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Wild Food & Foraging Courses... Hi. My first wild food and foraging courses of 2024 will be taking place on the weekend of 16th/17th March. I hope you can join me... Saturday 16th: Birch: Food, Medicine, Magic & Myth. 10am - 2pm. Leeds   Birch trees were highly respected and held in high-esteem all across the northern hemisphere for millennia, providing our ancestors with a myriad of useful and seasonal resources in both a practical and spiritual sense. This course will explore the multitude of potential resources Birch trees have to offer and hopefully, herald a return to the respectful and intimate relationships we once had with Birch (and wider nature). As a group we will get practical, theoretical and magical with; sap extraction & syrup making, pollen, catkins, edible & medicinal fungi, fire lighting, storage containers, birch tar, withies, habitat, ecology and of course the magic and spirit of Birch. Samples and tasters and a wild spring-time soup are included in
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Medicinal Mushrooms Course. Sunday 19th November. Leeds. 10am - 2.30pm

 If you would like to learn more about the natural, medicinal aspects of wild mushrooms for    maintaining, balancing, optimising and enhancing personal health and/or that of others, then this course is for you.  This course will focus on a select range of wild mushrooms that can be incorporated into our seasonal diets and also turned into more potent and powerful forms of natural medicine. Participants will learn how to: . Safely identify a range of specific medicinal mushrooms . Mindfully harvest, prepare and store them . Create simple tinctures . Create double extraction tinctures . Create concentrated extract powders (with long shelf-life compatibility) . Incorporate into diets in very simple ways . Learn about the proven and potential health benefits of those mushrooms We will also explore the theme of micro-dosing with psychedelic and psychoactive medicinal mushrooms. Simple refreshments will also be provided on the day.. Price: £55pp Booking essential:  edible.leeds@gmail.com L

Wild Garlic Pesto

Wild Garlic Pesto is one of the easiest and tastiest, spring time recipe, with a wide range of kitchen applications. I find that the freshest, youngest, most vibrant and tender, early season leaves, make the tastiest and punchiest pesto. It can be stirred into freshly cooked pasta, gnocchi and mashed potato, used as a filling for homemade chicken or pheasant kiev's, used as a simple dip akin to hummus and popped on top of oven baked oysters, cheeses and cold meats. The fresh pesto can be popped into clean jars and stored in the fridge for up to 1 week (adding extra oil to the jar will prevent the surface drying out) or, frozen in suitable containers (use within 1 year).  Hygiene Hygiene and freshness are essential when making and storing wild garlic pesto. Not wishing to deter or scare people: there is a potential risk of botulism when preserving any ingredient that grows in soil, therefore, you MUST only use the very freshest, cleanest, most blemish free, wild garlic. You MUST pic

Seaweed: Laver - Porphyra - Nori

Seaweeds, those most amazing of oceanic organisms, are a ' bit' like wild mushrooms, in the sense that they are continually undergoing, extensive, scientific research. Despite this, there is still much that marine biologists and scientists just aren't entirely certain of. Issues such as deciding which genera to place them in and the ongoing mysteries regarding aspects of reproductive cycles, seem to be the most common. For those reading this who have dabbled with and, are familiar with the intricacies and subtle frustrations encountered within mycology, will no doubt love seaweeds, they are the 'fungi of the ocean realm'.  If you have an interest in food, cookery, nature and spending quality time outdoors, you'll love the fascinating, delicious and wonderful world, of seaweeds.  Did You Know? The scientific name, ' Porphyra'',  is derived from a Greek word meaning 'purple-red colour' and although these colours are representative, I feel the

Vin de Noix - Green Walnut Wine

I first came across Vin de Noix in the autumn of 2019, courtesy of my good friend and chef, Josh Whitehead. For me, Vin de Noix, is an alchemical stroke of liquid genius! It is wonderfully aromatic, delightfully complex in taste and worthy of all the time, effort and patience required, to create and eventually, crack open, share and sup with friends, loved ones and pop up diners. Originating from France, Vin de Noix is the cousin of the Italian, Nocino and the Spanish, Ratafia (all are made with, unripe, green walnuts). Prior to being introduced to Vin de Noix, I had only ever made Nocino and really struggled to get my taste buds around it's strong, over-powering, oily and bitter flavour. Since discovering VDN, my preference definitely flows in the direction of the French version. I also envisage more experimentations with Nocino - a palatable version is required! Perhaps VDN is that version... The three different versions of VdN that I've made, have all been subtly unique. It&

Wild Alliums

As some of you will know, spring heralds the return of the wild alliums; Wild Garlic, 3 Cornered Leek, Few Flowered Leek, Chives, Rosy Garlic, Crow Garlic and others. Wild Alliums, in particular, the first 3 species from the above list, receive much attention from me as they are super prolific in areas that I frequently forage. Not only are they super abundant, they are exceptionally tasty and extremely versatile, providing plenty opportunity for a raft of dishes and preserves. Annual Allium tasks that keep me busy during spring are the creating of; pesto's, flavoured oils, lacto-fermentations, protein curds, flavoured butters, pickles and flavoured salts (using smoked and dehydrated leaves). I also love creating simple and tasty dishes from the fresh leaves, unopened flower heads, open flowers and seeds, in raw form and cooked. So far this season (April 2021), I've made and crafted;  2.5kg Wild Garlic Pesto 1.5kg Few Flowered Leek Pesto 1kg Lacto-fermented Few Flowered Leek 75