View Full Version : April foraging
Moonraker
19-04-2005, 11:59
So what are you foraging this month?
The beginning of Spring, shoots budding out, annual plants pushing there way out of the warming soil. Grass taking on that lushness which makes you want to go and buy some fresh organic butter :)
Here, we are in the south of France, in a department called the Aveyron (http://www.tourisme-aveyron.com/uk/sommaire.php), yet not with the same warmer, temperatures as the Med coast. The village is at 450m above sea-level and local hills up over 1,400m. So our weather tends to be colder and drier in winter and hotter and drier in summer, with a short spring and autumn transition. It tends to be 2-3 weeks behind the UK in the Spring but heats up quicker when it comes.
This year everything is late here, with it still being in a cold snap and snow still falling on the hills above 1200m; but I can just feel all the plants bursting with sap, ready to explode into life, and paint the valley every shade of green at the merest hint of warm sunlight :)
So far for some fairly limited walks it has been Chickweed (http://www.plant-identification.co.uk/skye/caryophyllaceae/stellaria-media.htm) (Stellaria media) for the salads together with young Hawthorn (http://www.plant-identification.co.uk/skye/rosaceae/crataegus-monogyna.htm) (Crateagus monogyna) shoots (or what we called 'bread 'n no cheese' as kids) for salad and general snack out walking; young Nettles (http://www.plant-identification.co.uk/skye/urticaceae/urtica-dioecia.htm) (Urtica dioca) for soup and stew and tea; Wild Garlic (http://www.plant-identification.co.uk/skye/liliaceae/allium-ursinum.htm) (Allium ursinum. 'L’ail des ours' or 'Bears Garlic' as they call it in France) and Garlic Mustard (http://www.plant-identification.co.uk/skye/cruciferae/alliaria-petiolata.htm) (Alliaria petiolata, jack-in-the-hedgrow etc popping up nicely for those great flavours, leaves rubbed on toasted crusty bread sprinkled with some coarse sea salt, olive oil and rubbed with tomato for a nice quick croustini. Makes great pesto too :)
Wild Garlic Pesto
Ingredients:
1 large handful wild garlic leaves, well washed and patted dry
(as an option add a touch of wild mint and/or wild thyme)
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed (optional)
1 cup olive oil
5 tablespoons of parmigiano reggiano cheese, freshly grated
coarse sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.
Method:
Ground the wild garlic, pine kernels, garlic and olive oil in a pestle & mortar is best but OK in a food processor. Add in the cheese and taste, add salt and pepper as required. Store the pesto in a sterilised jar in the fridge.
We do not have much pine right here but loads of walnut trees everywhere. Try substituting the pine nuts with walnuts or an interesting variation.
Wild leek (Allium ampeloprasum) which is really lovely flavour, milder than wild garlic and really like gardens leeks but more flavour. You get the same species in Wales and it is the true Welsh 'leek' . The ancient King of Gwynedd, Cadwallon ap Cadfan, is said in AD 633, to have given leeks to his men to wear on their hats to distinguish them from their saxon foes. I suspect it was the globe shaped flower heads they actually wore, rather than shop brought leeks which are a recent import seen today ;)
So lots of garlicky onoiny flavours... nice :)
Simon
I had a good forage about yesterday afternoon around my local tramping ground... and its deffinatly spring :) Everything is commin up well.
Same as you I found the hedge garlic beggining to get there.... I'll harvest next month and be on the look out for ramsons, nettles are shootting up, the dandilions are all over the place in full flower. The hawthorn has just started budding here, but budding fast so I guess they'll be in full bloom by may.
Also came accross bistort ... some in flower all ready, the rest are getting there and a huge patch of marsh marigold.... though be careful with these as they contain helleborin and should NEVER be eaten uncooked.
Its looking lovely out there .......
:)
Ed
Things are a little behind up here in Scotland, but here's a few things I've been harvesting:
Ramsons (wild garlic) - lots of it all over the place
Nettles - just getting big enough to collect the tips for soup/beer
Gorse Flowers - for tea and winemaking
Birch Sap - just finished tapping a lot of trees (once I get the photos I'll post a thread on how this works). Again for wine-making.
I also managed to collect a few cups of elderberries last week - however, this was a very confused little elder tree! :confused:
Gorse Flowers - for tea and winemaking
Gorse tends to be in flower any time of the year around here.
Ed
Moonraker
19-04-2005, 14:48
Things are a little behind up here in Scotland, but here's a few things I've been harvesting:
Ramsons (wild garlic) - lots of it all over the place
Nettles - just getting big enough to collect the tips for soup/beer
Gorse Flowers - for tea and winemaking
Birch Sap - just finished tapping a lot of trees (once I get the photos I'll post a thread on how this works). Again for wine-making.
I also managed to collect a few cups of elderberries last week - however, this was a very confused little elder tree! :confused:
You can see how botanical names are useful as a universal language, with all the many and varied local names ;)
I always loved that smell of gorse flowers on a warm day. Smelling distinctly like coconut! Great colour in a salad.
Looking forward to the birch sap info. I would like to try making Birch Syrup (http://store.alaskabirchsyrup.com/abbisy.html) too.
just got back from a lovely tramp through a ancient woodland and found some lovely cramp balls and a fantastic badger set which i will re vist at some stage soon to hopefully get a glimpse of the wee beasties. as for the fauna some lovely nettles wild garlic and nettles.
Ramsons fried on toast, nettle soup, salade de pissenlit (dandelions, don't eat too many :eek: ) hawthorn salad.
Cleavers/goose grass just starting to show, cattails sprouting, but I tend not to harvest from our local canal...
...and I found a load of oyster mushrooms on a fallen log.
Bounty of Spring, innit? :D
Jim.
Looking forward to the birch sap info. I would like to try making Birch Syrup (http://store.alaskabirchsyrup.com/abbisy.html) too.
Hey, that's a great link MR, Thanks !!!
But 100 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup and they collected 43,500 gallons of sap :eek: it kind of puts my 2 gallons of sap in the shade doesn't it? Still at least I've still got 2 gallons of Birch sap wine bubbling on the windowsill now :D
Cheers,
Martin
Pretty much the same as you guys, nettles, goose grass, ramsons. The jack by the Hedge is just about to flower. Spotted some comfrey so I'll try the deep fried recipe from food for free. And I don't particularly like Hawthorn, I find it dry and it catches in my throat.
Been out and about several times this week, I got ransoms, hawthorn, lesser celandine, sticky willie, early fat hen, bittercress, nettles, heartsease (makes a wonderful honey scented tea), ladies smock, young dockens, dandelions and new mint leaves. The heather flowers are great for tea just now too. My birch sap is meading away nicely in the kitchen. I want to try the Nettle beer recipe too; but this working for a living is interrupting my gathering :( Hmmm
Cheers,
Toddy
Never had sticky willie! Don't mod me, I haven't heard of that one, you got a latin name for it Toddy?
Tantalus
19-04-2005, 23:06
hahahah
good scottish name for goosegrass or cleavers
dont mod me either but its the plant with all those tiny little balls that get stuck in the dogs coat
Galium aparine?
can be stringy when older but Richard Maybey says plunge in boiling water for a few seconds or steam
actually i like the name sticky willie, it describes it so aptly
Tant
Justin Time
19-04-2005, 23:19
I've a vague memory that when I was a wee boy the plant we used to call Sticky Willie was actually Burdock... We made a game out of sticking the seed head onto the other wean's clothes.
:o :o ooops, sorry.
Never gave it a thought. It makes a good ointment for insect bites too, just rub it into a green mush in your hands and add a little fat or oil. Works well with comfrey too. It's just a tasty munch (no comments now!) this early. Masses of it about this year though.
Toddy
Tantalus
19-04-2005, 23:47
lol ok
here is the one I call sticky willie
http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/P2/P27140.HTM
and the burdock that justin means (i think) Arctium lappa
http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/P2/P21248.HTM
Tant
Ah! thanks, goosegrass is pretty good when it's young. There's loads of it this year down here too.
tody- what do you use the sticky willies for?
This early, they're soft and tasty. Good on bread and butter with a bit of cheese, maybe a few whorls in a salad. A little later and they're a good 'spinach' or help add to soup or stew. I use the seeds to make historically authentic blackhead pins, and I rub later leaves and stems up to pulp in between the palms of my hands and mix with a little fat or oil for an ointment that soothes insect bites, seems to work on that d*****d pest, the midge and as part of a mix for an ointment for dry skin problems. If collected before it seeds the tea is good for easing swollen glands or cystitis (*don't* use if your kidneys aren't up to scratch....acts on the urinary system), and is a good de-bloater. It dries fairly well too and I get a good yellow and a pale bluey-green dye from it too.
Cheers (I miss the tea cup smilie :( )
Toddy
cheers toddy-think I might try it in a lasgne tomorrow instead of the usual spinach ,not very bushcrafty I know but it will be worth it to see the look on the weans faces.The midge repellent sounds interesting too.Should sticky willlies be reclassified in the genus 'Innuendo'?
cheers toddy-think I might try it in a lasgne tomorrow instead of the usual spinach ,not very bushcrafty I know but it will be worth it to see the look on the weans faces.The midge repellent sounds interesting too.Should sticky willlies be reclassified in the genus 'Innuendo'?
:D
I got loads of fresh stuff from the gardener at Stirling castle yesterday, he was howking the stuff out of his borders, where it was rampant.
I fed over 100 kids sweeties made from mint and nettles, rose and beetroot and orange and onion today. Only told them what was in them afterwards ;) They said they were delicious but by the time I got to ink I think they'd cottoned on.
My sons used to pretend that the sticky willie juice was camouflage paint, but it soothed the midgie bites, even the ones on the scalp.
Cheers,
Toddy
whistler
21-04-2005, 22:00
hi new guy to everything here. Really enjoying the Sticky Willie thread a few questions if you don't mind.
I Confused by the Burdock and Goose Grass ref which is the sticky Willie or are they both.
2.. I have always thought it a pest so now I gather you can:
a. Eat the leaves and stalk as a salad
b. when it gets older you steam all of it stalk and leaves for a spinach type wedge
c. You can nub the lot into a wish in your hands add ablate and or water and it eases insect bites
so when preparing is there any special process or is it that simple
whistler
whistler
21-04-2005, 22:06
sorry just read point 3.
should say
C. you rub it into a mush in your hands, add oil or water and it will ease insect bites etc
Galium aparine. It's the long straggly one that clings to your hands, clothes and the cat! Cleavers or goosegrass. It is that simple too. Just eat it before it seeds else it's bitter, cheugh, and stringy. I'm not fond of it except when it's young and many find the stems too unpleasant. Cats and dogs sometimes eat it to help clear out parasites, I'm told.
http://www.countrylovers.co.uk/wildfoodjj/index.htm
has a recipe for a kind of kedgeree using it.
Cheers,
Toddy
whistler
21-04-2005, 22:28
Many Thanks. The links with pictures really help the really dense (me).
Moonraker
22-04-2005, 01:15
Had a chance to get out and get some photos this afternoon. Hope they help.
Galium aparine. (Sticky Willie, Goosegrass, Cleavers etc. FR=Gratteron). Typical rambling habit through undergrowth.
http://www.planetluna.org/graphics/bcuk_small_photos/nat-galium_aparine-01.jpg
Galium aparine. Detail
http://www.planetluna.org/graphics/bcuk_small_photos/nat-galium_aparine-02.jpg
photographs: 21/04/05. aveyron, france
For eating best to pick in Spring and select the young tips of the shoots for a salad or nibble on the move. Say the first 3-4 whorls (sets of leaves).
You can also gather the seeds in August-October and roast to make a good coffee substitute. They have a bitterish flavour similar to chicory also used for the purpose but slightly more subtle.
Café Sauvage des Gratteron
In August-October, pick the seeds when still a bit green
Lightly roast (dry roast) and dry in a billy can over a flame.
Grind to a coffee ground size between two stones.
Add boiling water. Let it brew for around a minute then drink (or use a coffee filter)
The flavour is highly regarded by the French wild food guru François Couplan. He says you can discern the difference in flavour between different batches of seeds :)
Bon Appétit
Simon
whistler
24-04-2005, 20:27
many thanks. I have been out today and as you all have said once you have found it its obvious. Tried a bit and quite enjoyed it. Next have to find Burdock, I know its the one which slides to cloths with a shaggy look (found it in my field guide) but any other hints?
I am signing up for the wild food cookery course so hopefully will be able to contribute soon as well as being the preverbial sponge.
whistler
24-04-2005, 20:32
my apologies once again. I have a handwriting recognition program and am having a little problem with my handwriting and recognising my own mistakes. should read 'sticks to clothes`
my apologies once again. I have a handwriting recognition program and am having a little problem with my handwriting and recognising my own mistakes. should read 'sticks to clothes`
That would never work for me. I can't even read my handwriting so what chance has a computer got :o
whistler
26-04-2005, 21:47
I have only just started using this tablet style computer and it is supposed to learn my handwriting, it seems to be working. Less mistakes today than yesterday anyway. My only trouble is I cant read my own writing :confused: ! !
I've ID'd a bunch of sticky willy, I knew the plant just not the name!
The missus bought some mixed stuff for a salad, pine nuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, and I really enjoyed them. Which species should I get pine nuts from, and when can I get them? Is this an autumn thing? I read that you hold the pine cone near a fire and they open up so that you can get the nuts, is this correct?
Cheers
Spamel
Moonraker
04-05-2005, 18:24
I've ID'd a bunch of sticky willy, I knew the plant just not the name!
The missus bought some mixed stuff for a salad, pine nuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, and I really enjoyed them. Which species should I get pine nuts from, and when can I get them? Is this an autumn thing? I read that you hold the pine cone near a fire and they open up so that you can get the nuts, is this correct?
Cheers
SpamelThe seeds brought as pine nuts in Europe are usually the seeds of the Stone Pine (Pinus pinea) (http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Pinus+pinea) also referred to as the Umbrella Pine (due to its parasol appearance when grown on a single trunk :) ).
http://www.duchyofcornwallnursery.co. uk/Extras/Pinus%20pinea.jpg
A native of the Mediterranean region, but the seeds of various other pines are eaten in various parts of the world including the seeds of the Korean Pine or North American pinon tree (and imported here from China also). It prefers sandy soils and often found near the coast. They are very difficult to harvest, hence their cost. They become rancid very easily and should be stored in the fridge or freezer. 100g pine nuts contain 31g protein, the highest of the nuts and seeds.
Some nice info regarding pines producing nuts in the British Isles
Nut Pines
Many nut pines are hardy enough to include in windbreaks, like the dioecious (male and female flowers on different trees) monkey-puzzle tree, whose nuts may be used "like chestnuts". Nuts of many pinus species can be eaten raw or cooked, ground or whole, or a high quality oil can be pressed from them, when the residue is a good cattle feed. They have been eaten for millennia - those in the shops are nearly always Pinus Pinea (the Stone Pine). Most species do not produce nuts for 20 to 25 years, though Pinus Pinea starts at ten years old and P. Armandii at twelve. Some species' cones have to be heated to release the nuts, others are harvested by simply shaking the tree and collecting the nuts on sheets.
The Romans first planted P. Pinea in Britain as food for the troops, though like several pinus species which do well here this prefers the south of the country.
Shelling is not easy! Some suggestions:
Shelling Your Nuts
Needed: Two terry cloth towels and a rolling pin
1. Lay the soft-shelled pine nuts between the towels and roll firmly.
2. I have read, but not perfected the method of rolling with such persuasion that the shells stick to the terry cloth and pull away with the towel. Anyone with this degree of successes has perfected this method commonly used by Farming wives in the Southwest.
Another Method: Hold the pine nut , large end up between the thumb and the forefinger. Place gentle pressure on the shell while rolling between the thumb and forefinger. It is rather like, snapping ones fingers. We always recommend waiting to take off the soft-shell right before consuming the nut!
Good link for more info at www.PineNut.com (http://www.pinenut.com/)
Good hunting! :)
Thanks Simon, any idea of what time of year they are ready?
OT: Any news on the elusive book?
Spamel
Moonraker
04-05-2005, 18:51
Thanks Simon, any idea of what time of year they are ready?
OT: Any news on the elusive book?
SpamelSome very useful info here about how the Native American Indians used to harvest and process the pine nuts
http://www.pinenut.com/Old%20Site%20Files/pinenuts1.jpg
The pine nut is large and an excellent food source. It is, however, relatively difficult to harvest and requires a substantial group effort to do so. The pine nut harvest began in the late summer and lasted into the fall. It was essentially the last big food-gathering opportunity of the year Before retirement into winter lowland quarters. It occurred at intermediate elevations in arid upland hills where junipers and pinions tend to grow. It was a significant social occasion, and most Great Basin people held these regions to be sacred ground.
Over the last two thousand years, the pine nut sustained these peoples. The pine nuts required substantial processing and, then, they could be stored for later use. and utilization of pine nuts required technological innovations. While nuts can easily be picked from the ground fallen cones of the pinyon pine (pinus monophyllia), they are rarely good for human consumption by that time and the crop has been substantially reduced by insects and small mammals.
The pine nut came to be a useful staple food because only after the people learned how to harvest the nut prior to the final ripening stage of the cone. The technology for achieving a pine-nut harvest was messy and complex, and it was practiced communally. In fact, pine-nut harvest defined the great social time of the year, being the greatest gathering of the people in the concentrated areas of sacred lowland pinyon forest. People went to the forests in the early fall before the cones had fully ripened and dropped. They began with "first fruit" celebrations that confirmed the sacred significance of the food and established their respect for the forests.
When harvest began, the men pulled cones from the trees using tools made from large willow branches equipped with a sturdy V-shaped hook at the end. Women and children piled the cones in burden baskets (usually large conical wicker baskets carried on one’s back with a cordage band across the forehead). At this point, the cones were just at the point of opening and were usually full of pine pitch.
In camps surrounding the forest harvesting grounds, the pine cones were processed. This began by roasting the pine cones around hot coals, turning them often, to cause them to open up. Then, the cones could be beaten lightly to cause the nuts to fall out. When a supply of nuts was available, these required further processing since the nuts were covered by a soft brown shell. Cracking this shell would be difficult and would injure the fruit inside The nuts were processed by placing them on a basketry tray with hot coals from the fire. Once introduced together, the whole mass was kept in constant motion, throwing them up and swirling the tray, until the shells were roasted to a hard, crisp dark brown. The coals were removed at this point and the nuts were poured onto a grinding stone where they were lightly pounded with a mano until all of the shells had cracked and falled free of the inner fruit.
Cracked pinenuts are yellow-orange, translucent and soft. They can be eaten at this point and are delicious. Far more pine nuts were harvested than could be eaten raw so they needed to be processed further. At this point, the nuts were returned to a winnowing tray and thrown repeatedly into the air to allow the cracked shells to be carried off by the wind. When the shells were all gone, hot coals were returned to the tray and the roasting process was repeated until the nuts were dry and hard, somewhat darker in color.
At this point, the nuts could be stored in large basketry storage containers for later use. Dried nuts could still be eaten without further processing but the usual procedure was to make a pine-nut flour by grinding them. They were returned to the grinding stone and the mano was used to pound them lightly until they were well fragmented. Grinding was achieved with small amounts quickly so that the fine flour could be pushed off the metate forward into a bowl or onto a tray. A soap-root brush light be used to move the pine-nut flour on the tray. When enough flour was available, it could be warmed in water to make a thick paste; then the paste could be reduced, by dilution, to make whatever consistency was desired. While pine-nut mush may not sound especially appealing, addition of berries, various leafy vegetables, and/or ground meat or fish made it a feast.source:http://www.pinenut.com/history.htm
Hard work! But I can only imagine the wonderful smell from the resin and roasting pine nuts :)
Think I will spin this info off to another thread.
ps I got an email back on the RM book. Finally confirming that it was not available from the publisher as I suspected. Just had not bothered to take it off their list it seems :( sorry but at least I tried. Actually I found a new copy off Amazon seller for a good price (the 1995 edition) so I am a happy bunny :) and will let you know if I see any other reasonably priced ones going ;)
If you speak Italian I saw an Italian version for sale :D
Cheers
Biddlesby
18-04-2007, 21:23
I'll be happy this year if I just find a pignut! Although these ramsons sound pretty tasty, too.
I have been seeing all sorts of useful plants for a bushcrafter popping up: Chickweed, cow parsley, dandelions in full bloom, nettles, lesser celandine, greater plantain, hawthorn and blackthorn beginning to bloom, Ground ivy, ramsons etc.
Now is a very good time of year to build up your knowledge of wild flora and plant identification, a good field book at this time of year is a must. I have been taking pictures of all the useful wild flora I have seen out and about and cataloging them into a database - hopefully this time next year it will be quite a substantial resource.
bambodoggy
19-04-2007, 00:26
My birch sap is meading away nicely in the kitchen.
"Meading away nicely", what's that all about Toddy? I'm a big fan of Honey mead but didn't know you could make birch sap meed.... can you tell us how....please? ? ? :)
Many thanks,
Bam. :D
I'm new to foraging and having dusted off my copy of Lofty's book am completely lost as to where to start - everything looks like water hemlock. OK that's an exaggeration, but any suggestions for better books to get started? I can't seem to get past the constant paranoia of immediate fatal poisoning from the wrong berry!
food for free is a real good book and if you get the collins gem one it will fit in your pocket
leon
Timinwales
22-04-2007, 03:25
food for free is a real good book and if you get the collins gem one it will fit in your pocket
leon
any chance of an ISBN for that please Leon?
Cheers Tim
Agree- A great little book.
Timin;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Food-Free-Collins-Richard-Mabey/dp/0007183038
i have no connection.....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FOOD-FOR-FREE-RICHARD-MABEY-BRAND-NEW-GEM-P-BACK_W0QQitemZ260110965126QQih Z016QQcategoryZ276QQssPageName ZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
william#
24-04-2007, 09:32
OffroadersSimon: I’ve been foraging, and I’m going to be living mainly off worms, snails and these mushrooms I’ve found.
Lindsay: And I’ll be living off pizzas.
Simon: Pizzas?
Lindsay: Yeah, there’s a Pizza Hut just down the road.
- The Offroaders
I'm new to foraging and having dusted off my copy of Lofty's book am completely lost as to where to start - everything looks like water hemlock. OK that's an exaggeration, but any suggestions for better books to get started? I can't seem to get past the constant paranoia of immediate fatal poisoning from the wrong berry!
Learn to ID basic groups.
Such as if the flower has four petals, and the young plant is growing in a rosette it probably part of the cabbage family, which has quite a few choice edible plants. Bitter cress is out at the moment as that really nice.
Carrot family has to be learned IMHO before you start eating wild plants as it contains some of the most harmful plants in Britain.
As for berries the berries of purging buckthorne produces nausea with one or two berries and the shrub does not look like anything that is edible.
Nightshade family I have given the fruit to people who are convinced that they can tell if something is poisonous by if it tastes bitter or it makes their lips swell. Woody nightshade fruit tastes like the after taste of saccharin tablets and doesn't make your lips swell but is undoubtedly not that good for you.
What most people do is start on easy plants and slowy learn more. IMHO there is no quick road and survival taste tests are best left to survival situations not general foraging in known environments.
Well, I am well on the way with my ramsons, I've found masses of the stuff and they are very strong, just the way I like it! The flowers and bulbs will knock your socks off, the young leaves are a bit strong but nice in egg mayo sarnies! I've got two or three seperate surces for hedge garlic aswell, so I'm good for keeping vampires away!
I've ID'ed Ladies Smock, a bit mustardy I thought, and I think I have lesser celandine figured out, if so, the local wood is carpeted in the things. I've never seen a plant cover so much ground in one go! I'm gonna give the bulbs a whirl, I assume they are still good fo eating at this time of year? (Shouldn't really assume, I know!)
I've got nettles and dock leaves to help relieve the inevitable stings, and there are bluebells everywhere, although they are more for the eye! I'm really enjoying starting to build up my knowledge of plant lore, I've got some herbs growing in a window box and my apple mint outside the kitchen door in the shadey part, which is shooting up fast and smelling lovely. I had a mint tea the other night and it was fantastic with a hint of bee poo!
I love this time of year! I'll take my camera with next time out, see what I can do pictures wise!