Ramson garlic Bread!

Here's something I picked up from Steve at the recent May Meet.
 Ramsons (Allium ursinum) or 'Wild Garlic' is a common edible plant that often carpets woodland floors this time of year and due to it's pungent garlic smell and taste can be used to make a delicious snack with a very simple recipe.

The bulbs, leaves and buds can all be utilised for cooking, meaning ramsons can effectively be put to use all year round. The buds in particular have a discernible crunch and accompanying explosion of garlicy goodness that feels as if you've just bitten into a clove!

You will need...
Fistful of Ramsons
A baguette or baton
Butter
 

First slice the bread into the typical arrangement, ensuring that you don't go all the way through. Finely chop the ramson leaves and mix with a block of butter using a fork until you have a decent consistency of garlic butter.

 Then, simply spread the mix into the intervening spaces between the bread - and you can be quite generous here - and pop in the oven on mid-high heat for about 10-12 minutes. If you're cooking in a makeshift bread oven over a fire you'll probably need to allow a bit longer!

The Bushcraft Magazine May Day Meet

This past weekend I spent a fantastic few days down at Egerton, Kent at the second annual Bushcraft Magazine May Day Meet. This is an annual gathering of like-minded people brought together to share skills, talk craft and swap stories. Over the weekend, which begins on the friday evening and lasts through until monday, a whole host of taster courses, mini workshops and demonstrations are laid on and everyone has a chance to participate and learn something new, or to just sit back and chill out amongst like-minded company.

The May Day Meet is structured in a similar vein to the Wilderness Gathering but on a smaller, more informal scale. The event also reflects the 'back to nature' ethos of the magazine. Readers will know that The Bushcraft Magazine focuses on the traditional woodsman skills that are swifly being forgotten by an aging population, on the flora and fauna that abounds in our fields and forests and, rather than fixate on shiny kit and gear reviews, presents a naturalist's philosophy of nurturing the relationship we have with our environment and developing it into something sustainable and appreciative. Their mantra of 'reconnecting to the landscape' is one that certainly ran true for me throughout the weekend. Traditional pole-lathe demos, forging workshops, ferreting, medicinal plant talks, green wood working and foraging walks is just a taster of what was on offer throughout the weekend, all in line with the traditional, natural theme.

The weekend also had a very clear emphasis on families. There were plenty of activites for the children, not to mention a large open farm to play in, and I never once saw one complaining or misbehaving, despite some pretty horrendous weather on the sunday!

Please see the following link for some pictures and a breakdown of the weekend: http://www.bushcraftliving.com/reviews/44-media/165-bushcraft-magazine-may-day-meet

Sandy Seashore Foraging day

On the 24th of April I went down to Dungeness on the Kent coast to spend the day on the sandy coast foraging course with the guys at http://www.bushcraft-magazine.co.uk

It was a fantastic day, marked by glorious sunshine and a long stretch of beach completely devoid of people. The course was run in a friendly and informal manner, with initial instruction in the art of cockling, including discussion on what signs to look out for to successfully repatriate them from their sandy homes and into our buckets! We all managed to gather a sizeable number each before returning to the cars for a warming lunch of soup and a mug of strong tea. A quick tip for any would-be cocklers; if you find one, there are bound to be others in the immediate vicinity so dig around and you're certain to scoop up it's brothers and sisters for the pot too.

The afternoon was given over to the art of push-net shrimping, something I've never done before, and it's startling effectiveness became clear very quickly. I was amazed at the sheer weight of shrimp we easily collected, amongst many other sea-dwelling creatures. Hermit crabs, small fish, flounders and a curious little cretin called a 'sea mouse' - which is apparently a worm but looks more akin to a giant sluglike caterpillar, see below for a pic. The day finsihed with a veritable feast, sampling the day's bounty and very delicious it was too, you couldn't get fresher seafood if you tried!

Get your names down for the next one folks as it is so worth it, great grub, great company, and the knowledge possessed by Steve Kirk of the Bushcraft Mag would likely fill a library 10 times over!

http://www.bushcraft-magazine.co.uk

Cockling...


Shrimpers



Just some of the day's haul...




'Sea Mouse'