A March Salad -12 different plants

[jon r]

I made this salad up today from as many things as i could find. in total there are 12 different plants sude in the salad which are:

Red Dead Nettle
Cleavers (the tips)
Chickweed
Wood Bitter-cress
Nettle (tops)
Altrenate leaved golden Saxifrage
Wood Sorrel (small quantity)
Ground ivy (very small quantity)
Commn sorrel
Garlic Mustard
Primrose (flowers and very young leaves)
Dandelion leaves


Thought it would be worth showing you to make people aware of what is arround at this time of year...
I ate the salad with an omlette, a great combination!

Have fun and take care and make sure you know what you are picking!

btw, the Ray Mears Wild Food book has been a real inspiration to me... i have learnt a lot from the book that is not included in the DVD. If you only have the DVD it might be worth buying if you like forraging and want to learn some more edible plants.

 

[Toddy]

Lovely
Nice one Jon

It looks like you're way ahead of us.........and it's snowing again here

Apart from herbs, all I've managed are the bittercress, ladysmock, ramsons, early dandelion and dock leaves, and primrose flowers.
The Comfrey is 'just' showing as is the Tansy and the lesser Celandines. Even the nettles have burrowed underground

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Shewie]

Good stuff Jon

I nibbled on a bit of wood sorrel the other day but that's all I've really noticed so far, certainly no ramsons in the usual spots yet.

 

[jon r]

Toddy, Are Dock leaves edible then?

Like you are doing already it would be great if people list edible plants that they have found at this time of year...

I notice the Pig Nuts are well visible by now too..

 

[Leezo]

One question is what does the garlic mustard look like please or is it the same as the wild garlic?

 

[Toddy]

Toddy, Are Dock leaves edible then?

Like you are doing already it would be great if people list edible plants that they have found at this time of year...

I notice the Pig Nuts are well visible by now too..

We had a shot at this last year (or the one before) .......need to find the thread.

Yes you can eat dockens, in moderation. They're another of the oxalic acid rich ones.
I grow garden sorrel because I like the taste, but the wild ones often come through earlier.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Toddy]

Here you go
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36697

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37094


cheers,
Toddy

 

[phill_ue]

In my local area, I have seen the ramsons sprouting up. The heavy garlic smell isn't there yet but if you crush the leaves up you get a whiff! I nibbled on some unopened hawthorn flowers today, very tasty they were too and i saw some lesser celandine the weekend before last but the roots are so tiny I didn't think it was worth the hassle! There are patches all over the place though so if required you could gather loads up.

After seeing the rose ring that another member made, I have also been looking at rose a lot lately, I saw one earlier that you could possibly make a bangle for a child from! It would certainly cut the mustard for woggles, and there re load in the area of a similar size. The must have got their top soil from Sellafield, the old teasels are also over six foot tall!

 

[Dexter]

Fantastic post! Thank you.

 

[locum76]

good work, might be a bit bitter though. May I suggest a low note of winter purslane (claytonia) to juice things up a little.

 

[tytek]

Looks tasty, I can't wait till I can get out and about again (my legs are knacked after a motorbike crash).

 

[xylaria]

Like mahonia flowers, just opened and a bit sticky. The lambs lettuce is through on the allotment, and so are the nettles. We have have had quite warm weather recently, today isn't (horizontal sleet). I have started to looking for saint georges in my little spot.

 

[craeg]

Sorry to be a killjoy, but isn't illegal to pick primroses in the wild iaw Countryside & Wilderness Act 1981?

I am sure that I have read that fact somewhere but be pleased to be proved wrong

 

[phill_ue]

Sorry to be a killjoy, but isn't illegal to pick primroses in the wild iaw Countryside & Wilderness Act 1981?

I am sure that I have read that fact somewhere but be pleased to be proved wrong

Yup, you're a killjoy! He is probably on private land, therefore he will have been fine. Unless he said some place else that they were picked from a wild place that wasn't privately owned then I could see your reason for bringing it up, otherwise I cannot see the point. Why do so man people assume the worst and bring up these point continuously?

We already live in a very controlling society and I sometimes think that everybody has been pulled in and wish to participate in the control. Surely, this hobby is about freedom, the ability to take from nature responsibly and to understand the laws that we could break by carrying out our hobby. It sometimes grates when the law is continuously brought up when there isn't even any evidence of wrong doing and an assumption is made.

 

[jon r]

The Primroses were picked from a Wild Garden on private land... And there is barely enough to fill a thimble hehe

 

[jon r]

We already live in a very controlling society and I sometimes think that everybody has been pulled in and wish to participate in the control. Surely, this hobby is about freedom, the ability to take from nature responsibly and to understand the laws that we could break by carrying out our hobby. It sometimes grates when the law is continuously brought up when there isn't even any evidence of wrong doing and an assumption is made.

I totally agree... good words

 

[craeg]

Yup, you're a killjoy! He is probably on private land, therefore he will have been fine. Unless he said some place else that they were picked from a wild place that wasn't privately owned then I could see your reason for bringing it up, otherwise I cannot see the point. Why do so man people assume the worst and bring up these point continuously?

We already live in a very controlling society and I sometimes think that everybody has been pulled in and wish to participate in the control. Surely, this hobby is about freedom, the ability to take from nature responsibly and to understand the laws that we could break by carrying out our hobby. It sometimes grates when the law is continuously brought up when there isn't even any evidence of wrong doing and an assumption is made.

No need to jump to conclusions and assume stuff like that. I DO NOT believe in more control than we already have.

But there are plenty of people new to this website, that don't know about the laws, unlike your learned self; and as responsible people, we have to inform others that what we do is in accordance with the law. I wanted to point this out so people don't get into any bother. If Jon had of said that he picked them in his garden then that would be cool.

If we don't inform, guess what, we will get even less opportunity to enjoy both the countryside and our hobby.

It is all about learning and teaching and that is why I brought up the subject.

 

[addo]

I tampled through a small wooded area full of wild garlic today and it smelt gooood.
Going to get the notes I made from all the wild food books and practice some recipies this year as I find it a very interesting subject.
Just got a new place to play too so should be good to see how it develops over the year food wise.

 

[locum76]

I tampled through a small wooded area full of wild garlic today and it smelt gooood.
Going to get the notes I made from all the wild food books and practice some recipies this year as I find it a very interesting subject.
Just got a new place to play too so should be good to see how it develops over the year food wise.

"Tampled" - nice word. I usually go for a bimble but I might go for a tample this weekend instead.

The amount of garlic by the rivers here is rediculous. I was fantasizing about starting a wild garlic pesto company the other day.

All I need is a team of foragers.... now where can I get me one of those.

 

[phill_ue]

No need to jump to conclusions and assume stuff like that. I DO NOT believe in more control than we already have.

But there are plenty of people new to this website, that don't know about the laws, unlike your learned self; and as responsible people, we have to inform others that what we do is in accordance with the law. I wanted to point this out so people don't get into any bother. If Jon had of said that he picked them in his garden then that would be cool.

If we don't inform, guess what, we will get even less opportunity to enjoy both the countryside and our hobby.

It is all about learning and teaching and that is why I brought up the subject.

Behave yourself! You saw it as an opportunity to be smart and nothing less!

If a smart alec raised their head and spouted the Law every time somebody posted something on this forum, how long do you think it would be before it got tedious?