What should I be foraging for right now?

[plastic-ninja]

Agree 100% about Mabey's book ; a classic book for whenever you have 5 minutes to kill and essential in the pocket when you're out.
But no book is a substitute for getting out there with an expert or going on a good course (Woodsmoke do a very good one near me)
to learn first hand what you can eat and how to prepare it.Also worth checking out: Fergus the forager ; very entertaining website.
Cheers , Simon

 

[Toddy]

Bitter cress, dandelions, ransoms and three corner leek (they're just coming through), chickweed, early mints, nettles, sorrel, mallow, lady's smock (cuckoo flower) lesser celandines, first buds on brambles, wildrose, lime trees and hawthorns, early shoots from the reedmace, jelly ears and oyster fungi. Edible flowers too, such as ransoms if they're that far along, primroses (called peggles )
Among those plants that I eat, but are now considered 'not recommended', but are coming through, are tansy, coltsfoot and comfrey. The alder catkins are sweet to munch on too if they're out in your area.
You might get lucky and find some of last years Sycamore seeds in the leaf litter. They'll surprise you by being like peas in that withered and faded winged seed case tasty though.

Happy foraging

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Bluefrog]

there's plenty of ear fungus.
.

Has anyone every tried Jew's ear fungus, and if so what is it like?

 

[Bluefrog]

Also this thread is amazing, it would be great to have a forage by month section, maybe a sticky for each month or somthing

 

[dwardo]

Bitter cress, dandelions, ransoms and three corner leek (they're just coming through), chickweed, early mints, nettles, sorrel, mallow, lady's smock (cuckoo flower) lesser celandines, first buds on brambles, wildrose, lime trees and hawthorns, early shoots from the reedmace, jelly ears and oyster fungi. Edible flowers too, such as ransoms if they're that far along, primroses (called peggles )
Among those plants that I eat, but are now considered 'not recommended', but are coming through, are tansy, coltsfoot and comfrey. The alder catkins are sweet to munch on too if they're out in your area.
You might get lucky and find some of last years Sycamore seeds in the leaf litter. They'll surprise you by being like peas in that withered and faded winged seed case tasty though.

Happy foraging

cheers,
Toddy

Alder catkins? Will have to try that next. We have a load of gray alder which i mistaken for hornbeam until the catkins came out. Also which part of the cuckoo flower do you eat?

 

[Geoff Dann]

Has anyone every tried Jew's ear fungus, and if so what is it like?

Dangerous to cook. If you just fry them whole then they will explode. Some people chop them into small pieces to stop this from happening. I tend to use a spatula to hold them down in the frying pan whilst the water explodes out of them in a controlled manner. The result is something like a cross between crispy seaweed and beef jerky. If you find quite a lot of it then it is definately worth experimenting with some.

 

[Toddy]

Alder catkins? Will have to try that next. We have a load of gray alder which i mistaken for hornbeam until the catkins came out. Also which part of the cuckoo flower do you eat?

The sprays of the leaves. They grow profusely around here, I just pick a few from each plant. Tasty in a sandwich or a salad, or just as a munchie when I'm out walking

cheers,
M

 

[kINGPIN]

Well, I was out in the woods hammocking the other night. Still pretty cold, did not find any of the mentioned plants im afraid- not even nettles (apart from very small). What I did find was a hell of a lot of birch. I set up a small twig tap and got myself about half a litre. Tastes just as I imagined. Im out again in the woods tommorrow biviing so I'll be tapping some more, lovely stuff that birch juice!

 

[Harvestman]

Ramsons and hedge garlic now appearing in abundance where I am. Note also that cleavers is edible if dipped in boiling water to melt the spines first, and that has been around for a week or two now.

 

[xylaria]

I got a good few meals of velvet shank about a month ago. for ear fungus when you get in a good number, dice and dry, then powder. It makes a good addition to a camping pack to make soups of foraged ingredients more meaty. Shredded fresh in chicken broth/oxo and noodles is good fair. dont fry it whole, it tastes pretty rubbish and it explodes.

Baby nettles are out so are starts of ramsons. Probably sorrel too, but i haven't seen it yet. Bulrushes are starting to sprout and they are delicious sauteed with hogweed shoots bacon and ramsons.

 

[Mang]

Had this for dinner today. It's Lemon & Parmesan pasta with chopped Crow Garlic, Cleaver, Jack-By-The-Hedge and Nettle tops.

 

[Melonfish]

Hmmm Sorrel

4oz of wild sorrel
1/2 small lettice or a handful of young spinach leaves
tablespoon of chopped chervil (dried or fresh)
tablespoon of butter
about 6 1/4 cups of good chicken stock
pinch of salt
good grind of black pepper
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon of cream (single is fine)

wash all the leaves etc and pick away the stalks and any damaged bits. Melt the butter in a large pan and add the sorrel, and lettuce/spinach and chervil. cover and simmer slowly for 15-20 mins.
add the stock and simmer for another 15 mins
season with the salt and pepper and then blend contents (your choice of smooth or still a touch "lumpy" i like the latter in soups)
you can set this aside at this point until you want to serve it so you can make this in advance of dinner/lunch or even refrigerate until the next day. If your making large batches to freeze now is a good time to pot it up and freeze.
If your cooking in one go set aside some soup (half a cup) to cool for 10 mins and keep the rest warm.
now add the egg yolks to the cool soup. then add hot soup to the yolks and mix thoroughly, then stir into the pan (slowly brings the eggs to temp without scrambling)
once yolks are in the soup DO NOT LET IT BOIL! remove from the heat, stir in the cream and serve immediately
jobs a good'un

 

[kINGPIN]

I was out on an overnighter and saw what I think is jack by the hedge all over the place. The leaves were only small though when I crushed it there was a slight garlic/onion scent. Does that sound right?

 

[John Fenna]

Well I have 2 gallons of Birchsap wine going now and by the end of tomorrow I will have another gallon of sap for reducing to syrup
Other than tht the only foods available in any quantity around here is Wall Pennywort (Navelwort) some folks say it tastes like Mangetout peas - some say it tastes of "green"

 

[kINGPIN]

Lovely stuff! Puts the 1 litre I collected last night to shame.

Googling navelwort now. Thanks.

 

[Nirgal]

Alexanders, hogweed, wintercress...

I picked and dehydrated half a bin-liner full of Alexanders this weekend. Really enjoyed adding them to my soups last year.