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Post by bogmyrtle on Jan 28, 2009 12:34:58 GMT 1
'The Gathering Year' In this thread, I will point out things that can be gathered from the countryside that you can eat, make drinks from, etc. It will be seasonal not monthly because nature does not follow the calendar as we do! We will be growing some of the things in our garden so we can try out recipes and we will be able to pass on any tips we can to you. A number of points to remember - a) Positively identify things before you gather and try them. You can be allergic to food from the wild as you can from the store! b) Please do not gather more than you need for your use - if you strip an area bare, how will you gather from there next year? c) Revisit an area to see how the seasons change and gather other things from the same area. Keep a small notebook to remind you of what is where and when. Well, it will soon be springtime and what a lot we have to look forward to. |
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Post by bogmyrtle on Jan 28, 2009 13:48:00 GMT 1
Where to gather? Common sense really - you don't want things from beside a main road so try to choose a quiet country lane or a hedgerow beside a marked path. Do not pick anything too low down if a lot of people use the path and walk their dogs along there - think dog height!  If it is at the side of a field, check to see if the farmer has used any pesticides - look for residue on the leaves and also wilting leaves. Do not pick these. Please do not trespass into fields, it may be a weed to some but it is still on their land. Treat the land and the owner with respect, the way you would like to be treated yourself. |
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Post by maggyd on Jan 28, 2009 16:45:15 GMT 1
O.K. Myrtle but what should we be looking for I suppose it would be too much trouble to put a couple of pics on to show us although I do have a book of wild plants so maybe names would do!
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Post by bogmyrtle on Jan 29, 2009 9:17:57 GMT 1
O.K. Myrtle but what should we be looking for I suppose it would be too much trouble to put a couple of pics on to show us although I do have a book of wild plants so maybe names would do! Not too much trouble at all maggy. What I intend to do is post information about what to gather, key idents, where you are likely to find it and a photograph to help. The photograph may be one of our own but more likely (because I know how dreadful my photographs are!) from a couple of sites we know and use. If there are any recipes we have or can find I will post those as well. We have done a few courses now and have taken our notes and expanded them and these in the main are what I will be using supplemented with other info. |
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Post by maggyd on Jan 29, 2009 16:20:49 GMT 1
I think this is going to be a very interesting project B.M Im looking forward to it  Out for Nought is what the Yorkshire folk say!  I know that should be naught but it doesnt read the same. |
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Post by sherrilyn on Mar 4, 2009 20:52:55 GMT 1
Hi Bogmyrtle,
Is it ok if I post a piece about Morel mushrooms as they are just coming into season.Didn,t want to do it without permission:-)
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Post by Sleepy on Mar 4, 2009 21:59:36 GMT 1
Hi Bogmyrtle, Is it ok if I post a piece about Morel mushrooms as they are just coming into season.Didn,t want to do it without permission:-) Go for it Sherrilyn. Bogmyrtle won't mind at all. |
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Post by bogmyrtle on Mar 5, 2009 19:30:00 GMT 1
Hi Bogmyrtle, Is it ok if I post a piece about Morel mushrooms as they are just coming into season.Didn,t want to do it without permission:-) Sleepy's right, Sherrilyn, I don't mind at all, you are very welcome to post anything on here. I look forward to your postings. I've never found any morels and look forward to any help you can offer. HFW found some didn't he - growing in someone's rose bed! From the pictures, it's one of those that I hope, once I find them, I will 'have my eye in' so to speak! |
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Post by bogmyrtle on Mar 28, 2009 20:44:56 GMT 1
You may have noticed one or two things starting to sprout now and one of our favourites is NETTLES - I kid you not! They contain vitamins and an anti-histamine. Nettle soup is delicious and freezes very well. You need to gather the top four or so leaves only. HFW has a good recipe on his website: www.rivercottage.net/SeasonalRecipes~March/67/NettleSoup.aspx I have tried it using fish stock but personally prefer veg stock. Nettle beer is also very good! There is a thread on nettles on here for more info. RANSOMS - wild garlic - if you are lucky like we have been, where we gather our nettles from there is also a plentiful supply of ransoms, so use them in the soup! They like wet areas and smell strongly of garlic when crushed. They are invasive if you are thinking of growing them in your own garden (buy the plants please don't pick from the wild!). You will also smell the garlic as you come across them. The bulbs are milder, but the leaves and the flower buds can be used. Here's a suggestion, gather the seeds, dry them and then put some in you pepper mill - garlic pepper! www.british-wild-flowers.co.uk/R-Flowers/Ramsons.htm JACK BY THE HEDGE - garlic mustard, is much milder. Kidney, heart shaped leaf with deep veins. WOOD SORREL - this appears in woods, is a 'trefoil' and is pure green all over the leaf (unlike clover which has a white v marking on the leaf). Another key ident is the pink flush on the stem. They can be used in salads and have a lovely sharp apple taste. The leaves close up at dusk. www.forestharvest.org.uk/species.php?name=Wood%20sorrel HAWTHORN - you can eat the tips of the new growth in spring - nibble as you go past a bush! STITCHWORT - long needle like leaves, they have 5 petals but because they have a very deep indent it looks as though there are 10 - you can see this in the photograph on the right. (Wort is the Saxon word for worthy). These are rich in calcium and can be eaten in a spring salad. www.british-wild-flowers.co.uk/S-Flowers/Stitchwort,%20Greater.htm There are more to follow! |
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Post by maggyd on Mar 28, 2009 21:04:16 GMT 1
The wood sorrel trefoil has it a deep pink flower myrtle? wy I ask is I think I have a couple of plants that I put in one in the front and another in my chimney pot! Ill have to look it up I must ave kept a record somewhere but it certainly looks like it!.
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Post by bogmyrtle on Mar 28, 2009 21:06:48 GMT 1
The wood sorrel trefoil has it a deep pink flower myrtle? wy I ask is I think I have a couple of plants that I put in one in the front and another in my chimney pot! Ill have to look it up I must ave kept a record somewhere but it certainly looks like it!. ,%20Wood.htm Anything like these? |
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Post by maggyd on Mar 28, 2009 21:10:19 GMT 1
Well the shape of the leaf is but the flowers are cerise pink and the leaves have a pinkish line half way down the same shape as the leaf.  |
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Post by bogmyrtle on Mar 28, 2009 21:15:14 GMT 1
Well the shape of the leaf is but the flowers are cerise pink and the leaves have a pinkish line half way down the same shape as the leaf. I wouldn't eat them then - but I always err on the side of caution and like to positively id things! There are no markings on the wood sorrel leaf but at the base of the stem there is a pinkish blush. It sounds as though they could be related though but a different strain. See if you can find the label though. |
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Post by maggyd on Mar 28, 2009 21:29:26 GMT 1
 :  I am sick sick sick of writing replies and them dissapearing!! Web page too busy!!!!!! Ill try again I planted bulbs B.M. little things smaller than crocus! Ill see if I an find the instructions in the greenhouse.
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Post by bogmyrtle on Apr 12, 2009 16:00:18 GMT 1
Nettle soup in the pot:  The finished soup:  Usual standard of photographs The nettle beer (8 litres of it!) is in the fermenting bucket - piccies soon! |
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Post by emseypop on Apr 12, 2009 16:25:24 GMT 1
That looks lovely, What does it taste like? It looks like a nice aspargus soup  |
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Post by bogmyrtle on Apr 12, 2009 16:36:22 GMT 1
That looks lovely, What does it taste like? It looks like a nice aspargus soup Well, it's like any green veg soup really, very slightly sweet which you don't expect and tasty. The colour of it is really rich. It freezes well. Normally I put a swirl of cream and snip some chives into it to serve. I've only used potatoes as a thickener. |
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Post by maggyd on Apr 12, 2009 17:00:30 GMT 1
 Mmm not sure B.M  I think that would quicken my step to the Ladies Room looks very GREEN though!! what are the properties?? what is it good for? will it get rid of wrinkles??
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Post by maggyd on Apr 12, 2009 17:05:08 GMT 1
The wood sorrel trefoil has it a deep pink flower myrtle? wy I ask is I think I have a couple of plants that I put in one in the front and another in my chimney pot! Ill have to look it up I must ave kept a record somewhere but it certainly looks like it!. JUst looked this one up B.M it is OXALIS four leaved clover but he flowers are flat not what you would think of as clover. |
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Post by emseypop on Apr 15, 2009 18:10:56 GMT 1
Myrtle I thought of you yesterday, there was a lady in the daily mail, who was so sick of her organic garden being over populated by snails, she started eating them, they printed her recipe. Would you ever eat them? Are they (or any other creatures)part of you bushcraft/gathering interests? I don't think i could eat snails, OH has tried them, said they were 'alright'
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Post by ladygardener on Apr 15, 2009 20:12:02 GMT 1
I've eaten snails with garlic and they were lovely. We bought them 'tho, did'nt go out and get them from the garden. I think maybe they're a special type. |
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Post by bogmyrtle on Apr 15, 2009 20:35:53 GMT 1
Mmm not sure B.M I think that would quicken my step to the Ladies Room looks very GREEN though!! what are the properties?? what is it good for? will it get rid of wrinkles?? Vitamins A & C, and a natural histamine, so they can help if you have hay fever. It is worth trying nettle tea, it works for some people but not others. When we went out walking, we saw some examples of plants and I didn't have the camera - even hubby commented! If I go this weekend Maggy, I will take it because there were some lovely wood sorrel plants in flower. |
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Post by bogmyrtle on Apr 15, 2009 20:46:37 GMT 1
Myrtle I thought of you yesterday, there was a lady in the daily mail, who was so sick of her organic garden being over populated by snails, she started eating them, they printed her recipe. Would you ever eat them? Are they (or any other creatures)part of you bushcraft/gathering interests? I don't think i could eat snails, OH has tried them, said they were 'alright' I've tried bought ones with garlic like LG, but I wasn't keen - partly knowing what they were I think. You can eat them from the garden but they have to be purged I think because of what they eat. Hubby did gather some to try but they escaped Creatures as part of our bushcraft, well. If you had said to me 10 years ago that I would be skinning and gutting rabbits, etc, I would have laughed but I do. I have eaten squirrel - grey ones - and I have eaten locusts, much to hubby amazement with this one. There was a sign offering a free lunch at the bushcraft gathering, so I said let's try them (hubby has in the past - jungle and all that!). I didn't realise they were alive and we had to kill them first! My niece took off across the field meaning I couldn't. Squirrel - not a lot of meat on them, dark chicken really but perhaps a more gamey texture if that makes sense. Locusts - tiny, crunchy prawns - you eat them with shell on. They are of the same family as shellfish so don't try them if you have an allergy to shellfish. If it was survival, would you eat it and my answer is yes and it is hard to find a lot of protein in your diet out there if you don't eat meat, poultry, fish, etc. |
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Post by emseypop on Apr 16, 2009 8:15:44 GMT 1
Ohh Myrtle, your so brave, who knows what we'd do if our life depended on it. I have tried rabbit, thats about as exotic as it gets, loads of people always ask if I'd eat the hens! I must say after a year of TLC they do look plump and delicious But no, not unless my life depended on it, and then someone else would have to gut it etc! |
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Post by maggyd on Apr 16, 2009 15:28:05 GMT 1
I have been to a game evening a few years ago at a country pub we used to visit and everything was delicious we had saucer size plates of pidgeon, pheasant,rabbit, oh lots I cant even remember I have No problem with eating things its the preparation!! I have a problem cutting up liver . Its silly isnt it we eat as you say prawns and they are just like locust without wings I would eat them if they were fried but not raw |
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