a day in WELEDA'S GARDEN
Photography by Chantelle Gribbon
A visit to Weleda’s garden – a place that provides for plants, people and a kaleidoscope of butterflies
Co-founded in 1921 by Rudolph Steiner (who established biodynamic farming), Weleda uses this working garden, among others, to grow the plants needed to create its therapeutic skincare and natural medicines. The happy insects are merely a side-effect of the careful way it works with the land (rather than simply working it), as well as its biodynamic methods and refusal to use pesticides or artificial fertilisers.
It’s this holistic approach that has resulted in The Field’s glorious butterfly haven, the wildflower meadow. The number of butterflies has more than halved in the UK over the last 40 years, and it’s uncultivated, protected patches like Weleda’s meadow that are vital to their survival. Teeming with woodland plants, flowers and grasses, it can support a butterfly’s entire life cycle.
Having spotted the impact, Weleda staff are helping these precious creatures by carrying out a butterfly transect survey in partnership with East Midlands Butterfly Conservation. The intensive process of identifying and recording numbers of butterflies – as many as 77 fly by in an hour – can help researchers understand their needs.
For the staff, the butterflies create a wonderful place to work. ‘Walk through the meadow on a sunny day and clouds of Meadow Browns rise up,’ says Claire Hattersley, who heads up The Field’s garden team. ‘By not changing the land’s true nature, and instead working in harmony with it, we find that native wildlife species can really flourish here.’
The butterflies have been such a joy that they’ve inspired Weleda’s Christmas gift range. Decorated with gorgeous illustrations by Lisa Jane Dhar of Studio Noodles (pictured, right), the products celebrate the butterfly varieties living in The Field such as Peacock and Large White, as well as the plants they love.
It may be called The Field, but Weleda’s garden feels more like a nature reserve – one that not only provides for its natural products, but is a nurturing place to hang out, for people and wildlife alike.
For more on Weleda, its Christmas range and events at The Field, see weleda.co.uk
a day in WELEDA'S GARDEN
A visit to Weleda’s garden – a place that provides for plants, people and a kaleidoscope of butterflies
For the staff, the butterflies create a wonderful place to work. ‘Walk through the meadow on a sunny day and clouds of Meadow Browns rise up,’ says Claire Hattersley, who heads up The Field’s garden team. ‘By not changing the land’s true nature, and instead working in harmony with it, we find that native wildlife species can really flourish here.’
The butterflies have been such a joy that they’ve inspired Weleda’s Christmas gift range. Decorated with gorgeous illustrations by Lisa Jane Dhar of Studio Noodles (pictured, right), the products celebrate the butterfly varieties living in The Field such as Peacock and Large White, as well as the plants they love.
It may be called The Field, but Weleda’s garden feels more like a nature reserve – one that not only provides for its natural products, but is a nurturing place to hang out, for people and wildlife alike.
For more on Weleda, its Christmas range and events at The Field, see weleda.co.uk