By Ben Ade
The sun has now set on our ‘Scotland to Sahara’ adventure; we have arrived back in the beautiful rolling hills of Alba. 15 thousand kilometres were covered over the duration of 6 months, exploring new sights and experiences throughout six different countries. Many people along the route, friends back home and also followers of the online blog have all pledged donations to the charity ‘Doctors without Borders’, our chosen charity for fundraising. Have a look at their website, www.msf.org.uk, to see the amazing work for yourself. Many more ideas for adventures are in the pipeline, as and when circumstances allow. If anyone has any suggestions on how to raise funds for the next voyage or worthy charities that would benefit from our support next time then please get in touch, we would love to hear from you. Updates will still appear on the blog from time to time, also the archives from the past 6 months are available to view and read there. For now it is farewell, but I will leave you with a quote from the American poet, Robert Frost. “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference”.
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By Melissa Shaw “If you don’t eat all your greens, you won’t grow big and strong”. A phrase I’m sure we are all familiar with dating back to childhood dinner tables? During this journey our taste buds have comfortably adapted to the tantalizing taste of foraged foods. We have grazed happily on many a patch of land in various countries. Cooking up cauldrons of nettle and potato soup, shredding the leaves to add to most dishes, discovering that a humble pan of sautéed stingers replaces the greens of spinach or kale quite nicely. Mulberries shaken straight off the tree into an umbrella offers a juicy, sweet treat to satisfy the sugar cravings. Wild damsons reduced in a pan with sugar and cinnamon, over the gentle embers of the fire brought a mouth-watering delight. Fresh off the tree almonds, peaches, oranges, dates, figs and cherries are just a few other treats from nature we enjoyed. One evening in England, as we grew weary with few options of a camp, we turned down a dead end road with the map ensuring a sea inlet. Parked alongside the narrow road we began our camp preparations before a brief wander to explore today’s garden. We were met by many dog walkers, fishermen, kayaks enthusiasts and afternoon strollers. It wasn’t until the evening that a gentleman approached us in our cab to provide a suggestion. He explained that we may suffer from a bit of disturbance as the night progresses, due to the youth’s knowledge of this secluded spot. “Why don’t you drive back along the road and come stay on my piece of land? You will be much safer there.” Accepting his kind offer, we remained parked up there for the best part of a week! Enjoying the benefits of the security of his land, knowing we were welcome. The owner had to go to away for a few days and advised us to help ourselves to his bountiful vegetable patch, or they would just go to waste. Neighboring horses would nicker to us across the fence, keen to see what we were up to. Wind chimes hung in the trees and would sing across the garden, adding to the sense of tranquillity. On our daily wanderings, along with the iron rich nettles we also gathered buckets of blackberries raspberries, sloe berries and ‘hit the jackpot’ when we discovered heavily laden apple and pear trees growing along hedgerows and woodland walks. I was quick to capture the moment and set to work preparing the apples for blackberry and apple turnovers (on the camp fire, of course!) Jar upon jar of apple sauce were also filled, dated and seal to ensure we relive the moment, perhaps at Christmas time. We quickly began to meet the locals and familiarise with the area. Ben and his sweet tooth made repeat visits to sample a selection of flapjacks and brownie goodies from garden stalls. A busy and inspiring couple we met gathered funds by selling their abundance of brightly coloured vegetables, earthy potatoes and free range eggs. We were beginning to feel very revived and refreshed as our bodies absorbed each nutrient, mineral and enzyme they could attain from all the beautiful veggies and fruit picked. Foraging for fresh food really can save money, benefit your health and, best of all, tastes great! |