Our FIFTH year of this successful venture, we embedded into the new land, 17 acres adjacent to Kaliwoods and recently planted with 6,000 trees.
In the spring we became scientists, surveying, recording, measuring, witnessing the land evolve as a newly planted woodland, agroforestry, community and forest garden. The pond held a particular attraction as frogs-spawn appeared and then some was imported, immigrants from Lowestoft, which naturally gave rise to the West Side story.
Through the creative inspiration of Kally, Nicky and Gina, we embodied our science into art, and learned to Hapazone, creating an Elder sheet of many plants, as well as individual scarves of eco-printed leaves.
From the land we ate Squash, celebrating it with the Squash Angel, Marion, who taught us a few of their names and attributes.
Two songs were created this year by Caroline Way:
– The Grass song – celebrating the variety of grasss on the land
– Kali of Kaliwood, in remembrance of Kali who died this year, and after whom the wood is named
G joined us this year. He first attended the Home Ed Tribe in Kaliwoods, and began tentatively exploring the flora and fauna, experiementing with foraging and natural remedies. He bought in a metal detector and began discovering the past history of the land, this led to an exciting development…fossils! With the pond dug and dried out this year, it exposed a fresh layer of ancient seabed, full of discoveries. Greg is now an expert in palaeontology. It is inspiring to see the change in confidence and his sense of belonging when he is immersed in the landscape. He feels safe with Elders to shows his finds, and Elders in turn bought in their fossils for him to name and talk about. For G we invited Howard Mottram, retired Suffolk County Council archeologist, to inspect G’s collection and talk to us about fossils on the land, and we had a day of going back in time millions of years
Sponsored by Post Code Lottery (in the past Heritage Lottery and Pargiter Trust) and Wider Horizons.
Funded by
The Post Code Lottery
The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Thanks to National Lottery Players
March to december 2025
SPRING 2025
March 13 – the scientists
March 20 – pond life
March 27 – Spawn, land and bridge
April 3 – Elders 4 Frog-spawn, Fossils, Friendship and not much sap
April 10 – Elders 5 Frogs, trees and eggs
April 17 EASTER
April 24 – Hapazome mandalas
May 8 Mandala hapazone continued with a few mating dragonflies
May 15 – Hapazone in tandem
May 22 – Hapazone Sheet
May 29 HALF TERM
June 5 – Rain, grass naming of plants
June 12 – Grasses, frogs, a wren and mining bees
June 19 – Weaving Grasses
June 26 – Grasses monoprints beaks and geese
July 3 – Survey results, gratitude
Winter term
Sept 18 Squash with Marion
Sept 25 Squash in orange
Oct 2 Galls and Poems
Oct 9 Printing botanicals
Oct 16 Botanicals and seed sowing
Oct 23
Oct 30 Samhaim
Half term
Nov 13 Fossils with Howard Mottram
Nov 20 Hybrid Elders
Nov 27 Tannins, Eco
Dec 4 Stalwart Eco printing
Dec 11
Get in touch
rachelkellett@gmail.com
Past 2021-25
We started with an 8 week prototype which was so successful we have not stopped since. Working with the support of the Pear Tree Fun, mixing elders with children from other tribes, we’ve had a blast. Here is some of our story.
Elders Weaving the woods 1 2021
Elders Wellbeing in the woods 1 2022
It’s a Wrap – summer 2022
2003 Elders wellbeing in the woods
2024 Spring Summer Winter (wild clay with Tamlin, Samhain)
Kinda Elders in the woods 