Foraging in July
A lot of people have been asking me what there is available to forage once spring has passed. They seem to be of the impression that the season of edible plants have ended- not true!
We may have said good bye to the sow thistles, black mustard and bindweed but there's a load of awesome plants that have taken their place and a whole new variety of flavours.
This is not at all an exhaustive list- I haven't included seaweeds or mushrooms and there's plenty more plants that I have missed but these are some of my favourites and some fairly common ones too.
Chickweed - available most of the year
Good for soups, as a vegetable as well as medicinal applications for the skin as a demulcent and emollient.
Good for soups, as a vegetable as well as medicinal applications for the skin as a demulcent and emollient.
Fat Hen - leaves, seeds
Good for soups, as a vegetable (use as you would spinach as the flavours are similar) raw or cooked, it suits Indian cuisine well so add it to a dhal, curry, saag aloo or saag paneer as a substitute for spinach, add to an omelette, use in pasta dishes (add to minestrone etc.)
Good for soups, as a vegetable (use as you would spinach as the flavours are similar) raw or cooked, it suits Indian cuisine well so add it to a dhal, curry, saag aloo or saag paneer as a substitute for spinach, add to an omelette, use in pasta dishes (add to minestrone etc.)
Mallow - leaves, flowers, roots
Use the leaves for salads, the fruit can be used as capers, the flowers can be used as a garnish or added to salads/drinks and make a good tea, the leaves can be used to thicken soups or stews too as they have a similar effect as okra and produce a mucus when cooked, this mucus can also be produced by the roots and used as a substitute for eggs when beaten.
It's medicinal applications are as an emollient, demulcent, expectorant, laxative, anti-inflammatory and diuretic.
Use the leaves for salads, the fruit can be used as capers, the flowers can be used as a garnish or added to salads/drinks and make a good tea, the leaves can be used to thicken soups or stews too as they have a similar effect as okra and produce a mucus when cooked, this mucus can also be produced by the roots and used as a substitute for eggs when beaten.
It's medicinal applications are as an emollient, demulcent, expectorant, laxative, anti-inflammatory and diuretic.
Meadowsweet - flowers
Can be used to flavour wine, cordial, fizzy soft drinks, tea, parfait, ice cream, sorbet, pannacotta, rice puddings, jelly, mousse, cakes, cookies, cheesecake etc., It's medicinal applications are as a natural aspirin, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and diuretic.
Can be used to flavour wine, cordial, fizzy soft drinks, tea, parfait, ice cream, sorbet, pannacotta, rice puddings, jelly, mousse, cakes, cookies, cheesecake etc., It's medicinal applications are as a natural aspirin, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and diuretic.
Yarrow - flowers (tea), leaves
Garlic Mustard - Seeds
Mugwort - flower buds and leaves
Sea Purslane - available all year round
Can be used in smoked mackerel pate, with pasta, in hummus, pickled, as a vegetable, raw in a salad, in salsa verde, in mayonnaise, in a lot of indian cuisine (it goes well in dhal and mixed into pakoras) and many more, this one is super versatile and one of my all time favourites.
Can be used in smoked mackerel pate, with pasta, in hummus, pickled, as a vegetable, raw in a salad, in salsa verde, in mayonnaise, in a lot of indian cuisine (it goes well in dhal and mixed into pakoras) and many more, this one is super versatile and one of my all time favourites.
Sea Arrowgrass - Available most of the year (except winter) stems, seeds
Use as you would corriander, suits a lot of thai dishes, as well as soups including my carrot, wild corriander and rock samphire soup and Robin Harford's Sea Arrowgrass and Lemon Soup
Use as you would corriander, suits a lot of thai dishes, as well as soups including my carrot, wild corriander and rock samphire soup and Robin Harford's Sea Arrowgrass and Lemon Soup
Orache - leaves, seeds
Marsh Samphire - The end of June/start of July (small window of opportunity)
Nettle Seeds - Don't eat nettle leaves when the plant is in flower
Dandelion - Available most of the year, leaves, roots, flowers
Greater Plantain - Available most of the year, leaves, seeds
Ribwort Plantain - Available most of the year, leaves, seeds
Sea Plantain - Available most of the year, leaves, seeds
Scurvy grass - Leaves
Sea Aster - Leaves
Wild Rose Flowers
Honeysuckle - Flowers
Lime Blossom
Sorrel - Available most of the year, leaves
Borage (if you can find it)- flowers, leaves
Wood Sorrel - Leaves, Flowers
Gorse - Flowers
Herb Bennet - Roots, young leaves
Brooklime - Leaves
Burdock - Stems, roots
Pineapple Weed
Clover - Flowers, leaves
Wild Fennel - leaves, seeds, Flowers
*I do not own all of these photos
Comments
Post a Comment