Creating herbal balms, creams, and tonics for my own health and wellbeing has been an important part of my resilience these past few weeks. If these tokens of self-care and sunshine can be of help to you, I am pleased to be able to offer them to you. All ingredients are either foraged in the […]
Spring
The sun is finally warming up the earth. The hedgerows and understory are waking up too, grazing animals including deer are enjoying the new lush grasses as they spring up before the woodland canopy closes up. The willow is growing catkins, pussy willow that will attract insects, and we have already seen bumblebees foraging in […]
Ink
I am excited to be offering writing and drawing ink made from the black walnut tree at Tortworth Arboretum and alder cones from Little Parks Farm. Juglans Nigra is a non-native tree from North America and produces edible nuts, excellent timber as well as a fantastic dye from the soft flesh around the nut. I […]
Native Trees – Birch
The birch tree. The first tree on our course is, appropriately, a pioneer species. Birch trees have an incredible ability to reclaim spaces and return them to woodland. They grow on poor soil and turn it into a rich woodland ecosystem. The rest of our native trees follow. It makes sense to begin with the […]
The Wolf Moon and Fire
This Friday we see the Wolf Moon, the first full moon of 2020. Winter full moons are usually much brighter than in the summer, lighting up the barren land and helping the night time hunters through the hedgerows. The foxes pick their way through stubbly fields to find their meal, crying out for their mate, […]