Nomad Foraging

Garlic mustard/Jack-by-the-hedge
(Alliaria petiolata)

Garlic mustard is a member of the mustard family (brassicaceae). A lot of our farmed vegetables a members of the same family.

Look for busts of cross shaped white flowers and the distinctive, fairly large, opposite paired, heart shaped leaves. Grows to about 1m tall. Crush a leaf and you will get an instant aroma of garlic and mustard.

Very commonly found in damp shady places, along hedgerows, country lanes, shady woodland.

As the name suggests it has a strong garlic/mustard flavour however, some people get an overpowering after taste of paracetamol. Unfortunately I am one of those people.

There wasnt much use of garlic mustard herbally in the past although the leaves are effective at relieving asthma and eczema and have antibacterial properties when applied topically.

Get out and see if you are one of the lucky ones to not get the paracetomol aftertaste!

Tread lightly 🌿

Meadowsweet
(Filipendula ulmaria)

Grows on woodland edges, wet ground, edges of country lanes and meadows.

Another very common and safe to identify edible plant for beginner foragers.

Has unmistakable white fluffy flowers at the end of summer but can still be easily identified in spring. Look for paired opposite leaves off of a red stem, with tiny pairs of leaflets in between the main leaves. This is a defining feature of meadowsweet. The leaves when crushed have a pleasant, sweet smell that is similar to germaline.

The flowers can be dried and used as a flavouring to drinks and makes a really good vinaigrette when put into cider vinegar. The leaves make a pleasant tea.

Meadowsweet was one of the three most sacred herbs to the druids and has been used as an effective herbal medicine for thousands of years.

The flowers contain the anti inflammatory salicylic acid from which aspirin is synthesized however, the combination of constituents in meadowsweet protect the inner lining of the stomach, preventing gastric laceration that can be caused by high doses of synthesized aspirin.

Meadowsweet is also traditionally a useful medicine in treating diarrhoea, especially in children.

Big love.

Tread lightly.

Back at the hostel after my first three day stint in the Brecons.

Felt so good to take my boots off and chill out under this apple tree in blossom.

Tread lightly 💚

Wood sorrel
(Oxalis acetosella)

First wild thing I munched on on my trip in wales and it's one of my faves!

Very easy to identify and safe for beginner foragers. Looks very similar to clover with the three leaves on top of the stem. Although only grows in shady, damp areas in woodland or old dry stone walls where clover generally wont grow. Clover is also edible so it doesnt matter if you mix the two.

If you spot the flower with white petals and pink stripes, you can be certain its wood sorrel.

It tastes of green apple peel and is delicious added to salads.

The leaves can also help predict the weather as they close up when it's about to rain.

WARNING:
All sorrels contain high amounts of oxalic acid which can cause kidney stones in high doses. Should be consumed sparingly and not by pregnant women or anyone with previous kidney problems.

Tread lightly 💚

Spring has sprung and were back!

Back to basics foraging walks will be running again every Sunday in mid cornwall - dont miss out on the early spring gems 🌱

Send us a message for all the info 🤙

Big love. Tread lightly.

From tree to plate. 🌲

One of my favourite wild edibles!

Chicken of the woods (laetiporus sulphureus) is one of the absolute best vegan alternatives for chicken. It's free, organic and fairly common.

I think it's best breadcrumbed, fried and made into goujons or a vegan chicken burger but can be used as any normal chicken alternative. Best picked when it's still young and tender as it gets woody and acrid tasting with age.

Fruits from May to August in large yellow brackets on Oak, Cherry, Willow, Sweet Chestnut and Yew. There is debate wether the fungus absorbs any of the poison taxine when it's growing on Yew. If you do harvest some that's growing on Yew, make absolutely sure that no debris from the tree whatsoever is left on the fungus when you cook it as every part of the Yew tree contains high levels of taxine.

Can look similar to dryads saddle and blackening polypore when young, but both of these are also edible so this is a good mushroom to find if your a beginner forager.

Tread lightly.

Website now live!

Check out: www.nomadforaging.co.uk

Massive thanks to for designing it for me as well as taking over the online marketing side of things.

Tread lightly.

Felt so lucky to of had the time to go out wild camping again!

Things were getting hectic and was really craving a prolonged period of time in nature with just the bare essentials.

Felt so refreshed after really being able to plug back in again, and sharing the experience with a few good friends.

Hope your all doing good and have had the time to recharge and reconnect with nature recently.

Tread lightly 🌲❤

How nice has this weeks weather been! Surf was flat but just means a lot more time for foraging :)

Had such a lovely private foraging walk last weekend. Thanks so much hayley for booking on and I'm looking forward to seeing you on the next one.

Sorry I've not posted for a while I've been so busy with other commitments but I've got a back log of posts waiting that will be posted regularly.

Hopefully get to meet some more of you soon!

Tread lightly 🌿

Back to basics foraging walks will be available every Sunday!

Will include the foraging walk as well as a copy of Nomad Foragings wild recipe guide.

£30 per person.

Please contact me for more info, booking and any enquiries.

Hopefully see you soon!

Tread lightly 🍀❤🌲

One of my favourite spring edibles!

Pignut (conopodium majus) is one of the two members of the apiaceae (carrot) family that I deem worth foraging.

The apiaceae family, also known as umbellifers, has some of Britain's most toxic plants in them. Some of them can look very similar to other edible species, and a lot of the other edibles havent got much substance to them and, if anything, are best used as herbs.

But not pignut. In the early spring, the fairly unique leaf structure pops up from last autumn leaves, often in large patches in ancient woodland. Pignut is actually one of the plants that can be used as an ancient woodland indicator.

When you spot these bright green feathery leaves, you can carefully dig down following the stem until you find the relatively large underground tuber.

Once dug up, the skin easily scratches off leaving you with a tasty woodland snack that tastes like a cross between hazelnut and a water chestnut.

Excellent source of carbs which are fairly hard to come by in the wild. Make sure you get them before the plant has flowered as the tubers will have shrunk and used up there energy.

Remember you need the landowners permission to dig up any plant. Always follow the stem without breaking it! It's the only sure way you can know the tuber you dig up is pignut.

As always, double check your plant ID with several resources and be 100% sure before you eat anything.

Will be announcing regular dates for walks throughout the summer soon!

Started up a nomad foraging instagram account. Most of you will know how long I've been putting off instagram but it finally has to be done! Hit up on instagram and give us a follow! 🌲🌿🍀

Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea). Also known as alehoof, as it was used in the flavouring of beer before hops came to britain, is an excellent early spring edible.

It is in the family lamiaceae (mints), which all have giveaway traits such as a square stem, opposing leaves and often a pungent minty smell. Ground ivy is extremely common and is easy to pick out from a distance with its upper few leaves having a purple tinge.

I find it's best in teas where it imparts its refreshing minty flavour and is a really nice spring tonic.

If picked in fields with livestock, or from an area where it could have been below the water line, then it could harbour the liver fluke parasite and should not be consumed raw.

Ground ivy can be confused with purple dead nettle and henbit. Even though both of these are still edible, always double check everything before consumption. Eat nothing your not 100% sure of.

Had to ditch the flip flops when in an extremely wet rainforest in Vietnam.

Always feels so good to get some earth between the toes - even if I did have to deal with a fair few leeches!

Based in mid cornwall and offering foraging walks for complete beginners looking for an interesting day out, as well as those with experience looking to delve deeper into the foragers art.

We will be looking at a broad range of wild plants, rediscovering some of the tastes, smells and knowledge of our ancestors.

As well as learning to gather food and medicine, we will also discuss the folklore and history of these ancient plants and learn to move through the environment in a more profound and mindful way.

This ultimately allows us to become more attuned to the land we are a part of and realise the benefits of mind and body of this reconnection to nature.

Please get in touch through our email or FB page for any enquiries.