THE ancient art of building and using a clay bread oven is the subject of an upcoming workshop at Harts Barn Cookery School, Longhope.

Children and adults are welcome and they will be encouraged to get hands-on to prepare the clay, to weave the basket and to work together throughout the building process.

The workshop will be led by Danny Shmulevitch, the founder of the Earth Bread Oven Project. The project has travelled the globe, most recently coming from the Eden Project.

Danny said: "During this workshop we aim to illustrate the journey of energy from sun light to sacred food on our plate. The building of an Earth Oven really does highlight the interconnection between earth, sun and food. In this time of climate change it is more important than ever to preserve and pass down traditional wisdom from those that live in tune with nature."

The setting at Harts Barn was chosen for its close connection with the environment and food. The centre embraces sustainable energy and the whole site is run on a bio-mass heating system run from coppiced timber from the farm at Harts Barn. It has been awarded the Forester Green Business of the Year 2011 and has a bio-dynamic garden on site.

The 'Build a Wood Fired Oven' workshop will take place on Saturday March 31 (10am-4pm).

Future workshops surrounding the earth oven and its use in traditional cooking are planned for later in the year. Schools or groups interested in an educational day or workshop should contact the Cookery School.