Have you ever wanted to weave a basket straight from the land, and learn how to forage for food & medicine?
Myrtle & Emma warmly invite you to join them for a weekend of foraging for wild food and materials to weave your own unique hedgerow gathering basket.
Autumn sees an abundance of wild food, medicine and materials awaiting our merry band of wildcrafters.
Our cosy outdoor venue nestled in the beautiful Cuckoo farm is home for the weekend, with covered fireside spaces, and handmade wild refreshments provided.
We’ll spend part of the weekend out exploring, returning to the warmth of the hearth with everything needed to learn the traditional craft of basketry.
You will learn the following
- Explore sensory ways to find and meet plants which can be used for basketry.
- Experience the vibrant and empowering traditional craft of hedgerow basketry, and weave your own frame gathering basket.
- Meet wild edible plants at home in hedgerows and woodlands, hear about the tales they have to tell and how our culture is tightly interwoven with the story of plants.
- Sample handmade wild food and drink made from the land we’ll explore together.
About the course
- No basketry or foraging experience is required.
- This course suitable for those aged 18+, or 14+ with an accompanying adult
- A reasonable degree of fitness and mobility is needed. We’ll cover some slightly uneven ground and walk up two miles at a gentle pace with frequent stops.
- Please bring your lunch on both days to supplement the wild refreshments.
When & where?
Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th October 2024
- Time: 9.30am-4.30pm (both days)
- Cost: £175 inclusive of handmade wild refreshments. Please bring your lunch to supplement these.
- Location: Cuckoo Farm, Loddiswell PL21 0SE
- Tutors: Myrtle Cooper and Emma Capper
- For course queries: myrtle(AT)wildandcurious.org.uk
- Booking terms and conditions
- Click here to book
Please note that the email address they receive with your booking is your PayPal registered address; if this is an out-of-use email address, I won’t be able to contact you with course details.
Testimonials
“Emma & Myrtle were excellent tutors, explaining the idea and process of both practices superbly. It was a great day & wouldn’t hesitate to go on another!”
“Each day was full of delights and new learning – the tutors were amazing and so knowledgeable – and wonderfully generous with their knowledge.”
“I think these types of courses are better than therapy in many ways. I’m looking forward to the next adventure.”
About Myrtle Cooper
As a young child I was enchanted by the worlds of Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree, Tolkien’s Ent’s and the Hungry Caterpiller’s food led journey to metamorphosis.
Climbing to the top of trees in search of hidden worlds, I imagined what stories they had to share. I loved the freedom and untapped possibility I felt being in the wild.
Back in 2011, I rediscovered this hunger for stories and began searching to find that enchantment again. Learning the language of plants, the old lore and how our human story is intimately woven amongst plants.
Studies and work across permaculture, horticulture and regenerative food systems led to a lengthy immersion writing an MSc thesis, which brought together a deepening interest in eco-therapy, plant intelligence and my passion for wild plants.
Sitting with trees, an invisible veil began to drop from my eyes, and the palate of greens took on new meanings; wisdom, food and medicine from the hedgerows.
My practice of plant connection was born. A practice that supports my mental and physical wellbeing more than any other.
Foraging and wild food became a gateway into exploring the world with new eyes, and heightened senses.
About Emma Capper
Emma is an ANFT Certified Nature and forest therapy guide, artist, basket maker and workshop facilitator with over 25 yrs of experience delivering workshops in the expressive arts.
“I love to wander in the woods, gathering flexible stems and branches to create little vessels, baskets and simple pieces of woven art. My senses come alive as I feel into the flow of life in the fibres, honouring their life and mine.”
In 2013 she founded Creative Journeys in nature, weaving her love of art and nature together to curate workshops and forest therapy walks for folk from all walks of life.
She sees her work in this field as a form of eco-activism. Holding a playful yet sacred space in nature for connection, healing and inspiration.
Feedback from previous hedgerow and basketry events
“Emma & Myrtle were excellent tutors, Explaining the idea and process of both practices superbly. It was a great day & wouldn’t hesitate to go on another!”
“Each day was full of delights and new learning – the tutors were amazing and so knowledgeable – and wonderfully generous with their knowledge”
“I think these types of courses are better than therapy in many ways. I’m looking forward to the next adventure”