My name is Sam and I am a secondary school teacher and my husband Steve is a Lecturer and Engineer. My passion is rearing and working with animals, fitness and I admit to an obsession with health, diet and nutrition that only chocolate can cure! I was brought up in a rural community like Rushbury and spent most of my time working on the farm with various livestock and horses. I have always had a real passion for pigs and this has grown and grown over the years. Steve’s passion lies in the area of renewable energy and he has nearly completed an MSc in Renewable Energy at CAT (the Centre for Alternative Technology). He is also equally interested in fitness, health and nutrition. We feel blessed to have two healthy teenage boys and a family life that is happy and stable, if not a little busy.

At the time we met in 1981 we were both runners competing at a high level. Steve was running for Wales and me for England. We were both very conscious of our diet, nutrition and health, perhaps a little too much at times. For many years we were both vegetarian and now, most of the time, the only meat we eat is our own pork!

We both believe in living sustainably, which to us means living within our means. In the past this has meant managing finances, time and personal energy, but increasingly it is becoming a matter of living within the means of the planet and the environment and community that we live in. Hence we are looking more closely at how we conserve and generate food, energy and other resources. We have Solar heated water, wood-fired cooker and boiler, produce eggs, grow food and now raise pigs and manage a small woodland.