Visit to Flow Country 2025

Part of second residency at Cove Park 2025

Burial 2024: Peatland Feast 2030

How can we highlight connections between the peatlands with our water and food sources in order to transform a broken ecosystem and tackle the climate change?

On February 1st, I ended my residency at Cove Park burying foods (butter and cheese) in the ground, on site, marking an upcoming peatland feast in 2030.

During the past decade there has been several discoveries, in Scotland and Ireland, of thousands of years old ‘bog butters’ that have been well-preserved in peat soil. It was also common practice among the Vikings to use peat as a way of preserving food while travelling onboard ships.

I decided to bury Scottish store-bought butter and cheese, in order to more easily compare its state and change when digging it up in 2030.

Most of the soil where I buried the foods would most likely be described as clay soil, rather than peat soil. However, according to the latest mapping of Scotlands soil, it is classified as being carbon-rich and having deep peat.

The buried food will stay put in the ground until 2030, when I will arrange a public peatland feast at Cove Park.

If you wish to join the feast please send you rsvp to josefin@josefinvargo.com and I will keep you updated with news connected to the feast.

Location: Cove Park
Photography: Alan Dimmick
Buried materials: Terracotta clay pot, small slate stones found on site, engraved slate stone with acrylic paint, steralised cotton fabric, white ceramic plate from Cove Park, sphagnum moss, weaved common rush pick outside the studio, jute thread, slightly salted butter from Graham’s and Somerset Mature Cheddar.
Thanks: A big thank you to Angharad Ward, who works as Peatlands Sites Manager/Peatland Action Project Officer at act now.