How one family turned their dreams of a ‘nature-inspired education’ into a huge foraging library for everyone shares Lucy Corkhill
Inspired by their kids to have a go at making YouTube videos, Dane and Stella De Luca Mulandiee started recording their foraging knowledge and sharing it on the platform during the quiet months of 2020. Home is Where Our Heart Is was born – a celebration of nature’s bounty, being outside, and sharing time together. With no prior filming experience, it started as a fun project for the home-educating family of six, with children, Maddox, 11; Maddie, 9; Bjorn, 6, and Bruce, now 2, taking an active role in foraging, filming and feasting. Little did the family know that within two years their following would have grown from zero to nearly 35,000, with viewers around the world tuning in to discover how to make everything from lilac cordial and stinging nettle cake to horse chestnut soap and daisy balm.
Reading through the comments on their videos, it’s clear this gentle team have won hearts because of their warm approach, vast knowledge, and focus on savouring life’s joys. Having recorded more than 100 videos to date, Dane and Stella also dedicated nearly two years to writing and editing a foraging bible, Knowledge to Forage. At over 400 large pages, it’s packed to the hilt with their own clear identifying photographs, foraging myths, lore and legend, and loads of practical recipes and advice. Since self-publishing it online in August 2022, over 5,000 copies have been sold, making it an Amazon Number 1 in Botany & Plant Sciences and – at the time of going to print – an incredible 5th on the online giant’s top 100 bestselling books.
The book’s runaway success piqued the interest of some of the UK’s biggest publishing houses and after a whirlwind few weeks of meetings and negotiations for taking Home Is Where the Heart Is to the next level, we caught up with Dane and Stella to find out more.
