Silvohorticulture

Andy Dibben is currently Head Grower at Abbey Home Farm, where he is responsible for the production of over ninety different fruit and vegetable crops. Over the last eight years, Andy has been responsible for designing and establishing an agroforestry system integrating fruit, coppice and wildlife trees with field-scale vegetable production. Andy regularly writes horticultural articles and speaks at conferences, including the Oxford Real Farming Conference.

Ben Raskin has worked in the commercial growing world for more than thirty years and has a wide range of practical horticultural experience, having started his career growing vegetables for chefs, box schemes and farm shops. He now focuses mainly on integrating trees into farming systems. Ben is head of agroforestry for the Soil Association and keeps his hands in the field implementing a pioneering agroforestry system on a 1,500-acre farm in Wiltshire in South West England. He also works as an independent advisor, trainer and author, writing books for children and grownups, and is chair of the Community Supported Agriculture Network UK.