Ask the Wild  is a project by Feral Practice and Marcus Coates. It offers fresh perspectives on personal, social, and political issues in human society, by bringing the expert knowledge of the natural history disciplines to bear on everyday human problems and dilemmas.

Ask the Wild

Feral Practice and Marcus Coates are delighted to release the first of three podcasts for Ask Somerset’s Plants.

Podcast 1: Quantock Hills - Feral Practice and Marcus Coates are in conversation with Plantlife ecologist Dr Alison Smith.

Recording took place at Holford Coombe, part of the Quantock Hills Nature Reserve.

Questions addressed and plants discussed:

Anonymous – How can we best engage with others, when we see so many polarising views and entrenched positions. How can we put aside differences to achieve something genuinely shared and mutually enriching together? Plants: Lichens, including Witches Whiskers and Barnacle lichens.

Kerry Grant – In the light of recent leadership contests, in which we find ourselves confronting a scenario where both candidates are seriously flawed, how would the plants select the best leader? Plants: Rhododendron, Laurel, Silver Birch, Ivy.

Anonymous – Can the stars light the sky forever? Plants: Polypody Ferns, Mosses

 

Ask Somerset’s Plants brings the knowledge of local flora to bear on our everyday human problems and dilemmas.

Ask Somerset’s Plants is steered by the questions that Somerset audiences posed. Not questions about nature or plants, as you might expect, but about people’s own lives and human society, questions that vary from the political and societal to the deeply personal. Each walk and conversation visits plants in some of Somerset’s diverse and specialised habitats, and is guided by the questions we received.

Podcasts 2 and 3 will be shared here on the 28th September  and 5 October, as part of Somerset Art Weeks Festival.

Ask Somerset’s Plants is commissioned by Somerset Art Works.

Ask Somerset's Plants | Quantock Hills

Podcast 2: The Levels 

Feral Practice and Marcus Coates are in conversation with plant scientist Dr Nigel Chaffey and local wildlife guide Deon Warner. Recording took place at Shapwick Heath and West Sedgemoor, on the Somerset Levels.

Questions addressed and plants discussed:

Jenny Melling - How can I deal with the seeming impossibility of knowing the whole truth? Plants: plant perceptions, Oak tree, mycorrhizal fungi, woodland connectivity.

Anonymous - I am an eighteen-stone woman. I have been this weight for most of my adult life. I've repeatedly tried diets, but to no avail. What would the plants suggest I do? Plants: photosynthesis, Eyebright, Sundew, Bladderwort.

Luminara - How can I stay in my tenderness, as I navigate my way in a competitive and precarious career? Plants: Reed Mace.

Anonymous - Can the plants explain, considering the supposed wisdom of hindsight, how we are seeing a new rise of extremist views, and can they advise on a positive response? Plants: Common Dock

Ask Somerset's Plants | The Levels

5.10.19 - We are delighted to release the third and final podcast for Ask Somerset's Plants.

Podcast 3: Cheddar Feral Practice and Marcus Coates are in conversation with botanist Liz McDonnell

Recording took place in Kings Wood and in various locations in Cheddar Gorge.

Questions addressed and plants discussed:

Guinevere King - How do I accept my uniqeness without berating myself for being so different to everyone else? Plants: Autumn Crocus (Naked Ladies), Cheddar Whitebeam.

Anonymous - In earlier days when I had no money, I thought having some would be enough to keep me happy. Now I have money, property and good fortune. I am extremely happy, but I still seek to add to my assets in the late summer of my life. What is it about the human species that keeps us striving? Plants: Wild Garlic, Ancient Lime trees.

Penny Elphick - Fleeting ideas are often the most creative, but how to capture them and make them stand still, that is the question. Plants: Wood Avens.

Ask Somerset's Plants | Cheddar

TONAL - Rivers Beyond Sewage explores water issues nationally with a special focus on the River Tone in Somerset. Through riverside conversations with people who have different and profound relationships with water Feral Practice leads us on a deep dive into the politics, law, art and science of rivers with curiosity and humor.


Artist Feral Practice lives in Somerset, UK. They work to explore and expand our relationship to other species and the living earth.