Pignut foraging - a photo guide

[British Red]

I thought it about time I made a contribution to foraging (other than pictures of stuff I've found and eaten) so here goes - the humble pignut! Or, to give it its show name - conopodium majus

Identification

What does a pignut look like? Well - like this

Now pictures and drawings are one thing but knowing is another. Note the umbellifer (multiflowered parasol) type flowers. These are really tiny - probably each flower only 1 or 2mm. Also check the leaves. These are the dead give away from most other umbellifers

More than anything, these leaves remind me of fennel - very very fine and feathery. The whole plant is much lower and smaller than other umbellifers - maybe a foot tall and very slender.

Note the single fine stalk disappearing into the ground

Harvesting
Pignuts are not protected but, perhaps even more than berries or leaves (since digging is involved) you should seek the landowners permission to gather them. As in all (non survival) foraging - take sparingly and leave plenty to regrow for next year.

Okay, brush away the leaf litter with your hand. Then you need to dig. A small trowel if you carry one or a stick whittled to a chisel shape are useful here

Start from a distance away and work towards where the stalk enters the ground. The nut is almost always off to one side - but there's no knowing which side!

Scrape carefully towards the stem and follow it - it will kink and curve so go careful

Eventually you will come to the nut - it looks like this

Wash clean or peel with a sharp knife and enjoy. They really are a very pleasant taste!

As with all wild foods - be very sure of your identification before eating!

Red

 

[andyn]

Nice one Red.
Good pics too.

When it comes to peeling a good tip is just to gentle squeeze it between thumb and finger and it almost jumps out of its skin.

 

[fredcraft]

Nice one Red.
Good pics too.

When it comes to peeling a good tip is just to gentle squeeze it between thumb and finger and it almost jumps out of its skin.

Ya I do that with peanuts too. Use this technique with caution when you are in a bar sitting next to 2 big motorcycle gangmembers

Good pictures Red and thanks on the harvesting tips !

 

[bloodline]

thanks Red, nice pictures and a great thread BUT I bet I still wont be able to find my own pignut Ive been looking for so long it was becoming an obsession so Ive given up

 

[Matt Weir]

Cheers Red,

Open question: Are pignuts more prolific in some areas and rarer in others? I'd never heard of the pignut until recent years so I don't think there are any in the North West or am I wrong?

 

[British Red]

They aren't uncommon but you need to know what you are looking for. They are in flower right now (in the south) so I though the thread might be topical. Its like most things - once you know what they look like and where to look you spot loads! They are much smaller than you might imagine - not like cow parsley but about the height of a ramsom flower. Very delicate. I find mixed woodland the best place - but thats probably because thats where I hang out. Others find them in firlds and parkland.

If you are over Hants side ever bloodline give me a call - we'll sort you out with pignuts, ramsoms and Jack by the hedge...in 500 yards! Be quick though - seasons nearly over!

Red

 

[Ahjno]

Here you see how hard it is to find them: left Leon-1, right Neil1

This is the result: only 1 pignut (hands are in proudly possession of Neil1) ... Leon had one as well, but lost track whilst digging it up (the thin stem broke and couldn't be retrieved).

 

[palmnut]

Red's right - the Hampshire Hedges are thick with edibles just now. In one very short walk in the middle of this week I saw Jack by the Hedge, Ransoms, Wild Raspberry, Stitchwort, Nettles (of course) and Pig Nuts (yum) as well as several other more routine species (i.e. Goose Grass, Hawthorn - still with some flower on, but going over really etc etc).

I also saw a field in Cumbria last week that was a sea of Pig Nut flowers - never seen anything like it; so they do grow in the North West of England too.

Must bump into you for a bimble one day Red, before I emigrate to Dorset ;-)

 

[jon r]

Can you do anything with pignuts rather than eating them straight from the ground?

I might try boiling some up like potatoes or roasting them in the ashes.

Another question.... Are they actually a type of nut and can they be dried like peanuts?

thanks!

jon

 

[British Red]

Certainly Richard Mabey states they can be boiled. Roger Phillips only talks about eating them raw

The nut is not a not as such but a tuber or corm so I suspect it would not do well being dried - although they may be able to be preserved by clamping

Pfaf decribes them as possible to cultivate

http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Conopodium+majus

In taste - most like a water chestnut with shades of brazil nut I would say

Red

 

[JonnyP]

Nice one Red, this will help some folk out..... Bloodline....Try looking in local meadows, they are out right now, look at every white plant to start with...Once you get your eye in, they are quite easy to spot. Remember the fine leaves, as Red shows...

 

[bloodline]

I will take you up on that Red in the meantime I will have to try again I have all the other plants you mentioned in my localle so it may be im not looking low enough, time to get the knee pads out thanks Jon I am out everyday so its probably a case of not seeing the wood for the trees

 

[Chance]

I know that it's wrong to boast, but my garden's carpetted with them. We've yet to notice any ill effects from ingestion raw (and muddy) or cooked (bulking out that other seasonal staple, nettle soup).
There are quite a few other umbellifers around ours, so ID is important; but they're very distinctive once you've spotted them for the first time.

(go on, seeing as I'm boasting anyway: the first one unearthed this year was close to thumb joint size !)

 

[Neanderthal]

Walking through fields north of Haworth at the weekend, one field was full of meadow flowers including thousands of Pignuts. Almost nothing in the surrounding fields, wierd.

Stu

 

[Tantalus]

Usual cautionary note from Tant

Please be carefull to be 100 % positive about ID

Many fairly similar looking umbelifers are poisonous, while pignuts are most certainly edible.

Tant

 

[Chance]

Just to be sure (it's too late now for us, but for other foragers): are there any other umbellifers with similar roots ?
This has always been my final check; but now I have a slight feeling of unease.

 

[Tantalus]

Worryingly the answer is yes similar root with a nut possible, but not identical.

I am no expert, never having found these myself...........but from what I understand the pignut is the only one to have the right angle bend in the stem just below soil level.

Curiously not noted in any of the posts here ?

As always , do not take my word for it , google it , read up in books and I highly reccomend a local expert to help you.

And one more word because this is the internet, be wary of US sites, not because they deliberately misinform, but because they discuss US plants and animals and while often similar to ours should not be used as definitive ID.

Tant

 

[Chance]

We've got bends.
Out of curiosity, do you know what else can be confused with it at nut level ?

EDIT: just Googled, found this: http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/ancient/wild_food_guide.html. We've got fool's parsley right next to pignut, so I've been careful to date.

 

[Hardworms]

What a great post. Is there a niche here for a plant scrapbook or something, where members can post pics of useful plants and notes on how to identify and use them? I'm always looking for ways to identify plants quickly and easily cos my plant knowledge sucks!

 

[locum76]

Pfaf decribes them as possible to cultivateRed

apparently they tried cultivating pignuts in the south of england along with carrots and parsnips. the problem was they don't like growing in cultivated soil so post Jethro Tull farmers gave up on them.