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FORAGE
Forage v. the act of searching for food or provisions

Come and explore the beautiful rugged habitats of West Cornwall and see the abundance of wild herbs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, fungi, flowers and seaweeds we find here. Caroline will take groups of up to 15 people to a variety of different habitats to discover the wild bounty all around us.

From the farm we can walk along ancient green lanes and valley bottoms whilst having the chance to visit the Boscawen-un stone circle - just a five minute walk down a stunning bridleway bounded by mature traditional Cornish hedges. The riot of colour we see down this lane in spring is nature at its best. The majestic pink foxgloves, bowing bluebells, the stately green ferns, the vibrant sunny gorse flowers and the white spray of cow parsley produce a chaos of colour perfectly in balance. In autumn this same lane is full to the brim with edible fruits: blackberries, sloes, elderberries and haws. Other foraging walks from the farm include trips that take us to Sancreed and Brane with the ancient iron age settlement of Carn Euny and the holy well at Sancreed taken in on the way. There are many other foraging trips a bit further afield including woodland, scrub, hedgerow, farmland shoreline and cliffs.

The variety of beaches we have around the west Cornwall peninsula is staggering. There are both north facing exposed surfing beaches such as Sennen and Gwenver and the more sheltered south facing beaches such as Porthcurno and Porth Chapel. We also have some rocky shores that are ideal for seaweed collecting such as Marazion. Our foraging trips will incorporate visits to one or more of these beaches to collect seaweeds, sea beet and rock samphire to incorporate into our delicious meals prepared communally or by our chefs. We are located right in the middle of the west Cornwall peninsula and are no more than 10 miles from any part of the coastline giving us a great advantage in planning our seashore trips. Most of the beaches we will visit will be less than five miles away.

There will also be opportunities to visit organic arable farmland to discover the interesting weeds that grow around the edges of these fields. Many of these plants were once cultivated crops that went out of fashion or were selected and bred to produce varieties with higher yields. Yet, the seedbank of these ancient weeds remains in the soil and grows wherever they get the chance - usually on the bare ploughed soil around the edges of these fields.

Our future is in sustainable living and if foraging is going to become an important tradition once again and available to all then we must be looking at how we can utilise our most commonly available wild foods. We have the benefit of the coastline in Cornwall with its abundance of seaweeds which may become an important food source for us in the future and worth utilising for their incredible nutrition and health giving properties.

Wild food walks, courses and foraging, cooking and feasting weekends also include general wildlife and land use commentary from Caroline for those who are interested. I have a particular interest in plant and mammal ecology. The trips can be tailored to suit individual groups' needs and requirements. 10 years as an ecologist with the Cornwall Wildlife Trust puts me in a good position to talk about the wider ecological principles and issues past and present facing our Cornish landscape and the plants that grow here.