Foraging Fairytales – Bangers & Balls

25/04/2022

Incredible Edible Flowers: A Simple Guide to 11 Blooms You Can Gather and Grow

Edible flowers are among the most beautiful thing you can place on your plate. Whether you’re decorating cakes or sprucing up salads, there’s a bloom for every occasion. From the beautifully floral wisteria to the perfectly peppery nasturtium, there’s a whole rainbow of petals to pick from. You’re most likely already eating flowers without realising- […]

09/03/2022

Granny’s Wild Garlic Soda Bread: Tales of Springtime Nostalgia

Food plays such an important part in our life. Recipes are passed down from generation to generation which creates tradition, nostalgia and a sense of belonging. This is what we want to share with you through foraging. A memory that you and your children will always have and pass down to the next generation when […]

10/02/2022

The Joys of Spring: Sunny Daffodils, Prancing Poets and Cheesy Leek Scones

‘I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.’ I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, by William Wordsworth There’s that Spring feeling There’s just something […]

24/11/2021

The Strawberry Tree: An Astonishing Seasonal Fruit You Never Knew Existed

Strutting its stuff on the catwalk this week is the Strawberry Tree. This isn’t a magical tree that grows Strawberries in winter but it does grow edible fruit that ripens in November and December. There really is something for every season! For years I believed my Mama had made up the Strawberry Tree and that […]

23/11/2021

Kitchen Table Revolution this Christmas!

Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn’t come from a store.” – Dr. Seuss Only £47 in total for for three months for you and a friend! Thats less than £2 a week! “Probably the reason we all go so haywire at Christmas time with the endless unrestrained and often silly buying of gifts is that […]

13/10/2021

Barmbrack: Haunting Irish Halloween Traditions You’ve Never Heard Of

Few cakes come with credentials as astounding as Brambrak. It’s a traditional Irish Cake with a sizeable claim to fame- one slice will reveal your future.

Come Halloween, a Barmbrack would be baked, sliced and served amongst family and friends in almost every Irish home. But unlike a simple sponge, this cake had a mystical twist. Buried within the fruit-filled cake hide a number of charms- the baker’s tools of divination. To find one within your slice was to steal a glance into your future.

30/09/2021

Lifting the Lid on a Kitchen Classic: Why Nutella is a No-Go

When it comes to hedgerow foraging, one of our favorite seasonal gems is the humble hazelnut. It’s deliciously nutty and fantastically versatile- a true treat. This week’s recipe centers around this hedgerow hero, pairing it with silky smooth chocolate- a true match made in heaven. For those of you yet to buy our latest bestseller: […]

29/09/2021

Juniper 101; Terrific Tipsy Tales and Sozzled Stories.

Researching for this blog I opened a veritable Pandora’s box of folklore. Apparently juniper could be used for anything from Protecting your home from thieves and witches, treating burns and even a vaginal douche. Oh, and making Gin of course.

It is my job to distill the stories to the very spirit of what this seemingly powerful plant meant to our ancestors and indeed still means to many people today. This is no mean feat, as Juniper turns out to be one of the most widespread shrubs in the Northern Hemisphere, being found from the arctic tundra in the North, right to the edge of the tropics in the South, and everywhere in between.

08/09/2021

Crab Apple: The Look of Love

The crab apple is the prehistoric ancestor of the apple and cousin of the rose. There is so much myth and legend that surrounds it, not least because of the shape that lays inside – a pentagram. Slices of apples placed neatly on saucers have been found in tombs dating back over 5,000 years. The […]

25/08/2021

Blessed be the Fruit? Blackberries and Beelzebub

A berry-laden blackberry bush is an iconic symbol of the end of summertime. It seems to soften the blow of autumn’s ceaseless approach- a sweet treat gifted in commiseration for the return of dark, cold days. A single bush will attract a whole village- suited commuters, sullen teens and sprightly children all stopping a moment […]