Don't miss a feast of foraging at Wiston Lodge this weekend

Wiston Lodge activity centre is hosting a series of events this weekend as part of Foraging Fortnight .

Foraging Fortnight is a national celebration of wild food and plants, delivered by a partnership of NatureScot and agriculture specialists SRUC and SAC Consulting. Over the fortnight there will be events across the country to promote food gathering, and walks focusing on plants, seaweed and fungi.

This Saturday and Sunday, September 2 and 3, Wiston’s weekend will be split between a day of using plants for texiles and a day gathering things to cook.

Two Saturday workshops will be hosted Kirsten Milliken, a local textile artist and story teller. Kirsten will demonstrate a variety of ancient skills, beginning with using foraged textiles to create twine from common plants. In the second workshop, she will move on to solar dyeing, a method of using plants to colour and imprint fabric. Participants will create their own sample in a jar to take home.

On the Sunday, ecologist and nature guide Ian Edwards will share his knowledge of wild food during a family friendly walk through the grounds. Participants will look for seasonal flowers, fruits, roots and mushrooms that will provide the basis of a simple demonstration of preparing and cooking round a campfire.

Ian said: “Foraging for even a small part of our diet can make a significant improvements to our health and connects us in a very direct way with the living world all around us. Wiston Lodge is home for a diverse range of edible and useful plants, all with interesting stories – what can we learn from the past and what potential is there for wild plants to sustain us in future?”

Although the weekend will provide the chance to learn more about wild food and plant materials, visitors will also be able to enjoy food from the centre’s newly revitalised kitchen garden, with lunch made from the summer peak of produce. The 900 square metre garden had been out of use for a number of years before funding from Connect2renewables paid for two staff to bring it back into use.

Since last November, the gardeners have cleared masses of weeds and prepared beds to fill with a wide range of salad, herbs, root crops, squashes, brassicas and beans – mostly sown from seed. There are also numerous fruit trees and bushes. The produce is being harvested regularly to help fill the plates of Wiston Lodge’s guests.

The charity is aiming for a strong commitment of “fork to fork”, and joining up horticulture and catering with training opportunities.

Fiona Hird, Wiston Lodge’s chief executive, said: “The timing couldn’t have been better for our centre, whose kitchen facilities underwent a full refit in spring. It’s a major investment in facilities and commitment to food sustainability.”

An exciting blend of outdoor and virtual events across Scotland, Foraging Fortnight includes everything from a multi-day outdoor experience to seminars on food policy and a range of great foraging walks.

Tickets to Foraging for Fun at Wiston cost £55 for adults and £35 for children each day, including lunch and refreshments, or £100/£60 for both days.

Times will be 10am to 3pm with finish on second day potentially later to enjoy campfire.

To book, visit wistonlodge.com/2023/07/21/foraging-for-fun-this-september.

For more details about foraging and the full programme visit foragingfortnight.co.uk.