Hawthorn Brandy
November 2008 - Lots of people have reported a severe shortage of sloes this year - I managed to find enough to make one batch of sloe gin, but many have not been so lucky.
So let's try an alternative liqueur - hawthorn brandy
Relatives Of Common Hawthorn
October 2008 - There have been a few frosts now and it's changed the wild food landscape a bit. There are still wild fruits that are now just reaching the right moment to pick - including some of the relatives of common Hawthorn
Hawthorn
September 2008 - There's a very heavy crop of Hawthorn fruits this year - but how can this abundance be put to good use?
Linden Chocolate
I came across a reference in one of my wild food books, stating that the flowers of the Lime tree (Tilia spp.), ground up together with the fruits, yielded a substance resembling chocolate. I decided to give it a try
The Amethyst Deceiver
The Amethyst Deceiver is a name that might conjure up images of a purple-clad comic-book villain. The truth is, it's a common edible mushroom
Fairy Ring Mushrooms
Fairy Ring Mushrooms were probably the first wild fungus I learned to reliably identify. I've known for many years that they are edible, but never quite got around to trying them, until now.
Watercress
We spent a day by the side of the River Meon - a fast-flowing, crystal-clear chalk stream. - I scouted around a bit and discovered large patches of watercress in the shallow margins.
Goosefoot
Out picking blackberries, I also returned home with some goosefoot that I picked from a weedy, recently-ploughed corner of a field.
Rose Hips
We tried walking the Strawberry Trail from Hamble Point up to Manor Farm, but kept getting lost. Fortunately, our random detours took us past some great wild food resources - including a planted rose hedge bearing lots of ripe rose hips
Wild Plums
It's generally not been a good year for plums here - or so everybody tells me. However, there's always an exception - and I found it - a few wild plum trees in a hedgerow near my house, groaning under the weight of their own fruit.
Rock Samphire
Rock Samphire is a common coastal plant in Southern Britain - occurring on shingle beaches and rocky cliffs - it was once so sought-after that people would undergo serious risk to obtain it.
Snails
Time to get a bit more adventurous with this wild food thing - I'm going to try eating snails
Crab Apples
Nothing to do with crustaceans - Crab Apples are small, sour, wild apples and they have many uses.
Rowan Berries
A trip out to the New Forest in hope of finding wild mushrooms or bilberries - we found neither, but found instead some nice, ripe, plump Rowan berries.
Marsh Mallow
Isn't it interesting? - Marshmallow (the confection) is so familiar, yet the origin of the name is quite obscure - to the extent that a mention of Marsh Mallow (the plant) often raises eyebrows or is met with laughter.
Lime Flowers
Lime flowers are reputed to have calming and soporific properties. I have no idea if this claim is true, but they're deliciously fragrant anyway - and useful.
Bilberries
An outing to The Devil's Punchbowl at Hindhead, Surrey, for a picnic lunch and a spot of berry picking. Bilberries are found in abundance here.
Wild Strawberries
A trip out to Crab Wood, near Winchester to enjoy a walk in the woods, and to pick wild strawberries
Crow Garlic
Also near Keyhaven, we found Crow Garlic - a kind of wild onion with rather interesting potential.
Marsh Samphire
We went for a walk around Keyhaven harbour and out beside the salt marsh toward Lymington. There, we found Marsh Samphire in great abundance.
Stinging Nettles
I've heard so many people speak positively of stinging nettles as a food, but for some reason that I cannot properly explain, I remained very wary of the idea but not any more
Dandelions
I've always known they could be eaten, just never really quite got around to trying them. Until now.
St George's Mushrooms
It would be enough of a treat just to be picking any mushrooms in spring (most other wild mushrooms appear in autumn), but on top of that, it happens to be the case that St George's Mushrooms are really excellent eating.
Garlic Mustard (Jack-By-The Hedges)
Another adventure with wild greens. Sadly, not exactly everything I hoped for, this time.
Ramsons (Wild Garlic)
There are several species of wild onion or garlic that are common in the UK - This one is called Ramsons.
Ground Elder
Introduced to Britain from Europe either by the Romans, or during the Norman Conquest - depending on who you ask. Either way - Ground Elder was a common and popular vegetable in days gone by.
Sea beet
It's a very common coastal plant all over the UK and Europe. In the kitchen, Sea Beet has all of the good attributes of spinach, with none of the bad ones.
