Week Twenty-One: My Relationship with Plants

Over the last few weeks I have been reflecting on the ethics of what I'm doing as part of my research and development. I'm beginning to feel a little uneasy about foraging for natural materials, despite only ever collecting small handfuls of plant matter. I'm feeling grateful that I now have the allotment to grow my own plants for natural colour making, however it means that this process just got a whole lot slower. It's been important for me to go back to the beginning and reflect on my own relationship with plants and how that has shifted and changed as a result of this research and development. I'm thinking back to times spent making cyanotypes of weeds in my back yard during the covid lockdowns. I'm thinking of times walking the same daily route in nature and noticing the subtle changes in the seasons as the wildflowers came into bloom. I'm thinking about times when this practice of connecting with nature has helped me to step outside of my head for even a second and become aware of the present moment. Noticing the shapes of leaves and wondering how they might press, and becoming fascinated with the preservation of plants almost frozen in time. I've often turned to nature in search of meaning in life, exploring their symbolisms and this bringing me a sense of comfort during difficult times. I only feel glad that my relationship with plants is evolving and that I am considering the impact of extraction on the environment and wildlife. I'm learning more about the origins of plants and am becoming more aware of what is UK-native.

Reading Material

I'm reflecting on why plants matter to me and am questioning any links to my ancestry. I often think of my grandparents when I think of plants that have a sentimental meaning to me. Whether its willow and its association with water dowsing, the endless supply of runner beans that would be harvested from my grandparents garden, or the smell of tomatoes growing in their greenhouse. I was faced with a bit of a stumbling block when I started this project as I found that many of the places I wanted to forage and connect with through natural colour making were SSSI's and I wondered how I might connect with my own history without including these places. I am thinking more about the places that maybe I have overlooked such as the gardens of my family members and the local parks that were once my stomping ground. I am thinking about trees such as the elder and times making wooden beads or elderflower fritters at my bushcraft group. I am thinking about the crab apple tree and it's sentimental meaning to me. I am thinking about the cherry trees in the National Forest and learning that you can use it's gum as an alternative to gum arabic for natural ink making. I have to acknowledge that even at the end of this period of research and development, I am only at the beginning of where this learning will take me. And I am so grateful to all the forest school leaders, community gardeners and natural colour making artists that I am meeting and will continue to connect with along the way.