Why We’re Finally Shouting (Just a Bit) About What We Do
There’s something quite weird about social media. And it has taken us a while to realise it.
It turns out that there are loads of people and places shouting about doing some, but not all, of the things we do here at Wood Advent. We’re just a bit busy actually doing it – like planting 84,000 trees in three years to boost biodiversity and battle climate change, increasing the varieties of food we produce from 2 to 167, getting more people into the landscape in collaboration with CampWild, helping lead the charge to feed the community around us real food, organically to realise that it’s… all kind of cool… as well as good for people, planet, and even our own wellbeing.
Farming is an isolated business. You get up, you get on, you go to bed, especially as harvest looms. Who on earth would be fussed about that? It has taken us a while to realise that actually, people are interested, they want to be involved, they want to be part of this.
So this weekend, we’re throwing open the doors for an event to welcome all those people who think a little bit like we do about food and nature, those people who fancy a fun, delicious evening dining under the stars warmed by giant firepits sizzling with home reared organic produce, and those people who are, frankly, just a bit curious.
The menu, which has been great fun to rustle up, is an equally cool collaboration between us here at Wood Advent Farm, our regenerative, organic neighbours at market garden With The Wild, the remarkable microdairy at Cothelstone Manor, and the equally fabulous Longstraw bakery – recently named one of the best bakeries in the UK no less – whose talented team of two uses flour from heritage grains produced here to make some insanely delicious things like the flatbreads we’ll be serving on Saturday.
In fact, our event is part of something bigger too - the Somerset Food Trail Festival. It's a county-wide movement that brings the best producers out of the shrubbery and in front of people who care about where and how their food comes from. It's all run by volunteers trying to change the way we think about food for the good. And it's all about the people, places, heritage and future of this glorious county.
Nothing we serve on Saturday, (save the salt, pepper and spices!) comes from any further than 10 miles away. We can feast from our own lands, without chemicals or relentless ploughing, and we can let ourselves enjoy and feel proud of the nutritious, delicious things we produce in this tiny corner of the world alone. That’s kind of the point.
We’ll start with a tomato tartine, with seasonal leaves, before moving on to organic beef from our glorious native herd of beautiful red devon cattle, and our wild venison, individual stuffed squash with homemade labneh and crunchy toppings with a kick, generous grain and green salads, Longstraw flatbreads, pickles and dips.
We’ll top it all off - if any of us can still move by then - with giant meringues topped with cream, berries, dried cherries and honeyed oats.
Put simply, we’d love it if you could come and be part of it.
Here’s the link for tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fire-feast-a-10-mile-menu-tickets-1490583438189?aff=ebdsshsms&utm_share_source=search_android&sg=178c0f338cc4a4dabfbcf94a00aa5d16b6081a9e9d9e2854ed38418482820219c2790b0d3a076c22fd47b0932a97f9e18bac01db40cb9b749f07a957280fb0b621c23321b9247e2df839f06197e