Natural Pathways Summer Forage

I visited Hannah Nicholls and Carol Hunt several times during my 2016 work sabbatical taking in an Autumn Forage a Kentish 1-2-1 and a Nature Awareness Day and when my wife said that she'd come on a forage I couldn't re-book quickly enough.

Hannah was running a family course so we went a little further on with Carol and got ourselves set up. Like the previous time it was noted that Carol does bring a lot of resources with her and there was definite foraging evidence around us from the wildlife.

Once we'd got a tea or coffee Carol kicked off with some general points about foraging and some plant information with a Buzzard occasionally gracing us with it's majestic presence. The course was running on a day that was due to get in excess of thirty degrees so Carol suggested a forage walk which was mostly under the tree canopy.

And she was off with copious information, alternative and Latin  names and information on plants that were edible, non-edible or useful in a non-food way.

Of the many plants and trees growing on the first part oft he walk the Yellow Pimpernel (Lysimachia nemorum) and Common Figwort (Schropularia nodosa).

The first collectable edible soon hoved in view, Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella), and in good quantities. Here Carol is making it abundantly clear which plant she is referring to.

 

Folk pitched in after a quick nibble and collected a good quantity of it. The sorrel wasn't due to be used but Carol decided to add an impromptu extra sauce to the menu.

I often use my camera case to collect stuff I find on walks so I offered it up as a Wood sorrel receptacle for folk to put their handfuls in.

I noted in the Autumn forage blog that we didn't move very far in the opening part of the forage walk and again it proved to be so with plenty of notables within viewing distance of our base. Some folk might have thought we should have wandered further in the time but what's the point of sauntering past plants that are worth talking about?

But back to the forage. Just over the other side of the glade was a decent stand of nettles (Urtica dioica). They had flowered so the leaves aren't in an edible condition but the seeds are there for the taking. As I undrstood it the seeds were packed with energy but interestingly it's more the case that they are adrenal stimulaters which gives you a sort of flight or fight rush.

Often a season can throw up oddities, indeed I've read reports of several Autumn fungi appearing now in the UK and within the woods there were some Redcurrants starting to ripen.

We went down a narrow track and found some Hairy Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) and Cleavers (Galium aparine). The former was useful lesson as initially Carol pulled the sample in the left picture from nowhere, but she got folk to look closely and it was everywhere once you got your eye in.

I've tried Cleavers before and personally think that it is one of the more palatable countryside greens (see this spring tonic blog) but the fact that they are related to coffee and the seeds can make a basic drink has left me thinking that I must get round to trying it.

A little further down the track Carol spotted some Corn Mint (Mentha arvensis). It was useful seeing it as it is quite a light green colour and is downy and I'm sure I've seen it before  however seeing, touching, and smelling is invaluable with ID.

 

The forage had been a bespoke affair to this point but for the final observation we were led to a  Cherry tree that had fallen but was still alive. It was explained that every year it offers up Chicken-of-the-Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) and whilst they were past their best it had at least three separate examples for us to see. Personally I can't abide mushrooms apart from mushroom confectionery prepped with booze and chocolate.

 

And at this point we turned back to our cooking circle, it was our turn to do some work. Carol had explained that we were doing four different dishes (plus her extra Sorrel sauce) and that there would be a Middle Eastern theme to them. We divided up into groups and once sorted we chose which dish to do by it's complexity. I was with my wife  in the 'more complex' chicken dish group.

I'd been asked if I could be the fire monitor as Carol knew that I was knowledgeable enough to be trusted which was nice. Always happy to be in charge of fire.

And so we got our recipe sheets, or rather directions with ingredients listed because Carol was keen for us to feel our way through the dishes, judging by eye rather than a preset amount or weight.

She sat overseeing us and occasionally popped up with some information on ingredients, the above shot shows a talk about Marjoram (Origanum vulgare) which like the Corn Mint earlier I think I've seen out and about but never been able to nail the ID.

I then set my camera up on time lapse mode to get ahem, a flavour of what the preparation was like. This is the team my wife and I were in having a confabulation about the forthcoming chicken dish whilst I sorted the fire out...

This is the heavy Dutch oven that they asked me to get on the fire as it being done was key to the dish progression. Even though we'd positioned cooking shelves over the fire I elected to chuck it in the embers for a while to give it a boost.

 

And that set the tone for the period of time we were cooking. I really can't be more specific time wise than that to be honest because as we were beavering away in a woodland setting cooking over fire you just became absorbed in the moment. It also helped that the attendees were a decent bunch too. Note how good the fire looks in the right hand side picture! 

 

The fire became and stayed as a predictably busy focus for the activities with pots coming and going and the fire continually being maintained by yours truly. Slowly but surely the dishes came together. Here I'm starting to cook the seasoned chicken which will go with the cooked rice and the  Molokhia. 

Vegetable components came together too.

The falafels with Nettle seeds (that we gathered) Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea), Thistle (Cirsium sp.) and mint are ready to be cooked.

 

The nettle mushroom and chorizo crostini starters were ready to devour, well pick over for me because of the mushrooms. Once the offending articles were flicked out I still managed to condense two crostinis into one satisfying morsel. Hannah timed a visit over to us just right and enjoyed one too.

Then the falafels were ready and presented by the group that made them  for us all to get stuck into next.

With the chicken and the rice now cooked we added Tree mallow ((Malva arborea) seed pods ('cheeses') and cut Burdock stems to the rice.

 

This flavoured rice was for the stuffed Tree Mallow leaves with Ground Ivy, Wild Majoram and dried Hogweed seeds (Heracleum sphondylium).

 

The Mallow leaf Molokhia was cooked and served up in a bowl with the chicken and rice alongside it. Personally I think this was the best presented dish but of course I'm biased...But correct.

And finally onto the delicious Rose petal Panacotta with fresh red fruit coulis which included  Rose petals, Raspberries, Strawberries and Rose petal Honey. Interestingly due to a dietary need the diary element was replaced with Coconut milk and didn't suffer for the change, in fact it may make it a bit more achievable on a bushcraft camp as coconut milk doesn't need chilling.

Just before we hit the starters my wife gave me a nudge and reminded me that I had a camera bag full of Wood Sorrel. I handed it to Carol who beavered away to blend leaf and sugar in a mortar and pestle. The bespoke extra was rather pesto like in appearance but the contrasting flavours made it a real sweet and sour treat. 

Carol finished up taking some folk through some of her books. My wife and I had to make a move so we did a bit of a final wash up and I bid Carol and Hannah farewell. Carol had a slightly bigger crowd than last time but marshalled us all with a quiet confidence, another course for beginner and not so newbie to take something away from.

Natural Pathways Autumn Forage

 

Not so long ago I attended a woodland/ estuary 1-2-1 forage with Carol Hunt, and did a Natural Pathways nature awareness day with Hannah Nicholls and early November saw me I return to Kent  to do an Autumn forage with the pair of them. I did so with a little trepidation because there is every possibility that it will involve fungi which is something that I absolutely can't stand (well, apart form this bushcraft 'sweetie' involving the rather neutral Jelly Ear). 

 

We all met up around a fire circle located in the middle of a debris shelter ring which was rather intimate and cosy for such an event. After brief introductions, a brew and parish notices we headed off to see what was about with Carol leading and Hannah scouting ahead.

Although November is rather late in the year there were still some edibles about in good condition such as the nettle seeds and Ground Ivy that Carol is holding above. Now I would liken going on a forage to Youtube in that it is so easy to get distracted and delayed and so it proved to be the case, I'd say we'd moved all of fifty feet from the base camp in 20 minutes simply because in the distance we found a glade and open setting in which we found plenty to talk about.

The forage didn't yield any useable fungi as those edibles found were a little past their best but nevertheless the walk provided Carol with plenty of examples of different types to show us some of the key ID features.

 

The one thing above all else that was available in profusion was Chestnuts, not only were they plump but also brown from top to bottom. The  Beech mast has been good this year and there were still some fat nuts to be found. 

 

It was also interesting as we headed back to see some opportunistic growth in a stand of Sweet Chestnut that had been thinned out and coppiced with two examples being a young raspberry cane and Chickweed.

Hannah had headed back to the base camp towards the end of the forage to go the fire going which, as it was turning a little nippy, was lovely to come back to. So we all had another brew and got some lunch down us.

 

And then it was onto a bit of cooking. Carol's had erected a wonderful display table with informative books, ingredients and store cupboard staples and there was also some Walnut Nocino and Sloe Gin to try.

 

Rather fortuitously for us Carol had done a foraging talk the previous day and not only had some goodies left over but had some Burdock root already prepared which meant that we didn't even have to chop it, let alone dig it up. I rather like the picture on the left as it looks like a police lineup with Burdock, Horseradish and Sea Beet being the 'suspects'.

The Burdock was to be the main ingredient in a stir fry which I started to help with whilst the other half of the clients started prepping some chestnut and Acorn patties.  

 

Whilst ingredients were being prepped we  tried some of the afore mentioned goodies on offer.  Foraged walnut, Hazelnut and Hogweed seed pastry whorl (I can take or leave Hogweed seed but it absolutely worked in this pastry) and apple, Rosehip and Sloe layered pudding (all held together with a gelling agent).

A bletted Medlar which we tried and a previously made Chestnut and Acorn meal patty. The base of the patty was pureed Chick pea and the combination almost had a meaty feel to it.

 

A taster of Carol's homemade Korean style lacto fermented  Kimchi and rather ominously for a mushroomophobe, some jelly Ear fungus. To be fair a small about of the latter went into the stirfry but as it's a fairly neutral flavour into what was ultimately a punchy stir fry I couldn't really taste them.

And so everyone was busily going between the prep area and the fire as things started moving on apace.

 

However when the roasted Chestnuts were ready there was something of a temporary blip in the gastronomic productivity.

And here we have a shot of the patties browning and the Stirfry, er, stirred. Everyone got a taste of both dishes at the end. On my forage with Carol we did some foraged greens cooked in Tom Yam and I was rather pleased to see some find it's way into the wok this time.

And this shot further back shows all the attendees scoffing their grub once all the prep and cooking was done.

Once we were all cleared away we gathered for a group shot in a time honoured fashion and headed off. It was really nice to catch up with Hannah and Carol again and I told them both that the day had more than surpassed my expectations.