Seasonal excess: Moving with place and produce through creative fieldwork

Rural farming communities are often flooded by excess produce during peak harvest times. Communities are often left with the excesses that are unsold to supply chains, a reminder of failed crops, poor weather, and uncertain incomes. Yet excesses can be and are used by locals in other ways, such as making pickles, preserves, and other material provisions. In this visual essay, we reflect on a series of creative fieldwork activities in preparation for a workshop in a rural community where horticulture is the lifeblood. Our aim was to collate a series of local “seasonal” recipes, inviting participants to add their recipes and stories for what to do with excess seasonal produce. Building on recent geographical research on communal cooking, foraging, and salvaging food, we reflect on how these creative activities moved us, as outsiders to the region, in and out of place, and how attitudes and connections to produce are mobilised in and out of season. We propose that using creative, place-based, and communal approaches offers geographical research and other avenues for conversations around rural livelihoods and seasonal factors.