Welcome to The Warren Forest Garden and Eco Cabins, Clive and Julie’s ecological household, garden and woodland on the beautiful Black Isle, 13km north of Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland. As well as being our home, we offer eco friendly accommodation and creative residencies. Our focus is Permaculture, gardening with nature, arts, crafts, creativity and living lightly on the planet..
The household and gardens here are being nurtured using design and techniques to create a balanced ecosystem for people, plants and animals while also adapting to the unfolding climate and ecological crisis. We have a mosaic of meadows, forest gardens, mixed woodland, wildlife ponds and bog garden, a kitchen garden growing vegetables, salads, herbs, fruit, polycultures of wild flowers for insects and pollinators, all on 2.5 acres (1 hectare). Organic and no dig methods create healthy soil and closed loop systems ensure nothing is wasted, for example composting, wormeries, mulching, reusing/upcycling materials, and wood processing for firewood and construction.
We’ve been a part of the network of Permaculture LAND (Learning Action Network Demonstration) Centre, under the name Black Isle Permaculture & Arts, since 2018. A LAND centre is a place where guests and visitors can see how the ethics, principles, nature connection and design processes which make up ‘Permaculture’ have been applied to the physical site and how we try to live more lightly on the planet here.
OUR ACCOMMODATION
We invite you to stay in one of our cosy and comfortable woodland eco cabins, which we self built as we wanted to make them unique, sustainable and somewhere that we would love to stay ourselves! Combining environmentally friendly features, artistic touches and rustic charm, the Green Tourism Gold rated cabins are ideal for eco conscious travellers who want to experience simple living! We have two self contained cabins sited in our small woodland, called Siskin and Coll Cabin. The names are derived from the place and nature around them. Siskin is a small bird which is common around the woods. Coll is Hazel in the Ogham ancient medieval tree alphabet, and in Celtic mythology Hazel is associated with wisdom, creativity and knowledge.
SISKIN CABIN
Siskin Cabin sleeps two in a double bed, and is a compact, cosy space with a woodburner, dining/seating area, cooking facilties in a small kitchenette, a bathroom with bucket shower and compost toilet, and a tranquil outdoor deck looking over the woods and fields. Siskin cabin opened in August 2020.
Coll Cabin is our slightly larger space, and was completed in March 2022. It also sleeps two in a comfortable double bed, with a bucket shower and compost toilet in the bathroom. This cabin has a larger living space and kitchen with fridge and cooker, a woodburner and also a desk/workspace area if you are looking for a relaxing and creative space.
Clive was extremely accommodating. I’d recommend purchasing the farm basket as his produce was delicious. He was also kind, friendly and funny. The Eco cabin was beautiful—woke up at dawn one day and walked around to hear the birds calling. So peaceful.
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Kathleen
14 Aug 2024
Like others, I found Siskin and the forest garden absolutely enchanting. The hut is incredibly well-insulated, with everything you could possibly need. It manages to be minimalist and cosy at the same time! I also really enjoyed the shower!
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Gloria
21 Sep 2024
Nous avons passé un excellent séjour au cœur d’un bois dans un logement très joli et fonctionnel où tout a été très bien pensé. La région est magnifique et c’était un vrai plus de profiter d’un lieu aussi atypique avec des hôtes aussi charmants.
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Caroline
02 Aug 2023
We had a really great stay. The host was very welcoming and made our check in and stay easy, stress free and very enjoyable. We are excited to come back again!
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Finley
16 Aug 2024
quite, remote and very peaceful exactly what we needed to recharge after a very active week
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Alex
04 Aug 2024
We absolutely loved our stay at Siskin Eco Cabin - it was the perfect getaway for us. The site is located in a great location to explore the Black Isle. The cabin is full of charm and so cosy during the evenings, especially with the wood burning stove and radio on. Clive was very accommodating and gave us an excellent tour of the permaculture design incorporated within the site. The breakfast hamper was also a perfect treat, especially the strawberry and blackcurrant jam!
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Priya
25 Jun 2021
In dieser wunderschönen Unterkunft lässt sich mitten im Wald ein Stück Ruhe finden. Das Haus bietet alles, was man braucht und Clive und Julie sind wundervolle Gastgeber:innen!
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Aischa
29 Aug 2024
Me and my husband had an amazing stay over the New Year (4 nights) and it was exactly what we were looking for - cozy eco-friendly cabin in beautiful and peaceful surroundings. Clive was very accommodating, helpful and overall with friendly but professional approach. The place itself was clean, had everything we needed for our stay and it was in a location which was easy to find. The location is also good for people who want the peace and calm of nature but stay in a close vicinity of a town - as in this case Inverness was only about a 10-15 minute drive away and you will have shops/restaurants nearby. If you're looking for a short or even a long getaway in the Scottish Highlands I would highly recommend booking this cabin! And if you're into sustainability, you would find this place very inspiring. Loved our stay and sustainability chats with Clive 🙂 !
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Tori
02 Jan 2024
Et virkelig dejligt sted. Hyggeligt indrettet hytte, hvor man med det samme føler sig hjemme. Og lækker morgenmadskurv, man kan tilkøbe. Små, fine landsbyer på Black Isle hvor man kan tage på tur.
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Anette
10 Jul 2024
Have already recommended to friends and family. I love how peaceful the area is. We missed out on doing activities and exploring The Black Isle as I booked this weekend for a reality get-away - and very last minute too! We hope to return in the near future and do all the exploring we can. Clive was a wonderful host, explained everything in detail, recommended outings and things to do around the area on our arrival. Would love to have a wee tour around the garden next time, and hopefully meet Julie. The Breakfast Hamper was definitely one of my favourite things - if I could choose 2 things to eat for the rest of my life, it would be the homemade Rye Sourdough and Jam!
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Alexandra
21 Apr 2024
We had a lovely stay in Coll cabin. Beautiful peaceful surroundings nestled in the woods. A perfect location to relax and turn off from the outside world. The cabin was beautifully presented with everything you'd need for a couple of nights away including a very well equipped kitchen. Clive was very helpful and gave clear instructions of how to use the features of the cabin. Would recommend a stay here.
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Alison
21 Jul 2024
The cabin and the surrounding area was lovely! Lots of personal touches. We really enjoyed our stay. The only thing I would say is that the bucket shower takes quite awhile since you have to boil your own water, and is quite short and not the most comfortable. I know this is partially to encourage water saving practices but also for the price point of the Airbnb we did miss out on a real shower!
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Alia
25 Jul 2024
If you are interested in learning more and getting some hands on experience, then get in touch about our occasional day volunteering opportunities. We also welcome visitors by appointment, drop us an email if you are interested in visiting or volunteering hello@blackislepermacultureandarts.co.uk
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