Join us for an immersive weekend workshop in permaculture, natural farming, food forests, foraging, local foods and the sacred heart of nature.
This workshop is a reclamation of a cultural nutritional heritage at the very heart of our love for the living world that sustains us.
The workshop will take place at the House at the Edge of the Woods in the South Downs National Park, a beautiful dark skies area in the South of England. The food forest garden, planted over thirty years ago by Tim and Maddy Harland, the founders of Permaculture Magazine, includes over 60 fruit and nut trees, edible and medicinal herbs, berries, vegetables and cultivated fungi. The sauna is heated by wood from our woods chopped by Emma and her coppicing companions.
Ten minutes walk down the lane and across the field is 11 acres of ancient woodland, lovingly managed by Emma’s community of coppicers, charcoal makers, craftsmen, craftswomen and tree lovers.
Local foods are at the very heart of this workshop. Foods that grow abundantly and with ease such as edible weeds or hedgerow and woodland plants that can be foraged safely and with care for the environments they thrive in.
We will learn how to create a food forest along with the practical principles of permaculture so as to empower you to take these practices home and implement them in your life and gardens.
The workshop will also explore medicinal plants, community, celebration and the deeper connection to the sacred in nature. We will explore the teachings of Martin Prechtel, Masanobu Fukuoka and Stephen Jenkinson.
Arrival is from 5pm on Friday the 12th, and we will begin the workshop at 7pm with a walk to the woods and an evening meal around the fire.
During the mornings we will explore a multitude of topics including soil, mulching, rotations, intercropping, seeds, cuttings, making a nursery, raised beds, Hügelkultur, composting and soil creation…all of this in the context of creating a sustainable and abundant food or forest garden.
In the afternoons we will be working on food processing, making and using hydrosols, medicinal and herbal teas, easily made plant-based remedies, syrups and fermented foods.
We have 11 acres of ancient woodland to explore, a wood-fired sauna and ice bath for relaxing into the evening, music in the wildflower meadow and perhaps even some stories under the stars.
Accommodation and workshop costs
Local people are welcome to join and stay offsite but there are some very lovely onsite spaces to stay. There are two double rooms which are £150 per room, a luxury camper van which is £100 and space for three small tents at a cost of £50 each.
The workshop costs £170 per person including all meals from Friday evening to Sunday lunch, all teaching sessions and use of the wood-fired sauna and ice bath. Our food is mostly organic, local wherever possible, foraged, homegrown and delicious.
There will be a maximum of 15 people joining the workshop so as to have time and space to explore the topics deeply and to bring your own questions to the sessions. The nearest train station is Petersfield, and we can arrange pick-ups from there for those arriving by Public Transport.
Exact location will be shared once your booking is confirmed.
