Wild Walks January: Winter Wanderers
January was cold, wet and snowfall hit us. All recovering from the festive fun and tightening purse strings, we decided at LAR.DA to plan for the first new season of food events and Wild Walks was the most talked of for the month!
We met Amy Chim over Christmas when presenting a Culture Club event in her beautiful residence on lower Illey Farm - The Timber House. She is a creative soul, with her own floristry business, and also a passion for close community events to give us Brummies a ton of wholesome experiences .
A beautiful tudoresque home on 35 acres on land, fields, brooks and forests- with the promise of wild flower fields and rare bird migrations in the warmer months. First thoughts were that it is PERFECT for foraging fun!
January may seem crazy to start something like this- it’s cold, wet and we are skint! In fact, our decision came a few days after the snow storm with my toes frozen after 10mins of walking there! But the pull is that January sees the start of spring starting to pop on through.
The thought of just exploring this land and seeing what we could find together and how it changes and flourishes over the months- in a team just did it for us all! Let’s do it!
It was the best decision we made for January. People joined us from such different walks in life- all interested in what we could find, and working out together what we could do with it!
Carl loves to forage and experiment with what is foraged in his cooking and preserving. He also loves the seasons spiritually.
We started the day with a warm up brew and introductions to one another.
Carl then recited from “The Almanac, A Seasonal guide 2018” by Liz Leendertz- The story of January, next to the outside fire that Amy had set up to help keep our wanderers cosy. It really uplifted us before the ramble began.
As soon as the walk started we found an abundance of watercress in a water way, we learned not to take this as it wasn’t in free flowing water- I mean it’s about learning what to not do too!
A tree full of Sloes that were coming to the end of season but ripe, fresh and good to go. All the jam and Gin you can think of!
Buds on trees showed Spring is most certainly on route, the end of Sloes, and the streams that started to see the sprigs of wild garlic that smelled divine as they crushed under our boots.
Woody ear and Turkey tail mushrooms surrounded us in the woods - great for broths and cognitive improvement.
Rosehip and Hawthorn berries again not so abundant but still there- perfect for syrups in drinks.
Strangers all chatting about what they had found, gossiping about life, jobs and funny stories, as Amy’s dogs wrestled and weaved between us. It was oozing wholesome.
The walk ended helping one another clamber over stile into a field abundant in Sorril which we picked and added to the days Salad.
Marinated cabbage sizzling on the BBQ outside, fresh sourdough made by Carl with pearl barley stew was a well deserved treat after a long wet walk- we had some very happy campers!
We had made Kraut, fermented wild garlic as side dishes to accompany this meal which were inspirations for what they could do with their finds!
We also launched our Lar.da deli on this walk and collaborated with Birmingham Bee Company, who produce honey on this land. (It just keeps giving!)
Kraut, pickles, mustard, sourdough and Olive oils- all made with love and used daily in our cooking.
What a day! Walking with like minded lovely humans, learning together as we went, really loving the land that Amy gave us the opportunity to explore. And to finish off with a beautiful veggie meal full of flavour.
That’s a perfect Sunday
Please come join us to see what February forage finds we can collect together!
Written by Elaine Finn Ridler
