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Be The Earth Foundation

A living lab for eco-centric economies 🌎 Building collaboration and trust for a world that nurtures all beings 🌱

24/07/2026

🌟 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵? 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘯𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴.

July, at Be Hive Cape Winelands, saw the birth of Be The Earth’s first Teen Programme.

Not a programme that shouts. It’s simple. Direct experience. Ancient knowledge woven into practical skills. Not moralising about the state of the planet. Rather, harvesting from the Food Forest, hiking, biking, building shelters on the mountain, making fire, cooking together, being in a diverse and mixed-income group, working with clay from next to the farm dam, laughing, muddy, exhausted. Can’t wait to get back the next day. Journalling. Being teens with dreams. Ever so lightly held by young and wise facilitators. Eating sweet potato from the Food Forest the entire week made into five different recipes including chocolate mousse. Exclaiming about eating vegetarian food. Wanting to come back and volunteer in the Food Forest.

The land as teacher. Beautiful teenagers connecting with land, each other and themselves through very, very old practices, skills and embodied knowledge. The kind one girl said she used to do with her grandmother.

The wisdom of the feminine woven in, up, around and down.

👉 Read full story: The Land as Teacher: Our First Teen Programme 🔗 in bio 💛

21/07/2026

CUTTLEBONE CASTING WORKSHOP AT BOSCHENDAL

For over 1,600 years, artisans have used cuttle bone casting to create one-of-a-kind jewellery and bronze objects.

Join Benjamin Goodwin and .foundation for a two-day immersive workshop where you’ll learn this remarkable ancient technique from start to finish.

OVER TWO DAYS:

* Design your own piece
* Carve a traditional cuttlebone mould
* Cast your work in molten bronze
* Finish, polish and patinate your creation

Whether you make a pendant, a small sculpture or something entirely your own, you’ll leave with a unique bronze piece… and the knowledge to create it.

✨ No previous experience required
👥 Limited to 8–10 participants

In a world lived through screens, there’s something deeply satisfying about making something with your own hands.

Let’s make something beautiful.

📍 Be Hive Cape Winelands,
📞 066 144 8542
📧 [email protected]

10/07/2026

Meet the Farmers on Crutches 🌱

On a 3-acre farm outside Freetown, people once sidelined by society are growing the food future of Sierra Leone.

Mustapha Bockarie is one of the estimated 30,000 people that lost a limb during Sierra Leone’s brutal decade-long civil war.

His arm was amputated after being struck by a stray bullet and a “heartbroken” Bockarie said he found himself stigmatised and ostracised by his village.

“My friends said I was a burden to them.”

Today, he raises goats, keeps bees, grows food to eat and sell — and teaches others in his village to do the same.

He's one of 100+ amputees transformed by Farming on Crutches, a charitable agricultural training program for amputees.

⏳ 12 days left to support their crowdfunding campaign through Ma Earth

Every donation — even a coffee's worth — unlocks up to 5x in additional matching funds. The more people who give, the more FoC receives.

Be part of the regeneration.

👉 Link in bio 💛

02/07/2026

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘴 🌱

Mambud Samai survived Sierra Leone's civil war and spent years in a refugee camp watching amputees struggle in a world that no longer saw them.

That experience became Farming on Crutches — training war amputees in regenerative farming. 100+ farmers have now graduated, healing people, communities & land.

Their mission statment: "𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦."

🥳 We're so proud to share that Farming on Crutches has been selected by for their global funding round — chosen from over 800 applications across 100+ countries.

Your support will help secure their next chapter and grow their impact across Sierra Leone.

The clever bit: every donor — even giving the price of a coffee — unlocks more matching funds from a $1M pot.

More people who give = More money flows to the grassroots.

Donate the price of a coffee.
Unlock a whole lot more.

👉 LINK IN BIO 💛

Campaign live 1–21 July

~

THANK YOU

earth
Imaginal Seeds
Naia Trust

for funding regeneration at the grassroots.🙏

22/06/2026

The land has a lot to teach. At Be Hive Cape Winelands, Boschendal, we've built a programme around it — just for teens.

A different practical skill every day.

The kind of knowledge our ancestors carried deeply — fire-making, foraging, growing, building, harvesting.

The stuff nature has always known, and school forgot to teach.

This school holiday, we're inviting teens aged 13+ to spend their days roaming Boschendal's wild trails, dams, and our Be Hive Food Forest.

Building fires, foraging wild edibles, biking dirt tracks, growing food, and creating with nature.

Join for a day, a few days, or the full programme.

🌱 Mon — Seed & Fire Day

🚵 Tue — Dirt & Discovery Day

🌲 Wed — Forest & Survival Day

🔨 Thu — Build & Grow Day

🍊 Fri — Harvest & Homesteading Day

📍 Be Hive, Boschendal Farm, Franschhoek, ZA

📅 6 – 10 Jul

⏰ 09:30 – 13:45 daily

From R300/day. Optional Forest-to-Fork lunch available. Rain or shine — we're covered. 🌦️

🔗 REGISTER: Link in Be The Earth's bio (spaces limited) 💛

13/02/2026

🌱 🌾 Farming on Crutches: Healing People, Communities & Land

After Sierra Leone’s civil war ended in 2002, nearly 30,000 people were left as amputees — many isolated, stigmatised, and excluded.

Mambud Samai began by bringing amputees together through football. Community first. Dignity first.

Years later, after studying sustainable agriculture in Japan, he saw a deeper opportunity: healing soil, healing livelihoods, healing communties.

On a 3-acre farm outside Freetown, Farming on Crutches was born — a programme that Be The Earth is proud to support.

Today, amputee farmers are trained in regenerative techniques — seed saving, composting, crop rotation, chemical-free growing. They leave with tools, seeds, and the confidence to feed their families and earn income.

Their guiding truth: “We are not mere victims of war but Ambassadors of Peace.”

Mustapha, who lost his arm in the war, shares:

"I'm no longer a beggar — now I'm a worker. I'm really proud of myself. After the training I went back to my village. I wasn't lazy and didn't look at my condition of being an amputee.

I chose agriculture instead.”

100 farmers have now been trained.

Outsiders have become leaders.
Living soil is restoring dignity.
Regeneration is rippling outward.

This is what healing can look like.

👉 READ STORY: Farming on Crutches: Healing People, Communities and Land 💛 LINK IN BIO

15/01/2026

“𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘪𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦.” — Satish Kumar

🌽 2 days of deep listening + bold imagining

🥕 140 volunteers holding the whole thing with care

🫜 150 sessions alive with curiosity

🌟 400 speakers offering courage, wisdom, and provocation

🌍 3,300 delegates gathering in Oxford and online and from around the world

🌱 Countless ideas exchanged, friendships sparked, spirits lifted

💚 17 years of returning to what matters: land, animals, and people

Last week, we were honoured to join the 17th Oxford Real Farming Conference — now the world’s largest agroecological gathering, and still unmistakably grassroots at heart.

For the past five years, Be The Earth has been proud to sponsor ORFC.

Watching it grow has been nothing short of magic — a living reminder of the hunger for connection, for change, for spaces where another food system can be felt. Not just discussed.

What began as a 50-person fringe protest has become a movement of thousands, weaving together farmers, funders, activists, artists, and thinkers — all committed to transforming food and farming in the UK and beyond.

Some of our 2026 highlights included:

Thus Spoke the Plant — conversations with the vegetal world ( Patrick MacManaway, Nathaniel Hughes )

Battle for the Biosphere: Nature vs Finance with

Improvised singing that stopped us in our tracks, with

But the real magic of ORFC lives between the sessions: in street-corner conversations, stairwell interviews, and pub-table debates.

This is what movement-building looks like.

Thank you for being part of it.

📸 Credit: Hugh Warwick

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