wintering well

Wintering Well 2026

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Emily teamed up with community gardener Lorraine to host another 5 sessions of Wintering Well in January and February, offering outdoor companionship and creativity at the Ross of Mull Community Garden.

This year we explored winter light in all its forms. Our first session took a fresh look at seasons, inspired by this book. We started noticing how nature is responding to incremental changes in light and temperature (studying this is known as phenology) and thought about phases of the moon. A chilly start with a cold north wind resulting in numb toes despite hot tea and wrapping up in lots of layers! Each week we were accompanied by an appropriate poem or reflection, and started by reading this one from Nick Welsh: https://iona.org.uk/darkness-and-light/

Week two was about candlelight, we thought about how making simple lamps from rushes dipped in oil would have been a constant household task around here in times past, and had a go ourselves. Later that day the nature club children also tried out beeswax candle dipping. This week we read Jan Sutch Pickard’s Candlemas poem, here’s an extract:

In the dark days

under rain-heavy clouds, 

among broken branches,

on sodden earth,

the snowdrops light their candles.


A flame that cannot be put out

by darkness or gales or doubt...

Firelight was the theme of our third session, and we focused on the simple joy of cooking snacks at the firepit – chocolate bread and popcorn! Rosemerry Trommer’s poem In the Bleak Midwinter spoke to us of belonging.

In week four we thought about starlight and made lanterns with holes punched to show glowing constellations, helping us to remember the patterns and look for them in the night sky.

For our final session we took the Ross of Mull Community Transport minibus to Tiroran Community Forest. It was great to hear laughter drifting through the trees as we thought about how low winter sunlight can pick out details otherwise un-noticed, then tried to find as many colours as we could and later created our own collage from old magazines, giving each colour a creative name!

Some of the details we noticed…

Collecting colour samples and transforming them into a collage inspired by Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours, used by Charles Darwin and other explorers to help describe the new life forms they were encountering on their travels!

Participants on the walk and enjoying a chat around the fire, John testing out the softness of the moss!

Mary Oliver’s poem ‘When I am among the trees’ also references light.

Thanks to everyone who joined us this year and thanks to SWMID for the Wild Spaces funding.

Photos by Emily Wilkins, Lorraine McCafferty, Brik Halcrow and Martin Claxton.

Wintering Well 2025

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Inspired by a project from the University of Glasgow, Emily teamed up with SWMID community gardener Lorraine to run a series of weekly Wintering Well Garden Gatherings throughout January and early February at the Ross of Mull Community Garden in Bunessan.

For anyone who struggles with grey skies and long hours of darkness, it’s important to get outside into the daylight whenever possible. Our events provided a reason to venture outdoors and gather around the firepit for hot drinks, cake, companionship and creativity!

This year, sessions were loosely themed around foods that can support our winter resilience and incorporated an optional nature- or arts-focused activity to help us embrace the season. Unlike last year we were lucky with mainly blue skies although temperatures varied wildly from thick frost or cold winds to still sunny days when we could appreciate apricity (the warmth of the sun in winter). Some participants made the most of the good weather to walk or cycle from home to the garden.

Our first theme was ‘roots’, we munched on a rooty parsnip cake and thought about what might be going on for us that’s not always visible on the surface. Participants took photos to represent how they feel at their worst and best in winter, which were then collated into a gallery to discuss the following week.

The next theme was ‘greens’. We drank sage, rosemary and plantain tea, ate kale and beetroot swiss roll and learned how to prune blackcurrant bushes, taking the cuttings home to place in a vase of water and watch the buds unfurl into leaves. Some of us plan to root them too!

In week 3 the theme was spices, so we enjoyed homemade chai tea and spiced cake. Spices are important in winter as a small pinch can transform something that would otherwise be bland. Our activity was looking at a patch of sky through a frame and choosing three words to describe it, to encourage us to look for the tiny details that can transform our day. Local poet Brian then created this lovely piece from our chosen words.

Medicinal plants were the focus in week 4. Lorraine had created elderberry rob for us to drink, and a low-sugar beetroot cake with dark chocolate. We wove willow into dreamcatchers infused with our hopes and intentions. Willow bark has pain-relieving properties.

The first week of February saw our last gathering for now, when the theme of citrus was celebrated with fresh scones and newly-made marmalade, and an orange and almond cake. Brightly-coloured citrus fruits are great for vitamin C and encourage us to search for the hopeful colours of the coming spring, which we found in hazel catkins, early daffodils and a rainbow amongst the showers.

Thanks to everyone who took part, it was lovely spending time with a different selection of folk each week and we hope these sessions gave you something to smile about this winter!