Wild Walks:
Foraging, wild cooking & bush skills
Wild Walks are opportunities to open ourselves to new ways of engaging with the landscape through bush skills, including foraging, tracking and wild swimming.
Foraging. We will cover various seasonal plants, how to prepare them and any relevant medicinal qualities. My approach is always one of relationship and dynamic engagement with nature. It is about nurturing friendships with the landscape and experiencing the adventure as a conversation with life. Not to mention foraged foods are packed with nutrients, even just nibbling here and there can provide a decent vitamin and mineral boost. My motto for foraging is, start small and build up. You don't have to make a fully foraged meal but find ways to introduce foraged foods into your diet in tasty and creative ways. I always encourage beginners to start by familiarising yourself with the different plants you see using all your senses. Let your mind absorb the plant, its shape, look, touch and smell, this will make identification easier in the future when you expand your knowledge.
Whenever possible we will also do some wild cooking and perhaps explore some other simple, woodland crafts such as fire making and shelter building. Modern humans have become so separate from nature that its strangeness makes us feel uncomfortable. These experiences are meant to bridge that gap and bring out our own 'wildness'.
I love to follow animal tracks when I walk in the woods, they have a very different feel to farm or logging tracks. They call me to look beyond just the scuffs in the earth and ticking off the animal on my mental list but to feel the essence of the animal rising off the track. To ask, what is it showing me about his journey but also what is it showing me about me? To become the track and for a moment look at the world through the eyes of the deer or elusive boar, and seeing yourself reflected back. This is the key, everything speaks to us about our own inner journey.
Get in touch with me via the 'connect' button below to book a Wild Walks adventure!