Recent content by chickenofthewoods

What al21 said. Go for the Latin.

That's a dock plant, probably, and only guessing from the bits that I can see - it's a curled or yellow dock (rumex crispus). In which case all is not lost as it has medicinal uses. Look it up under the latin name I've given & see if what you found resembles the plant I think it may be.

I shall pass on my mates' recipe then, as it's very quick & simple indeed & she swears by it (I can vouch for it too! I made the first of a couple of batches a couple of weeks ago following it to the letter and the results have been delicious). Here it is, with grateful thanks to Sarah at...

Funny you should mention marsh samphire, I've been out picking it today. Lightly streamed it's a fantastic veg, as is sea purslane which is fortunate as the two are often found in the same locations here. The simplest and best meal is fish cooked in paper with new spuds and samphire/sea...

I do them like this: Run a short sharp knifeblade round inside the shell to pop the little dude out, flip him over and quickly cut away the intestinal parts and head. Then you're left with just the meaty foot. Rinse to remove any black bits left from from the intestines and pop them into a bowl...

If you want to pm me with your email addy and I can send you a file with a collection of recipes I've gathered for Hawthorn over the years. You can eat the young fresh leaves (spring growth), the flowers make a good wine or syrup, a traditional spring drink called 'May Cup' or can be dried for a...

Wood Avens (Geum urbanum) has a common name of clove-root. The thin base roots small and taste like cloves with a hint of cinnamon and were used as a subsitute for the spice. They are fiddy and time consuming to prep. though, so as you can imagine they lost favour when real cloves began to be...

I suspect that Xylaria can give you some insight into them. Hopefully she'll be along shortly. :)

Oh boy, that was a good day! Definitely one of the best ways to spend an Easter weekend. :D

Specific to Birch. I think the underside of your specimen looks a bit old though, is it quite dry and tough? It may be worth looking out for a really fresh young specimen that has a soft and much whiter underside to make your strop from (the pores should feel soft, spongy and slightly moist).

It's quite pungently aromatic (sort of like celery or lovage on steroids) and very perfumed raw. When cooked though, the flavour tempers greatly and will it can reduce almost to a puree in a soup or stew if the shoots are young. I think it's good stuff for a spring forage but make sure you don't...

Ah. I'll be up in London checking out a job on the 21st unfortunately. :(

:O) Depends on what you fancy doing really, the great thing about Kent is the diversity of locations to do stuff. Beach? Estury? Heath or woodland? I'm always up for a little light foraging and now that spring's finally threatening to get going there should at last be a bit more stuff to find.

I now have a mental image of a badger in a smoking jacket carrying a bottle of champagne and two glasses. Ah romance......

Depressingly, I've heard this kind of thing before. Years ago I ran a Playscheme for one of the local councils in my area and while working closely with Social Services came across a similar story - mothers who would not let their toddler enjoy 'messy play' (which is considered an important...