Wild St Ives

30/06/2025

Had a great time yesterday talking about plants and their uses up at the Steeple woodlands annual open day.

It’s such a wonderful nature reserve overlooking St Ives with a real diversity of habitats. They’ve got heathland, young woodland, ancient woodland ( also recently classed as a temperate rainforest) and a wonderfully bizarre monument. It’s a real gem in the often treeless landscape of west Cornwall. If you live nearby and haven’t been I would highly recommend a visit. It’s very quiet too, which is a bonus for a visit to St Ives!

This space has been a constant throughout my life. I’ve been exploring and playing up here since I was a child and it’s amazing to see it develop and change over the years, alongside my own developing understanding of the natural world.

Hats off to all of the volunteers who help maintain the site. They are a wonderful bunch of people and meet every Wednesday 930-1130 if you’d like to get involved. Head to Steeple Woodland Nature Reserve for more info.

Photos 1 & 2 courtesy of Rachael

23/06/2025

Join us this Sunday from 2pm for the Steeple Woodland Nature Reserve annual open day!

I’ll be leading a short botanical walk around the site and will have a stall showcasing useful plants found in the area.

It’s always a lovely event, free to attend, with lots of nice activities happening for all of the family. Live music, refreshments, green woodworking, storytelling, a guided tree walk and more. If you haven’t been before it’s a great time to visit and explore this beautiful nature reserve overlooking St Ives. Hats off to all of the volunteers who make it what it is.

22/06/2025

One of the best foragable treats is in its prime right now all over Cornwall!

Not many people know the flowers of New Zealand flax, a really common ornamental plant contain a sweet edible nectar.
Look for flowers with a good nectar buildup like the picture below and squeeze gently into your hand. Or straight into a cocktail. Tastes just like sugar syrup.
They also have some other amazing uses and it’s a plant every garden should have, if you’ve got the space!
As well as the edible nectar the flax plant has some other very practical uses. Read more about them on my website in the link in the comments:

16/06/2025

I'm after some help Facebook hive mind!
I'm after some more work, and on the lookout for some regular gardening work out in West Cornwall if anyone is looking for somebody to help out.

Horticulture is my passion, and I've spent over 15 years diving into the subject in many different areas and roles. I'm particularly interested in creating edible and ecologically beneficial landscapes and garden spaces.

Please share with anyone who might be interested in my services. Ideally in the Pendeen/ Botallack/ St just area as that is where I am based these days.

Thanks!

11/06/2025

It was great to explore the area around Porthkidney sands/ Lelant beach yesterday for a foraging workshop.

It’s a fascinating mix of habitats down there where the land meets the sea; with hedgerows, cliff tops and shifting sand dunes. The edges and blending of habitats are often the most diverse and this is a great place for a spot of botany.

We met plants that can heal, those that can kill, sour plants, ancestors of common vegetables, forgotten spices, mutated plants, mustardy plants, misunderstood plants and plants clinging on to the edge of the dunes by a thread.
We ate wild mustards, Samphire salsa verde and wild spiced Parkin.

Thanks to everyone that came along,. and turned up fully clothed. (see last picture)
As always I forgot to take many pictures, it’s hard to remember once I start talking about plants!

Want to join my next ethnobotanical workshop? We’re heading out along the coast path from Porthminster beach on Saturday 21st June. Head to our website to book a spot.

Cheers

05/06/2025

Fee-fi-fo-fum.
It's June, I wonder what Wild St Ives has on?

Well, there's lots happening thanks for asking:

We've got some foraging walks planned around Lelant dunes and along the coast path from Porthminster beach; there's a really great variety of plants to learn about at the moment. A couple of Tree identification walks up at the Steeple woods to help you learn how to recognise a load of species and find out about their history and uses.

And at the end of the month, the Steeple nature reserve open day. They've got live music, kids activities, green woodworking, tea and cakes, a guided walk around the woods and I'll have a little stall showcasing ethnobotanical plants found in the area and leading a short foraging walk. Should be a lovely day out.

Head to the link below for more and please get in touch with any questions, Cheers

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/wildstives

30/05/2025

“I firmly believe that when we learn to understand and interact with the natural world around us we are far more likely to want to protect it. Nothing has made me feel more connected and part of the landscape.”

Check out my recent interview with Cornwall Climate Care over on their blog. It was a really lovely experience working with them to present a short movie, ‘Hungry for change’ a few years back.

🚨 Update Alert! 🚨

🌿 We've got an exciting update from Josh Quick, the host of "Hungry For Change." In the film, Josh, a forager, took us on an inspiring journey to meet people in Cornwall finding ways to ‘do food better’ as the climate changes.

🍏 Discover the impactful work that Josh, now a new father, is currently undertaking with Wild St Ives & St Ives Community Orchard & Nature Reserve

👉 Check out Josh’s latest blog on our website: 👉 https://ow.ly/jlIq50VZjg5

📖✨ Don't miss our Cornwall Climate Catch Ups blog series for more updates from our film contributors! 💚

27/05/2025

It's Sorrels time to shine.
Lots of plants have a time of year when they are putting on a real show and you can spot them from miles away. Think of the dense white blackthorn blossom in the early spring, the Blackberrys glistening in the autumn or the fluffy umbels of elderflowers starting to pop in the hedgerows at the moment against the green foliage.

And if you know what to look for, the dainty scarlet flowerhead of Common Sorrel, Rumex acetosa. Known locally as Sour sobs, these beauties stand like little beacons right now in the hedgerows and meadows of West Cornwall.

You might have seen them and mistaken them for dock, which is a close relative. Dock's flowerhead are generally denser, a bit more of a rusty colour and usually slightly later in the season. Sorrel is a really great wild edible to get to grips with and has a delicious lemony zing that's at home in sweet or savoury dishes.

22/05/2025

It's an incredible time of year to head out on the coast path and learn some botany. Join me for a wander during half term and I'll show you how to identify a range of wildflowers species found on the cliffs.

More info and booking here:
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/wildstives/1215076

16/05/2025

Today I'm heading down to Porthminster beach for the start of the St Ives Food and Drink Festival

The weathers looking lovely, and I'll be spending the weekend sharing my passion for the world of plants with people. Spot on 🙂 There’s lots of great music, food, drinks, classes and talks going on. The festivals free to attend, with paid tickets for the masterclasses and evening music sessions. Definetely worth popping down if you haven’t been before.

Here's some great photos from my foraging masterclasses at the last food festival back in 2023 courtesy of the talented Toni Edwards Photography

15/05/2025

Red Valerian, Centranthus ruber, is absolutely popping in the walls around St Ives at the moment. Unusually named, in that it’s not the medicinal valerian you’re thinking of, and the flowers aren’t red, but pink or white. A beautiful flower nonetheless, and stubborn as hell, growing out of the tiniest crack in a wall.

The young leaves are technically edible, but leave a little to be desired. Firmly in my ‘zombie apocalypse’ category of wild foods… if I had to eat them, I would, but until then there’s tastier things to munch on!