By: Blonde Two
When I saw Rachel Lambert’s foraging walk on the extensive and varied Walk Scilly 2017 program I was quick to ask if we Blondes could go on it. We had met Rachel and tasted her Isles of Scilly foraged food during out 2016 visit and I have to confess that I have been taking small nibbles out of all sorts of fauna ever since then.
As someone who loves plants, walking and (obviously) eating, this seemed like the perfect day for me, made even more perfect by the fact that we were going to be foraging on Bryher which is B1’s favourite Isles of Scilly island.
The day dawned impressively bright for the beginning of April and we had a most relaxing boat ride over (as opposed to the ‘exciting’ one to St Agnes a few days later!)
When we landed on the slip we discovered that we weren’t the only people to be foraging that day, the fishermen had already been out and about and these guys were destined (as we were but in the same capacity) for Bryher’s exclusive Hell Bay Hotel.
We had a relaxing and peaceful bimble around Bryher’s beautiful coast and Rachel introduced us to a number of edible plants, some like three-cornered leek, gorse and wild fennel I had tried before but others, including the shiny sea beet and the lemony Bermuda buttercup (not available on the mainland) I hadn’t. Blonde One was very patient with my attempts at plant-naming (mostly wrong) and Rachel was a wealth of knowledge and interesting ‘how to eat the right plant and not die’ tips.
I am not going to tell you any more of Rachel and Scilly’s foraging secrets. If you want to find out for yourself you will have to either buy her book ‘Wild Foraging in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly‘ or attend the next Walk Scilly festival in October 2017.
We Blondes now know first hand that not only is wild food foraged on Scilly tasty straight from the hedgerow, it is also pretty delicious in the hands of Richard the chef from Hell Bay Hotel who himself had been foraging the previous night with his daughters and then prepared us a delicious sea-food soup and vegetable tortilla.
The whole walk was just about perfect!
Walk Scilly Weekend – Autumn 2017
12 to 16 October
The nights might be drawing in, but autumn’s the perfect time to explore the wilder side of the Isles of Scilly at Walk Scilly Weekend. It’s a chance to experience the islands at their most magical and discover their wild beauty on a long weekend of themed, guided walks with experts who live and breathe Scilly.
To discover more about the Isles of Scilly, go to visitislesofscilly.com. Fly to St. Mary’s with Skybus year round from Newquay and Land’s End Airports, and between March and October from Exeter Airport. Prices start from £140 return from Land’s End Airport. From spring through to late autumn, the Scillonian lll passenger ferry sails up to seven days a week between Penzance and St. Mary’s. Prices start from £90 return. To book your journey, visit islesofscilly-travel.co.uk or phone 01736 334220. Accommodation: Mincarlo, St. Mary’s – mincarlo.info.
[…] have to say that since our foraging workshop with Rachel Lambert as part of the Walk Scilly walking festival, the results of Devon dinner foraging so far have gone […]