Welcome to Paradaida, a refuge for all who want to be more sustainable and self-sufficient.
Paradaida Nursery
We want to support the individual in us all with seeds and plants more widely suited to our times. If you are a homesteader, prepper or just into quality food, we have got you covered!
Under Your Nose
Paradaida's blog on everything under the sun, or rather under your nose! Environmental journalism, research papers and educational content can be found here.
Shared Knowledge
The internet has been revolutionary for knowledge sharing, but it needs a conscious editor to ensure the information you have is the best. From growing guides to DIY tutorials, we are here to help you achieve your homestead vision.
The oldest love that I can remember (save for my childhood pets) is the discovery and exploration of the universe. From the micro-organisms living in the soil beneath our feet to the mysteries of star formation and gravity, every level of scale held something of great interest to the young version of me. Child-like wonder mixed with an unending enthusiasm to produce a cocktail that I still sip from in the present day.
Over the last decade, with politics turning the United Kingdom onto a path filled with loose rocks and icy patches, social media revealing the cracks and fissures present in our patchwork society, Covid and war creating widespread waves of fear through the populace, and the climate becoming ever more a force that is not on our side, I felt a need to stand up and create something in response. A clarion call to promote issues that deserve promotion, actions that need taking and knowledge that yearns to be known. That is ultimately what Paradaida is for.
Adam Kavanagh, Co-Owner
What's in a name?
The word 'paradaida' carries much significance to us. Persian ancestor to the word 'paradise', imagos of heavenly green places can be found in the hearts and minds of every culture and civilisation. The untouched disturbed natural beauty of a revered location and the structural cultivated beauty of a created greenspace have more in common than not, and our mission through business, leisure, literature and art is to help reunite the two defining spheres of the modern human experience.
A secondary narrative runs through the name. This world, that we fight so desperately to preserve, is changing. Climate change and the freak weather anomalies accentuated by its acceleration are not temporary. Invasive and naturalised species have changed the face of the earth and there is no way to turn back time or the industrialism that enabled them such travel. With this in mind, the word paradise to us needs to be taken back, retooled and reimagined for this era of uncertainty.
We can live in acceptance of our crumbling world and take everything we know to build better, using our knowledge of sustainable practice and our reignited attitudes to the physical world. We can all partake in its rebalancing.
“Gaia, as I see her, is no doting mother tolerant of misdemeanours, nor is she some fragile and delicate damsel in danger from brutal mankind. She is stern and tough, always keeping the world warm and comfortable for those who obey the rules, but ruthless in her destruction of those who transgress.”
-- Ages of Gaia -- James Lovelock
Honest Marketing and Advertising
The modern business landscape demands an underhanded approach to gaining and keeping your attention. To us, that attention is the sign of a shared curiosity, and your patronage is best gained through dedication, quality and value. Our promise to you is simply one of honesty, to advertise without gimmick or trick, and to treat your headspace as if it were our own. Mental health plays a primary role in all our lives, and at Paradaida we recognise that better standards of treatment are essential to it's wellbeing. Time and again we are told about business tactics, methodologies and practices that have no regard for the human in the formula, and we want to strive to be different.
No psychological pricing, no flash sales, no scaremongering or intrusive ads. We all deserve better.