Description
CORONA VIRUS: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED
If you are a ticket holder, please see advice on this page about refunds, rescheduling etc.
The reasons that this event has been postponed is:
- In line with government advice on unnecessary travel and social isolation measures
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A guided foray exploring the delicious, healthy and surprising range of edible spring plants (and perhaps a few fungi) around the beautiful woods, coast and hedgerows of Ardkinglas Estate on Loch Fyne, Argyll. Enjoy a wild cook-in of our finds afterwards.
Spring wild foods
March is a thrilling time for foragers, with the sap rising in trees and springs shoots at their vibrant best. Highlights of the day will include birch tapping, spring fungi, early shoots, an introduction to fermenting wild greens, and a cook-in of our finds.
Meet: For a 1pm start, Thursday 2nd April 2020, Ardkinglas House, Cairndow, Argyll, PA26 8BG (See map tab). Event ends around 17.30. Ticket holders will be emailed detailed instructions of our meeting place in the week before the event.
Expect: Gentle walking on well made paths over 3 hours (maximum 1.5 miles easy walking), followed by and informal al-fresco cook-in of our finds, or in the Edwardian kitchens of Ardkinglas House if the weather is poor. There will be wild treats and tasters to enjoy throughout. Led by Mark Williams of Galloway Wild Foods.
Learn: Early Spring woodland, hedgerow and coastal plants, and some spring fungi if we get lucky. How to sustainably tap birch and sycamore trees for sap. Finding, identification, poisonous lookalikes, mindful harvesting, expert tips, folklore/traditional uses, modern gourmet/medicinal uses, nutrition, processing, recipes, cooking tips for a wide range of spring shoots and blossoms. Inevitably, the wider politics around foraging and food will come up too. When time and weather allow, we lay out and label our finds to serve as a souvenir and aide-memoire of the afternoon’s discoveries. Please note, although part of this walk is coastal with lots of fascinating maritime plants, Argyll’s sea lochs don’t tend to offer a big range of tasty seaweeds. We will explore what seaweeds are on show, and I will bring along some more for us to taste and learn from.
Read/watch/listen to reviews/films/radio programmes featuring Mark
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. To this end, in addition to the cook-in after the walk, I carry a very hefty bagful of lovingly prepared treats, tasters and tipples to share during the walk. These are both delicious and educational, and the walk is more like guided grazing, a gentle imbibing of the landscape, than a route march! Often we will make a cocktail of the plants we encounter and drink it in a beautiful spot. The cook-in afterwards serves as both an al-fresco cookery demonstration and a social time to eat together and digest the afternoon’s discoveries with new friends. While I don’t bill this as a full meal, we usually share several dishes and most people leave well filled. All dietary requirements can be catered for, provided you let me know when you book. If the weather isn’t great, we will cook and eat in Ardkinglas House’s splendid Edwardian kitchens.
Scarlet elf cup stuffed with wild garlic pesto.
Bring: Stout footwear, waterproofs, water. Your learning and enjoyment may also benefit from bringing camera, notebook, field guide (plants), small basket/cloth bag. If you make any foraged delights you wish to share with the group, please bring them along!
Places are limited and events usually sell out fast – booking is essential.
Gift vouchers are available here
If you already have a gift voucher it can be used to pay for this event (in whole or in part) at the checkout.
The Triffid Sour – Gin, sweet cicely syrup, clarified Japanese Knotweed juice
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.
