Hello and welcome to the Msitu website! My name is Mina Said-Allsopp and I am a foraging obsessed food fanatic in Leeds.

Msitu (pronounced m-see-two ) is a Swahili word that means forest and is where I spend most of my time. I am happiest rootling amongst the undergrowth to find that elusive Cep or climbing trees to pick those Jelly ears that are just that teeny bit out of my reach. My foraging journey started in earnest when my best friend showed me my first damson tree. That year I made over a hundred jars of jam out of anything I could find; crabapples, pears, damsons, greengages, plums, bullaces…If I could forage it, I turned it into jam.

After that crazy summer, I began to build my knowledge of wild foods – how to find them, cook them and preserve them. I am proud to say that I have taught several hundred people from all over Yorkshire and Lancashire to do the same since I started doing these walks in May 2008.  I have appeared in articles in the Leeds Guide, The Big Issue in The North and Elle Decoration and been on BBC Radio Leeds, BBC Radio Gloucester and the 'Juicy Fruits' episode of 'The Edible Garden' with Alys Fowler on the BBC.

I believe that knowing more about our food and getting closer to nature is the key to leading a healthier, more sustainable life.  I know that since I started foraging, I have been more in tune with the world around me than ever before.

If you have ever seen those tv chefs cook up a glorious feast full of exotic ingredients like wild watercress or rock samphire, or just gone for a walk and thought to yourself ‘I wonder if I could eat that?’ then you’ve come to the right place. Over time, I hope that this website will grow into a great resource for you to use full of ideas, recipes and tips.  I would also love for it to provide a place where we can share our finds and learn from each other. I hope you will enjoy reading my Blog, I update it regularly and it charts my adventures in Wild Food.

But in the meantime, you could always book onto one of my wild food walks, preserving courses or foraging retreats. All of the profits that I make from my wild food walks go to fund the Nuru Shelter and Education Centre. A charity school that my aunt, sister and I run in Malindi, Kenya. So not only will you be learning a valuable new skill, you will also be helping us to build a school and orphanage and lift these children out of poverty.