More fun at Hollybush Conservation Centre this term for the Under the Canopy team. They get up to all sorts, guided by artists Matthew and Anne.

We’ve made mushrooms using gummed strip and apples and oranges to form them around and Matthew found a mushroom tea – Lions mane tea – which most people declined to try!

We had an impossible pancake tossing challenge using a tissue paper circle pancake and a paper plate pan plus the Ladybird classic – The Big Pancake story.

We’ve made felt using PVA glue and bubble wrap. The inspiration was mycorrhizal networks of mycelium fungus – carrying on from the mushroom-making.

Peter’s poem

Textile as Culture

Working with Nature

Shapes unshifted

Growing in Structure.

Matthew shared part of Alice in Wonderland (Alice and the caterpillar) and we talked about the Blood Moon and listened to some moon themed poetry and folklore. We finished by answering some moon themed questions, which Matthew turned into a poem.

Ode to the Moon by Under the Canopy

Silver moon in the cold night sky,

You seem to change before my eyes,

For underneath your soft white light,

My dreams and fancies come to life.

Who would you be if we should meet,

One night upon a starlit street?

If you came down from outer space,

To walk among the human race?

 

Would you be a human being – someone similar to me?

A smiling older woman, kind and quiet, with a sharp mind – able to see what others miss.

A man – powerful, strong and masculine – a great giver, shining with quiet wisdom.

A non-binary carer, happy and smiley, old and wise, looking after everyone.

You would be a person with many aspects – someone who never goes away

 

Would you be an animal – at one with the natural world?

A white swan, a polar bear, an eagle, a beautiful butterfly,

A pale white frog, leaping above the earth, reflecting the light,

A shimmering jellyfish, a dinosaur, a wolf, powerful and hungry for change,

A silver fish, a manatee, floating peacefully past the earth.

You would be many creatures as you wax and wane.

 

Would you be a foodstuff – something nourishing and good to eat?

A pancake, soft cheese and crackers, a white bread roll, fluffy and warm,

Victoria sponge, delicious white chocolate, cheese and onion pie,

Blancmange, Red Leicester, ice and candy floss.

You would be a comfort food, soft and gentle, sustaining the people of the Earth.

 

Would you be a flower, a blossom or a leaf – bringing beauty and colour to the world?

A pale lily, a beautiful sunflower, a lotus, floating on cloud mist,

Hellebore, hydrangea, honesty,

A white and yellow gerbera, a fragrant rose without thorns.

You would be regal, proud, beautiful, delicate, peaceful and softly scented.

 

Would you be a feeling, a passing emotion?

Comfort, happiness, calm, strength,

Contentment, peace and relaxation,

Independence, hope, protection, watchfulness,

A safe space.

You would be something that changes the way that people look at the world.

 

Silver moon in the cold night sky,

You seem to change before my eyes,

For underneath your soft white light,

My dreams and fancies come to life.

 

March 28^th was weed appreciation day. We looked at weeds and soil and Anne shared some of the artworks she’d seen at ‘Soil’ exhibition at Somerset House. We did some weed paintings with soil ink collected from around Hollybush. Matthew shared a story about weeds and we drank a peppery nettle chai.

March 28^th was also : Wear a hat Day, Something on a stick day, international women in music day and respect your cat day – so for the last 10mins we made newspaper hats, paper flowers on twigs whilst singing along to Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi and giving Frank, the cuddly cat, some respect!

 

And we finished the term off with a fantastic trip to York Gate Garden…

What are Weeds by Under the Canopy

What are weeds and why do we hate them?

Weeds are creeping, clinging, strangling, parasitic, annoying at times.

What are weeds and why do we love them?

Weeds are resilient, pioneering, headstrong, persistent and misunderstood.

What are weeds and why do we need them?

Weeds are sometimes edible, sometimes healing, sometimes bearers of gorgeous flowers, pollinators, propagators, nitrogen-fixers, a sign of great fertility in the soil.

What are weeds and what do we call them?

Weeds are “the-working-classes-of-the-garden”, “dinner-for-tortoises”, “plants-in-the-wrong-place”, “Nature’s-medicines”, “deep-rooted-crevice-weavers”, “Welcome-in-my-garden”.

What are weeds?

Weeds are welcome in my garden.