Taste the good life

Experience life on a small-holding with a Good Life Taster! We are now offering residential and day-visit introductions to living and working on the land. Discover the good life and find out about self-sufficiency, conservation work, wildlife protection, meadow management, no-dig vegetable production, woodland management, firewood production, hen-care and more, plus gain skills by helping out with a hands-on task.

 

A two-night stay in Tawny Little House is the best way to enjoy your time here. Spend the first evening as you wish, with the following morning devoted to a detailed guided discovery tour of Orchid Meadows and introduction to everything that goes on here. After a shared vegetarian lunch of Orchid Meadows and other local produce, we will undertake a small-holding task at a relaxed pace and with full instruction. The evening is again yours and the next morning we will complete the task, before enjoying another shared lunch, followed by the chance to revisit any parts of the small-holding operation you may be particularly interested in.

 

All tools are provided but you will need to bring wellies and outdoor clothing.

 

A residential taster costs £105 per person, which includes two nights’ accommodation, breakfast and lunch on two days, plus a jar of Orchid Meadows chutney, jam or hedgerow jelly to take home. Tawny takes one couple comfortably and there is also a sofa bed for accompanying children (children under 12 come free).

 

Alternatively, if you live nearby you can come for the daytime only at a cost of £45, including lunch and a jar of preserve.

 

Good Life Tasters are available based around the following hands-on tasks:

 

• Sphagnum bog management. Available September

• Hawthorn jelly making. Available September

• Apple juicing. Available October

• No-dig vegetable bed maintenance – manuring and preparing for winter. Available November or December

• Planting for tall trees. Available January

• Living willow sculpture work. Available February

• Willow pollarding and woodland management. Available February

• The art and science of firewood production. Available March

• Devil’s bit scabious potting-up and turf-seeding for our marsh fritillary reintroduction programme. Available March

 

Dates are by mutual arrangement within the month indicated.

 

If you are interested, please contact us at hello@orchidmeadows.co.uk with details of your preferred choice of activity and suggested dates.