This is not strictly foraged food...we no longer live in the days when one could head off into the woods, bow and arrows slung over the shoulder, and hunt down a wild boar. However, it is part of our seasonal living, an autumn tradition, and it's fun! We generally get our weaners in the spring… Continue reading Sausages and hams October 2019
Category: Foraged food
Sloe Gin – September 2019
The sloe is the fruit of the blackthorn, sometimes known as wild plum. They line the hedgerows in the autumn, jostling with blackberries as the most sought after fruit. The blackberry usually wins as sloes can't be eaten straight from the bush. They can, however, be turned into sloe gin, a warming winter drink. Its… Continue reading Sloe Gin – September 2019
Wild garlic bread April 2019
One of Dancing Toes' lovely homeschool friends came for lunch this week, and we planned a meal around wild garlic; wild garlic and stinging nettle soup, wild garlic bread and wild garlic scrambled eggs. We were given the idea of the bread by another of Dancing Toes' delightful home school friends. She had made it… Continue reading Wild garlic bread April 2019
Stinging nettle and wild garlic soup April 2019
This is just a version of stinging nettle soup (earlier recipe). Stinging nettles are best to eat at this time of year (and maybe sting the hardest too!), so it's a other seasonal one. I tend to pick only the top third of the nettle. Then by pouring boiling water over them, their stinging power… Continue reading Stinging nettle and wild garlic soup April 2019
Wild garlic soup April 2019
We have such an abundance of wild garlic around us, I've been trying to come up with different ways to consume it. Some are more popular than others. Myself and HWH loved this one, but younger kids were not so keen! I simply fried and onion, added some diced potato, and once softened threw in… Continue reading Wild garlic soup April 2019
Elderflower cordial. June 2018
June always brings an abundance of white, frothy elderflowers to our hedgerows. Although I welcome Mayflowers (hawthorn), elderflowers are more delicate and beautifully fragranced. Part of our annual rhythm involves making elderflower cordial. It’s fun and easy. I always used to make it in time for Lanky Dude’s birthday, to give to the mums of… Continue reading Elderflower cordial. June 2018
Wild garlic omelette
I got this idea from Bee Keeping Buddy, who I seem to remember served up a yummy wild garlic frittata. This is just an omelette version. The wild garlic comes out around April, at about the time our hens start laying more eggs. It increasingly seems to compete with the blubells for space in our… Continue reading Wild garlic omelette
Wild garlic pesto
This is really easy, and fun to make. The wild garlic is usually out in full force in April; in fact it seems to be taking over from the bluebells in many of our woods. The leaves look very similar to lily of the valley, which is poisonous, but the flowers are different and it… Continue reading Wild garlic pesto
Stinging nettle soup
Stinging nettle soup/get your own back soup. Making this is one of my childhood memories, and we now make it most years. The early nettle leaves are best; it’s apparently nutritious, and it feels good to get our own back after all those stings the previous year! And it doesn't cost a lot....so a winner… Continue reading Stinging nettle soup
