Glebelands is one of the finest examples of local, peri-urban, organic food production in the country. Based in Sale, to the west of Manchester, in the flood plain of the River Mersey, it provides three acres of fertile and traditionally productive land.
In the early 1900s the site was run as a market garden, producing vegetables. In the 60s it was taken over by the council as a playing field, which flooded, and later became a special needs project. By 2000 the site was lying unused, and since Unicorn Grocery, an organic supermarket in the Chorlton area of Manchester was looking for a way to source local food, Lesley Bryson and Adam York took on the land and returned it to its market garden status. They established a worker’s co-operative, applied for Soil Association certification, and gained full organic status during 2004.
Although commercially, local food production is still rare in the UK, Adam York says, “Rising oil prices mean it will be a model we shall all be returning to.”
In 2004 Glebelands participated in the Bentley Bulk Healthy Local Food project, and provided training and work experience for people from inner city Manchester, in growing organic food.
The project is committed to community and co-operative values, and welcomes school visits during its open days.
The market garden concentrates on leafy and salad crops, which are provided fresh to Unicorn Grocery and other local businesses on the same day. What they lose in smaller scale production is made up in higher value crops. They use techniques such as composting, crop rotation and green manure to maintain soil fertility and plant health. The growing season is extended through the use of horticultural fleece, mesh covers, a glass house, polytunnels and drip irrigation lines. The environmental cost of synthetic materials is currently considerably less than transport from Spain and other origins. The project’s tractor (called David Brown!) is also critical to production!
Adam and Lesley are quick to point out that while visitors often have a romantic vision of ‘working the land’, the profit margins are small, and it is ‘hard graft’. The project has not received any funding support, and its success to date is testimony to the vision, dedication and commitment to organic values of its key worker’s. Over the years they have received a large amount of voluntary support from local people, and international WWOOFers (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms), who have come from as far away as the US and Japan, and work the land in return for experience, food, accommodation and cultural exchange. In addition to Lesley, who works full time, the project now employs part time workers.
Typical crops include: up to 15 types of salad leaf; kale; purple sprouting broccoli; french, runner and broad beans; courgettes; squash; basil; spinach beet; cavolo nero and cucumber. Although the main UK season focuses on June-October they specialise in producing salad leaf right through the colder, darker months. They have seen an improvement in the ecological life around their three acres - butterflies, dragonflies, beetles, hedgehogs, birds, etc. - and continue to show how this richer life can coexist with commercial food production and surrounding suburbia.
For more information contact Lesley Bryson, 24 Athol Road, Manchester, M16 8QN Email:
Glebelands is one of the finest examples of local, peri-urban, organic food production in the country. Based in Sale, to the west of Manchester, in the flood plain of the River Mersey, it provides three acres of fertile and traditionally productive land. 
In the early 1900s the site was run as a market garden, producing vegetables. In the 60s it was taken over by the council as a playing field, which flooded, and later became a special needs project. By 2000 the site was lying unused, and since Unicorn Grocery, an organic supermarket in the Chorlton area of Manchester was looking for a way to source local food, Lesley Bryson and Adam York took on the land and returned it to its market garden status. They established a worker’s co-operative, applied for Soil Association certification, and gained full organic status during 2004. 
