How learning as you teach improves the occasion.

We’ve been quietly developing an idea for a new Wild Weald experience: wild perfume. The spark came from Amy, who works with us at events and previously spent years in the perfume world. When I asked if she wanted to shape a new format, she suggested something beautifully simple — creating perfume from raw materials in the woods.

We experimented for months: distilling leaves, needles, herbs and shrubs; testing different stills; comparing yields; learning what each gives. Then other events took priority, and the idea rested.

Then a friend asked if we could help with his daughter’s school project on perfume. That was all the invitation we needed. We set up a full distilling day: foraging wild mint, running three stills — copper pot, electric air still, and glass — each producing distinct results. The traditional copper still yielded the richest essential oil. We added a scent test and a playful blending session.

Throughout the day, her questions guided us, and her insights reframed the subject in ways we hadn’t anticipated. It reminded me of the things central to our events: interaction, challenge, play, and unforced learning. Every Wild Weald event contains a variable that keeps us intrigued — a new slip or glaze in wild pottery, a new fruit in fermentation, a new craft in woodskills. When guests know something is being tried for the first time, their fascination rises. And so does attention.

The day was a reminder that if you’re learning as you teach, you stay present, curious, and alive to possibility. And your guests feel it. Learning isn’t a prerequisite to teaching — it’s the fuel that makes teaching compelling.

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