Easy to follow dance fitness workout to trim and tone the whole body. 17th Jan, 9 wks Thurs: 10-11, £39 – Woolaston Memorial Hall, Netherend Crescent, Woolaston, GL15 6NW
Contact Wyedean School – 01291 625340
NEW for 2019! Six specially designed workshops to help poets use time, place, narrative, form etc to best effect. Friendly and informal. Max 10 participants/workshop. All welcome. £10pp per workshop, £55 for all six. Saturday mornings 10am-12.30pm.
Dates and more information: Vicky Hampton T: 01594 542974 E: shoutinghorse@outlook.com
Hedge-Laying Learn the traditional skill of hedge-laying. Sat 2nd February, 10-4pm (incl lunch) £105
Humble by Nature, Upper Meend Farm, Penallt, Nr Monmouth, NP25 4RP.
For more details or to book your place, telephone 01600 714595, email info@humblebynature.com, website www.humblebynature.com
Lino Printing Landscapes with Lee Wright Create a stunning landscape lino print with three layers.. Sun 27th January, 10-4pm (incl lunch), £105
Humble by Nature, Upper Meend Farm, Penallt, Nr Monmouth, NP25 4RP.
For more details or to book your place, telephone 01600 714595, email info@humblebynature.com, website www.humblebynature.com
WINTER FORAGING!
Winter is not my favourite time to forage here in the forest., the odd oyster mushroom ,some interesting salad greens in the form of chickweed, herby bitter cress or young dandelion leaves. But nothing of any real Interest.
However should you like me enjoy the solitude of a beautiful winter beach or coastal walk then there are still pickings aplenty. There are over 30 varieties of edible seaweed, razor clams winkles.. and wonderful sweet Mussels.
Take a little gas stove, a pan with a lid and a couple of ingredients on that walk and boom, you could be sat on that beach
enjoying the freshest seafood ,dipping crusty bread in to a beautiful garlicky wine sauce and making unforgettable memories.
But Please, only take mussels if there is an r in the month, check the water quality of the area and don’t over harvest!
MUSSELS IN GARLIC AND WHITE WINE SAUCE
Ingredients:
1kg or as many as you find of mussels
50g (1¾oz) unsalted butter
1 medium onion and 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
50ml (2fl oz) dry white wine
1 tbsp roughly chopped fresh parsley
Method:
Wash the mussels well. Scrape away any barnacles with a small stout knife. Pull off the beards and wash again. Discard any that are open and do not close when tapped.
Add the mussels, butter, onion, white wine and half the parsley to your pan and set over a fierce heat keeping the lid on, apart from the occasional stir. When they are all open, remove from heat and leave for 30 seconds to let any grit settle to the bottom of the pan.
Sprinkle over the rest of the parsley, pat yourself on the back and dive in to the tastiest foraged meal ever.
Use websites like eatseasonally.co.uk to find what is good now and follow the seasons.
Follow my bi-monthly foraging and seasonal recipes on The Forest Bee website – just click on the ‘Foraging News’ picture on the left, or check out Infamous Catering on Instagram and Facebook.
M: 07954 583784 or T: 01594826215
E: ian.barnes@zoho.com.
Nettle has a unique and delicious flavour. No surprise then that its soups with potato, a luscious risotto, and the various flamiche recipes become favourites.
This recipe concentrates the taste of the dark green fleshy leaves with the rustic flavour of toasted sunflower kernels, a soupcon of chilli heat, and the richness of a good olive oil.
You could use this forager’s Nettle pesto as a base and build it up with flavours of your own: such as basil, anchovy fillets, Kalamata olives, crab apple purée, or hazel nuts.
INGREDIENTS
100g stinging nettle leaves (single leaves without stalk or petioles)
100 ml good olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
2 tsp mild red chilli, chopped finely
1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
50g sunflower kernels
juice of 1 lemon
- Put the nettle leaves into a bowl and cover with clingfim and microwave on full power for 2 minutes. Take out of the microwave, leave the clingfilm on and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Alternatively steam the nettle leaves for 5 minutes until tender.
- Fry the chilli in 2 teaspoons of the olive oil until soft and the oil is coloured.
- In a food processor add the rest of olive oil, the fried chilli and all the chopped garlic and blitz. Add the nettle leaves and combine to a smooth purée. Add black pepper and lemon juice to taste.
- Heat the sunflower kernels in a dry frying pan over a moderate heat, stirring or tossing them, until they just start to colour. Careful or they will burn. Immediately tip into a bowl to cool.
- With a spatula, remove the nettle purée from the food processor bowl into a serving bowl. Add the sunflower seeds and gently mix in.
- Serving tips: excellent with feta cheese, on toast (or bruschetta), with roast vegetables (including jacket potato), or just mixed into hot pasta.
- The pesto will keep in the fridge, best to top the pesto with a thin layer of olive oil and store in a sterilized, lidded, and labelled jar.
Foragers tip: If you cut stinging nettle back to about 20cm high, it will reshoot giving you a supply of fresh leaves. Repeat cutting works until the first frost.
Christopher Robbins
Medical Herbalist & Forager
Twitter:@phytoforage
Yes – The Forest Bee reaches places other brochures can’t go:
Schools: Dean Academy, Dene Magna, Lakers and John Kyrle in Ross, plus a few junior schools around the Forest.
Doctors’ Surgeries and NHS health professionals eg nurses gave them out when doing flu jabs this winter
Village Agents who support the over 50’s across the Forest, sponsored by Gloucestershire Rural Community Council.
Organic Veg Boxes (Forest Food Hub, Field Fayre)Leisure Centres and Gyms
Forest Voluntary Action Forum (FVAF) at Belle Vue Centre, Cinderford
Care agencies (by request)
Great Oaks Hospice (by request)
Village & Community Halls via our network of tutors
Plus, of course, all the usual: Libraries, Cycle Centres, Forest of Dean, Ross & Monmouth Tourist Information Offices, Forest of Dean District Council offices, Midcounties Co-ops, village shops (and yes, they are welcome in ALL of them, including those very pushed for space), cafes, pubs, Taurus Crafts, Harts Barn Craft Centre, Vantage Point, several chip shops (particularly popular with the Littledean one, so thanks to our distributor there who is constantly topping them up).
We also have a popular Facebook page and Twitter feed.
The Forest Bee is fluttering its wings!
Our brilliant logo was created and donated to our project by the very talented local cartoonist, Ron Tocknell.