Description
Join foraging guide and author of The Coastal Forager, Mark Williams, for a deep exploration of coastal wild foods.
In conjunction with the Community Of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST), this guided foraging walk explores the coastal plants, seaweeds and shellfish of one of Arran’s beautiful and diverse beaches. Over three hours of very gentle (but occasionally slippery!) walking you will learn about the incredible adaptations of maritime species, the different niches they occupy, the roles they play in coastal ecology, how to recognise and sustainably harvest good edible species, and how to use and preserve them in the kitchen. The walk includes tasters of cooked and preserved coastal plants and we will spend time laying out and labelling our finds afterwards.
After the walk we will cook and eat some what you have just learned about. Remember to provide your dietaries when booking. We will also review and lay out our finds. If the weather is poor we will do this at COAST HQ in Lamlash.
This would make an excellent, more in-depth follow-up to Mark’s talk on the preceding evening in Corrie.
©GallowayWildFoods.com
Meeting place: Whiting Bay, Isle of Arran. Ticket holders will be notified of our exact meeting place by email in the week before the event.
Expect: Up to 1.5 miles gentle walking on paths, sandy beach, shingle foreshore and some slippery rocks, over about about 3 hours, with treats and tasters throughout and a wild food picnic and interpretation session afterwards. All dietary requirements can be catered for and can be added when you book.
Accessibility: Our focus is on learning and we move very slowly! The route is suitable for anyone of moderate fitness who is comfortable moving over rocky foreshore which can occasionally be slippy. Sorry but due to the nature of the terrain this event is not suitable for mobility scooters
Learn:
- Coastal succulent plants of salt marshes, rocky shores and sandy beaches
- Some seaweeds and shellfish
- Herbs and blossoms of summer woods and hedgerows
- How to be a safe, legal, sustainable and considerate forager
- Finding, identification, poisonous lookalikes, mindful harvesting, expert tips
- Folklore and traditional uses
- Modern gourmet and medicinal uses
- Nutrition, processing, recipes and cooking tips
©GallowayWildFoods.com
Eat/drink: I think it is important to bring the wild foods we encounter to life by not just talking about them, but by eating and drinking them as we learn, so I come with a hefty bag of lovingly prepared treats and tasters to share throughout the walk. These are not only tasty, but serve to illustrate how to use the wild foods we are exploring. At the end of the walk we will cook some seaweed and enjoy more wild coastal snacks. All dietary requirements can be catered for, and these can be noted when booking.
Essential: Footwear that you don’t mind getting muddy. Wellies or walking boots, or an old pair of trainers (if you are happy to have wet feet) , weather-appropriate clothing, drinking water.
Optional: A small basket or cloth bag, notebook, camera.
Please note: This event is not recommend for children under 8 years old.
Please read the following information before booking a Galloway Wild Foods event.
EVENT LOCATION
The general event location is provided in the event description, and in your booking confirmation. This location is usually an approximate location (eg. “Within 30 minutes drive of XXX”), so that you can consider and plan the area you need to get to prior to booking.
For general information on visiting Galloway for events, including recommended accommodation, see here.
Detailed event information, including exact meeting place, will be sent to the email address you provide on booking in the week prior to the event. This allows me to account for the often fickle nature of wild plants and fungi and select the optimum location for our walk – which can be especially important for fungi forays.
It is important that you add mark@gallowaywildfoods.com and markleewilliams@googlemail.com to your email contacts/whitelist or the information email may get caught in your spam filters. This is extremely important if you have a .hotmail email account as they are notorious for having very sensitive spam filters.
The detailed event information email will be sent in the week before the event – sometimes as little as 3 days prior to the event. There is no need to badger me for it – I will send it! If you haven’t received it by within 3 days of the event, check your spam folders. If it isn’t there drop me an email – mark@gallowaywildfoods.com.
CANCELLATION POLICY
Any cancellation must be sent by email to mark@gallowaywildfoods.com, quoting the event title, date and order number (viewable on your booking confirmation.
Galloway Wild Foods is under no obligation to refund, rebook or reinstate vouchers for no-shows or cancellations within 14 days of the event. If I can refill the place at short notice, I will pay a full refund less 10% to cover admin & PayPal fees, or send a voucher to the full value of the tickets. Please state your preference in your cancellation email.
If you cancel or amend a booking giving 14 days or more notice, you will receive a full refund less 5% to cover Paypal fees, or a Gift Voucher to the full value of your booking.Please state your preference in your cancellation email. Information on using gift vouchers is here.
In the unlikely event that an event is cancelled by GWF you will receive full refund, exchange or voucher.
Galloway Wild Foods is not liable for any travel, accommodation or other costs you might incur if an event has to be cancelled. We recommend that you take out travel insurance if your financial commitment to travel/accommodation is substantial.
The only weather that causes events to be cancelled is dangerous wind. In these instances you will be notified as early as possible.
INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE ON BOOKING
Please provide the following information for all members of your party in the “Additional Information” box on the payment page :
- Relevant medical conditions
- Mobility issues
- Eating restrictions – differentiating between preferences (e.g. vegetarian), intolerances (e.g. gluten intolerance) and serious allergies (e.g. peanut allergy), and clearly stating if an allergy is potentially life-threatening. All requirements can usually be catered for, but these differentiations are required for risk assessments.
It is your responsibility to provide accurate information about all members of your party. If you write “None” in the additional information box, I will assume all attendees are omnivorous and have no relevant medical conditions or mobility issues.
All information is kept private, securely, and in line with GDPR – more information on this here.
WHAT TO BRING ON A WALK
Please ensure that all members of your party come suitably dressed for the weather, season and event.
On all walks, for your comfort and safety, walking boots/wellies, waterproofs and spare clothes are necessary. I always recommend wellies for coastal foraging events – you are likely to get wet feet if you don’t have them!
Please bring your own drinking water.
Your learning and enjoyment may also benefit from bringing a camera, notebook, field guide, small basket/cloth bag. Feel free to bring along any of your own wild food preparations to share and talk about.
DOGS
Most GWF events are suitable for one dog on a lead.
Even on walks that are suitable for dogs on leads, because we tend to move very slowly as we learn and forage, dogs often get bored/agitated/cold by the slow pace. One thing we absolutely can’t have is an unhappy noisy dog on an event.
Where events are suitable for dogs, I restrict it to one per event as there is no way of knowing whether dogs will get on with one another. Dog places are offered on a first-come-first-served basis.
With all this in mind, if you would like to bring a dog, please note this on the booking form in the “Additional Information” box (along with human dietary, mobility, medical info) and I will get contact you to let you know suitability and availability.
If being able to bring your dog is a deal-breaker for you, please email me before you book.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Further information on Galloway Wild Foods Terms and Conditions can be found here.
If you have specific questions that are not answered here, please contact mark on mark@gallowaywildfoods.com, or if you are running late on the day.
