Welcome to the Fern podcast, As the Season Turns.

I'm Leah Lane Darts, and I'm delighted to introduce this Found Sound for March,

created by musician and sound artist Alice Boyd.

Found sounds are a new addition to As the Season Turns for 2024.

Brief, meditative episodes for listeners who wish to feel that little bit more immersed in the natural world as we move through the year,

grounding ourselves in nature and the rhythms our ancestors

have always followed. This month's episode was recorded during a foraging walk with Zoe Gilbert,

author, folklorist and contributor to As the Season Turns, who took Alice out along the cliffs

near her home in Folkestone.

The The

The Could you describe where we are right now?

So we're walking along the Lees in Fokston,

which is the top of the cliff, so we're well above sea level,

and it's where all the grand buildings were put by the Victorians who made this

into their holiday resort and it's very green and grassy but you're looking right out over

open sea you can see Dungeoness power station in the distance over there there oh yeah

on a clear day you can see France I don't think we quite can today. All along here, this kind of bushy green stuff that's really dominating is Alexander's,

which the Romans brought over for their kitchen gardens and also to use as winter fodder,

because it kind of, it does what no other plants really do here, which is start putting on its green leafiness in the middle

of winter. It's a bit like celery once it gets going. It has this amazing floral flavor that you

can get from the raw plant and also the cook plant. Yeah, I can smell quite a sweet smell right now. Is that the

plant? It's probably, there are some in flower already, even though it's only March, so it probably

...