Coming Back to Gartur
I keep thinking I see swallows, martins and swifts out of the corner of my eye. Nothing heralds spring more than their arrival, a sure sign that things will be green and growing soon here. On summer evenings, after the first round of babies has hatched, the courtyard begins to fill with them dashing across the sky and lining up on the power lines criss crossing the farm. I could spend ages watching them and some of my favourite moments are when one dashes inside the studio on the days I work with my door open. When they leave in autumn, the farm feels so empty with out their dives and chatter. I look forward to the day they come back every single year, pangs of jealousy when I see neighbours posting of their sightings.
It is not just the lack of swallows that has made the farm feel empty this winter. For the last year, it has mostly been just us up here. At first it was such a luxury - not cooking and cleaning for workshops, time to read and hang out with the kids. In fact, we even contemplated not opening up again, having enjoyed the time and space so much. Maybe we'd just sell online courses and kits, or maybe I'd work on soap full time and we could keep Gartur all to ourselves.
And while we could absolutely do those things, the fact is that hosting people, running workshops and bringing people here is what absolutely makes our heart sing and makes Gartur what it is. Kevin's best Theatre major voice booming across the field. Kids learning how to milk a goat or a cow. Boyboy getting all the tummy scratches he could ever want. Teaching people hands on skills like sourdough and cheesemaking. As much as I have loved this empty year, I think we are ready to share again.
This was brought home a few weeks ago when we hosted a photographer from AirBnB to shoot some stills and video for our Foraging in the Woods experience we run with them. Even though it was a total set up (you can see our beloved friends acted as models for us and Georgia pretended not to be my kid!), it was such a joy to be out and wandering and chatting about food and where it comes from and stretch those rusty hospitality muscles. We finished the day with that perfect mix of exhaustion and adrenaline that we'd forgotten.
So after the swallows return, but before the cows go back out on grass (Mid-May for those that don't run on Gartur time), the farm events and shop will be open. We will be keeping groups small and are working on getting all the additional signage, hand sanitiser, policies and facilities in place to make sure we can welcome everyone back safely. You can see our full events in & take a look at our airbnb offerings here.
Check Out Our Upcoming Events & Learn About How to Visit Gartur
Hopefully, see you soon! (It feels so good to write that again!!!)
Kat
July 31st and August 1st Natural Dye Workshop with Julia Billings of Woollenflower
While some of our events are able to go ahead, sadly our residential retreats won't be able to. While its disappointing, we are delighted to offer a two day Natural Dye Workshop with our good friend Julia Billings of Woollenflower on July 31st and August 1st. Day One will be focused on local dyes and foraging and day two will be all about indigo! The two days will build on each other, but participants may opt in to either day individually
Spaces are limited.
Learn More
Online Live Events
Can't Come to the farm for a workshop? Don't worry! In addition to our online courses with the Farm School, we also have a series on online makealongs that you can join! See the schedule here.