Paludiculture Stand at The Land Skills Fair - Cirencester
Grid locked roads, did not deter people interested in Land Skills and the future, from getting to Cirencester on Fri 21st July 2023, such was the level of interest that I stopped my car at the gate, just to get out and get a postcard and invite the talented, intelligent and interested person at the fair entrance, to join the Paludiculture Community or at least visit the website to find out more from the experts and be empowered to become involved in the future.
The Green Room was the perfect location for an informal talk and discussion about Paludiculture and future wetland products. I enjoyed talking to younger people with eager minds, many of whom were already aware of the unique benefits of Sphagnum moss and their enquiring minds pushed ahead with detailed questions and enthusiasm. The idea that the future world could be a better world with these products in it, offered new positivity to any negative concerns about global warming and what might happen to the world.
Young conservationists appreciated the time and the trouble that suppliers like Saltyco and Beadamoss had given to provide the samples, they could see, touch and discuss products of the future. The collective desire to conserve our land, gave way to delight when they saw and touched the ‘vegan’ gillets and they were reassured that not only were these products, already in development, potentially better for the environment but they could actually be better for them, that paludiculture didn’t have to mean sacrifice or hardship for better outcomes.
For me, the journey was worthwhile to see people’s faces change to happy and hopeful. The visitors had not heard of Paludiculture before and when one person said they couldn’t wait to tell their friends on social media, I wondered how much further the news imparted on that warm, summer afternoon on a beautiful, organic farm in Cirencester would travel.