HUNTER-GATHERING: wild & fresh food

And so summer begins…

 

 Walking amongst the cowslips.

 

So here is summer! At last! Sling the machete and bed roll on the back, don’t forget the water bottle and head out to the countryside in search of peace, relaxation and some flickering flames. It has been a while.  I thought I would just stick up a quick update of what I’s been up to down here Sussaaax way. Things continue apace- book launch on Tuesday was a huge success and it was great to spend it with friends’ family and those twitter and blog followers who popped in to pick up a copy- thanks very much for the support! 

The Treehouse Diaries: The book Launch.

 

 

Considering I had a month to get a manuscript of 80000 words in, the book has come to finally come to fruition! What better time to release it than time for time- while I was building my arboreal dwelling this time last year. The book is packed full of seasonal wild food recipes and identification notes, how to build a wood burning stove, a composting toilet, a coracle, a clay oven and...of course, a treehouse. The publishers, Anova, have done an amazing job of bringing the book to life (a format like Adrian Mole in the woods, without the geeky teenage angst!). I have always thought that, although descriptiveness is a wonderful thing, a picture paints a thousand words and I have insisted that this whole escapade is heavily plastered with day-to-day images of life in the woods. Why not give it a try?

If any of you are in London on Tuesday the 25th May (this tuesday coming), do please pop into the Prince Albert Pub in Battersea (upstairs)  from 6.30pm onwards (just by Prince Albert Bridge) have a shot or two of my nettle beer and pick up a signed copy of the book from me, myself and I. Apologies for the shameless plugging, but I have since learn't that as an author...it IS part of the job description!

Hope to see you there! 

 

 

Wild Garlic, Sussex, May 2010.

 

 

 

 

Pen Telescopic Fishing Rod: The Poacher’s choice…

 

Many apologies for the lack of action here on the blog, what with The Tree House Diaries coming out this Monday, building a tree house for a private client, teaching foraging at Safari Britain, a brief trip to Hossegor to see my better half and paddle in the Atlantic with a big piece of foam tied to my leg and planning the next adventure, I have been a bit snowed under to blog about anything worthwhile. I am still fretting over the spring greens and what I can present that hasn’t been done before…watch this space! I have been meaning to post this for a while, so here goes...

Wild camping.

 

 

Camping has become huge over the last few years…massive, enormous and humungous, so much so that it has diversified into categories:

Glamping: hunter wellies and short shorts, yurts, tipis, gigantic gas ranges, slick fire pits, shitters with a view to die for and a heftus price tag to boot- strictly for media types, Cotswolders, Chelsea wenches and people with money to burn looking for a “wild” experience. Having said that, if you are going to pimp it up in the great outdoors, this is mutt’s nuts and I should now…I teach foraging at just such a place (wouldn’t mind living there actually!). Foie gras for starters followed by chateaubriand on the barbie and a few bottles of Petrus 2005…darling.

 

 

20 sec timer on a moonlit Safari Britain.