Turning an Abandoned Farm into a Garden of Eden

I want to tell you how a group of dreamers on a small Mediterranean island reimagined the way we grow, transform and connect with food by turning an abandoned cow farm into a garden of Eden. I don't think any of us knew what we were in for. 50 years ago this site produced milk, cheese, meat and fruits. It was a place that served the local community but then it just shut down. Priced out by cheaper industrial imports. This is the case for so many small farms across the island. Today most of the food we eat is shipped in from centralized industrial agriculture. Not only have we become completely disconnected from where and how we grow our food but this kind of farming is also destroying the planet. And that's the end of the story. I have an idea. This is Christian, also known as the crazy Swede. See that is heartwarming. He managed to buy this place. 20 hectares of buildings, land and forest. Together we assembled a kick-ass team and started dreaming up what it would look like to bring this place back to life as a regenerative farm and community food hub. We started by planting. Vegetables, fruits, herbs, flowers, nuts and grains. What we didn't harvest we composted and cycled back into the system feeding life below the ground. Next came the animals. Honeybees, chickens and goats. These guys are key to pollinating, fertilizing and keeping the plants in check. Even if it doesn't always go to plan. Excuse me, this is our office. No, not today. Get away. Shoo. We're working here. Suddenly the farm was exploding with life. The problem was we started to produce too much. Like way too much. Half of it was going bad. We didn't know what to do or how to fix it. Wait a minute. I have another idea. Then the crazy Swede suggested we convert the old slaughterhouse. This place used to process the carcasses of cows. What if we used it instead to transform and distribute our fresh produce? It took a year to redesign and renovate this place. There were moments when we felt totally overwhelmed with the scale of what we had taken on. Most of us had never done this before so we were learning on the job. But failure was not an option. It was a race against time. With summer arriving, unsure if anyone would come, we finished construction and opened our doors. What started as this became our farm shop. This place we turned into our tasting room. And behind the scenes, the spaces that used to be used to process dead cows now have an entire team dedicated to making sure everything we grow isn't being wasted. We're even processing food from other farmers in our network, distributing it across the island to where it needs to go. On the weekends, the farm is now alive. It has become a gathering spot for the community. We're doing farm tours, workshops and serving up fresh regenerative food. There are more than 30 people working on site from the office to the farm, in the kitchens and the shop. And the food keeps growing. This is your invitation to be part of the story. It's a story of regeneration, connection and community. If you're in Ibiza, come and visit us. If you want to find out more, check out our website. This is just the beginning. While the doing is done, the father's made by his son.