Wild Forage, Flora and Fauna!

Spring time brings a lot of joy in Settle and the surrounding countryside, we (King William Guest House) don’t hold much knowledge on what the names of various plants are but there is one that comes every year in abundance – Wild Garlic!

This year with the very mild conditions from early March the leaves appeared and the carpets keep on growing! We pick the young leaves (don’t wait until the white flowers appear – getting old at that point!)  use them in cooking as a subistute to normal garlic. However the best thing is to make it into a pesto sauce and freeze it in small portions to use up year round. Fantastic on Pizza’s – Awesome in Pasta and Great in Stews!

Very easy to do – Wash leaves throughly and dry (remove any storks, and any discoloured leaves) then put them in a blender machine, add Olive Oil, Pine Nuts (Ground Almonds are fine) and blast until smooth then add some fresh grated parmesan for a quick wizz at the end.

Whilst walking around the area we have many beautiful flowers, including orchids – one of the best places to see these and also the Bluebells are over at Oxenber/Wharf Woods near Feizor/Austwick. Read More for Walking Route and Pictures