Foraging - Natures Food

phizzimum

can anyone tell me what time of year to start looking for wild garlic in the south of England? is it soonish?

TIA

tiff

Its around now, from March I think.

flaire

phizzimum wrote: »

can anyone tell me what time of year to start looking for wild garlic in the south of England? is it soonish?

Ramsons, or wild garlic, are found across Europe in damp woodlands and hedgerows. From April to June they're normally in flower - from Mabey's Food for Free

Pick young leaves and eat raw in a salad - according to Ray Mears.

Roughly - from now onwards!

Also available in April:-

Bistort
Carrageen
Cow Parsley
Dandelion flowers
Fairy-ring champignon
Hawthorn leaves
Hop shoots
Morel
Stinging nettle - ooooh, nettle and potato soup tastes similar to leek and potato...honestly.
Sea beet
St George's mushrooms - don't expect many because Jamie Oliver has had them all to feed Mr Brown's guests at 10 Downing Street last night.
Sweet violet
Tansy leaves

I don't know where I'd be without Mabey and Mears.

Regards.

phizzimum

thanks for such a comprehensive reply!

how many of us are foraging these days? it's something I'd like to get into (must get a copy of Food for Free, I know, I know!)

last year I tried nettles for the first time, and a friend introduced me to hawthorn leaves recently. I wonder what other people's favourites are and how they use them

Ballymackeonan

I've been foraging for the last few years in my local park - I seem to be the only person gathering blackberries there! Last year was a bumper crop - I rinse them, bag and freeze, and use through the winter, had blackberry and apple last night! I've found horse mushrooms in the autumn, and I'm looking forward to wild raspberries this year, since I found some just at the end of their season last year. The place where I found them is in an area that was used for allotments during the war, possibly there will be other goodies "gone native" there as well.

Gigervamp

I've always foraged. When I was little, the whole family, including grandmother, aunts and cousins would go picking blackberries on Mitcham common and my mum and dad used to take my brother and myself to Wimbledon common to gather nuts.
And then of course, there were the times my cousin and I would go scrumping.

tiff

Ballymackeonan wrote: »

I've been foraging for the last few years in my local park - I seem to be the only person gathering blackberries there! Last year was a bumper crop - I rinse them, bag and freeze, and use through the winter, had blackberry and apple last night! I've found horse mushrooms in the autumn, and I'm looking forward to wild raspberries this year, since I found some just at the end of their season last year. The place where I found them is in an area that was used for allotments during the war, possibly there will be other goodies "gone native" there as well.

Opposite where I live was some overgrown land that used to be allotments years ago. Hidden in the overgrowth were some plum trees that I used to pick every year. Sadly there are now houses on that site! You probably will find some goodies there.

I've always foraged for the things I can identify but have increased in the last few years and learned new things. Still wont pick mushrooms but would love to find a giant puffball!

phizzimum

went out yesterday evening on the lookout for wild garlic, but couldn't find any. I'll keep looking and try to think of some other places to go.

did come back with a bag of nettles though. made potato and nettle soup and it was lovely - gave DH half a cup to try, and he went back for seconds so that's a result!

I'm going to make some more for the weekend as we have guests coming. I won't tell them what it is until they've eaten it (or should I casually inquire about allergies first?;))

ceridwen

phizzimum wrote: »

I'm going to make some more for the weekend as we have guests coming. I won't tell them what it is until they've eaten it (or should I casually inquire about allergies first?;))

Well...I just do a catch-all query "Is there anything you cant eat or dont like?" before feeding anyone a meal...that covers all bases for them to mention allergies/dislikes/chosen ways of eating/etc....

geordie_joe

tiff wrote: »

Still wont pick mushrooms but would love to find a giant puffball!

In a Jamie Oliver show, his Italian chef friend said there were over 2,000 species of mushrooms in the UK, and only two will kill you. There are also a small number that may make you ill if you eat them raw.

Why not take a camera with you next time and photograph any mushrooms you see. Later you can try to identify them and if they are safe to eat. Identifying what is growing in your area has got to be easier than trying to learn them all before you go out.

I would start by learning just one type, and only picking that type until I was confident and ready to add another one to my list.