The Vidacycle Family

Tom runs Vidacycle Farm. He started his working life as a furniture maker/carpenter, has built over 15 passive solar houses, and spent 20 years running a textile design software company with his partner Christiane. In the mid 2000s he finally returned to his true passion, sustainable food and growing. Farming on a small scale has been full of ups and downs but ultimately Tom’s commitment to nurturing a healthy relationship between people and the land keeps the project full of life.

Abby, the eldest daughter is tech director for the farm. She studied physics and then art/design before spending a few months on the farm in her early twenties when she discovered a deep kinship with the land. Abby develops tools and technologies with smaller scale farmers to ensure they can continue to produce sustainably. Abby helps with farming decisions at Fundo Meza. She also makes a monthly farming podcast – Farmerama –  which shares the voices of regenerative farmers. Prior to her work with farmers Abby helped to build the social innovation field through Tech for Good Global and was a user researcher for the Government Digital Service.

Christiane runs our farm a few months of the year and is the amazing woman behind the beautiful aesthetic at the farm. She started her career as a graphic designer and then spent many years running a textile design software company with her partner Tom. Over the last 20 years she has organised many Art Fairs: bringing together the best artists from the community to raise money for the local hospice, and provide affordable art for all.

Joy, the youngest daughter is systems director for the farm. An experienced grower, having completed the New Farmers Programme while in Scotland, Joy is now working on a number of rooftop gardens in London. Joy is also a fully-qualified Shiatsu practitioner. Previously she made and delivered locally-sourced, organic salad boxes – bringing people on the streets of Edinburgh and London healthy lunches.