Brigid LeFevre runs the community supported agriculture operation ”Förädlad” (roughly ”Enhanced”) in Järna, Sweden. It’s a biodynamic vegetable garden that focuses on fermenting the harvest in order to enrich it with nutritious lactic acid bacteria and to make it keep for a really long time.

Brigid grew up in an anthroposophically inspired Camphill community in Northern Ireland where volunteers lived and worked together with people with special needs. It was a highly self-sufficient community with its own weavery and a biodynamic farm. The local store brought in bulk organic produce and each household would weigh and write down their purchases – without any actual exchange of money.

Growing up in a place where food was separated from the economic market has had a big impact on Brigid’s philosophy as a farmer. She now grows and ferments vegetables for her members, who subscribe to jars of delicious sauerkraut, kimchi and all sorts of lacto-fermented pickles all year round. The members support this regenerative agriculture operation with money and/or hands-on help in the garden. It’s a local, circular economy, which underpins an alive garden, buzzing and chirping, where the primary goal isn’t to turn a profit, but rather to make the soil more alive with the passing of each season.