NATURAL FARMING WORKSHOP
A 2-day workshop to introduce you to the principles and practicalities of Natural Farming given by Kutluhan Ozdemir of Natural Farm Shizen.
A 2-day NATURAL FARMING workshop on SATURDAY 11TH & SUNDAY 12TH NOVEMBER, 2023 from Kutluhan Ozdemir. He will give you deep insight into the philosophy, principles and practicalities of this approach to growing food, alongside the clarity as to why we need to change our current agricultural practices. Natural Farming or “do nothing” farming is an approach that was developed by MASANOBU FUKUOKA in Japan after he had a deep and profound realisation that our separation from nature has caused desctruction and to rectify this we need to let nature lead: truly and fully. Kutluhan, originally from Turkey, spent 2014 – 2019 working on different Natural Farms around the world, including Edessa in Greece, a natural farm established by Panos Manikis over 35 years ago. He began creating his own Natural Farm – Farm Shizen in Le Marche, Italy in 2021.
Kutluhan will travel to Cornwall from Italy to share his learnings and his way of life as a natural farmer. This will be the first workshop given in the UK. Whilst time will be spent indoors learning and discussing the principles of this way of farming we will also spend time outside getting practical. Walking next door to Community Roots, sited on the Eco Park, we will create a vegetable bed using compost and mulch materials and also learn how to make seed balls – one of the techniques used in seed sowing in Natural Farming. Both activities are done in a communal way and people are encouraged to bring musical instruments so we can create music to accompany our activities.
I attended this workshop in Murcia, Spain in March this year and found it both profound and practical, making sense of why my existing regenerative growing practices weren’t lighting me up anymore. Following a deep desire to invite Kutluhan here to Cornwall to share this way of being with us, I am excited to see what may follow in our beautiful corner of the UK, and maybe further afield too.
DATES: Saturday 11th & Sunday 12th November, 2023
TIMES: Start at 09:30am promt and finish at 5:30pm each day
LUNCH: Everyone to bring a dish so we can create a potluck lunch to share between ourselves. Plant based food only please as per the Eco Parks guidelines.
REFRESHMENTS: Tea, coffee and water will be freely available all weekend. There is also a lovely cafe next to our meeting space if you wish to purchase tea, coffee and other food.
PARKING: Plenty of parking is available at Mount Pleasant Eco Park
WHAT TO BRING: Please bring a cup, plate and cutlery for your refreshments and lunch. We will be inside for the knowledge sharing aspect. We will spend some time outside and can of course go outside for breaks. So do bring waterproof coats and suitable footwear. The usual stuff for any event in Cornwall in November! Any musical instruments of your choice 🙂 to accompany our seed ball making.
ACCOMMODATION: Camping available at the Eco Park.
COST: £70 per participant. If you are unable to afford this please get in touch. We want this workshop to be accessible to all. The £70 fee per person will be used to cover costs of hosting the workshop: travel, venue hire, refreshments, mulch materials, compost, seeds, clay etc.. Any monies generated beyond the costs will go towards spreading the word and work of natural farming: reforestations, sowing seeds in the desert, etc.
PLEASE NOTE: Kutluhan Ozdemir offers his knowledge and this workshop freely, taking no payment for his time. Jo Riley (UK host) also offers her time freely.
DONATIONS: If you feel to offer further donations after attending the workshop you are welcome to do so. See what you feel to do.
PRE-READING/RESEARCH: There is NO requirement to do any reading or research prior to attending the workshop. If you feel to – ONE STRAW REVOLUTION by Masanobu Fukuoka is a lovely read and you can find YouTube videos online on Natural Farming.
