Let's go foraging

[SheilaNaGig]

Mrs B got me a copy of Richard Mabey's Food For Free for christmas, which I plan to take with me on walks in future - with spring marching on there's plenty of things out: dandelions, wild garlic, sticky weed (apparently it's edible! who knew?).

Yesterday I went in search of wild garlic, as I ate pickled wild garlic buds a few years ago and loved them - we took a friends two children, one surley pre-teen and one toddler, both of whom got stuck in, even the pre teen... we collected enough for a couple of jars, which I'm already trying to work out how to avoid giving one to my companions...

I also ate some young hawthorn leaves. They tasted green... I guess they might work in a salad.

Anyone else got any tips or tales?

Lots of tree leaves are good in salad. Take them when they’re young and tender. Tilia leaves are good for a snack. Hawthorn leaves are also known as bread and cheese. They’re not that tasty, in my opinion, but they’re good heart medicine so they can help keep you going on a hike.

 

[killer b]

I made that ^^ a couple of years ago but found a much better looking one today here: Wild Garlic Kimchi I'm not making it because I don't have Korean chilis, ume seasoning or daikon, but fwiw I reckon it looks better than mine.

this site looks pretty good - been looking through their recipes, some good ideas.

 

[polly]

this site looks pretty good - been looking through their recipes, some good ideas.

Yeah there's some unusual recipes on there - cow parsley compote!

 

[2hats]

Variously wild garlic, assorted nuts (hazelnuts, chestnuts, walnuts), fruit (blackberries, blowberries, strawberries and raspberries), horseradish, mushrooms (when with relatives who I know can identify what is what), hops from the hedge (makes a nice frittata), mustard, samphire, sea cabbage.

 

[klang]

I made 8 jars of Wild Garlic / Nettle pesto that I picked in the foothills of the Alps a couple of weeks ago. Lush!

 

[JimW]

We've got a toon tree (toona sinensis) in the yard and collect the young leaf shoots as they make a great condiment with tofu or egg.

 

[SheilaNaGig]

Found it! Celyn


So this weekend I was harvesting Carex pendula semen... or pendulous sedge grass seeds.


I cheated a bit by tugging out the top section of the sedge with the seed head attached rather than harvesting in situ, so I could bring it all home and let it dry a bit.

It comes away very easily, and the whole plant is so plentiful and robust that I dint feel bad about this.

I brought home a huge amount and started to take the seed off the same night, but actually it's much easier if you let the seed heads dry a bit. I did remove the seed heads from the stalks that first night.

So... let's see.... I harvested on Sunday, let them sit til Tuesday, turning them in a colander each day so they didn't get musty, the colander sat upon a bowl of course, to catch stray seeds.

I started by running my fingers along the seed heads to get the seeds off but I found it much faster to put a bunch of seed heads into a large bowl and then kinda scrummage then together against each other, and the seeds pretty much fell away. Then it was a simple matter to pick out the seed heads and swiftly run my fingers along to remove the remaining seeds.

The husks are mostly left behind by this process, but I'll still have to winnow them in a breeze.

This is sedge. not grass, so those intolerant to grains find it easier to digest, and also its less susceptible to ergot.

A friend kept a large jar of sedge seeds on her table and just added them to whatever meal was on the table. Theydon have much of a taste like this but it still felt good to be added wild food to salads and soups.

I've found a nice recipe for sedge flour bread online and I might try that. I don't think I'll mill it until I want to use it though. The sedge seed is all about ripe now, so I may go and get more.

Anyone else use sedge seeds?

 

[SheilaNaGig]

I'm eating dandelion leaves and nasturtium leaves daily from my garden, also hedge mustard now that the hedge garlic has gone over.

And of course the rosemary, fennel oregano and so forth.

Linden leaves are tasty right now.

Hawthorn leaves have already become tough.

The bittercress has gone over but was wonderful with eggs for a while.

 

[TopCat]

Great thread.

 

[polly]

Anyone else use sedge seeds?

No, but I've got sedge grass in the garden that I de-seed regularly at this time of year because it's a PITA (grows fast and hard to dig out). I had no idea I could eat them!

 

[gentlegreen]

Linden leaves are tasty right now.

All the ones near me are furry and covered with aphids.

 

[SheilaNaGig]

All the ones near me are furry and covered with aphids.

That’s a shame, because they are tasty.

 

[gentlegreen]

Are you in Scotland ?

 

[gentlegreen]

I watch programmes about wild foods - often in French - but I live 200 yards from Aldi where I can buy maybe 7 kinds of leafy green veggies...

 

[UnderOpenSky]

We harvest a fair bit of Wild Garlic and the OH sells it on her market stand.

I'd like to find local source of slo berries for Gin. Found some in France last year and was lovely over Xmas.

 

[bellaozzydog]

The house has a communal spring tide mussel binge. We all go out at super low spring, hand pick about 5kg of mussels then back the the house to cook em up. Normally with booze of some sort, chilli, garlic, onions, oregano, cream and crusty fresh bread
Should really do it on the beach



When it’s flat we free dive for spider crabs which are seen as a pest around town. Absolutely everywhere. Catching one each does the job

 

[klang]

The house has a communal spring tide mussel binge. We all go out at super low spring, hand pick about 5kg of mussels then back the the house to cook em up. Normally with booze of some sort, chilli, garlic, onions, oregano, cream and crusty fresh bread
Should really do it on the beach



When it’s flat we free dive for spider crabs which are seen as a pest around town. Absolutely everywhere. Catching one each does the job

where abouts are you?

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

I picked up quite a few maple seeds this spring. Remove the outer husk, soaked in water a couple of days, and then dried, they go well as a add-in for oatmeal. For good measure you can put a little maple syrup on top.

 

[campanula]

We've got a toon tree (toona sinensis) in the yard and collect the young leaf shoots as they make a great condiment with tofu or egg.

Have tried to grow this but sadly, I didn't have the cultivar 'Flamingo' so the spring leaves were not really that lovely pink I so badly wanted. I had no idea they were edible. May well try again...with the correct seeds this time.

If I had a pick of where to go for a botanical holiday, West China and Mt. Omei are right at the top of the list. I badly want the Grey-Wilson and Cribb 'Guide to the Flora of Western China'...but at more than £100 for a second hand copy, this is unlikely.

 

[JimW]

Have tried to grow this but sadly, I didn't have the cultivar 'Flamingo' so the spring leaves were not really that lovely pink I so badly wanted. I had no idea they were edible. May well try again...with the correct seeds this time.

If I had a pick of where to go for a botanical holiday, West China and Mt. Omei are right at the top of the list. I badly want the Grey-Wilson and Cribb 'Guide to the Flora of Western China'...but at more than £100 for a second hand copy, this is unlikely.

Have you read anything by/about Joseph Rock? he was a really interesting early c20th figure who got a gig plant collecting and generally swanning about SW China and Tibet for the National Geographic. Also took loads of good photos of Tibetan petty kings, made a false claim Minya Konka was higher than Everest and used to travel with a table, cloths and full dinner service IIRC Those were the days.

 

[campanula]

Oh I have. And Ernest 'Chinese' Wilson. And George Forrest. Gods, I would have loved to be a plant hunter (even though quite a few of them met early and gory ends). I have a paeony rockii I grew from seed - 7-8 years to flower!

 

[SheilaNaGig]

Are you in Scotland ?

Was that for me? Didn’t see it at the time.

No, Brixton. I’m an Urban75 native.

 

[SheilaNaGig]

We harvest a fair bit of Wild Garlic and the OH sells it on her market stand.

I'd like to find local source of slo berries for Gin. Found some in France last year and was lovely over Xmas.

Blackberry brandy or vodka etc is also bloody lovely.

 

[gentlegreen]

Was that for me? Didn’t see it at the time.

No, Brixton. I’m an Urban75 native.

I just wondered why your lime trees still had fresh leaves on them .. either that or you like them chewy

 

[SheilaNaGig]

I just wondered why your lime trees still had fresh leaves on them .. either that or you like them chewy

They've definitely gone past the point of being good eating now. But the blossom is about to burst out, so I’ll be harvesting that soon.

 

[bellaozzydog]

where abouts are you?

Cornwall

 

[klang]

Cornwall

i'm on my way

 

[campanula]

Anyone else use sedge seeds?

Do you say the 'sedges have edges' rhyme? I do.
sedges have edges, rushes are round
grasses have knees, which bend to the ground.

 

[SheilaNaGig]

Do you say the 'sedges have edges' rhyme? I do.
sedges have edges, rushes are round
grasses have knees, which bend to the ground.

Yes! I only learned it last year, but it's very useful indeed. I wish I'd known it sooner.

 

[SheilaNaGig]

Cornwall

When I was a child we'd collect mussels and go shrimping in the waves as the tide came in. That beach no longer has mussels or shrimp, which is very sad and somewhat worrying. But judging by the shells cast up on the sand, there is still a very healthy clam population. Razor clams: theres a special skill getting them out of the sand!