Cumbria, Acorn Bank Foraging Courses
Acorn Bank is a beautiful old estate, now owned by the National Trust. It is renowned for its historic house, dating back to the 16th century and for its magnificent walled gardens, including a fascinating culinary and medicinal herb garden, lily pond, herbaceous borders and traditional fruit orchards.
The estate reaches out into tranquil parkland, with mature trees, open pastureland, woodlands and the Crowdundle Beck, with its partially restored watermill. There are also marvellous views over the Eden Valley across to the Lake District. With this variety of habitat, we hope to find a really good selection of plants and some early fungi..
Acorn Bank can be found at Temple Sowerby, just a few miles east of Penrith and situated between the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the North Pennines Area of Natural Beauty. It is within reach of Leeds, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Carlisle.
Our Foraging Courses begin with a short introduction to Wild Food UK, what to expect from your day and a brief summary of the general countryside codes, including our Foraging Code.
Heading off at a leisurely pace around the grounds, your instructor will teach you how to safely identify the different species of edible and poisonous plants and mushrooms that you discover. This exploration will take about 2.5hrs, during which we’ll take a break for a homemade refreshment, such as our warming Hogweed & Wild Garlic Soup or Elderflower Champagne!
After the walk we will end the day with a tasty wild food meal. This will include a selection of foraged homemade treats created by your instructor, and a dish made with what we have collected during the walk.
All of our food is seasonal, so what you are served depends on what is growing at that time of year. In Spring we will be making use of the fresh wild greens and in Autumn, the array of tasty wild mushrooms that the area has to offer.
You will receive a comprehensive set of Wild Food UK ‘Course Notes’ a few days after your course. This email will contain links and articles relating to the plants and mushrooms we discovered or discussed during the day.