Flavour-Led Foraging, History & Folklore - FUNGI FOCUSED

Woodoaks Farm (Soil Association) lies just to the west of London 75 acres of semi-ancient woodland, bountiful hedgerows, & community hub. Woodoaks Farm lies just to the west of London at Maple Cross in Hertfordshire. It extends to just over 300 acres and includes arable and pastureland and around 75 acres of semi-natural woodland. The farm was donated to the Soil Association Land Trust in November 2020 to ensure it will be farmed sustainably into the future; producing good food, improving wildlife and continuing to welcome people. I very much look forward to bringing people to this site which is a strong community hub with wonderful activities throughout the year which also has a brewery, cafe and a great ethos and environment that aligns with my values. My walks run for 2.5 hours and are an introduction to foraging for wild flavour in order to teach, the rules, identification techniques, responsible & respectful foraging, topics surrounding soil health, folklore and the history associated with wild ingredients. Throughout the walk we will identify seasonal ingredients and compare and contrast with their dangerous counterparts. During this I will be regularly visiting certain techniques of preservation and ways in which to create tasty wild ingredients to use at home along with a few tasters. For each edible plant I will discuss techniques of preservation and ways in which to create tasty wild ingredients that can be used at home. I also follow up with detailed information surrounding what we have seen throughout the walk, links, literature and remain available to answer questions.