Kick start your mind and body at Trill Farm
Do you want to get your mind and body kick started this New Year? Trill Farm opens its doors for 2015 with an inspiring programme of courses and talks to get you thinking, learning and eating!
Trill Farm, near Axminster, is the brain child of Dr Romy Fraser OBE, the founder of Neal's Yard Remedies. Set up in 2008, the 300 acre organic farm has become an exercise in creative thinking and living.
Cattle and sheep farmers, market gardeners, carpenters, chefs and natural skin-product makers all share the farm and a common ethos; using the land and all it affords in a way that provides a living for its workers, a resource for the local community to use and benefit from and, most importantly, causes minimum impact to the natural resources that sustain the whole enterprise.
The farm also hosts the Trill Trust, an education charity that uses the beautiful habitats and wildlife on the farm, and takes advantage of the expertise and knowledge of those working on it, to inspire and engage others to think and learn about their own relationship with the natural environment and what it means to the them. The Trust organises a series of talks, events and family camps throughout the year and has just employed a new Director of Education, Jolyon Chesworth.
Jolyon said: “Trill farm is such an inspiring place, the rivers, ponds, woods and meadows are teeming with wildlife and I'm really looking forward to exploring it all, showing people around and helping to put on a diverse programme of activities with something for everyone; from those who want their first experience sleeping under the stars and watching badgers; to people who want to understand what grows around them and how it can be used to make delicious foods and herbal remedies.”
The Trill Trust has just released the first of its planned activities, with courses on everything from carpentry, where you can build your own table, to willow weaving and basket making, herbal remedies and homeopathy, bee keeping, foraging and cooking, including our upcoming course on marmalade making, led by the renowned 'Pam the Jam'.
Jolyon continues: “One of the things I’m most looking forward to are our monthly Supper and Conversations, these evening events include thought provoking talks from national experts on a whole variety of subjects. On January 30th we have Pat Thomas, an author, journalist and campaigner, giving her views on GM foods and how they may be creeping on to your supermarket shelves, and what it means for our environment and our health. These talks provide food for thought whilst our resident chef provides delicious organic food for us to eat, as we cogitate and discuss the important issues facing ourselves and our countryside.”
“All of our walks, talks and events are listed on our website at www.trillfarm.co.uk and more will be added as the year progresses. We are particularly keen to continue to develop our links with our neighbours, including local schools and colleges. Im really looking forward to helping develop Trill as a community asset, where people can come and experience the best our countryside has to offer through sharing, learning, eating and simply taking pleasure in being outside in the fields and woods, what better way to start 2015.”
Courses & Events at Trill Farm: January - March 2015
Supper & Conversations: 30th January / £22
A monthly event held on Friday evenings in the Old Dairy at Trill Farm, providing an opportunity to enjoy an inspiring talk by a guest speaker followed by a convivial supper.
Guest speakers include writers, artists, innovators, critics, political agitators, educationalists and of course environmentalists. Each evening is designed to stimulate thinking, the sharing of ideas and also to be enjoyable and create new friendships.
January 30th kicks off the first such event of 2015 with a contentious subject: GMOs… coming to a Supermarket near you? Author, journalist and campaigner, Pat Thomas, will talk about the renewed threat of GMO’s creeping into our food and farming in the UK and what we as citizens can do about it.
The talk is followed by a three course organic, farm-produced (and GM free, naturally!) supper, from new resident chef, Chris Onions.
Natural Beauty & Perfumery: 31st January / £75
Learn to make effective natural skincare products and craft a signature perfume from all-natural ingredients in a one-day introductory course with Amanda Cook, a holistic health coach specialising in natural health & beauty.
Making beauty products is creative and fun - but more importantly, provides results as good as (or better than) store-bought products, without the added chemicals and cost.
This one-day course will cover:
• the key techniques to craft your own beauty products
• how to customise products for your skin type
• the most effective botanicals for your skin
• where and how to source ingredients (both store-bought and foraged)
• how to blend essential oils to create a signature scent
Simple Herbal Remedies for the Family: 1st February / £75
Learn to make effective natural skincare products and home remedies for the health and well-being of the entire family. Using ingredients from the garden and your kitchen cupboards, Amanda Cook, a holistic health coach specialising in natural health & beauty, will show you how on this one-day course.
This one-day course will cover:
• how to make a multi-purpose healing salve
• simple remedies for coughs and colds
• family skincare, including treating sunburns and other skin irritations
• common weeds that have healing properties
• the must-have ingredients to keep in your kitchen cupboard
Marmalade Matters: 5th February / £75
Citrus fruits are at their best in January and February and the last frosty weeks of winter are the perfect time to be tucked up inside a warm, steamy kitchen to make marmalade. Trill Farm is offering a one-day course in February to learn the basic techniques of traditional marmalade making with preserves-maker Pam Corbin.
This small and practical course will primarily embrace working with the unique Seville (marmalade orange) and will cover two different methods of making marmalade. Learners will be guided through all the steps and skills needed to become a budding marmalade-maker including which equipment to use, the choice of fruits, how to prepare them, which types of sugar to use, jars, lids, potting up and sealing. Most importantly learners will discover how to make marmalade just how they like it.
Carpentry for Beginners: 6th February - 13th March / £320
An introduction to woodworking with carpenter Ruth Thomson. Experience the journey of basic carpentry, starting with how a tree grows to learning the skills to create a piece of furniture.
Learn how to care for your tools and use them properly, make basic joints, and learn to make a stool or table. This course is for beginners and anyone that wants to enjoy learning new and very useful skills.
The course takes place each Friday for five weeks.
Living Willow Sculpture Weaving: 17th February / £45
Discover the art of creating beautiful living willow structures, that will live on for years to come. Richard Kerwood of Windrush Willows will guide you through all you need to know to grow, harvest and weave intricate living willow structures to delight and surprise.
Learn the process of working with living willow from start to finish: how to select the correct varieties for your purposes, how to plant, prune & care for trees, harvesting techniques, and how to store, dry and prepare whips for use as natural living resource.
This course is particularly recommended as a family day. Two children (under 5) may accompany an adult for free.
Bespoke Beauty Weekend: 21nd - 22nd February / £205 residential / £150 non-residential
Creating fantastic beauty products that you love to use is about more than good ingredients… the packaging and fragrance combine with a high-quality product to make the experience.
Over this weekend course, we will create our own concept for our perfect beauty brand. We will experiment with essential oils to blend a signature fragrance. Then we’ll get crafty and creative with art supplies and package our products.
Finally we’ll make some beauty products by hand, customising with our own fragrance and packaging. Each learner will leave with their own small handmade line of beauty products to enjoy at home.
Essential Oils for First Aid: 13th March / £75
Spend a day with herbalist Cathy Skipper to deepen your understanding of a selection of essential oils that we could label ‘major’. The course will cover a large spectrum of uses that occur regularly in day to day life and in herbal practice, e.g.
• Burns
• Skin problems
• Insect bites
• Fractures and bruises
• Nausea and vomiting
• Infection etc
We will work on an in-depth profile of each oil including, chemical botanical, physical, emotional apsects as well as the precautions and best application methods related to each oil. The day's course will include theory and practical work.
Gemmotherapy: 14th - 15th March / £130 residential
The word Gemmotherapy comes from the Latin word,‘gemma’ signifiying both the plant bud and precious stone. Theoretically, plant buds possess certain therapeutic properties that are superior to the varied part of the mature plant. It is however one of the lesser known options available to herbalists.
In this two day workshop with herbalist Cathy Skipper, learners will gain an in-depth knowledge of gemmotherapy, the history and theory as well as the practicalities of making the preparations and appropriate use, including:
• Detoxification
• Drainage (of the organs) toxins leave through the blood and lymph.
• Cell regeneration, oxygenation of cells, electrolyte balancing and improvement of the electrical potential of cells.
• Ribonucleic acid reparation
• Nutritive - can be used to replace dietary supplements
• Anti-aging, revitalizes organs, epidermis tissues, stimulates activity linked to the blood and lymph
Living Nutrition: Spring: 20th - 22nd March / £275 residential / £205 non-residential
Join award-winning chef and nutritionist Daphne Lambert for a weekend seasonal cooking course exploring the relationship between land, food, health and vitality.
Living Nutrition cooking courses are held four times per year, with each weekend focusing on the current seasonal foods growing or harvested at Trill Farm: in the garden, from the hedgerows, woods and meadows.
During the course you will learn how our food is produced and processed, gather wild harvest from the farm, and collectively make all the meals for the weekends, including breads, soups, salads, main meals, desserts and drinks. You will leave with seasonal recipes and cooking skills to share at home.
An Introduction to Beekeeping: 26th March / £45
A Foundation Course for Aspiring Apiculturalist with Noel Lakin, the resident bee expert at Trill Farm. Our one day course is designed to offer participants a wide perspective on the theory of beekeeping and its place in the production of many important food crops.
It is aimed at people who would like to possess a comprehensive understanding of what modern apiculture involves and those who feel that they may be interested in taking further steps towards becoming a novice beekeeper.
The course includes looking at the range and cost of the major items of beekeeping equipment.
