How We Organise To Go Further

This week I sat with Joanna to map how we could organise ourselves differently to better serve what we’re building. The aim was simple: unlock the knowledge, skills, and resources of our whole community - cleanly, fairly, and fast enough to matter. Out of that work came an updated Governance Charter. It’s a living draft, but it now reflects the real activities of My Little Farm and how we grow from here.

At its heart is a clear promise: we exist to restore food sovereignty through shared ownership and stewardship. We organise in Circles with defined purposes and accountabilities and review our work regularly so we keep learning and improving. The Charter also holds the bridge into the Sovereign Village to extend food-first foundations into education, culture, ecology, and social impact - without losing focus on the farm.

You’ll see practical lanes: Farming Operations (with sub-circles for veg, livestock, agroforestry), Food Sales & Distribution, Land & Development, Finance & Investment, Member Experience & Culture, Technology, and more. Each Circle has a clear mandate and regular review. It means decisions land where the work lives, information flows openly, and everyone affected has a voice. It’s structure that serves momentum.

I also want to honour Crops Not Shops. They continue to show up, on the ground and in spirit. As our partner focused on grassroots impact and inclusion, their lane stays clear inside this model, and our shared commitment to dignity in how food moves remains firm.

Over the next few weeks we’ll do three things. First, finish mapping people to roles so each Circle can act with confidence. Second, run short consent sessions to agree the minimum viable policies that unblock work. Third, open a lightweight feedback loop so members can surface insights between calls and we can fold those into quarterly reviews. It’s calm governance, not bureaucracy - so the farm keeps producing, the shop keeps improving, and the community keeps strengthening.

If you’re curious how this works, or you hold a skill that belongs in one of the Circles, please lean in. Read the draft and tell us where you feel energy to contribute.