PK Podcast 040: Miles Irving On Wild Foods, Foraging, Health And Connecting With Nature

PK Podcast 040: Miles Irving On Wild Foods, Foraging, Health And Connecting With Nature

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Miles Irving, is one of the foremost professional foragers in the UK, author of The Forager Handbook, founder and director of Forager Ltd and host of the WorldWild podcast. Miles’s interest in foraging goes back to his childhood but a chance conversation led to him turning this growing passion into a career. Miles was able to start supplying restaurants with foraged plants and this quickly expanded, ultimately leading to him to supplying well-known chefs and restaurants such as Jamie Oliver, Mark Hix, Heston Blumenthal and The Ivy. His company Forager Ltd has expanded to source nearly 500 wild ingredients and Miles has grown to be one of the most respected professional foragers. Miles continues to push the boundaries of wild food and advocates the reintroduction of foraged foods into regular diets. Miles joins me for a wide-ranging and in-depth conversation on wild foods, foraging, health and connecting with nature…

PK Podcast 039: How Many Knives? Alternatives To Birch Bark; Sharpening Spoon Knives; Plant Toxins In Water; Bushcraft Benefits To Woodland.

PK Podcast 039: How Many Knives? Alternatives To Birch Bark; Sharpening Spoon Knives; Plant Toxins In Water; Bushcraft Benefits To Woodland.

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In this Paul Kirtley Podcast I return to Q&A, answering listener questions on a range of topics – Is there an issue with collecting water from streams or ponds containing poisonous plant species such as hemlock water dropwort, Oenanthe crocata? What are the benefits or disadvantages to a woodland if it is being used for bushcraft? How many knives is too many knives? Is a belt knife and a pocket knife enough for a wilderness trip? How to sharpen spoon knives? How to tell the difference between birch species? What are the alternatives to birch bark for lighting fires with sparks from a ferro rod?

Woodlore Instructor's Knife being used for campcraft
Campcraft And Cookery Overnighter With Mike Pullen From TA Outdoors

Campcraft And Cookery Overnighter With Mike Pullen From TA Outdoors

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Mike Pullen of TA Outdoors joins me again for a couple of days in the woods, where we employ a range of campcraft skills, including some that really help with campfire cookery set-ups. In particular we look at a range of ways of suspending pots from small billy cans on solo overnighters to elaborate cooking crane set ups for kitchens in semi-permanent camps catering for a larger number of people. This culminates in us cooking a roast dinner on our overnighter. Along the way, of course, various knife, saw and fire skills are covered as a natural part of what we were doing during the time we were out in the woods…

vibrant white blossom
Spring Cream – Essential European Blossom Identification

Spring Cream – Essential European Blossom Identification

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Spring is a time of great change. The dormancy of winter gives way to energetic new growth. In this period, the dark skeletons of deciduous trees begin to show colour and movement, and when you look closely there is some fascinating detail to complement the obvious beauty. One of the aspects of spring that is most obvious and most pleasing on the eye is blossom. Here I look at a range of common and widespread European species of tree that produce profuse blossom and examine the similarities, differences and unique characteristics of each to help you identify them…

Catkins In Common: Distinct Features Of Three Widespread European Trees

Catkins In Common: Distinct Features Of Three Widespread European Trees

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The vibrant blossoms of spring, such as on cherry trees, are obvious, particularly when these blooms are shown off to their best in bright sunshine. The flowers of other trees, however, are less obvious, especially when they are less obviously flowers. In this article I put a highlight on the flower structures of three very widespread and common European tree species, along with related details, that will help you identify these species in late winter and early spring – a time when the easiest identification features (their leaves) are not yet present…

Justin Barbour and his dog, Saku, with canoe in river
PK Podcast 038: Justin Barbour On Exploring The Wilderness Of Newfoundland And Labrador

PK Podcast 038: Justin Barbour On Exploring The Wilderness Of Newfoundland And Labrador

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In the Spring of 2017 Justin and his dog Saku set off on a a traverse of Newfoundland. Starting on snowshoes and hauling a sled, Justin switched to backpacking and pakrafting once the conditions allowed. 68 days and 700km later, Justin and Saku had crossed the island of Newfoundland from West to East, beginning on the Gulf of St Lawrence and ending up in Cape Broyle on the Atlantic Ocean. Justin joins me on Paul Kirtley Podcast episode 38 to talk about this and other adventures he’s had in his native Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada…

Bushcraft Skills - There are lots of ways of improving them
Ten Ways To Boost Your Bushcraft Skills Through The New Year

Ten Ways To Boost Your Bushcraft Skills Through The New Year

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Moving from one year to the next is often a time of reflection. What did we do in the last year? How did we do? Did we reach our goals? What do we want do achieve in the coming year? Where do we want to go? In terms of bushcraft skills, some of us can have focused or even lofty goals, while others don’t really think of wilderness skills and structured self-improvement in the same mental space at all. But if you want to improve your bushcraft skills through the coming year, here’s ten suggested areas to work on, as well as several over-arching principles to keep you on the right path…