partner probably spent £50 to trial her Jersey milk soap idea and watched soap making videos online. Soap worked but not coming from a business background took free workshops with Cumbria Growth Hub and did a 10 day soap making as a business course.

Last year, her third year trading, soap sales were more than 40K. A lot more work and investment than accommodation but during lockdown when we had no income from accommodation, soap sales were up.

Now, all our diversification businesses together have around the same turnover as the farm so if farm payments stopped, we would have other incomes so could carry on farming. Wanted to build a sustainable business for ourselves but also to pass on to the kids.

Selling direct, spreading risk, diversified income streams are all things the farm did in the past. We are just moving back towards that model but with the advantage of being able to reach more customers by selling online.

Nature is complex, diverse and low input and I think using that as a business model can build resilience and sustainability.