Rewilding and good mental health going hand in hand.
The 20th June saw the formal launch of our community food-forest project on our new Clark Fields rewilding site. Organised by our partners Seed of Hope CIC it was a chance for members of the local community and other interested parties to see the land where the garden will be and share their ideas about how it might look and feel in the future.
The garden is being developed on 3 acres of the 53 acre site, with the rest being rewilded as usual. Seed of Hope is a local organisation that works with people suffering poor mental health, using gardening and horticulture as a tool to help in their recovery. Not only will the new garden provide a valuable local asset, but it will help to act as a transition zone between nearby housing and the ‘wilder’ areas beyond.
The plans are obviously still being worked out, but the idea is for a mixture of fruit and nut trees, underplanted with a range of plants, and vegetable growing areas, along with areas of meadow. There will be a pond, nature zones and a small shed or storage area. The area will be a space for public interaction, reducing pressure on the more hands-off rewilding areas on the rest of the site, while providing an amazing local asset.
While this is a new venture for Somerset Wildlands, we are excited by the possibilities. One of our charitable objectives, aside from simply making space for nature, is to build a community of support around rewilding in the region, and we hope that projects like this will be an important part of that process. The land at Clark Fields was generously donated to us by the JAC Trust, and the inclusion of this community area was an considered by us to be essential part of our proposition to them.
A little shade on a very hot day.
It’s still early days, but we will post more about it as it happens.
P.s. the cat is called Daryl and it was having great fun hanging out around the edge of the field and following us about the place. While there are significant environmental issues around pet cats and and dogs, we don’t need to get into them right now.
Ellie and Kris who are running the project for Seed of Hope.
One of the fields, just a couple of months in to its rewilding journey.
Daryl the cat crossing our path. Hopefully a sign of good luck.