Dave & Jane Run Ravenstar between them, operating the Croft, Complimentary Therapies and a Blacksmith's Forge.

Dave Eastwood has been a Blacksmith since 1993 and ran the village smithy in Burcot in North Worcestershire until September 2005. He enjoys making individual hand forged pieces and concentrates on this type of work in his forge at Vatisker. Dave has had an enduring interest in smallholding and Self-Sufficiency since the age of 16 and had been putting this into practice over the 3 years prior to moving to the Isle of Lewis, with the smallholding he and Jane ran near Burcot in Worcestershire.

Dave & Jane are keen to grow all the food and crops on the croft organically, with a mixture of crops and livestock. He and Jane grow almost all their fruit, vegetables themselves and keep hens and ducks.

Jane Eastwood has a keen interest in nurturing and growing plants for their food value and their beauty. This interest was kindled when her children were small and a few home grown vegetables helped out the family budget. Over the past few years this endeavour has grown, fuelled by the need to know exactly what is in the food that we eat. Jane has experienced growing everything from potatoes and root vegetables to squashes, legumes, brassicas and an assortment of salad crops. We have a soft fruit garden and this has led to mouth watering jams and chutneys.

A passion for gardening led Jane to become involved with HDRA's programme Offa - Organic Food for all, whereby mentors enthused people to start growing their own veg using whatever gardens they had; a community allotment was started in Worcestershire which is still carrying on led by the keen members who joined the programme.
Jane's croft garden yields root vegetables and brassicas, peas, beans and potatoes. The poly-tunnel helps to shield tender plants from the harsh winds. Free Range eggs and home-made preserves are available for sale through most of the year.

We welcome visitors to our croft by arrangement, so please call in advance if you'd like to see what we do here.