Delve into the Edible Garden of England Secret Hideaways From Wild Meadows to the Kent Coast
Foraging walks will commence again at Brogdale as expert foragers Lucia Stuart and Michael White add more to the menu this spring.
Brogdale introduced foraging walks last year in order to encourage more people to rummage for wild edible foods. After a successful launch more expeditions have been planned to explore the local landscapes.
Wild plants such as spring herbs, edible shoots and early flowers can be found around March/ April time and grow in hedgerows, wild meadows and along footpaths. It’s perfectly legal to forage for food from any right-of-way however one does need to know what to look for and where. Lucia Stuart, Professional Forager from Deal, Kent believes “the abundance of fresh fragrant edible plants is what makes spring is such as sensational season”.
Lucia has a real passion for food and has been on culinary adventures with Paul Hollywood in his last series of Pies & Puds and Jonathan Phang in the Orient Express: A Food Adventure”. She tell us; “in my adventures with Jonathan we searched for wild oysters along the Kent Coast, ate delicious molluscs and even found a wild pearl”.
Living along the coast, Lucia has a particular taste for coastal foods and knows secret places for delicious finds. She continues “my love for foraging for wild ingredients began as a child in the Cornish valley where I ate sorrel, primroses and nettle soup, and it just grew from there”.
Brogdale has become a central hive for foraging, as they aim to see more people out in the Kent countryside gathering food. Bernie Cranfield, Events and Marketing Manager Comments; “we are so lucky to have the expertise of professional foragers to give people the knowledge and confidence to try it for themselves. Our foragers really understand the landscape and advise people on not over harvesting the more rare plants. It is impossible to describe just how inventive and delicious Lucia’s food is; the recipes and cooking tips are priceless”.
The first foraging walk lead by Lucia in March will focus on identifying edible spring plants, following with wild garlic in April, edible flowers in May and eating British seaweed and coastal plants in June.
More information for booking a place on the walks can be found on the Brogdale website www.brogdalecollections.co.uk.
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