I retired from the NHS to set up my vegan farm and off-grid retreat in East Durham

From jams made from apples and gooseberries grown on site to compost toilets and off-grid tipis with no running water or electricity, Dalton Moor Farm’s 24 acres are truly self-reliant.

Jenny Connor has lived in the land’s 400-year-old farm house since 1992 and in 2011 bought the land around it.

At the time she juggled the farm with her career as a radiologist but after 40 years in the NHS, 27 years of those spent at Sunderland Royal Hospital, she decided to retire and focus fully on the farm in 2019.

“We do things to ourselves all the time that make us sick,” said Jenny as she took us on a tour of the grounds. “It’s interesting because I ended up going from conventional medicine into root cause and lifestyle medicine.”

Today, she and husband Tom Mackenzie run the regenerative farm and its associated School of Sustainable Living & Wellbeing.

Along with their farm hands, they’ve brought wildlife back to the ex-arable land, planting many miles of fruitful hedges and thousands of trees, dividing up the land into smaller paddocks to create differing habitats that link together and restoring a diverse habitat across the farm.

The back-to-nature site is a hive of activity, hosting monthly full moon circles at its gazebo space, regular foraging walks, seasonal events such as wassailing (an old tradition in which orchards are blessed), Summer Solstice gatherings, school visits, weekend retreats, weddings, workshops in its barn and more.

Dalton Moor also sells vegan produce made on the farm, such as cider, honey made from plants, juices and preserves, at markets and events.

Sustainability has been part of Jenny’s life forever with her parents teaching her how to live more consciously since before she could walk.

She learnt how to make clothes before her foot could even reach the sewing machine peddle and it’s a sustainable way of living she’s carried with her and is now passing onto others through her Cup of Life Coaching which she also runs from the farm.

It’s a way of helping people to be more gentle on themselves, and the planet, with coaching on root cause lifestyle medicine and whole food, plant-based nutrition.

A trio of tipis, which can sleep up to eight people, are a new addition to the farm and offer a truly unplugged experience. Anyone wishing to switch off from the hustle and bustle of the modern world can hire the space, from wellness retreats to hen parties wanting to connect with nature.

Many people who stay over book on to workshops held on the farm where you can learn anything from basket weaving to making your own herbal haircare, lip balms, face cleansers, toothpaste, washing detergents and more.

“People who come to stay are often interested in learning about how we live on the farm, “ explained Jenny.

“They learn about foraging, crafts, making their own herbal haircare and natural dyes - it’s about being self-reliant. What if we didn’t have shops?

“Many people are completely unaware that there is any possibility of making these things for yourself. Not only is it better for the environment, and for yourself, it’s largely free.

“It’s also about cutting down on all those wretched plastics. Often people’s homes are actually more polluted than outside with all the chemicals they use.

“I’ve been making my own haircare for the past five and a half years and it hasn’t cost me anything. It’s all come from foraging on the farm and left over items from the kitchen.

“We give people the chance to experience how it is to live a plant-based life.”