Wild foraging has been growing in popularity over the past couple of years along with the resurgence in grow-your-own food and buying local. It’s easy to understand why foraging may be considered ‘hippy’ or ‘alternative’, but spend 2 hours in the company of local expert, Rachel Lambert and you’ll be a convert!
I met Rachel on a sunny Friday afternoon on the sand dunes of Gwithian Towans. There was a well -mixed group of familiar foragers armed with baskets, writing pads and cameras; first timers with little more than a bottle of water; and eager children determined to eat anything they could get their hands on!
Being a 2 hour walk and quite a sizeable group I was surprised about the amount that Rachel managed to show us. We ate everything from wild mustard to carrot flower seeds and learnt to tell the difference between similar looking plants.
On reaching the beach it was impossible to resist slipping off the walking shoes to dig my toes in the sand with the rest of the kids. We soon came across an island of rather unattractive looking seaweed and I was a little hesitant to touch the slimy-looking stuff. However, it wasn’t slimy at all, and Rachel soon told us about all the different types. We even discovered how to make seaweed crisps!
It wasn’t difficult to find wild, edible plants on our relatively short walk but what I realised almost immediately was how little notice we take of our surroundings. We admire the view and our beautiful surroundings, but if we just looked a little closer we would find flowers that you can eat like candy, fragrant seeds to flavour our baking creations and glossy green leaves to add to our summer salads.
There are few rules to foraging, namely; don’t uproot a plant without permission, only take a small amount of what you need and most importantly, make sure you identify your findings before touching or putting them in your mouth! With so few obstacles, foraging is at the very least, a fantastic hobby. It’s free, fun and available to everyone; even for those that live in busy towns and cities, (urban forages are just as interesting and equally rewarding!)
If you’d like to book a wild food walk, Rachel runs a variety of different days, from 2 hour coastal walks to ‘Forage, Cook and Dine’ days which incorporate your foraged items into a scrumptious 3 course meal.
View the Wild Food Walks website >
Read more about Food Foraging with Rachel Lambert >
Stay in one of our Gwithian Cottages >