wildman
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give the apparent lack of food in the shops more people may be foraging than usual so I'll post my foraging guide for the month ahead, usually found on my FB page.
Wild food in April updated 2020
Medical Disclaimer
I am not a doctor or medical professional. The information given Is from many unverified sources. Please carry out your own checks.
Information given is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any
Disease. Statements do not claim to have been evaluated by any
Medical body anywhere in the world. If you are pregnant, nursing
Taking medication, or have a medical condition please consult a Doctor first
These notes are for foraging in the Northern hemisphere based on plants found in the UK most are common and widespread across Europe and the Americas. The southern Hemisphere has different seasons and different weather so some plants may never be seen. However additions are welcomed if someone has the time to add further notes in the comments, I shall then add them in a section at the end for inclusion next year.
Legal and moral notes. In some countries there are laws that ban foraging, al land is owned by someone remember to get the land owners permission. Do not collect more than you need or strip entire plants, a leaf hear and another there works just as well. Do not pick what you are not 100% sure of. Remember to leave some for the wildlife and also enough to regenerate next year. Enjoy the exercise.
Alexanders
Recipes for Alexanders
Here are just a few ways to prepare this wild food.
Fresh stems, flowers and leaves
To enjoy these as a fresh vegetable – similar to asparagus – try peeling the stems and boiling them for five to ten minutes, or until tender. Do the same with unripe flower heads, or eat them raw.
Larger leaves can be blanched briefly, while younger ones can be eaten raw.
Candied stems
You can also candy stems like angelica, to use for decorating cakes or to eat as a sweet snack. First, boil the peeled stems in a pan of water and sugar (one cup of each) for 10 minutes. Then drain and lay them on a non-stick parchment that has been covered with caster sugar, and sprinkle some more on top. When they’re dry, shake off the excess sugar and store in a sealed, dry container.
Tempura flower heads
Both the ripe and unripe flower heads can be dipped in tempura batter and deep fried until golden, Japanese style.
Spicy seeds
The hard black seeds appear later in the year and can be used as a spice, much like black pepper.
Roasted roots
Scrub, peel and slice the roots – much like you would with parsnips – toss them in sunflower oil, season, then roast at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes or so, until tender.
Ramsons
wild garlic still about and just planted some bulbs I hope they spread. Ramsons (also called wild bear leek) are similar to ramps, but they originate from northern Eurasia. They have been eaten by peoples of the region since Mesolithic times, and they are an important food for wild animals, such as boar and bear.
Unlike ramps, the showy clusters of white flowers bloom when the plants are in full foliage, making ramsons even better candidates for ornamental woodland gardens. The plants are more variable in height, reaching between 4 to 18 inches, and their large clusters of white, starry flowers are very showy. Foliage first appears in early- to mid-spring and flowers reach full bloom by late spring. Fabulous on a cheese sandwich, in a salad, stew, or bread the uses are endless
Three-cornered leek
Dandelion flowers
Dandelion leaves great for salad, flowers for wine and root for erzats coffee.
Stinging Nettle - Great veg in a soup, make excellent wine and beer as well
Bramble Shoots
Beech leaves eaten in a salad, pick young leaves, masts are edible when ripe but don’t eat too many.
Daisy leaf - Expectorant and anti-inflamatory young leaves can be eaten in a salad
Gorse flower
gorse wine 1 gall (4.5Ltr) flowers
3lb (1.5kg) sugar
2 lemons
1 orange
7 pints (4ltr) water
1 Teaspoon of grape tannin
yeast and nutrient
Primrose - Flowers are edible and can be candied but prefer to see them
Bistort - Young leaves used in a salad or cooked like spinach, it also makes an astringent tonic, and anti-inflamatory
Carrageen
Cow Parsley - Also known as hogweed, hyposensitive leaves and rhizomes, in the past used as a sedative and aphrodisiac ale was also made from leaves and stems
Fairy-ring Champignon
Hawthorn leaves - Antidiarrhoeic, flowers are a cardiotonic and sedative
Hop Shoots
Morel - One of the easier to identify mushrooms shown below
Sea Beet
St George's mushroom
Sweet violet
Tansy leaves - For many years, tansy has been used as a medicinal herb despite its toxicity. 19th-century Irish folklore suggests bathing in a solution of tansy and salt as a cure for joint pain.[13] A bitter tea made with tansy flowers has been used for centuries as an anthelmintic to treat parasitic worm infestations, and tansy cakes were traditionally eaten during Lent because it was believed that eating fish during Lent caused intestinal worms.[12] Various Tanacetum species are used ethnomedically to treat migraine, neuralgia and rheumatism and as anthelmintics. Traditionally, tansy was often used for its emmenagogue effects to bring on menstruation or end an unwanted pregnancy, and pregnant women are advised to not use this herb.[31] Research published in 2011 identified 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (3,5-DCQA) and axillarin in tansy as antiviral compounds that are active against herpes simplex virus.
Greater Plantain - Broadleaf plantain is also a highly nutritious wild edible, that is high in calcium and vitamins A, C, and K. The young, tender leaves can be eaten raw, and the older, stringier leaves can be boiled in stews and eaten.
Ribwort Plantain the same as above
Sea Radish
Pennywort
Never eat anything you are unsure of.
Wild food in April updated 2020
Medical Disclaimer
I am not a doctor or medical professional. The information given Is from many unverified sources. Please carry out your own checks.
Information given is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any
Disease. Statements do not claim to have been evaluated by any
Medical body anywhere in the world. If you are pregnant, nursing
Taking medication, or have a medical condition please consult a Doctor first
These notes are for foraging in the Northern hemisphere based on plants found in the UK most are common and widespread across Europe and the Americas. The southern Hemisphere has different seasons and different weather so some plants may never be seen. However additions are welcomed if someone has the time to add further notes in the comments, I shall then add them in a section at the end for inclusion next year.
Legal and moral notes. In some countries there are laws that ban foraging, al land is owned by someone remember to get the land owners permission. Do not collect more than you need or strip entire plants, a leaf hear and another there works just as well. Do not pick what you are not 100% sure of. Remember to leave some for the wildlife and also enough to regenerate next year. Enjoy the exercise.
Alexanders
Recipes for Alexanders
Here are just a few ways to prepare this wild food.
Fresh stems, flowers and leaves
To enjoy these as a fresh vegetable – similar to asparagus – try peeling the stems and boiling them for five to ten minutes, or until tender. Do the same with unripe flower heads, or eat them raw.
Larger leaves can be blanched briefly, while younger ones can be eaten raw.
Candied stems
You can also candy stems like angelica, to use for decorating cakes or to eat as a sweet snack. First, boil the peeled stems in a pan of water and sugar (one cup of each) for 10 minutes. Then drain and lay them on a non-stick parchment that has been covered with caster sugar, and sprinkle some more on top. When they’re dry, shake off the excess sugar and store in a sealed, dry container.
Tempura flower heads
Both the ripe and unripe flower heads can be dipped in tempura batter and deep fried until golden, Japanese style.
Spicy seeds
The hard black seeds appear later in the year and can be used as a spice, much like black pepper.
Roasted roots
Scrub, peel and slice the roots – much like you would with parsnips – toss them in sunflower oil, season, then roast at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes or so, until tender.
Ramsons
wild garlic still about and just planted some bulbs I hope they spread. Ramsons (also called wild bear leek) are similar to ramps, but they originate from northern Eurasia. They have been eaten by peoples of the region since Mesolithic times, and they are an important food for wild animals, such as boar and bear.
Unlike ramps, the showy clusters of white flowers bloom when the plants are in full foliage, making ramsons even better candidates for ornamental woodland gardens. The plants are more variable in height, reaching between 4 to 18 inches, and their large clusters of white, starry flowers are very showy. Foliage first appears in early- to mid-spring and flowers reach full bloom by late spring. Fabulous on a cheese sandwich, in a salad, stew, or bread the uses are endless
Three-cornered leek
Dandelion flowers
Dandelion leaves great for salad, flowers for wine and root for erzats coffee.
Stinging Nettle - Great veg in a soup, make excellent wine and beer as well
Bramble Shoots
Beech leaves eaten in a salad, pick young leaves, masts are edible when ripe but don’t eat too many.
Daisy leaf - Expectorant and anti-inflamatory young leaves can be eaten in a salad
Gorse flower
gorse wine 1 gall (4.5Ltr) flowers
3lb (1.5kg) sugar
2 lemons
1 orange
7 pints (4ltr) water
1 Teaspoon of grape tannin
yeast and nutrient
Primrose - Flowers are edible and can be candied but prefer to see them
Bistort - Young leaves used in a salad or cooked like spinach, it also makes an astringent tonic, and anti-inflamatory
Carrageen
Cow Parsley - Also known as hogweed, hyposensitive leaves and rhizomes, in the past used as a sedative and aphrodisiac ale was also made from leaves and stems
Fairy-ring Champignon
Hawthorn leaves - Antidiarrhoeic, flowers are a cardiotonic and sedative
Hop Shoots
Morel - One of the easier to identify mushrooms shown below
Sea Beet
St George's mushroom
Sweet violet
Tansy leaves - For many years, tansy has been used as a medicinal herb despite its toxicity. 19th-century Irish folklore suggests bathing in a solution of tansy and salt as a cure for joint pain.[13] A bitter tea made with tansy flowers has been used for centuries as an anthelmintic to treat parasitic worm infestations, and tansy cakes were traditionally eaten during Lent because it was believed that eating fish during Lent caused intestinal worms.[12] Various Tanacetum species are used ethnomedically to treat migraine, neuralgia and rheumatism and as anthelmintics. Traditionally, tansy was often used for its emmenagogue effects to bring on menstruation or end an unwanted pregnancy, and pregnant women are advised to not use this herb.[31] Research published in 2011 identified 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid (3,5-DCQA) and axillarin in tansy as antiviral compounds that are active against herpes simplex virus.
Greater Plantain - Broadleaf plantain is also a highly nutritious wild edible, that is high in calcium and vitamins A, C, and K. The young, tender leaves can be eaten raw, and the older, stringier leaves can be boiled in stews and eaten.
Ribwort Plantain the same as above
Sea Radish
Pennywort
Never eat anything you are unsure of.
) then we make soup, green pesto which freezes lovely and use the ransom leaves and flowers on salad, I have some pictures somewhere of the ransom, it is a large area of it and no evidence that anyone else picks it
