We get the Lime Wood Lowdown with Sammie, our resident forager at Lime Wood. Guests can join Sammie for guided walks on selected dates and take in the rich abundance of seasonal plants, seeds, berries and more that are right at our fingertips.  Whether you're a seasoned forager or a curious beginner, Sammie’s walks offer the perfect way to connect with nature.

Can you tell us a little bit about your role as resident forager here at Lime Wood and what our guests can expect when they join one of your foraging walks?

My name is Sammie Longhorn, and I have been leading foraging walks at Lime Wood for a couple of years and consider it to be an incredible place to find an array of edible plants. The hotel grounds offer a variety of different habitats, each offering their own wild harvests throughout the year. In spring, the woodland floor is alive with vibrant, fresh, spring greens such as nettles, cleavers and wild garlic.

The summer then brings the abundance of the wildflower meadow, which is incredibly beautiful as you sweep up the hotel’s driveway. It is even more beautiful when you walk through it, basket in hand, collecting the different edible and medicinal flowers that grow there. You can find cuckoo flower, ox eye daisy and seal heal. Then as summer fades to autumn, the forest becomes our focus again, with the towering trees taking centre stage. Here at Lime Wood, there are some ancient sweet chestnuts, pines and an abundance of coppiced hazel, each of these trees has their own stories, folklore and edible gifts. One of the most unique things about foraging at Lime Wood is that when most of the wild food has died back for the colder months, we head up onto the roof of the Herb House Spa to discuss the different culinary and medicinal uses of kitchen herbs.

On my walks, we head straight off, into nature. For each plant I always run through safe identification techniques and alert people to any toxic lookalikes. We discuss its culinary uses, medicinal uses and traditional and historical uses as well, all with a liberal sprinkling of nature inspired stories and lore. I love introducing guests to new ingredients that they may have walked past and ignored many times. Each walk is always rounded off with wildcrafted refreshments, always dictated by the seasons and including plants that we have discussed on our walk.

What sparked your love for foraging?

I have always had a passion for immersing myself in nature. As I child I would forage for blackberries and sweet chestnuts with my grandparents and that set off a lifelong passion for wild ingredients. My husband Iain (who is the Development Chef at Lime Wood), and I have always foraged together, especially when we ran a pub and wanted to offer exciting and unique ingredients. I am incredibly lucky to have such a talented chef at home, ready to turn my finds in to something far more elevated that my culinary skills would allow.

Since becoming a mother, I have thrown myself more in to the medicinal and healing aspects of our native plants. I have completed several courses on these subjects and have a wonderful mentor but there is no substitute for time in nature. When you connect with ancient wisdom such as this, a lot of it comes in the form of folklore and myth, as this is the way that our ancestors would have learnt which plants can nourish themselves and their families and which plants are deadly toxic.

What is your favourite time of year to go foraging?

There is something very special about foraging in early spring, when the plants are awakening from their winter slumber. I can just imagine the sense of joy and relief that our ancestors would have felt when this was their sole source of nourishment. At this time of year, there is a profusion of bright green, fresh growth. This vibrancy is advertising all the detoxifying and enlivening properties this season’s greens have to offer and are just what we need to help us embrace the more active energies of spring.

I love foraging in every season, each gives its own harvests and gifts. I particularly love plants and trees that offer several different harvests, such as the magical hawthorn trees who have edible leaves, blossom and berries, so this is a great one to connect to throughout the year.

What do you love most about foraging?

Connecting more deeply with wild plants has had a completely transformative impact on my life. It has enabled me to feel more self-sufficient. I feel empowered to go into the woods and return with a basket full of ingredients for my family that are nutrient dense, fresh and delicious. It has also given me skills to create basic remedies for my family and friends.

Prior to leading foraging and folklore walks, I spent many years practicing and then later, teaching yoga, and have had a lifelong interest in Eastern philosophy. I have always felt like I was seeking spirituality or wellness, but time in the woods and hedgerows of our lands has given me the sense of connectedness and peace that I was looking for, simply spending time in nature with the plants, just as our ancestors would have.

Want to join Sammie on one of her foraging experiences? Click here to view upcoming dates and availability: Event Details | Lime Wood

Want to keep up to date with Sammie’s foraging activities? Visit her website: The Hedgerow Yogi