Forage Frolics - Richard Mawby Foraging Instructor

Listen… carefully, Can’t you hear? How the earth she cries, And how the earth she sighs.
... Of music tainted, Of music lost, Her voice, their echoes, Drowned at what cost?
I hear the rumble of engines, And the roar of a train, Whilst right on my doorstep, She barely remains.
A song of whispers, A song of tears, Can’t you see? As her choir disappears.
Let her not be forsaken, Destroyed and forgot, By the dissonance of man, Who knows not what they’ve got.
Listen… carefully, Can’t you hear? A lost song abandoned, Deaf to our ears;
by Richard Mawby Artwork unknown
#mothernature #restoringvitalconnection #feedbackeffect
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A HIP & A HOP & WHAT HAVE WE GOT? - A hippy hoppy appley sourdough loaf! . . . Bad jokes aside, this experimental loaf turned into something that holds a hint of tomato in its flavour and smells fantastic. I blended a handfull of hops, rosehips, crab apples with honey and a drop of cider vinegar to taste. I strained this and used the liquid instead of water to make today's wild loaf using the YQ population flour sourced by Small Food Bakery. I will keep tagging them in related YQ posts because this flour needs to be adopted to bring awareness to agroforestry and what it could mean for healing our poor intensively farmed soils and perhaps this could be one of many simple routes to create a #realchange by eating cleaner, healthier and wild. #wildsourdough #rosehips #hops #hopbread #rosehipbread #crabapplebread #foragingforfood

RAW SEDGE & SPELT BUTTER/KEFIR ??? - and yet another random concoction from my 'neglected' fridge. This thick smooth and soured paste is the result of leaving an old jar of sourdough starter part pendulous sedge flour unattended for a month at least. I allowed the fermentation to complete in ambient temperature till the solids had dropped and then placed in the fridge with the intention of using it. I noticed that every time I emptied the liquid 'whey' the consistency became ...thicker and thicker and I dare say with further experimentation it could become like cheese. It is rich in probiotic and my gut loves it! It would be exceptional with a little raw honey stirred in but right now I am enjoying it on its own... I would advise not to try just any old flour with this as I am not sure what other microbiomes or lack of present on the grains might create. . .
#sourdough #penduloussedge #sourdoughbutter #sourdoughpaste #probiotic #microbiome #sourdoughkefir
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READY FOR THE OVEN: Common Hogweed and Alexander seed spiced fermented wild blackberry and apple cake using a blend of spelt and YQ flour sourdough... Alot to take in! - The blackberry and apple ferment was one of my forgotten surprises at the back of the fridge. It was a mixture of foraged fruit, dark cane sugar and butter if I remember correctly and it had slowly fermented for nearly two months. Since I opened the jar and had sourdough starter at the ready, lets see how it ...comes out of the oven!
I love how using wild and raw food often results in amazing transformations whether forgotten or purposefully left to change form all by itself. That jar of 'who-knows-what' that we often have with no label and throw away because we dare not risk becoming ill... I use the same senses that aid me when I am picking those very plants/fruit fresh and through observation, smell, and taste tells me if that particular food is good or needs to be thrown out. Since I have been working with Raw and wild foods on a daily basis I have discovered just how many delicious surprises and magical transformations I would have overlooked at the beginning of my journey!
#fermentedcake #wildcake #fermentedfoods #sourdough
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A BEAUTIFUL DAY - wandering the woods and the hills in Derbyshire. Nature rewards you in the least expected ways. I had set out to find hedgehog mushrooms but instead returned with a huge Orange Birch Bolete and I also met my first Fly Argaric. There were many many more fungi including Mica Caps, Jelly Ears, Velvet Shanks, and a few variations of the species of Amerillia (honey fungus).
The forest and fields were alive with diversity, much more than I have experienced here a...t home, perhaps due to the disturbance the land has had over its long past. Today was magical, and for the first time I was able to truly peer into the world of mycelium and their magic.
The first picture is the exquisite and succulent mushroom steaks I sliced from the Orange Birch Bolete that was twice the width of my hand! - I sprinkled powdered kelp seaweed and grated goat cheese to bring the unique textures and flavours together.
#foragingforfood #orangebirchbolete #flyargaric #honeyfungus #mushroomforaging #mycelium #fungi
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SOIL DEGRADATION due to all forms of intensive agriculture could be a defining factor in the destruction of our land to a point of no return. Soil turned to sand, like the deserts that once housed some of the most advanced ancient civilizations.
I posted a video of a talk by Tor Nørretranders a couple of years ago titled ‘from wild to tame and back again’. You can find the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leZ2DxCTC Mg. He describes in detail the state of our soils ...as well as provides great information to back his theories/findings.
Here is another video that I feel is quite inspiring. This follows from the state that our soils are in, and proves that humans acting as a keystone species can have dramatic effects by simply following nature’s protocol. Sand can be turned once more into fertile land and can flourish in mere decades.
Although they are using some modern crops in these methods, you can see what impact it has on nature. Imagine doing this in a structured scenario using wild fruit, nuts, plants, and fungi in a true symbiosis.
We could attain genetically untouched, nutritious and health-promoting crops with enhanced growth and abundance through simple management that can provide for us as a part of, and not separate from every other creature, insect, bacteria that needs the land just as much as we do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSPNRu4ZP vE&vl=en
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IT IS NOT OFTEN - that I eat meat but if I do I steer clear from intensively farmed commercial sources. Here is my personal free range goat herd that roam over 30 acres of diverse habitat. Over three years the strongest have been kept and the weakest rehomed. They are a tough mix of pygmy and dairy crosses that in the future can provide high butterfat milk when in kid.This is a long term project that reinstates a 'keystone species' on the land thus managing it naturally. I ha...ve noticed certain plants and trees thrive since introducing the herd and they have established natural routes that vary day by day. Other than wild animals, this is where my meat comes from when my body calls for it and if the herd's numbers are too high - which is not often... I watched the life return to the earth from a yearling wether as I held him in my arms. I drank his blood with some honey and ginger and ate his heart raw and warm whilst it was still fresh. His vitality became mine and it is this responsibility that not many people in our modern world experience - a connection to our food. We waste plenty, cause unnecessary harm to all facets of the natural world and we do not think of the origins of the food we eat both animal and plant. If I am to eat plants, I crave them wild, diverse and unwashed rich with microbes and bacteria for my guthealth. If I am to eat meat I would like to be able to look the animal in the eye and thank them for the nourishment they are about to provide me - without fear, without hate, and with no regret. . . The second image: goat fat rendered for cooking, cuts of goat meat ready for the freezer, broth with bones meat liver nettles ground ivy and herb robert, goat blood with honey ginger and raw milk. . . The third image: goat 'jam' pâté using the meat and the stock from the slow cooker. I cooked some of the excess broth down adding golden cane sugar, ginger and a little honey. Later I included some goat butter to balance out the fat. I added the goat meat and then blended the ingredients with a smidge of cider vinegar. Nutritious, delicious and packed with minerals and vitamins. . . #paleodiet #rawandwild #feedback #rootconnection #foragingforfood
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A WARMING START - to the day with a pine needle, crab apple, fermented wild garlic bud honey and ginger. . .
The wild garlic bud honey I made in the spring by simply pouring local raw honey over freshly picked wild garlic buds allowing the mixture to ferment and settle before straining. I also added the strained buds to cider vinegar and they make the perfect pickles as they had become crunchy after fermenting in the honey. . .... . #wildgarlichoney #pineneedletea #wildgarlicbudhoney
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FERMENTED WILD GARLIC BUTTER - dried wild garlic, dried nettle, powdered fairy rings, and powdered kelp seaweed with buffalo mozzerella and comte on a spelt flour base... I had forgotten about the wild garlic butter for about 4 months and I believe this one in particular I added a little honey. Over the summer it has slowly fermented in the fridge awaiting this perfect opportunity to try something different as a wild pizza base. - The beauty of wild and natural microbes and cultures: it simply changes form and often into something delicious and magical. This particular combination results in a wonderfully sweet garlic tang that is akin to caramelized onions.
#wildgarlicpizza #fermentedwildgarlicbutter #foragingforfood #wildpizza

ROSEHIP & CLEAVER SMOOTHIE - with a little ginger and honey. A delicious, nutritious, nourishing and immune boosting elixer for the wind down into winter.
#rosehips #rosehipsmoothie #foragingforfood #rawandwild

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A WONDERFUL DAY: spent teaching and preparing wild food. The wild pizza follows my last post with the addition of herb robert. The fruit and pendulous sedge crumble was tweaked with ash key seeds and the crumble spiced with hogweed powder. The ash key seeds have a remarkable flavour this time of year. With a slight crunch it releases something unique with a strong hit of a flavour and sense I cannot quite pin to anything I have tried before. If anything they could be likened to green common hogweed seeds but only faintly. Both budding and experienced foragers left with smiles and bellies satisfied by wild food.
#foragingforfood #wildpizza #penduloussedge #sedgecrumble #hawketchup #wildfood

WILD PIZZA: made with spelt flour, hawthorn ketchup base, shredded comte, buffalo mozzerella, fairy ring champignons, common sorrel, dandelion, seaweed powder, lacto fermented wild garlic, and pickled wild garlic buds. - an experiment for a dish at a foraging course tomorrow except using a sourdough base instead.
#wildpizza #hawthornketchup #hawketchup #foragingforfood

TAKING EVERY OPPORTUNITY: to be out in the woods and in the fields to explore and forage new locations for an abundant harvest to bide me through the winter months.
The spring was about herbs, de-toxing, and healing from winter's heavy slumber and the summer was filled with sun, sea breeze, seaweed and experience. Autumn has come full cycle and my body is calling for hibernation by seeking seeds, nuts, and fruit to prepare me for those dark cold winter months.
Something told ...me to park at a certain spot today, to explore a new corner to my local forest. I met a couple in passing and they enlightened me on another wild garlic patch that appears in spring. We had a lovely chat about solar power, sedge seeds and wild food in general.
This all stemed from a simple decision to take action, to step outside and experience the world.
Be alive. Be free. Be wild.
#foragingforfood #modernhuntergatherer #restoringvitalconnection
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Playing on the idea of a dessert after experiencing the crumbly texture of pendulous bread, I decided to try making a crumble using the fruit around me.
Here is my experiments with both a raw and a cooked version of the crumble. Both turned out great and had their own unique delicious qualities.
It is quite remarkable that we can pick these three simple ingredients for free, each being an abundant resource this time of year and create a modern dish that tastes just as great..., if not better than using store bought produce!
#foragingforfood #penduloussedge #penduloussedgeseedflour #wildcrumble #blackberrycrumble #applecrumble
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We had a fabulous morning with Richard who showed us the bounty available literally on our doorstep. Really interesting and eye opening. I now have a new favourite snack, love the Hog ‘celery’ �

This is the sort of page I have been looking for Richard Mawby

It has ready given me so much information and to have so many like minded people at hand is a real bonus :-)

Thanks for a great adventure with lots of interesting facts .Myself and the kids loved today. ����

Nice to meet you all �� he made a very good wine � thanks �