Tutor Richard Clare was an organic grower and activist for 30 years until his death in 2013 at the age of 48.
He helped to restore and maintain more than 100 allotments, including many used for volunteering and therapeutic projects. Having achieved a degree of individual self-sufficiency, the next step was to share that experience with others, by providing access to organic food activities and teaching people how to grow their own. This led to the establishment of Sheffield Organic Food Initiative (SOFI), a charity dedicated to the promotion of Organics, Biodynamics and Permaculture in the city.
During the 1990’s, Richard developed several projects based on organic food production in the voluntary and community sector, including a ‘Green Gym’ in collaboration with the local Healthy Living Centre, the Womens’ Organic
Community Allotment and the Healthy Gardening Group’s small grants scheme for horticultural therapy projects, funded by the local Health Authority.
In 1999, Richard introduced Sheffield to the cultural and commercial agenda proposed by the Soil Association’s Food Futures project, which led to the creation of two Farmers’ Markets and a Green Food Map .
Richard was also responsible for the regeneration of one of Sheffield’s inner-city parks, the Ponderosa, using sustainable methods to create a demonstration site for urban Permaculture, including a mature community orchard.
For more than 10 years, Richard supervised the restoration of a derelict walled garden at Unstone in North-East Derbyshire to the point where it became a vibrant demonstration of all things Organic. This achievement attracted 5 years funding from Volunteering England and the L.S.C.
The Gardening for Health project was the only Soil Association – certified therapeutic project studied by Joe Sempik from Loughborough University during the research for THRIVE’s Growing Together study into the social and health
benefits of horticulture.
In 2010 Richard coined the term Ediculture to describe what he practiced and taught. He defined it as a new term to distingush from the term horticulture.
Before Richard died in April 2013, he left a legacy of You tube Videos for people to watch which outline his course structure on the Theory of Organic Horticulture. You can find them on the Ediculture You Tube Channel –
After his death SOFI trustees decided to continue with the legacy of what it had established. In 2017 Stephen, trustee and key director of SOFI moved to Coed Hills in South Wales. Consequently, it made sense to change the name of the charity to Ediculture, so with the agreement of the trustees, in 2019 SOFI became Ediculture.
We feel that there are still many people who will benefit from the vision that Richard had for local food growing and organic culture, and that his teachings to those who he influenced will continue to prove fruitful over the years.
Photo courtesy of Anne Marie Culhane