Hello and welcome back to Will I Vike It?I'm your host Craig and today my guest is Eleanor from Forage the Fells.Welcome to the podcast.
Hello, thanks for having me.
You're very welcome.We've spent, we've managed to dodge the rain, but we've been out, we've done a bit of foraging, which we'll get into in a little while.I think David's about to join us.Special guest on the podcast.Returning guest.
Go on, we've only just... Oh, this is what you thought was the... It's like a test in person, isn't it?Yeah.Yep.Valerian?Was it near the ditch?Oh, no, there is.You've got some Angelica in there as well.
So, Angelica is more to Umbrella.So, Umbrella for family and then Valerian, yeah, for a lot more shopping for the families.Adam & Kirsty & Faye Good ball!Thank you, I'll add it to the display.
Adam & Faye I was gonna start again but we could just leave that in if you like.
Kirsty & Faye Don't worry, a bit of a walk.
Yes, so we've done some foraging.So yeah, David was just trying to find out what something was that grows in the lane just around the corner.But we can go into that in a bit.Maybe we start by you can tell people what it is you do.
I'm sure they can guess there's a there's a clue.
So I am a professional forager.I take people on guided walks.
through various environments and I show them wild plants that they can eat or use in medicine and fungi and seaweed and yeah, broad spectrum of edible species and yeah, throughout the country but mainly in the Lake District.
And I came across you because you were involved with the folk music weekend at Moor Forge?
Yeah, so I also do a bit of festival work, sort of short little workshops in between the music and a beautiful site that more forages.He's left it nice and untamed, which is what we like.Lovely hedgerow plants.
Yeah.Yeah.So where did your journey into foraging begin?
So I always have a, I have a lovely little story.I get asked this quite a lot.I'm sure, yeah.I was having a lovely walk near to Loughrig, which is quite a small fell in the central range, kind of near to Ambleside.
And it was a beautiful day, came a sunny mix of showers.I got a little bit lost on the fell.And it's quite an easy fell, but it was one of those days, lots of paths up there.
And I made my way back down to the woods and I came across this really beautiful dryad saddle, pheasant's back mushroom, which is, it's a huge mushroom that you, yeah, you'll, you'll know it when you see it.
It's absolutely stunning and it smells a bit like watermelon and I just had to know what it was.So, I took it home and did some research, went down a rabbit hole and here I am now.
So, did you ever do any courses in it or is it all self-taught?
It's all self-taught, so I've absorbed a lot of knowledge of other very knowledgeable foragers.Particularly Mark Williams, Galloway Wild Foods, kind of a big name in the foraging world.And various courses throughout the years.
but nothing official, no degrees or anything like that.Also I've taught books and rabbit holes, late night rabbit holes.
So what makes foraging in the Lake District unique to other parts of the country?Is there anything you find here that you don't find elsewhere?
I think it's that mixture of environments.You can never get bored in the Lake District with foraging.
You could be at the coast picking sea vegetables and then head inland and looking at the various alpine plants that grow, particularly on the Borrowdale side.There's just a vast array of environments. Yeah, there's farmland, upland.
That's what I love about it so much.
And the weather is... And the weather!
Keeps things nice and fresh.
Yeah, it was sunny when I arrived yesterday.It's now absolutely chucking it down, as you can probably hear.A little ambience, soothing.We're almost having a shout over the rain.Yeah, so do you have any particular favourite forageable items?
My first love will always be mushrooms.I just think they They've given us so much throughout history.And yeah, it will always be mushrooms.I mean, particular favorites would be things like hen of the woods.
Absolutely love and the taste of it as well.And just the joy you feel upon finding one.So the Japanese word, I don't know if you know, is maitake, which is a dancing mushroom.Because you do a little dance when you find it.
Because you're that thrilled.It's kind of a very Japanese sort of thing.
Is that like the metal detectors doing it?
Yeah, the gold dance.But yeah, it was always mushrooms and the variety of them.
Which we did find, I think you've got one haven't you with us?We did find on the walk, probably a good time to bring that up.Because I don't really, anyone that listens probably knows already, but I don't
know a massive amount of mushrooms because I'm not a big mushroom fan, so you were trying to teach me a bit today.We didn't find many.
Might be in your basket actually, I don't know.
Oh I don't know, it's hidden.And we found three I think, three mushrooms in total.No, oh here we go, we're done.Yeah so, I mean As I was explaining, quite a common one, it's all squished now.Bottom of the basket.
I'll say I'm not a very clean forager.I'm not a kind of box sort of person.Unless it's something that needs to be treated with respect like a chanterelle.But this is a brittlegill mushroom.And yeah, very common species.
Yeah, kind of grows in a variety of environments.This particular one, you could just say it's purple brittlegill.Yeah, it's for an edible. Pop that on the table.
Where do we get to?Have you ever found anything that's particularly rare?
Yes, I have found, when I was doing some surveying work with the National Trust, that was down at Hardcastle Crags, near to Hebden Bridge. and we found quite a rare enteloma species, so that's kind of the pink gill species. and it's not yet named.
So I found it with a really cool guy called Peachy Steve who works down there.And yeah, we were on the hunt for it for two days and we found it.And yeah, it was a really good moment.So I need to find out what he's named it.
If it is the very rare one that he's found.But yeah, and then amongst the pink gills on that day, we were finding quite a lot of a pink gill that smells like bubblegum. So it's very interesting.Yeah.Yeah.
Do you have anything that's like on a wish list?
Something you'd love to find that you've not found yet?
I have not yet found a morel mushroom.
And that makes me very sad on a daily basis.So it's quite a big thing in America.There's this annual kind of morel hunt and alert system.And they are found generally around March, April time.And they should grow around here.They do like limestone.
That was going to be my next question.They maybe not grow.
But yeah, whether it's the destruction of the environment or their preferred environments, I'm not finding so many.But you can also find them on wood chip, particular types of wood chip.So it's really good to look in supermarket car parks for them.
So you see a lot of foragers around March, April time, just like that, wandering around supermarket car parks, checking in the verges.
That's bizarre.We've had, I've mentioned to you earlier, we've had stuff come up in the compost and yeah, they do find a way.
But yeah, it's a particular type of wood chip.They're not all definitely worth looking because they are very tasty.So I've heard.
I'm going to ask you something that I always get asked now, is have you ever had anything that's made you ill?
Honestly, no, I've not. I have been very lucky, I've not poisoned anyone.
But I think we were talking earlier about that you can think that you are ill because you're so scared as a beginner, you're so worried about what you've just put on your plate that you can get yourself into a kind of anxious, stomach turning mess.
And you're not actually ill, it's just beginner's fear.But luckily I've not had the real,
That's the fun of it though, right?The fun, the fear.
Might kill me, might not.Let's find out.
Definitely, yeah.Oh, it didn't kill me.I'm not eating those again.Yeah, I've seen on your bio you described yourself as a mad scientist cook.I am quoting here, people.
So, can you share something, like a culinary experiment you've done that kind of fits in with that description?
I am getting very into the kind of funky fermenting you'd find at maybe, I don't know, Nomo, in Copenhagen, a very famous restaurant.So, fermented hen of the woods, and then I've tried to candy that. did not turn out so well.
There's an excellent forager, Craig Warrell, who's based in Leeds, and he's just so great with doing these funky things, but making them actually work.Whereas for me, it's the wasting of that precious mushroom that saddens me.
But you've got to experiment, or you're never going to know.
Yeah, I mean, it's the same when you make mead.Initially, I was always scared to make mead because of the cost of the honey.And if it goes wrong, that's a big waste.
Yeah, they get taking those losses there and yeah.Yeah.
Sometimes you still eat or drink it anyway, though, right?Turn into vinegar.Yeah.Just sweet vinegar.I will like this if I drink enough of it.
Yeah.Yeah.Can you share any of your favorite foraging recipes?
I. I do love bacon.That is something that I learned from my mum. and yeah, from a young age.And even if it wasn't including wild ingredients, the bacon side has always been there.
So to play around with wild food within bacon, that's kind of, yeah, something that I started doing early on in my foraging journey.So I think we're talking about sort of spiced cake before, something that I always love to do.And just,
playing around with different fruits and nuts in there.In terms of recipes, I've said this a couple of times today, I can be quite lazy in my foraging and I love to just chuck some fruit into vodka and see what happens.What can go wrong?
That's the beauty of it, zero risk.Keeping everything clean though.But yeah, I'd love to play around with what we call our British kind of wild spices.
It saves you a lot of money rather than buying from the supermarket and I think the flavour's far far better as well.
Yeah so we were foraging this afternoon so we are kind of feeling like we're repeating ourselves a bit I guess but I think it's worth Like, I learned quite a lot from you this afternoon.Don't test me.
But it might be worth going through some of the things we found.When David came in, he had some Valeria and some Angelica, which we'd... I found some yesterday.It's the first time I've seen it.
And I wasn't 100% sure, but you've confirmed for me today that that is what it is.
So yeah, it's a very good environment for it around here.So quite a lot of ditches because of the agriculture and Valerian loves to have wet feet.So yeah, kind of in terms of the environment, that's ticking the boxes.
The color as well, so that lovely lilac flushing and then deep purple stem, really, really pretty.But you can have some green in the stem as well.So, you know, it's not kind of one rule there.Generally with Valerian, we would use the root.
herbalism yeah and it's just really great for treating anxiety sleep disorders and so you know a strong tincture of valerian would be really good for someone having a panic attack you know I'm not a doctor but yeah that's that's generally how it's prescribed we should probably
case anyone doesn't realise, kind of worn against the uprooting of things.
Yes, that is a really good point.
So you need permission from the landowner and that even includes verges.So that would be the council or the highways agency who would need permission.
Just in case anyone goes, I found some valerian, I'm going to... Yeah, so you do need to be careful with uprooting things.
Medicine as well, you know, always kind of seek advice from a professional and dosage.Yeah.
Oh, and it goes without saying, make sure you know what you're picking.
Blah, blah, blah.You've heard me say it before.Yes.Yes.So that one, because they've... David's done the classic thing of picking one thing, but actually he's picked two. So yeah, he's got some Angelica there as well.
And then we also got some Angelica broccoli.Couple in here.So there we go.It's quite a big one, isn't it?So Angelica is, again, part of this Umbella family that we do want to be very wary of as a beginner.
Angelica is, it's very fragrant as we smelt today, kind of one of its distinguishing features.And pretty much hairless as well, which sets it apart from Giant Hogweed and Common Hogweed.
Common Hogweed will have hair all over, it's like kind of bristly old man sort of hair.And Giant Hogweed will only have hair on the stem.
and so yeah that's really these are the ticks the mental because that was the first thing i saw it and i thought hang on a minute hogweed's not purple and that was what drew my attention to it initially sometimes you can get splashes of purple yeah i'm also enjoying hogweed um but yeah it's just a really beautiful kind of rich plum color and the leaves as well very different uh almost like rose uh similar to rose yeah in that way um but yeah and we've also got the broccoli
do a little unpeel here and this is something that you can steam and just treat as you would.Looks just like broccoli.Yeah yeah, grill it, a bit of olive oil and you can also do that with common hogweed.
I can say this is not a beginner friendly family, I didn't start eating these until a couple of years into my foraging journey because I need to build up that confidence but yeah the reward is there if you do your homework because it's really really tasty when you get them young.
yeah wild greens yeah so that's a brand new one to me i've not not come across that i'm trying to remember what else we found now so we've got our we've got meadowsweet which um i usually put it into mead and tea with it it's a alternative to aspirin
as a headache remedy, so when you're drinking your mead, you're getting your hangover cure at the same time, right?It's health food.
You need to have a lot of meadowsweet, for it to be the same as us, but yeah.Just graze like a goat the day after, yeah.
Yeah.I've also got a little bit of yarrow, which is one of my personal favourites.Do you do anything with this?
I've used it to make beer.The root of alcohol again, I'm afraid.And tea as well.Good tea.Funny thing is, in our old house, we deliberately grew it from seed.I was keen to then move it to my new house.
And when I got there, I realised half the lawn was yarrow.So I didn't need to do that.
It's a really common grassland species, and to me, it goes perfectly with lamb.
Well, you're having lamb tomorrow?
I think the smell of it, when you rub the leaf, you know the smell well, but like rosemary, thyme, and you could layer some large yarrow leaves down and place your lamb on top to stop it sticking.
What are you doing tomorrow?My cookery course.
But it's yeah, in tea as well.
Really, really nice, really fragrant.And it's also an antiseptic as well.So during World War One, earlier wars, Boer Wars, they would use this to place over wings. and a rubber bandage.So it helps to dry up the area, the wound.
Yeah, really lovely plant, really great sort of women's herb as well for menstrual problems or just balancing hormones.Lovely one to know, yeah, right?
Yeah.We've got some seeds there as well from the hogweed.I'm just thinking that kind of ties in with, we mentioned hogweed with the Angelica?Yeah.I'm terrible with names.The cogs are turning, guys.
Ready for food.So common hogweed.So we've got it at the two different stages here, actually.Common hogweed seed is one of my favourite ingredients.So at the green stage, it's got a really lovely coriander sort of taste to it.
So it goes really well in Mexican food, salsas, really, really great.And at the later stage when it's dried a bit, it's cardamom, orange sort of flavours. And I would say really great in infusions.
You're going to get more from it by infusing it in something like a cream or in an oil, something like that.
It's pungent is how I'd describe it.It's got a really strong flavor to it.Yeah.
And if you are going to be using it in cooking, then we do need to cook it first, just because there are the phytophotons in there.I mean, if you just have a very small amount, it's not going to do serious damage.
But yeah, generally you need to cook it and that can be with heat or, you know, something like a lemon juice would also cook it in some way.So, lovely common hogweed.
So you'd have to do that if you were infusing alcohol?
The alcohol would break it down enough.
Yeah, there you go.Good to know.
And what else do we have?
We found some mint, didn't we?Ooh, yeah, there's two different types.Yeah, we had the... What did you call it, the water mint?
Water mint, yeah.Which didn't taste that good.
No, it's not the best, but it's milder than normal mint, isn't it, normally?
It had gone over quite a bit, so generally the water mint I get is very short and it won't have yet flowered.It wasn't as harsh as it was, it was almost chemically when we tasted it before.
It was growing next to a railway track.
yeah it was a kind of sludgy pond sludgy pond with a few fish in it so probably not the best spot to forage yeah but uh and then we've also got um these sort of spearmint uh maybe a hybrid of spearmint we're thinking is escaped in some way that's what i'm thinking yeah but a lot milder flavor on that one
Yeah, because that was growing next to the Himalayan balsam.
Which I think is another good thing that might be worth mentioning because I didn't know you could eat it for a start.
Yeah, I mean, it is a big issue in this country.It's kind of brought over sort of mid-1800s as an ornamental plant from the Himalayas.And I mean, it smells beautiful.
We were walking along the lane and it was, I don't know, it was quite heady, wasn't it?
Yeah, and where it grows, it's prolific, which is the problem, isn't it?Yes.
Yeah.And it is becoming a big issue.As I was saying, a lot of communities are doing bolts and bashes to try and keep it under control.But, you know, it is up to the landowner, really.
There are laws that say that you are not allowed to transport it or transplant it in any way.And really, when we are collecting it, if we are going to collect it to use in cooking, then we need to be extremely careful.
So, you know, putting it into a basket and making sure it's not going to spread.Even lining your basket with a carrier bag would be far better.Yeah.Just so we're not risking it spreading it even further.
In terms of eating it though, the flowers look really great as a garnish.You could put them, again, into alcohol, infuse them, make a really nice Himalayan balsam gin, would be really lovely.
And then the young shoots are really tender and you could use those as kind of rhubarb substitutes, would be really nice.So yeah, kind of sizzle them, a little bit of honey over would be really lovely.
Big issue. encourage to eat them but be careful when you're harvesting them.Another one that not a lot of people know is an invasive is a pineapple weed.It's in the chamomile family but it's actually out competing our natural wild chamomile.
It does smell lovely though.It's amazing.
Smells like pineapples obviously from the name.
Could be on a beach location.So yeah, again it's one that you can't pick too much of it because you are actually doing benefits. But generally, with any of the other species, you know, I'd always say don't pick more than a third.
And even that, you know, that's got to be in an appropriate situation.
Definitely.With a mushroom, if there's only one mushroom there, then leave it.That would be the rule, unless, you know, you do want to do further research.
Yeah, was there anything else we got?We've got some apples which are quite sour.We did try them.
They're light.Yeah, nice flavour.
Yeah.And these are your proper reenactment sized apples.
Yes.Is that everything we got?Oh, we had, there was some plantain as well, wasn't there?Some narrow leaf plantain.
Yep, and we've just got so much, such abundance.Oh and cob nuts.
Oh yes, so those are quite milky at that stage aren't they?They're not quite so nutty, I think they're quite mild in flavour.
Yeah, I always say like a creamy sort of apple flavour to them.It's just that really satisfying when you can crunch them with your teeth and then get that lovely kind of sweet pith in the middle.
Or you could put them in a brown paper bag and just wait for them to become hazelnuts.Beat squirrels to it.
That's the problem is if you leave them the squirrels get them.
Then you can eat the squirrels.Circle of life. So, um, I mean, it's such an important food resource.Uh, I mean, you're ticking all the boxes, your proteins, your fats.
Um, and yeah, we've got quite a lot of hazel coppices in Cumbria, so, uh, quite an abundance of them.Um, but yeah, something, uh, something we should all be having in our diets for sure.
Yeah. Anything else?Forget what we did now.I know.
When we started it, was it three, four?
Three, four o'clock, yeah.Gas in a way.
A little bit of vetch as well.
So kind of in the pea family and really nice as a salad ingredient. So you do need to be careful with vetch, particularly yellow vetch, you don't want to be eating that, or purple.Purple is totally fine.
And yeah, in a nice salad, or again, as a pretty garnish.Everything's got to be kind of Instagram approved nowadays, doesn't it?So yeah, you can make it look good with wild food.
I think that's about it.So it's not bad though for a short track, not far from Moor Forge.
And this is just sample.We could have picked more.I mean, there weren't many mushrooms, but it wasn't really the environment for that.
There was a few blackberries, some hawthorn.A few things needed a bit longer.Yeah, your rose hips.And even behind in the willow here, there's all the sorrel growing and the ground elder.So yeah.
So I love this site so much.You could make a nice salad just from Moor Forge.
We haven't even mentioned nettles.I mean, nettles always go without saying, don't they?They're everywhere.But they are very useful.
So with all these things that we found today, I know a couple of times you've already kind of given out a little pre-warning about people foraging. Where would be a good point for someone if they wanted to get into foraging?
They've not done any before.And again, this is something I get asked all the time is where do I start?
I think it's making sure not to overwhelm yourself.And we did speak about earlier that a lot of people want to be experts very quickly.And that's just the way the world is now.You know, it's got all this information available to us.
But I think it is, it's more about taking it slow really and picking one or two species a month, really getting to know them, getting to know them at different stages.
as well, you know, what do they look like at their worst, you know, what do they look like when they're first coming out of the ground and getting to know, yeah, their smell, you know, their, the way they look.
Yeah, various different stages and then once you're happy, move on to some more. And what I love about foraging is that you can just focus on plants.
And then if you are then kind of reaching your saturation point, then going to seaweeds or then going to mushrooms and so many things cycle background, you know, and kind of never get bored.And someone who is neurodivergent, I,
endless supply of stimulation in the foraging world.And yeah, at the moment I'm looking more into herbalism.
And I'm sure I will swing back around to mushrooms.
I said to you earlier, like even the, any of the mushroom in books, you open them, it's so overwhelming.There's so many, but I guess if you get out there and actually find something and learn to identify it, even if it's not edible, or even if you're
not sure that you should eat it, you can at least learn to identify it.
Yeah and learn the ones that aren't necessarily edible, you know, learn your more dangerous species first and get to know what a giant hogweed looks like, what does a destroying angel mushroom looks like, you know, some more common than others but kind of get that baseline knowledge in there and it does, it's just building blocks and you get to that point and
and going out with a trusted professional forager as well, you know, if you can afford to do it multiple times, try and go out each season, each of the seasons.Yeah, befriend one.
Befriend one, yeah, you can get it for free.Yeah.
Some friends like that, I love them very much. But for me as a forager, people asking me questions, it's kind of continuous development for me.Because sometimes you do need to retrace your steps and go back to plants and relearn them.
There's such variety that a plant that I will have known very well at the beginning of my journey, I may have forgotten.
Yeah.As new stuffing comes in.
Yeah.So, you know, that my brain can only hold so much, it will seep out stuff that's no longer needed.So kind of people bringing it back up to me, it does really help.Facebook pages as well really helped me at the beginning of my journey.
So Mushroom, my notification pages, Mushroom Spotters UK is a really good one.And if you're going to be scrolling on your phone, you may as well be scrolling and learning at the same time.Yeah.Just to go on that group and
see someone posting a picture of a mushroom and then an expert IDing it.
It's just it's like quick learning.
You know, modern day learning.And yeah, that really helped me in the beginning.
I think something you mentioned on the walk that's worth mentioning as well is that as an expert, when you're out teaching people, you don't necessarily know every species, right?And don't be afraid of that.Don't pretend you know what something is.
If you don't know, say you don't know.We do it with reenactment.We have a rule.If someone asks you a question, you don't know the answer, don't make it up.
Because you will, you will get curveball questions, you know, at least one during every... Well, you do forget stuff.
Someone will ask you something, I can't remember whether that was this place or that place.And it's better to just say, I'm not sure, or maybe if you send me a message, I'll try and find out the answer.
yeah it's things are going to look different and there'll always be um kind of new species that you just will not have come across in your journey and i think it gives beginners confidence to see me not being sure yeah and put my hands up and going i'm not sure what this is you know i could take a guess about what family it's in you know if it is a mushroom um but yeah i'm gonna go away
And if I send you a list of what we found on the walk, then I will then kind of tell you what I think it is from my own research.But yeah, it's, there are people who've been doing this for 30 years.I've been doing it for kind of about six.
And yeah, even they will hold their hands up and go, I am not 100% expert.I don't think anyone can be.
No, there's way too much out there.Yeah. Even if you did only do, like we said, mushrooms, for instance.There's so many out there, I don't think you're ever going to even find every one of them.Because it depends where you live as well.
I mean, there's mushrooms I've been given that people have found in Scotland that you wouldn't get where we are.Bracket funguses, horseshoe fungus, chaga.We don't have them down south.
So I'm never going to find them to identify them in the first place.
Going across to New Zealand as well, that was such an eye-opener, like a humbling experience.I kind of went across going, I'm going to save money on my travels by foraging, but there are so many species there that I was completely puzzled about.
And particularly mushrooms as well.They've got a whole other species of weird and wonderful things over there.They evolved away from everything else.So yeah, it's a bit of an alien kind of a forest over there.
But it was humbling and it was great to learn new things. over there, but it goes back to what you were saying, you're never going to be able to know.
You've got to be very localised and know your patches to say that you're a confident expert in your area.
That's it, you can only be an expert in your local area, realistically speaking, because of getting out.But then that's another good point, is if you go out on a walk every day, you're going to see things as the seasons change.
And you'll get to know particular plants, even just the hedgerows themselves and how they evolve over the year. Yeah.
Yeah.You'll be able to predict how things are going to play out over this evening as well.
Well, I don't know.This year's a funny one.
That's going to continue.
Yes.Yes.Right.Back to my questions.So, yeah, I was going to ask you how you balance your role as a forager with your interest, because I know you've got an interest in conservation as well.
So how do those two kind of balance together when you're out foraging?
Yeah, I think as a teacher, it's about that being the first thing that you put across.We're going out here, this is not a smorgasbord for us.We've got to be respectful and that's something that I will try and drill in.
within the first 10 minutes of a workshop or session.I think it's about giving back as well.
So if you're able to go out and plant hedgerows or go and do surveys in your time, I know not everyone has the time, but that's kind of my way of giving back.I take quite a lot from the environment, so if I can kind of do my bit in return.
And, you know, with mushrooms as well, if you can pick, let's say, chanterelles and then all the bits of chanterelle that you don't want to eat, all the guru bits, you know, go spread them somewhere else, you know, go back to an area to think that chanterelle may benefit from, you know,
It's not a guarantee that the mycelium will develop there, but something that you can do, seed dispersal, various dispersal things you can do.
That actually reminds me of a point you made earlier about mushrooms, because I didn't know is you were picking them up, smelling them, touching them.And I was asking you about that interaction, right?
If you don't know what you're looking at, should you be picking them?
I think if you're a beginner, it's all about the touch, the smell and... I was gonna say taste then but... Some mushrooms you can to have a little nibble and spit out but only something like a bristled gill.Again, that's not a beginner tip there.
I just had a brain fart.What were we talking about?
So I was asking you about, earlier we were talking about mushrooms and whether it was OK for people to pick them.Yes.Because you do get a little bit of pick shaming.
On social media.And so, yeah, whether, especially a beginner, should they be picking them up, I think was the best way to put it.
Yes.So picking a mushroom, you are getting a closer look at it.Yeah.It's very, people are very cautious to begin with.They are scared that
by touching a mushroom that they are then going to poison themselves, but really it's only by digesting the mushroom that toxins will leach out.
So even something like a fly garrick or a panther cap, something kind of highly toxic, you've got to be nibbling it.So I'd encourage people to handle them and to get to know them and
Yeah it's it's an old wives tale that if you pick a mushroom that you are damaging the organism but to me a mushroom is the apple on the tree.
You are just plucking the apple and you're not you're not damaging the whole tree.I mean beneath our feet is 300 meters of mycelium like every step that we take so yeah.
over-harvesting, yes, every single fruiting body fungi in that area, but by only picking one for research purposes, I don't think we're going to do too much damage.
So if anyone wants to learn more, you also, as you've mentioned already, run courses.And you said that's up and down the country, right?
Generally just in the Lake District.
But I run courses around Hebden Bridge and I've got a couple down in the Peak District.And yeah, festivals as well.I'm doing quite a lot of festivals this year.New for me this season.
But yeah, I don't generally do courses down south because there's a whole other world down there.
Because if you don't know the area, it's hard to do a course, isn't it?I mean, you can do a pre-site recce.Yeah.
But yeah, that line below Birmingham, you know, it's yeah, it's mainly the Lake District.Yeah.The variety of, as I mentioned before, the variety of environments here is open to all kinds of courses.
And that's through Foragebox?
Through Foragebox and also through private private bookings as well.So, I've done a couple of birthdays and hendos and such.
Yeah, I can be contacted for that as well.But yeah, I'm loving doing small scale things at the moment, really enjoying that and sort of bespoke bespoke workshops.
So yeah, I'm doing something with some wild swimmers this month and they're kind of swimming in the morning and then kind of retracing their steps and all the wild stuff they've seen along the way.That's nice.Yeah, it's going to be good.
Yeah. Oh, and perhaps, should we mention what Foragebox does generally, other than employ you?
Yeah.So Foragebox started out as just gin, who's based near to Manchester.And he has brought in a lot of foragers from up and down the country, kind of all the way down Isle of Wight, and then probably most in the Alderley, really.
bespoke courses and butchery, private dining, picnics, all kinds of different events.So yeah, Foragebox, you can find up and down the country.The website's really, really great and there's pretty much something on every week.
So you can find something to suit you.
Awesome.So there are seven questions I ask every guest. I don't know if this will pick up on the mics very well, but if you can't hear it, my new dog Lara is barking at everybody.
Strangers have arrived.Been with us two weeks and she's already guarding our lives.As you can tell, we're in danger a lot.
We've brought food though.
That's the problem.Yes, they've got our food.Yes.I think she's done. Grab the last word.
Might leave this in, might not.So there are seven questions I ask every guest and then I'll leave you to get on with your evening in peace.The first one is, if you had an unlimited budget, what would be your dream project?
My dream project. I really don't know.No?
Should we come back to it?
Let's come back to that one.No, we'll come back to it.Yeah.We'll go back down to the food stuff, shall we?Yeah, I can do that, yeah.All right.So do you think you could survive on a Viking Age diet?
I think I could.I think I could.I think I would miss certain things.
Oh, that's the next question.Oh, I won't go into that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.Hmm. With, I'd say I'm quite a multi-skilled person.So I think in terms of logistics, I'd be able to manage that.Um, yeah, I think there'll be more satisfaction from it as well.
The, um, the gathering of every ingredient, the preparation, the longer preparation, that's actually things that I enjoy.Uh, I love spending the whole day in the kitchen and, um, Yeah, I think the food is kind of optimum nutrition.
I know that's quite a broad thing to say, but I think there's enough in there to help you feel satiated.Enough protein in there, and it just ticks all the boxes.Very seasonal as well.I think I could.
But would you miss anything if you were on a Viking Age diet?
I would miss the humble tomato.
They... Yeah, the elevation it brings to a lot of bland dishes.
Gotta be a good one, though.I bought a packet yesterday and they were terrible.
Yeah, not kind of a waterlogged Aldi.Tasted of nothing.Tomatoes.Other supermarkets are available.
But yeah, proper... Pretty sure that they got slagged off on this podcast before. In fact, I believe the words I used was fuck Aldi.
But it is, it's water, you know, you're just eating, yeah, they're just pumped full and just really fond memories of my granddad's greenhouse and he would only grow tomatoes in there.And just the taste, bar soup, proper beef, tomatoes.
Yeah, I don't think you can beat it on a summer's day.
Apologies to Aldi, I did use your shop earlier. In Cockermouth.
Lovely stuff in Cockermouth.
Yeah, it doesn't excuse other things.Yeah, tomato.I'm sure there's other things.
Yeah.I'm not sure if that's ever come up.
I'm sure generally it's more like chocolate and you know,
Yeah, I think chocolate and coffee are probably the two most sugar.Yeah, I don't know.You have to compile a list.
Yeah, I'm more of a savoury person.Okay.
So next question is what's the weirdest thing in your kitchen?
Weirdest thing in my kitchen?There will always be
something strange fermenting and it's not really a strange thing anymore everyone seems to be kind of getting the fermenting bug but it's probably yeah they're probably a strange smell coming from something.Good answer, strange smell.
So I did a nettle, nettle sauerkraut and yeah the smell wasn't too good, the taste is all right but
It's getting past that though, when you get something that smells bad and you've still got to taste it.
Yeah, sometimes it's the opposite and smells bad, tastes good or tastes good, smells, yeah.But yeah, something smelly in the corner or maybe a forgotten basket of mushrooms, something like that.
But I don't have any strange kits or equipment or anything like that.I... I think that's my next thing would be, yeah, kind of investing in cool gadgets and stuff.Yeah.
What is the worst thing you've ever eaten?
I'd say something like a limpet.Have you had a limpet before?
No, I don't think I have.
So, you know, the kind of conical.Yeah, it's like a sort of sea snail.Yeah.
I don't think I'd like it.
Not into those kinds of things.I'm not really into anything oysters, mussels, that sort of thing.Oh, no, no, no.
As a five-year-old in France, projectile, spat an oyster out across the table.A lot of, yeah, disapproving French people.That's what happens when you give a five-year-old an oyster.Yeah, that's fair enough.
A limpet's kind of the texture of like a razor, like a pencil rubber. So chewy, you'd probably burn more calories than what you're actually taking just chewing it.
They're kind of in that intertidal zone and you do, you need to be very quick whacking them off with a rock.But a lot of protein in there if you're in a very desperate situation.But no, no, no, no.Like a cross between a muscle and a pencil rubber.
No.Desperate times.But yeah, I couldn't do it.
I mean, this could be your trip to France story again, but what's the most memorable meal you've ever had?Fitting out oysters at French people.
I've remembered it, yeah, from five.
I think for me, I... Anything, any outdoor meal.So there's a really beautiful satisfaction in picking chanterelles in Scotland and then going, cooking by a lock or a river and yeah, just, yeah, that seclusion.
But the process, the whole process and being able to do that in a day, so a really nice memory of sitting by locked hay.
eating and eat chanterelles by myself and yeah it sounds really sad and generally meals would be kind of with company but uh i kind of i love those kind of peaceful uh peaceful moments alone yeah so normally at this point there's one more question but before we do i need to double check the first question yeah you didn't have an answer if you had an unlimited budget have we got an answer
I would... I'd like to see... more investment in grassland restoration.
Yeah, so not necessarily planting trees, which is kind of seems to be the conservation kind of go-to at the moment when we actually forget how important grasslands are, particularly grassland fungi too.This is very niche. It's your budget.
But protecting ancient grasslands, there's a lot of at-risk fungi and plant species in those grasslands and I just think it's a part of conservation that is very ignored.
Alright, so there is one question left. And then you're free to go.Yeah, so your family and friends, oh sorry, you've died and your family and friends are preparing your grave goods.What food and drink do you get to take to feast in Valhalla?
It's gonna have to be something with truffle.Truffle based with...
creamy pasta something indulgent like that yeah yeah or my new uh kind of part-time career working with cheese uh a fondue why not i'm not sure how that would work in a grave uh yeah i like the idea though because if you take it to the afterlife and it's just valhalla and you're sat there with a fondue and some truffles
yeah i'm not sure would you have to take all the kit with you as well oh yeah yeah that's all going yeah would it still be in liquid form when i got there
Do they have electricity?Are you going to be able to do it over a fire?Yeah, kind of old school.In a pot.
That'd be another memorable meal would be fondue in the Swiss Alps.Yeah.After a long day.Yeah.Sounded very middle class right now.Yeah. But truffle, I think.Yeah, I know some people are actually that fond of truffle.
But another thing I've not found that's on my wish list and yeah, that's one down south, kind of.Yeah.North of France, going into Italy.Yeah, I don't find them up north so much.But shaved truffle can't be it on anything.Porcini.Yeah.Cheese.Yeah.Yeah.
And a drink.Kirsten, do you have a drink?Yeah.
We've been talking a lot about mead today, haven't we?Yes.It's gonna have to be a really good spiced mead.Yeah, just a done in a non-process way.
I don't know if fondue and mead mix well together.
My friend Bob, I was going to say from Moor Mead, he's fond of a bottle of mead paired with a cheese board.So it does work.
Imagine, yeah, particularly with like blue cheese, maybe, that kind of sweetness.Yeah, yeah, that would work.
So thank you for coming on the podcast.Thank you.And coming all the way here, you had to come up a day early.And for taking me out foraging, it was a lot of fun.
So if people want to follow you online or find out more about what you do, where can they find you?
I don't have a website.I'm not that technical.So I am on Instagram forage the fells and Facebook.Yeah, that's pretty much it.
So yeah, always open to a DM even if you find a mushroom and you want to you want to know what it is, then yeah, I love I love to see that in my inbox.
Brilliant.And yeah, thank you again for coming on the show.
Thank you for having me.We've trailed into the evening, haven't we?
Yes, we have.All right.Thank you, everyone, for watching or listening, and I'll see you next time.Goodbye.
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