A few rules first of all:
- If you have asthma or are allergic to flowers, don't try the pollen or flower recipes before as you might have a reaction. even if you don't have allergies, only eat in small quantities just in case, as your system won't be used to flowers.
- If in doubt, don't eat-many edible plants copy the way a poisonous plant looks to help it survive, just like animals do. If you are thinking of picking mushrooms, don't unless you really know what you're doing or have an expert with you!
- Only gather from clean, unsprayed areas-you don't want to end up eating slurry or pesticides!
- Wash everything thoroughly so you don't end up eating dirt or anything that decided to make it's home in the plant.
- Never strip a plant bare-take a few leaves, flowers or whatever and move on to a fresh patch. This gives the plants a chance to recover, survive and propagate.
- If collecting from private land always ask the landowner's permission first, otherwise you run the risk of an angry farmer chasing you with a shotgun!
I want to start off with a few quick plants first. Some of them you will know if you were ever camping, others you may be less familiar with. Beech trees produce soft, tender leaves at the end of Spring, early Summer. These can be eaten raw or brewed into a bitter gin, the recipe for which is below (I also have a recipe for nettle beer, elderflower drinks and daisy wine too further on). The nuts can also be eaten raw.
The following recipe is taken from http://scarlet-pippin.blogspot.com-
It's probably best to rinse and spin the leaves in a salad spinner, then take a large glass jar or pudding bowl and start to lay the leaves down flat. Fill it up most of the way to the top and then press down with your palms (firmly but gently). Pour over the gin until the leaves are quite covered. Then cover with greaseproof paper and weight down (don't use metal wights, they'll tarnish). Put in a dark place and leave for a few weeks. Then warm very gently (not above a temperature you could comfortably dip your finger in) until all the sugar has dissolved. Let to cool, pour into a clean bottle or jar and there you are.
The clover that is common in every lawn is also edible-you can toss the leaves in a salad while the flower heads are rich in protein, potassium and vitamin c. They are bitter and hard to digest when eaten raw so they are better boiled. The roots can also be eaten but it is best to boil them first. Alternatively you can pick a few flower heads, steep them in a cup of boiling water for 5 minutes and enjoy some tea, sweetened with honey if you like.
Acorns are also edible, but they need to shelled and boiled a few times as they will taste very bitter otherwise. They can be ground down to make acorn flower also. Wild grasses can also be turned into flower, as can pine nuts. To release the pine nuts from the cone, roast them lightly. The needles of the pine tree can be boiled and steeped to make a tea.
Cattails (also called bulrushes) are commonly found in marshes and along streams. The roots and heads can be eaten-peeling back the top layer of the roots reveals the tender white bits underneath, which can fried like onions or boiled. In spring you can boil the young, green heads for 15 minutes, top with butter and whatever else you fancy and eat just like corn on the cob. Another use for them is cattail pollen biscuits-below is a simple recipe.
- 1/2 - cup cattail pollen
- 1 3/4 - cups flour
- 3 tsp - baking powder
- 1 tsp - salt
- 4 tbsp - butter
- 3/4 - cup milk
If any of you have read the Hunger Games series, you'll remember the lead character, Katniss, is named after an edible water plant that her father was fond of. That plant is better known as the arrowhead because of its distinctive leaves. It grows in water and marshy ground and, just like it says in the book, the roots can be treated just like potatoes. Another recipe I found is care of No-Frills recipes-arrowhead, leeks and roast pork stir fry.
Recipe for Arrow head, leeks and roast pork stir-fry
Ingredients
- 350 gm arrowheads - smashed with the back of the chopper.
- 150 gm roast pork
- 2 Chinese leeks - sliced
- 3.1/2 cups water
- 1.1/2 tsp cornflour + 2 tsp water
- Salt, sugar and light soya sauce to taste
- Heat up some oil in a wok, toss in the roast pork, stir-fry for a while.
- Add in the smashed arrowheads, stir-fry, add in the water and let it cook.
- Once the arrowheads are soft and cooked (you may need to add in more water as arrow heads tend to absorb a lot of water), toss in the cut-up leeks.
- Fine tune to taste and add in the cornflour mixture.
- Dish onto serving plate. Serve hot with white rice.
One of my favourites is the dandelion. Most people see it as simply a weed but its actually a great little plant as every part of it can be used for something-the roots, leaves and flower heads can be eaten while the milky stem can be used for medicinal purposes. The plant contains high amounts of vitamins A, B and C, contains more beta-carotine than carrots, more potassium than spinach, not to mention loads of iron and copper. They have been used traditionally in treatments for kidney problems, to strengthen the liver, pancreas, gallbladder, stomach, spleen, intestines and immune system. The milk from the stems can be applied to bee stings and sores to relieve the pain, while daily application gets rid of warts, acne and calluses. Diluted, the milk can also be applied to the outside of the eyes to relieve soreness and tiredness. For women who suffer from recurring kidney infections, a cup of dandelion tea taken daily will relieve the symptoms. Simply boil and steep the leaves to make the tea, and add some honey as it can be bitter the more mature the leaves are-use the tender young leaves if you can. The leaves have a mild laxative effect and are also a great natural diuretic. Although the bane of most gardeners' lives, they are also useful there. Mixed in with compost, they add nutrition and help organic matter to break down. This because they emit ethylene which helps other plants to mature faster, although it does stunt their growth. The release of ethylene along with the fact that pollinating insects love them make dandelions a great companion plant for fruits and vegetables. The one thing to remember about dandelions is that they grow on a single stem, about 12 cm high, that comes out of a rosette of leaves above the central taproot. If you see a plant with many dandelion-like flowers on a single stem, it's a poisonous lookalike. There are many recipes that use dandelions, the one I included here is for cream of dandelion soup.
Dandelion Soup
- 4 cups chopped dandelion leaves
- 2 cups dandelion flower petals
- 2 cups dandelion flower buds
- 1 tbsp butter/olive oil
- 1 cup chopped wild garlic (use onions if there isn't any around)
- 6 cloves ordinary garlic, minced
- 4 cups water
- 2 cups cream
- 2 tsp salt
Gently boil dandelion leaves in six cups of water. Pour off the bitter water, boil and pour off the water again. By blanching the leaves, you get rid of the bitterness that you often get in mature leaves. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, sauté he wold garlic and garlic in butter/olive oil until tender. Add 4 cups of water, add the dandelion leaves, flower petals, buds and salt. Simmer gently for around 45 minutes, add some cream and simmer a few minutes more. Garnish with some flower petals and enjoy!
On to nettles-okay, I know they aren't the most pleasant of plants to deal with and I bet the thought of consuming them isn't one that fills you all with joy. I myself detest them as a plant ever since I fell into a patch of them when I small and got burnt to bits in the field behind my grandda's house. Ouch to say the least. They are, as with everything else on this page, highly nutritious and benefical. Its a rich source of iron and is basically a living multi-vitamin.It was used to make clothes because the fibres were so tough, and it was used in cures for everyday ailments like coughs and colds, to relieve arthritis, tonics for women to help during menstruation, especially for young womeen just starting and older women going through menopause. It is a good idea to eat nettles if you are breastfeeding as it makes the milk richer and stimulates its production. Nettles also detoxify the body, increase testosterone levels in men and contains natural antihistamines which means it's good for allergies. While it is a natural diuretic, it also contains compounds that reduce the urgency to use the facilities during the night-now that's handy! As always, a (gloved) handful of young leaves in a cup and add boiling water.
Nettle Soup
Ingredients
2 medium onions, chopped
olive oil
2 medium potatos, peeled and chopped
bunch of nettle tops
500ml vegetable stock
nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
Fry the onions gently gently in a little oil until soft, then add the potatos. Add the nettle tops and toss them all together, then pour the stock in and and bring to the boil, leaving to simmer until the potatoes are nice and soft. Blend until the mixture is smooth then add salt and pepper with a little nutmeg. Bring to the boil again and serve.
Nettle Beer
Ingredients
half a bucket of nettles
12 litres of boiling water
1.5 kg sugar
50g cream of tartar
15g yeast
Rinse the nettles and , put them in a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat a bit and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the nettle juice into a big container, measure and add boiling water until you have 12 litres. Add the sugar and cream of tartar, stir well to mix. Leave it cool to body temperature and add the yeast. Stir well, cover with a clean cloth and leave for about 3 days. This gives you a yield of 12 bottles, which you can siphon off from the liquid in the bottom of the container, so you won't be getting the scum from the top. To do this, place the container on a table, put a tube into the container towards the bottom and suck on the other end until the beer comes out. Stick the tube into your bottles and start filling up the bottles. Cork them once filled and leave for a few weeks. When you drink them, they'll be a bit fizzy.
Lastly, I want to talk about elderflowers and elderberries. The elder tree produces flowers in the spring which aree useful, and berries in the autumn, again very useful. The harvests can be used for condiments, drinks and ointments. Elderflowers were traditionally used to purify the blood and detox the body. They were also used to treat flus and get rid of chest mucus. Skin ointments were made out of the blossoms to reduce blemishes and many modern day ointments still contain elderflower. The blossoms were also used medicinally to treat asthma. The berries were used traditionally to give the immune system a boost, as well as treating arthritis, constipation and improve heart health. As recently as 1995, elderberry juice was used to treat a flu epidemic in Panama. So, a few recipes, including medicinal ones:
Elderflower Ointment
Rest an empty bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, add 125g Vaseline and 4 cups elderflowers, removed from the thick stems. Allow the Vaseline to melt fully. The elderflower will break down in the heat to be absorbed by the Vaseline. Leave the bowl sitting over the heat for 30 minutes and then remove. Strain through some muslin into small little pots, I use the ones you get for going on holidays to put lotions into, the type you get in Dunnes and Heatons, or even just save your tiny pots of moisturizer and lip balm when they are empty-pocket friendly and you're helping the environment! This stuff is great for chapped hands and, if you are of a farming pursuit, greasing and softening the teats and udders of cows.
Elderflower Skin Lotion
Pick enough blossoms to fill two cups and stick in a bowl. Cover with 500ml boiling water, set aside for an hour and strain to make elderflower water-basically the same principle as making tea. Discard the flowers, add 125ml witch-hazel and bottle the liquid. You can store this stuff in the fridge for a month and its great for the face.
Elderberry Tonic
Elderberries are at their best during late summer, early autumn. Pick a load of them, wash them thoroughly and get rid of any rotten or split berries, and any that look like they might have been nibbled on by something. Put them in a saucepan and fill it with water til they are just covered, then bring the water to the boil. Leave it to simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes, adding water as it evaporates to keep the berries covered. Once it's done, leave to cool and then mash. You need to strain the mixture and get as much liquid out as you ca. Measure out the amount of liquid you have into a clean saucepan and for every cup of liquid, add a cup of sugar. Bring to the boil again, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar is gone, then leave for five minutes more and remove from the heat. Once cool, pour into some clean bottles and label them. When taking this stuff it's best in a cup of hot water, like Ribena. Add about a tablespoon and drink daily as a tonic or just take whenever you have a cold, sniffle, otherwise.
There you have it-an introduction to foraging! There is a load of stuff out there you can eat-honeysuckle, rosehips, the roses themselves, lavender, bilberries, seaweed... and there are guidebooks with pictures out there. Again, just be careful with identification as some plants have clever body-doubles. Some good websites I found with some useful information are http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/benefits-of/nettles-leaf and http://wildandslow.com/food-templates/ it has pdfs you can download about some commonly found wild foods. There are some good sites out there, they just take some time to find.
On to nettles-okay, I know they aren't the most pleasant of plants to deal with and I bet the thought of consuming them isn't one that fills you all with joy. I myself detest them as a plant ever since I fell into a patch of them when I small and got burnt to bits in the field behind my grandda's house. Ouch to say the least. They are, as with everything else on this page, highly nutritious and benefical. Its a rich source of iron and is basically a living multi-vitamin.It was used to make clothes because the fibres were so tough, and it was used in cures for everyday ailments like coughs and colds, to relieve arthritis, tonics for women to help during menstruation, especially for young womeen just starting and older women going through menopause. It is a good idea to eat nettles if you are breastfeeding as it makes the milk richer and stimulates its production. Nettles also detoxify the body, increase testosterone levels in men and contains natural antihistamines which means it's good for allergies. While it is a natural diuretic, it also contains compounds that reduce the urgency to use the facilities during the night-now that's handy! As always, a (gloved) handful of young leaves in a cup and add boiling water.
Nettle Soup
Ingredients
2 medium onions, chopped
olive oil
2 medium potatos, peeled and chopped
bunch of nettle tops
500ml vegetable stock
nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
Fry the onions gently gently in a little oil until soft, then add the potatos. Add the nettle tops and toss them all together, then pour the stock in and and bring to the boil, leaving to simmer until the potatoes are nice and soft. Blend until the mixture is smooth then add salt and pepper with a little nutmeg. Bring to the boil again and serve.
Nettle Beer
Ingredients
half a bucket of nettles
12 litres of boiling water
1.5 kg sugar
50g cream of tartar
15g yeast
Rinse the nettles and , put them in a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat a bit and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Strain the nettle juice into a big container, measure and add boiling water until you have 12 litres. Add the sugar and cream of tartar, stir well to mix. Leave it cool to body temperature and add the yeast. Stir well, cover with a clean cloth and leave for about 3 days. This gives you a yield of 12 bottles, which you can siphon off from the liquid in the bottom of the container, so you won't be getting the scum from the top. To do this, place the container on a table, put a tube into the container towards the bottom and suck on the other end until the beer comes out. Stick the tube into your bottles and start filling up the bottles. Cork them once filled and leave for a few weeks. When you drink them, they'll be a bit fizzy.
Lastly, I want to talk about elderflowers and elderberries. The elder tree produces flowers in the spring which aree useful, and berries in the autumn, again very useful. The harvests can be used for condiments, drinks and ointments. Elderflowers were traditionally used to purify the blood and detox the body. They were also used to treat flus and get rid of chest mucus. Skin ointments were made out of the blossoms to reduce blemishes and many modern day ointments still contain elderflower. The blossoms were also used medicinally to treat asthma. The berries were used traditionally to give the immune system a boost, as well as treating arthritis, constipation and improve heart health. As recently as 1995, elderberry juice was used to treat a flu epidemic in Panama. So, a few recipes, including medicinal ones:
Elderflower Ointment
Rest an empty bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, add 125g Vaseline and 4 cups elderflowers, removed from the thick stems. Allow the Vaseline to melt fully. The elderflower will break down in the heat to be absorbed by the Vaseline. Leave the bowl sitting over the heat for 30 minutes and then remove. Strain through some muslin into small little pots, I use the ones you get for going on holidays to put lotions into, the type you get in Dunnes and Heatons, or even just save your tiny pots of moisturizer and lip balm when they are empty-pocket friendly and you're helping the environment! This stuff is great for chapped hands and, if you are of a farming pursuit, greasing and softening the teats and udders of cows.
Elderflower Skin Lotion
Pick enough blossoms to fill two cups and stick in a bowl. Cover with 500ml boiling water, set aside for an hour and strain to make elderflower water-basically the same principle as making tea. Discard the flowers, add 125ml witch-hazel and bottle the liquid. You can store this stuff in the fridge for a month and its great for the face.
Elderberry Tonic
Elderberries are at their best during late summer, early autumn. Pick a load of them, wash them thoroughly and get rid of any rotten or split berries, and any that look like they might have been nibbled on by something. Put them in a saucepan and fill it with water til they are just covered, then bring the water to the boil. Leave it to simmer with the lid on for about 30 minutes, adding water as it evaporates to keep the berries covered. Once it's done, leave to cool and then mash. You need to strain the mixture and get as much liquid out as you ca. Measure out the amount of liquid you have into a clean saucepan and for every cup of liquid, add a cup of sugar. Bring to the boil again, constantly stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar is gone, then leave for five minutes more and remove from the heat. Once cool, pour into some clean bottles and label them. When taking this stuff it's best in a cup of hot water, like Ribena. Add about a tablespoon and drink daily as a tonic or just take whenever you have a cold, sniffle, otherwise.
There you have it-an introduction to foraging! There is a load of stuff out there you can eat-honeysuckle, rosehips, the roses themselves, lavender, bilberries, seaweed... and there are guidebooks with pictures out there. Again, just be careful with identification as some plants have clever body-doubles. Some good websites I found with some useful information are http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/benefits-of/nettles-leaf and http://wildandslow.com/food-templates/ it has pdfs you can download about some commonly found wild foods. There are some good sites out there, they just take some time to find.
