Week 3 - Chickweed

Once again I struggled this week due to snow and ice covering the ground. But I did manage to find a few patches of chickweed growing along the top of a wall.


(This is an old photo by the way!)

Chickweed is one of the better known and well-liked wild greens, but I personally find it a bit strong. It reminds me of rocket, which is just not my thing. Actually I think it tastes a bit soapy!

I've been nibbling at it in salads this week anyway though, purely for blogging purposes. If you decide to try it too let me know what you think...

Week 2 - Pine

I was really struggling to find anything edible this week as we've had a thick covering of snow which has left all the little green leaves completely hidden. I was ready to give up and forage something from my freezer, but a short walk this morning revealed a new pleasure. I've never tried it before, but I'm currently drinking a nice hot cup of pine needle tea! It's quite a revelation actually; I don't usually enjoy anything but "normalitea".

When I got home I thought I'd better double-check my reference books. I think I used Scots Pine or something very similar. It had those proper pine cones on it (the ones you hang outside to measure the humidity in the air). Apparently the only poisonous species of conifer is Yew (that's the one with red berries and flat, short needles), which I know well, so I wasn't too scared to give it a go.

The method I used was to chop and bruise the needles, and then steep them in just-boiled water for about 10 minutes. The resulting brew looks slightly oily (the sap is quite sticky), and smells quite aromatic. The taste is naturally quite sweet, you don't need to add sugar or honey (in my opinion). I didn't make it very strong, and it's perhaps not the best time of year (new spring growth required?), but it's very nice anyway and I would definitely recommend it. Pine needles contain high levels of vitamin C - ideal for fighting those winter colds and flu!

Januaryness...

I *was* planning to experiment with goosegrass/cleavers during week 2 of my 52 week wild food study... but 24cm of snow (and counting) might put paid to that idea! We shall have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, here's a link to the fab birthday card my brother made for me. It's a drawing of me on the allotment with my cat! :)

A new project - 52 weeks of wild food!

I'm going to try to write about (and illustrate) a different wild food plant/fungi/seaweed/thing each week for a year.

Week 1 - Navelwort (Umbilicus rupestris)



Also known as Pennywort. According to Roger Phillips it's commonly found growing on old walls in the Westcountry - which is exactly where I discovered it! I recognised it straight away (because I'm a geek and I have lots of wild food books).
The penny-sized leaves are succulent and juicy and make a good addition to salads. The flavour is of.. erm.. green. Quite pleasant, not exciting in a culinary sense but I was very happy to try something new :)

Not long til summer...

Although the winter solstice is still almost a week away, you might be interested to know that we've pretty much reached the darkest evening of the year. The sunset times here in Reading are 1555 for tonight, tomorrow and Thursday, and then 1556 on Friday. Hurrah! :)

Sunflower seeds

Probably not for eating... probably for sowing next year. I have plans for a bit of guerilla gardening!

Sad news - the council have chopped down (or perhaps dug up) the cherry plums in Kings Road Garden. They produced such abundant sweet fruit, and were some of the first I found in Reading. Poor little trees :(

Seasonal cooking :)

Today's harvest consisted mostly of nettles and jerusalem artichokes, so I made nettle and jerusalem artichoke soup. The ingredients were onions + potatoes + artichokes + nettles + seasoning. It was ok - full of healthy goodness but a little bland. My plan for tomorrow is to add more flavour, which I've decided will come from crab apples and perhaps a bit of cinnamon. The resulting concoction will either be a work of genius or a complete disaster! I'll keep you posted...