Just now we have
Pignuts,
Lesser Celandines
Ramsons
Reedmace
Masses of the peas from the sycamores which haven't sprouted yet
Dandelion
Burdock
Nettles
A lot of Spring greens, from bittercress to Lady's smock coming through too.
Sap from the birches as well.
Usual range of fruit plants, but no real eating from them yet, though my forced rhubarb is coming up and so are the chicons from the chicory.
Herbs have done surprisingly well this Winter. Even my olive tree has kept it's fruits slowly ripening, and the fig is trying hard to swell it's fruit buds.
We also have a lot of Winter veg still, from potatoes to parsnips, carrots and kale, turnips, etc., available too.
Wait and see, someone'll be along to tell me they're toxic :roll:
M
No, they're the 'pea' bit at the end of the sycamore wing. They overWinter here, and they grow fat as they swell. They're green inside the brown skin.
I've eaten them since childhood, not a meal's worth but just even yet I spot them and have a munch
Wait and see, someone'll be along to tell me they're toxic :roll:
M
Exactly what species do you mean when speaking of "sycamore". There seems to be a few alternatives.
Are fiddle heads ok to eat? As a kid I boiled them up - to Mum's disgust - but I thought that they were now regarded as unwise if not actually dangerous to eat. Any information?
Agreed! We use the young shoots from Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) which we call fiddleheads (very similar shape). Also very delicious, although, as it"s in the Umbellifer family, care must be taken with ID.I think you need to quote the actual species name if you are going to recommend them. I do eat fiddleheads from Pteridium aquilinum (what we call bracken) but only in moderation - probably only once or twice a year.