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Portable Foraging & Wild Camping Cooking Equipment

8/19/2014

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This really is a very portable BBQ that can be taken anywhere.

My flat pack BBQ is very light and takes up very little space. It really does work very well.

Some of portable camping stoves. I've got some cheaper ones for beach use, because the beach can be hard on these little stoves. All of these stoves work well, take up little space and don't weigh very much.

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My Flat Pack BBQ. I bought a few of these from a £1 shop in 2004.
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My flat pack BBQ. Very simple but effective.
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4 portable camping stoves that are ideal for cooking foraged food or wild camping.
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These stoves all take up very little space and a very light. The MSR Pocket Weighs just 85 grams.
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Gelert make some affordable but effective camping stoves.
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One of my cheaper camping stoves cooking up freshly foraged cockles on the beach.
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One of my portable camping stoves and my flat pack camping toaster in action.
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A portable camping toaster that flat packs.
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My portable gas camping light. This is very light and very bright. And of course doesn't require batteries and so can make a good back up light.
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Foraging to the beach - Pembrokeshire

8/17/2014

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Sheep's Sorrel

Today my family walked to Marloes Sands Pembrikeshire. One of my favourite beaches in the UK, due to its enormous golden sand beach, which is broken up by standing rocks. The contrast with the cliffs and the red and green coloured islands in the back drop makes it such a stunning place.

On the way I had a look for edidble plants. I found much of the usual stuff, like hog weed and wild carrot. On top of this we found a few interesting things like wild wood sage, sea beet and rock samphire.

During the rest of the week we visited several of Pembrokeshire's beaches. It is a truly stunning place and a mecca for finding potentially edible plants.

See my foraging for Spring Edible Plants post for some of the UK most common edible pkants.

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Sheep's Sorrel, an altogether smaller plant than Common Sorrel. The leaves have ears making them look like Sheep's heads or fish. It has the same lemony taste as Common Sorrel.
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Sea Beet or Wild Spinach had a great slightly salty taste.
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Sea Beet or Wild Spinach Pembrokeshire.
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Rock Samphire - has a moderately salty taste and a slightly floral overtone.
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Rock Samphire - Pembrokeshire
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Rock Samphire on the cliffs - Pembrokeshire
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Wood Sage - an interesting coastal find
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We found lots of wild sage on the way to the beach today - Pembrokeshire
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Wild Mint / Peppermint
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Camomile - Lots of this beautiful daisy lining the path as it joined the beach.
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Mussels, Dog Whelks, Limpets and Winkles.
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Lave Seaweed
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Lava & Gutweed.
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Marloes Sands - one of my favourite beaches in the UK - Pembrokeshire.
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Wild Carrot - Note the small purple dot in the centre of the white flower. I've been told it's purpose is to attract insects. It's small whitish carrot like root, smells just like the carrot we all know.
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Wild Carrot. This wild carrot was growing out of a car park.
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Meadow Sweet
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Wild Thyme - Barafundle Beach
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Wild Thyme
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Curly Dock
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Wild Strawberries in the Dunes
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Orchids - not for eating. Just a beautiful flower that grows around our coasts.
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Barafundle Beach - Pembrikeshire
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Laminaria digitata
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Beds of Mussels
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Sliver Weed growing between the rocks at Little Haven.
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Black Mustard growing out of the beach.
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Alexander's - has a mightily powerful flavour. I am not sure if I like it. It's very difficult to describe, but it has a kind of perfume flavour.
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Fat Hen growing out of the beach where a small land slide had occurred. In the Neolithic age, people used the seeds to make flower. The leaves and shoots can be eaten like spinach.
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Oraches - cooked and eaten like spinach
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Valerian - a myriad of different colours seem to grow everywhere around out coastline.
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Mallow - is very common on the coasts of Pembrokeshire.
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Sea Holly Pembrokeshire - is a stunning plant and has an edible roots. It can be locally common, but it's not a common plant. You can't dig them up on sites of SSSI. Please think about how common the Sea Holly is locally when you find it and whether it's ethical to dig it up, even in unprotected sites.
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Sea Holly
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Sea Holly
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Sea Holly is locally common at this protected site.
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Sea Holly Root - be very mindful before digging up Sea Holly. Many areas that it lives are protected. Also think long and hard as to wether it is locally rare and therefore should you ethically uproot it. I scoured the coast for days. I found a dune that had fallen onto the beach and a small dead Sea Holly shoot, hence the photo.
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The wonderful Sea Holly Plant
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Much of the Pembrokeshire coastline is lined with Wild Carrots
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Wild Carrot - the roots aren't big enough to eat on the uncultivated wild carrot and are therefore not really worth digging up for culinary purposes. If you scratch the root it smells just like the carrot that we all know. Again you can't dig up wild plants on protected sites or without the land owners permission.
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Wild Carrots. Again note the purple dot in the centre of the flower, which is the key identification feature of the wild carrot.
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I wasn't sure about this one? Sea Kale
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Lots of different kinds of Sea Kale about in Pembrokeshire
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Sea Kale
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Another Sea Kale Species
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The Oraches are common along the coastline.
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Orache
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Sea Rocket - has a powerful peppery taste.
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Sea Rocket & Rock Samphire growing together.
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Sea Rocket
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Meadow Sweet - a common coastal plant. It's flowers can be used as a substitute for Elderflower.
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Hogweed one of the most common edible plants.
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Oraches & Sea Kale growing together on the beach.
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Curly Dock
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Thistle. The stems are edible, when stripped. They are surprising good and have a similar texture to celery when cooked. I've added the stems to wild soup, to add sustenance to it.
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Bittersweet. Is Poisonous and very common around our coastlines. This is obviously one to take care to avoid.
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Yarrow
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Lava Bread, with cockles & mussels cooked by the Swan Inn - Little Haven.
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Angelica & Feverfew at the Iron Age Fort - Castell Henllys
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Sea Purslane
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Sea Purslane - salty, small amounts can be an interesting addition to salads. Boil for 10+ minutes will reduce the saltiness. Sea Purslane will not purée and therefore can be used in dishes like risottos. I found this whilst waiting for the ferry at Fishbourne - Isle of Wight, yesterday. Also in the port I found Oraches, Sea Beat & Sea Kale.
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Samphire - Severn Beach Near Bristol
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Samphire - Severn Beach - Bristol. Samphire used to be much more common at this location. But we've seen people uproot whole plants and take away carrier bags full. There is absolutely no need to do this. To make it sustainable for everyone to enjoy, please only pick a few stems off of each plant. As has happened here, uprooting it destroys the plant and you see a significant reduction in the amount of Samphire.
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Angelica - now in August, this plant is very common around the Pembrokeshire coastline. Like Alexander's this plant won't be to everyone's tastes.
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Sea Radish - Sadly this isn't my picture. Mine were out of focus. Sea Radish is abundant on the path down to the beach at Manorbier.
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Foraging for Cockles, Clams & Razor Clams - Saundersfoot Beach

8/17/2014

5 Comments

 
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Razor Clams - Saundersfoot Beach

We used to dig up cockles & use salt to capture Razor Clams as students.

Today I took my 3 year old daughter to do the same thing.

She absolutely loved it and got ridiculously excited when the razor clams appeared of of the sand, through the salt.

We used a rake to dig up the cockles and then scoured the beach for the caracteristic holes in the sand that tells you where the razor clams live.

You just add salt to any likely dents or holes in the sand. If a razor clam is present they normally squirt at first, then slowly emerge from the sand. When they are poking out enough, you have to grab them quickly and slowly ease them out of their holes. Do it too quickly the foot (the bit you eat), can get snapped off.

We cooked the cockles and razor clams, there and then, with a portable camping stove and then ate them.

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Freshly dug cockles - Saundersfoot Beach
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Cockles being cooked on the beach.
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Little Moo eating her cockles that she had foraged minutes before.
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Razor Clam
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It's coming dad!
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Moo pouring a little too much salt in the razor clam holes. I admire her enthusiasm!
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I've got one dad!
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Cooking the Razor Clams.
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Moo eating the Razor Clam feet.
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3 Razor Clams - Saundersfoot Beach - Wales
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A Razor Clam rising from the sand after being salted.
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My 3 year old pulling a Razor Clam out of the sand - Saundersfoot.
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When you place salt in the razor clam burrows, they very often squirt out a jet of water. Some, but not all, then emerge out of the sand.
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My 3 year old pulling razor clams out of the sand at Saundersfoot Beach - Pembrokeshire.
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Crabbing with the kids - Dale - Pembrokeshire

8/17/2014

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Moo with a drop net, from my experience the most efficient way for children to catch crabs.

My daughter and I managed to catch 35 crabs in around 20 or 30 minutes from the jetty at Dale, Pembrokeshire.

We used a crab line and a drop net baited with bacon and sardines.

The drop net was very efficient catching 3-8 crabs every 2 to 3 minutes.

The crab line works, but the crabs easily fall off, when raising the bait, with the crabs hanging on. So it's best to place a net under it, as you kids pull up the bait. This catches any fallers!

We also caught a single whitebait.

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My daughter pulling up the drop net.
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A crab clutching the bait bag on the crab line. It's always best to place a net under the bait bag as you retrieve it to catch any crabs that fall off.
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Crabs in the drop net - Dale - Pembrokeshire.
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My daughter with a crab - Dale Jetty - Pembrokeshire.
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A bucket full of crabs.
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Buckets full of crabs and tiny fish caught by other children.
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A whitebait caught in the drop net.
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One little girl caught a jellyfish in her net.
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Chicken of the Woods - Summer Fungi

8/8/2014

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Chicken of the Woods cooked with a creamy sauce.

Chicken of the Woods one of our summer fungi. This grows from certain dead trees normally.

Some people don't get on with it apparently and so try a small anount first.

I cooked it here in cream, with shallots, chicken stock, garlic and a dash of brandy.

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Chicken of the Woods - one of out summer fungi.
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Chicken of the woods.
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Chicken of the Woods - Bristol.
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Catching Whitebait from the Shore using a Net

8/8/2014

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My daughter with a tiny whiten site caught from the shore.

My 8 year old catching whitebait from the shore in Branscombe, Devon.

During the summer whitebait come very close the the beach in Devon often leaping on the shore by the dozens trying to escape predictors. If you are lucky enough to be there at such times, you can catch them from the sure using simple nets.

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Whitebait caught from the shore in a simple net.
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Whitebait caught from Branscombe beach using nets.
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My 8 year old with a whitebait. Branscombe Beach.
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