What can be eaten from wild now?

buspassheaven_Company_Representative

Hi all

I am getting an interest in wild or hedgerow food and have a list of what is available during the months of the year. In April we have listed nettles, Hogweed shoots, Hop shoots, Dandelions, Chickweed amd Hawthorn leaves.

I will try dandelions and nettles over the next week or so (recipes please )
but has anyone tried or can give advice on any of the other things. I live near Warrignton so would I find all the above here.

Thanks for your help in advance

thriftlady_2

Hi brimo,
I used to nibble on hawthorn buds as a child.We called them bread and cheese.My mum says she used to have them in sandwiches.

I've got a recipe which I've been meaning to try for ages.It's from Dorothy Hartley's wonderful book Food In England(1954).She calls it 'spring dinner'.You make a suet pastry and roll it out as if you were making a jam roly poly.Then you cover it with the hawthorn buds.Next you cut a rasher of bacon into small pieces and scatter these over the buds.Wet the edges of the pastry and roll it up tightly,making sure the edges are sealed.Wrap it in a floured cloth and steam for at least an hour.Serve with gravy.

She says 'Like all very simple dishes,it must be made very nicely,seasoned with care,and the crust fine and light,then I think you will be surprised how good it is.'

squeaky

Food for Free by Richard Mabey - ISBN 0-00-718303-8

Is a guide to edible plants and includes recipes for them too. If you don't already have it I'm sure you'll find it a useful addition to your library.

thriftlady_2

Try here too http://forum.rivercottage.net/index.php

Aril

Wild garlic leaves [aka ramsons] are good at the mo. Don't eat once they're in flower. To make a basic nettle soup you fry an onion and the nettles in butter [I also add the garlic]. Add water and loads of freshly grated nutmeg. Boil up and then stir in cream or creme fraiche.
I understand wild garlic is very good in sandwiches with tuna and you can also make nettle beer although I haven't tried either of these. The next big thing on the wild food calendar is the elderberry blossoms next month.
We recently tried sorrell but it was so peppery...the small person loudly voiced his complaint for ages afterwards. I think I shall be leaving that until later in the season!!
Aril

bugs

http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Finding_Food/In_Praise_of_Stinging_Nettles/ should help you with recipes

We also tried it last weekend, replacing spinach to make green pasta. That was very nice and a good starting point if you're afraid you won't like it. Cook it, strip out any stalks/hard bits, chop finely, add it to a pasta dough recipe for green or spinach pasta, and then run through the big rollers on the pasta machine a number of times, this squishes the nettles and gives you an even green colour.

I have nothing good to say about dandelion wine as yet :rotfl:

http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Wild_Food/Top_Ten_Wild_Foods_for_April/

and

http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Wild_Food/Top_Ten_Wild_Foods_in_March/

as you're oop North and things seem rather slow this year anyway.

I know there have been some good threads here on wild foods too - certainly a couple about wild garlic, which would be worth having a search for - although my memory for OS is nothing compared to my memory for DS

One option for people like me who are uncertain about what to pick from the wild would be to try seeding your, or someone else's, garden/lawn with an edible wild seed mix - John Chambers is the brand I have bought before, from RHS Wisley seed shop and more recently from here:

http://www.naturalsurroundings.org.uk/wfsm.htm

they're easy to grow (being a mix of natives) and you'll be able to learn some identification from them without giving yourself a tummy ache from worry. I have tried chickweed, and some cabbage/rocket relatives this year as a result, and violas and dandelion leaves last year.

Ooh and re Food for Free there are several editions from Gem to big picture book, have a good browse before picking on. Roger Phillips Wild Food is very inspiring though not such a good id guide - a good combination might be to get that and a wild flower guide for ID.

susiesue_2

i used to go with my grandad to dig for horseradish to make horseradish sause. cant remeber what it looked like, it was only the root that we used. my Nan grated it to make the sause and it was HOT! still rember it now better than any bought in a shop. it grew wild on the side of the road.

tr3mor

susiesue wrote:

i used to go with my grandad to dig for horseradish to make horseradish sause. cant remeber what it looked like, it was only the root that we used. my Nan grated it to make the sause and it was HOT! still rember it now better than any bought in a shop. it grew wild on the side of the road.

Horseradish looks like a really ugly parsnip :eek:

kittiwoz

St George's Mushrooms. Creamy white with same colour gills, cap 5-15cm, mealy smell, habitat grassy ground such as verges. Don't eat anything without being sure of what it is.

buspassheaven_Company_Representative

Thanks to everyone for the replies so far. Will try some of the above next week. Are the St george's mushrooms out now kittiwoz? Time for a bit of web browsing me thinks !!

kittiwoz

They start to come out around St Georges Day (23rd April) but they're more likley to be seen a week or two afterwards.