Earth Weavers
Women’s Nature Connection & Growing Group
“It has been such a blessing to be part of the Rewild experience! From winter to spring and even summer, we have been able to seed, plant, water, harvest and cooked all the vegetables we put in the soil. What a joyful satisfaction!
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Earth Weavers
Join a community of like-minded women dedicated to nurturing both the earth and their souls. Earth Weavers is an inclusive group focused on sharing experiences that create a collective understanding, honouring each woman's unique journey.
At Earth Weavers, we explore the importance of growing food and foraging herbs. We work with lunar phases and seasonal changes. Nature-based meditation are woven into sessions. Located at the picturesque Hastings Allotment, this group offers a serene environment where women can reconnect with nature and with each other. Whether you are a seasoned gardener or a complete novice, Earth Weavers provides a supportive space for learning and personal growth.
Booking is essential to secure your place in our sessions. Come weave your own story with Earth Weavers and cultivate a deeper connection with both the earth and a wonderful community of women.
Earth Weavers is a free group that allows people to enjoy nature on a Hastings allotment. We grow food using sustainable permaculture methods while teaching the whole growing process: sowing seeds, raising crops, harvesting, preserving, composting, and especially seed saving. Seed saving and composting are crucial as they help save money for the next cycle. These skills can be used at home and shared with family members, promoting knowledge sharing. We also gather herbs, prepare medicinal teas and balms, and practice mindfulness meditation in nature. roduce can be taken home.
Cost Of Living Crisis
The current cost of living crisis has led many to rethink their food habits, increasing interest in self-sufficiency. Growing your own food is seen as a way to reduce expenses and gain a sense of control. Home gardening allows individuals and families to manage their food sources with a low initial cost, as seeds and soil are often inexpensive. As you harvest your produce, you can save significantly on grocery bills, allowing you to use that money for other necessary costs. This practice not only eases financial strain but also promotes healthier eating, since homegrown fruits and vegetables are usually fresher and pesticide-free.
Creating a small garden or using pots for herbs and vegetables can strengthen your connection to nature. This bond improves resilience as you adapt to seasonal changes and learn about the challenges of growing your own food. By aligning with nature's cycles, you can develop essential skills that enhance self-sufficiency. Growing food is now more than just a hobby; it is a way to empower and sustain communities facing economic difficulties.
Permaculture
Permaculture is a growing method that works with nature to create balance. It involves planting vegetables and flowers together, benefiting each other for food, energy, shelter, and protection without chemicals that harm the environment. This approach supports organic growth and teaches us to better connect with our surroundings. It requires less effort and intervention, allowing for more productivity. We use no-dig methods to preserve soil organisms, nourishing the soil with organic matter. Permaculture encourages us to observe and engage with nature, promoting a cycle of growth, decay, and renewal. It allows nature to guide us, leading to significant positive effects.
Nurturing a garden while also focusing on personal growth has greatly benefited our participants. This group provides a safe space for women to connect and feel part of a larger community, where they can support and grow with one another. Combining mindfulness and permaculture shows how all life is interconnected and how nature mirrors our experiences. Practicing mindfulness in nature enhances our sensory skills and deepens our connection to both the environment and ourselves.
Nature Based Mindfulness
Nature-Based mindfulness focuses on awareness and connection. It helps us recognize and reconnect with forgotten parts of ourselves. This awareness involves our senses and understanding of ourselves, others, and the earth around us. By being open to our feelings, we cultivate intuition. Mindfulness in Nature teaches us to be open and receptive.
Starts Thursday September 12th 2024,
10.30am-1.30pm
Runs every Thursdays (term time only)
Hastings Allotment
For more information contact polly@projectrewild.co.uk
BOOKING ESSENTIAL AS SPACES ARE LIMITED. ADULT ONLY GROUP, WE ARE UNABLE TO ALLOW CHILDREN, BABIES OR PETS TO ATTEND.
GROUP FEEDBACK
Joining this group has helped me connect with myself and to nature through meditation and through the sensory experience of working with the soil and plants. It has also helped me to connect with others and I have got to know a neighbour through attending the group. This has had a positive impact on my mental health. Sharing experiences in the group has been very beneficial to my well being. I have learnt how to work the land and to grow and protect plants which has helped me feel that I belong here. Learning about what healthy foods to eat and drink has also been good for my mental and physical health. Being outside all morning brings me peace, enjoyment and when it is sunny, a healthy dose of vitamin D. As in life, working with plants can bring surprises. We planted a wild flower patch which we thought had not taken, A few weeks later we returned after it had been raining a lot. The patch had flourished and was brimming with colour. I felt such delight and learnt that sometimes all you need is patience.
Through growing plants, I have learnt a lot about my needs. I realise that I need the right environment and conditions to grow and to blossom, just as a plant does.
Whilst working on the allotment, I have got to know other allotment holders which has further increased my social circle and a feeling that I am part of a larger community.
MARY 2023
Thank you to Polly and Claire, I really hope this valuable space continues to be available. Claire and Polly create a safe and positive place for diverse women who are muddling through life, to be together and learn in a radically different way to the rest of life seemingly. It's calming and gentle but also very rich and constructive to grow food together and regenerate the land. I think projects like this are quietly transformative and it definitely continues to influence me and the way I spend my time beyond the project.
PARTICIPANT 2023
I really appreciate having a women only space here, it just takes the pressure off, it’s hard to explain but I just feel so much more relaxed. I love the conversations women can have when men aren’t around and we really listen to each other and let each other talk and be heard here. It feels really good to be listened to and supported by other women and get creative and have fun together.
ABI 2022
The Project Rewild sessions are simply wonderful: grounding, nourishing, soothing, educational. We tend the earth together, and each other. Polly and Claire are brilliant, wise, generous facilitators, and I'm incredibly grateful for the time spent with them, and the group, and the allotment.
ROSY 2022
Thank you, Polly and Claire, for facilitating Grow. It was a wonderful experience to be in a safe and peaceful environment, doing such an important thing as connecting with other women, in nature. There is a profound depth to these connections, which is so needed in these busy and challenging times we are in. It is really important to me to learn how to grow my own food, now more than ever, and pass on these skills to my daughter. I learned so much from you and enjoyed every minute of it. I really hope I can get to experience another course with you.
CINDY 2022
Polly and Claire have crafted a really special space with Grow. The project achieves the perfect balance of doing and being, and the sessions are facilitated in a gentle, nurturing way, allowing each member to find their own pace and place within the group. I've only attended two sessions so far, but I can feel the benefits already. When I'm on the allotment I feel calmer, more centred and in tune with my feelings and energy levels, and connected in with the other women in the group. I've really enjoyed our conversations about the importance of rest, learning from the earth and the cycles of the moon, and the complexities of motherhood. It's difficult to express how rare but how vital it is to have a space that's held exclusively for women, and I take strength and joy in the safety, peer support and collaborative energy that's created when we come together. It's a beautiful thing to be able to share our collective learning and experience. This project needs to continue!
EVE 2022
You both do such an amazing job at creating an environment where I have felt I can just come in and be part of a team from the moment I arrived. The space is held with such a light touch but that in itself is such an amazing skill as it allows the people who come to the group to feel a sense of ownership and not just there doing a course. There is no hierarchy, no feelings of this is mine and that is yours – it’s a truly shared space . Thanks for creating such a lovely, open door and safe space feeling to the weekly meet ups. It’s changed my life for the better. I look forward to the next few months as the season changes and learning more about permaculture and soil care in a mindful way.
JANE 2022
It has been wonderful for me to feel part of the community in a physical sense although joining Permaculture meets Mindfulness has seemed at times, ethereal. As a neuro diverse female the gentle albeit cold environment combined with subtle structured tasks and learning outcomes was ideal for me and upon reflection extremely beneficial. I felt that I could be me without masking or adapting to societies constructs. The organic conversations were fulfilling and honest, almost therapeutic. Thank you all for listening without Judgement. I found myself speaking to people more lately and not isolating myself as frequently. I now welcome the weather in thermal undergarments and I have acquired walking boots! Where before when unwell, I’d have felt distressed and hibernated I now know the benefit of forcing myself out for a walk and to submerge myself in nature, I’m often out picking nettles whether that be for soup or adding some vitamin c to my hot beverage. As a gardening novice I’ve learnt a lot and I look forward to harvesting in the near future.
CHARLOTTE 2022
It has been such a blessing to be part of the Rewild experience! From winter to spring and even summer, we have been able to seed, plant, water, harvest and cooked all the vegetables we did put in the soil. What a joyful satisfaction!
LISE 2022
Polly and Claire made me feel at ease straight away and created a safe enjoyable atmosphere. I found that after a session my anxiety and stress levels were lower than at the beginning of the session.
PARTICIPANT DECEMBER 2021
Who?
Earth Weavers is funded by The National Lottery Community Fund. This free wellbeing group offers local women the chance to spend time in nature, to learn new skills and meet new people.
“We feel connected to nature, yet we can hardly explain why nature impresses us so much, or why do we seek to spend time in nature. The truth is nature is our natural habitat, and when we disconnect, we forget our inner selves.”