Bringing you foraging workshops, wildlife tracking, herbal medicine workshops, plant dreaming workshops, lacto-fermentation workshops, how to grow a forest garden, abundant vegetable plot and vibrant orchard.
Wildlife Tracking Workshops
Learn how to identify the tracks and signs of wildlife with Kara. and never look at nature the same way again! An interactive workshop exploring tracking and how it can be a powerful practice for not just deep nature connection but also for social change and decolonisation. More about this workshop: here
Rare wildlife at Coed: Great crested newt workshop
There are three species of newt native to the UK, the smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris), the palmate newt (Lissotriton helveticus), and the rare great crested newt (Triturus cristatus). All three species live and thrive at Coed Hills!
Pete will be delivering an educational workshop and evening torchlight newt survey, providing a unique opportunity to learn about the newts and experience the animals themselves. More about this workshop here
Plant Dreaming Workshop
No need for you to be botanically knowledgeable, only to trust your imagination and willingness to explore. Together we seek to discover our own authentic dialogue with Nature.
Lucy opens this plant dreaming workshop with suggestions and guidance to tap into your senses and imagination in order to meet the chosen plant or tree.
There’s extended time to revisit the plant, our perception enhanced by shared insight. Some people like to sketch while others may prefer to connect with the plant in other ways which Lucy can help you explore.
Lucy will finish with a guided journey to seek the spirit of the plant, to help us discover the particular vibration or Medicine, and to honour and endorse our individual relationship with it. More about Lucy: here
COED GARDENS
TALK AND TOUR
One third of the communities food consumption is produced within the gardens of Coed on about 1.5 acres of land. Enjoy a tour of the gardens with our one and only Stevie!
Get to know Stevie a little more here.
COED ORGANIC TOUR
Get a unique tour around Coed Organic with Ro, Milly and Rhiannon.
Coed Organic is a market garden at Coed Hills. They grow on around 6.5 acres, with approximately 400m2 of polytunnel space. Their land is rented from the adjacent Coed Hills Rural Artspace
They currently have around 75 CSA members, who are supplied with a veg bag for around 38 weeks of the year. They also sell vegetables at Riverside Farmers Market in Cardiff, on Sundays from June until December.
They practice stock-free organic growing, primarily using green manures for fertility.
INTRODUCTION TO BIODYNAMICS:
A Personal Journey to connect with the land
We are looking forward to welcoming Kai, with 40 years experience as a biodynamic practicioner, teacher, mentor and team leader. He will share a talk on Saturday and a workshop on Sunday on a whole aray of ways to connect to the land.
Covering a wide aray of topics such as: how one can balance work load and reconnect to one’s ‘calling’ to avoid burnout; introducing tools to develop the land; listening to the land and future; Feeding your soul – integrating individual creativity into practical land-work; valuing form, colour, beauty, sound, movement, through art, ritual & rhythm; empowering yourself – integrating intention in practical work – replacing pessimism with optimism. Find out more about Kai.
FORAGING WITH MARTIN & SETONDJI
Familiarize yourself with the land and forage and cook with fresh wild food. This year Martin Bailey from Goforaging will be hosting the foraging sessions. Setondji will be cooking up the foraged ingredients.
STORIES FROM THE LAND with CATH LITTLE
Cath will be bringing stories and songs from the land of Wales to share. She bridges the worlds of land based nature connection with arts and culture, using her skills to weave magic into the land we walk upon. More about Cath Little
HERB WORKSHOPS
1: HERBS FOR CHILDREN
Involving taking and experiencing three amazing herbs for children’s health: tasting them, then making bath bombs together for skin health and introducing calendula balm and how to make it yourselves.
2: EXPLORING A HERB IN DETAIL
Going into one herb in detail. Starting with a silent tea tasting session, then discussion of findings and then opening up the literature to back up experience. Then if there is time do a short herb walk introducing a few plants and talk about their virues.
More about Will and Fran Here
SEED SAVING WORKSHOP
An interactive seed saving exploration with Sophie Bolton. Sophie will share some information on seed saving followed by a general discussion on vegetable growing – particularly salad leaves. Bring any questions you might have.
LACTO FERMENTATION WORKSHOPS
We all know how good fermented foods can be for our health right?! Laure from Absorb Health will be hosting 2 fantastic workshops on lacto-fermentation in the DoveLove classroom on both Saturday and Sunday. There are limited numbers available for these workshops so sign up on the board in the main barn.
TREES OF HOPE AND EDICULTURE
On Sunday morning join us for a special talk about planting trees in Zimbabwe and Wales.
Tafara Chakanetsa, director of Trees of Hope, was born and raised in rural Zimbabwe and has witnessed the effect of over zealous deforestation for farming, firewood, mining, timber and firing kilns.
At twelve years old Tafara planted his first trees on the family land. 30 years later and those trees are the inspiration for the Trees of Hope project.
Trees of Hope was constituted in 2020 with a broadly representative committee to oversee work in the UK and Zimbabwe.
Trees of Hope and Ediculture are the two charities to which the surplus money of Coed Ffest will be donated. Come and find out more about what we want to support
HONOURING THE MOTHER: CONNECTING WITH THE SACRED WATERS OF COED HILLS
Gathering at the festival on this Summer Solstice, we are reminded that to spend time on the land we must honour its waters. Coed y Ffynnon is a Spring just below the stone circle. It is a place of inspiration and magic, of quiet contemplation and nourishment.
We have borrowed from many cultures in our quest for re-enchantment with the sacred, and yet the land in the Vale of Glamorgan holds the stories of our own gods and goddesses, the deep replenishing waters of our own legends.
At 3pm each day there will be a guided walk to the Spring, weaving stories and myths of Wales and our history, gathering at Coed y Ffynnon to give thanks, and take rest and replenishment. This workshop will be led by Sarah Raven, one of the original community members of Coed, now living in a remote valley north of Pontadawe.
Q&A with JOHN BEES
John the Bee Man will be hosting a Q and A in the forest garden on all things bee related. Come by to learn more about beekeeping, honey bees and bumble bees and taste some of our delicious honey. ??
John has over 50 years of beekeeping experience and now has hives in Pembrokeshire and at Coed Hills.
John is a font of knowledge about bees. What he doesn’t know isn’t worth knowing!