Games and recipes for all the family
WILD PLANT BINGO, BONFIRE SPUDS, FRUITY PUDDINGS.
eat WILD! Discover free food
AUGUST'S TASTY TREATS: BLACKBERRY, ROWAN, ROSE, ELDERBERRY AND MANY MORE
Blackberry fruit leather FULL RECIPE p11
eat WILD!
eatwild.org.uk Brought to you by The Association of Foragers, an international group of professional foragers, foraging educators, authors, herbalists and harvesters. foragers-association.org The title Eat Wild! is used with permission of Duncan Mackay, author of a book with the same name. udderdishbeeleaf.com. Design: paperrhino.co.uk
This month I want to dig further into the theme of home. “Home is where I want to be,” the Talking Heads sang in the 80’s. That may not be true for all of us; especially people in poor accommodation and in unsafe domestic circumstances. And many people don’t even have a home. But I am sure that everyone would like to have a home where they want to be… and while it’s no substitute for decent accommodation and a supportive human family, thinking of nature as our ultimate home can nurture a sense of belonging. There is a Greek word oikos, which means home. ‘Ecosystem’ and ‘ecology’ both come from that word. The natural environment, wherever we are, is a home for all the things that live there, including us. If we think this way, home is not just the building we live in,
Editor Miles Irving, worldwild.org.uk
What's good now? warning Avoid yarrow
during pregnancy to be on the safe side. warning Don’t eat oxalis by the carrier-bag full, as it contains oxalic acid and too much can aggravate health problems such as kidney stones. warning Elder leaves and stems are toxic raw and don’t taste nice, so make sure you remove them from the berries. Elderberries shouldn’t be eaten raw (at least not many) as they can cause an upset stomach. 2 eat wild!
Oxalis
what Looks similar to
Yarrow
what Feathery leaves and long stems. White flowers in an umbrella shape (like elderflower or cow parsley). where Sunny dry places, often in grass. As common as daisies or clover and grows in similar places. how to use The herby flowers taste like rosemary and lavender. They make a great tea (p11). Dry them as a spice for sweet or savoury foods.
Elderberry
what Glossy, black,
round elderberries follow elderflowers in heavy droops, ripening in late summer. where Along the edges of fields and parks, and in hedgerows. how to use Ensure all the berries have turned to an almost black, Ribena colour before picking. Add to vinegar or make into cordials.
Pineapple weed
what Small plant, just a few inches high, with feathery leaves. The cone-shaped, yellow-green ‘button’ flowers look a bit like a daisies, but without the white petals. where At the sides of paths and on waste ground, often where people or animals tread. how to use Use fresh or dried to make tea, syrup and cordial.
clover, but rather than three circles, it has three small, heart-shaped leaves that close up into a pyramid shape. where Carpeting woodland floor, in gardens and yards, growing out of or around edges of walls, and escaped nearby. how to use Sour taste like Granny Smith apples; high in Vitamin C. Go for the freshest, youngest leaves. Great in salads and sandwiches, or in an omelette or sharp sauce with butter.
PHOTOS: NEIL HEPWORTH, ANDREW CURTIS, KIM WALKER, JOHNSEB, SARAH WATSON, DAVID WINNARD
August
but also the place; the surroundings where we live. Home is our neighbourhood, wild things and all. For other species, like wild plants, bugs, birds or even microbes that live near us, in both rural and urban locations, their place is homely because it has what they need. The amazing thing is, the more we get to know wild plants, the more they also provide us with what we need. Many wild plants are not just foods and medicines, but have other uses as well – for example, nettles can be used to make cloth, and blackberry stems can be used for weaving (see page 7). Plants that grow near where we live do so because they like it where we are. It’s as if they are part of an extended biological family that includes both them and us. And as families should, these plants help take care of us by feeding us and healing us when we are sick. But they can only do that if we know who they are! Finding out about them is like finding new friends in your neighbourhood.
SAFE FORAGING
Japanese rose hips can be used to make an infused vinegar, traditionally taken through the winter as a preventative for colds.
Himalayan balsam seeds
what A fast-growing
plant from the Himalayas with bonnet-shaped, purple-pink or white flowers, and green, oblong, dangling seedpods. where Most often found along waterways, ditches and damp places, sometimes in woods. how to use
Touch the exploding seed pods and you can fire seeds up to seven meters!
Mallow cheeses
what Leaves are hand-shaped, with five lobes and soft hairs. Flower has five pinkmauve, heart-shaped petals with dark purple veins and a feathery centre. Look further down the stem for the ripening seed ‘cheeses’ that look like tiny pumpkins, or rounds of cheese, in little packages of five green leaves. where Dry, sunny places, path edges, hedge banks, verges and waste ground. how to use Nibble them raw as a snack or fry quickly in oil.
Japanese rose hips
what The round, orange fruits, or hips, appear in late summer, looking a bit like small tomatoes, and some of the scented bright pink (sometimes white) single rose flowers may remain too. where Gardens, parks, car parks, beaches, verges, hedges, waste ground. how to use All rose petals are edible. Gather the hips to make syrup.
Hogweed seeds
what Look like owls’ faces. Oval-round, silvery-brown discs; smell of cardamom/ coriander when crushed. where Hedgerows, verges, pastures, waste ground. how to use Pick green (more intense) or brown, and crush as you would cardamom or coriander to use in spice mixes, cakes and chai.
Don’t eat any wild plant or mushroom unless you are absolutely sure what it is and that it’s safe to eat. Some are only edible when cooked, and some have both edible and poisonous parts. Be aware of poisonous lookalikes for edible species. Don't forage by busy roads where soil will be contaminated with heavy metals, and avoid places where weedkiller may have been used. A forager near you can help you learn – check the Association of Foragers’ website. As with all foods, some wild plants can trigger allergies.
FORAGING AND THE LAW
The right to forage has been enshrined in British law since at least the 13th century. Unlike land, wild plants are common goods, not ‘property’. To avoid annoying people, it’s best to forage where there are clear rights of access and with the landowner’s blessing. Some people worry that foraging could be harmful: just reassure them that foraging plants is mostly like mowing grass – you cut them and they grow back!
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Botanical names are useful for letting us know what family plants belong to and what features they might have - a little like our own surnames. You don’t need to speak Latin or Greek to be a forager though; common names are much easier to remember and pronounce. The key thing to keep in mind is that they are specific to a local area, whether that be country or county. A chanterelle is a different mushroom in France than it is in Britain. Likewise, the plant we call plantain has nothing in common with a banana! Hidden Histories
Common names often offer useful information: wood avens is a plant that grows in woodland, and its other common name, ‘clove root’ (more memorable than Geum urbanum), tells us that it has roots which taste of clove. An abundance of plant names within the languages of the world hide snippets of history. Plantain is known as slán Clove root lus in Gaelic and tastes of cloves Irish, and slaan
Play the name game
Whilst out foraging, have a look at plants as you come across them. From where they are growing, what they look like and how they smell, see if you can come up with a fun name. Take a photo to look up what the plants are actually called when you get home. The winner is the person who guesses the closest to one of its actual names. As well as being a lot of fun, it’s a great way to learn!
lus in Manx, meaning ‘the healing plant’. It is used by herbalists today, as well as being part of the forager’s wild first-aid kit. One of the Scots names, ripple grass, comes from the word ‘ripple’, meaning slight cut and this is what it was used to treat. I once treated a nasty cut whilst out in the Hebrides with a poultice of yarrow and plantain, and it does work! My favourite name for plantain is the Scots neepie-napie. It comes from a game, a little like conkers, where children battle it out, whipping stalks against each other, to see who can decapitate the other’s seedhead first. Amy Rankine, hipstersandhobos.com
name game
The
Plants have a whole host of different names - so what should we call them?
4 eat wild!
Neepie-napie: whipping plantain stalks (right) against each other, to see who can decapitate the other’s seedhead first
What’s in a name?
In Kent, honesty was known as ‘money-in-bothpockets’ as the seed pods look like coins. Mugwort was ‘sailor’s tobacco’ in Hampshire as the leaves were often smoked.
Rowan berries must be cooked before eating.
The humble rowan tree, or mountain ash, thrives not only on wild hillsides where other trees do not grow, but also in the tamest of urban areas.
Rowan Tree of the month
PHOTOS: BRAMBLEJUNGLE, DENNIS JARVIS, NEIL HEPWORTH
Rowan provides a profusion of creamcoloured, spring blooms, followed in late summer by large bunches of bright red berries in late summer. You will often find it in local parks, on the edges of playing fields and even in supermarket car parks. It is a compact species, shorter-lived and smaller than trees like oak and beech. Each leaf is made up of five to nine pairs of toothed leaflets, smaller than those of the native ash. These leaves also help to separate rowan from other, similar, redberry-fruiting trees in the same family, like common whitebeam (Sorbus aria), which has a simple leaf. The bark is generally smooth. The red berries have a five-pointed star resembling a pentagram, a protective symbol, on the bottom, which is a reason
why this tree has been used to protect people from evil and witchcraft, especially in Gaelic-speaking countries. Cooking with rowan berries The berries are the most frequently used part of the tree. Caution must be taken when using this plant, as it is known that eating the raw berries can give you an upset stomach. The berries should be cooked. Traditionally, they have been used for making jellies, marmalades, flavoured vinegars, wines, and even ketchup. Perhaps the most common product of rowan is vibrant and tangy rowan and crab apple jelly, delicious with cheese, game or bread. The berries are usually ripe from late July onwards, and can last almost all winter on
the tree if the birds do not find them. They can be slightly bitter; it is said that they are sweeter if you pick them after the first frost, but you can put them in the freezer overnight for the same effect. The berries are known to contain vitamins A and C, and have been used for treating scurvy and stomach disorders. The leaves were once used for treating sore eyes, asthma and even colds. The red berries are favoured by many winter thrushes such as redwing and fieldfare, which come here from Scandinavia. By taking the berries only from the lower branches which you can reach, you can leave plenty for these winter-visiting birds. David Winnard, discoverthewild.co.uk Rowan and peach cobbler recipe p11
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Bramble Plant of the month
Explore a wild merry-go-round of seasonal possibilities We're all foragers!
Wildlife to look out for
When you spot a thorny bramble bush, ripe for picking, you will start to see the foragers who know it best: bees, such as nectarloving bumblebees and honeybees, as well as hoverflies; butterflies – silver-washed fritillary, peacock, comma, red admiral, small tortoiseshell, brown hairstreak, and their cousins; the leaf-guzzling caterpillars of the fox moth, and silver-trail-leaving leaf miners; grazing deer; fruit- loving blackbirds and song thrushes; foxes, badgers, wood mice, and dormice. Bramble bushes (Rubus fruticosus, which is thought to include 320 similar micro- species) are a feasting ground. Once fully sated, some of these creatures wend their way home. Others know this thorny, sunny-hedgerowand-dapple-shade-loving woodland plant as their permanent residence. Fergus Drennan, fergustheforager.co.uk
6 eat wild!
PHOTOS: NEIL HEPWORTH, ME’NTHEDOGS, B. WATTS, LES STOCKTON, JOANNA PATERSON
In the late summer and early autumn, we humans have a go at, perhaps, the only wild food tradition still popular in this country: the annual gathering of plump, sun-ripened, juicy blackberries. But I invite you to jump further in and join me on a wild merry-go-round of seasonal possibilities, exploring bramble, root to tip, throughout the year. Hold tight, and try not to get scratched as we step on to the blackberry ride.
COOKING WITH IMMATURE RED FRUITS.
Get your friends and family to guess what fruit you’ve used. The red colour will completely throw them off the scent!
YOUNG LEAF BUDS march
Gather for tea and pesto making.
YOUNG LEAVES
march to april
Gather for tea, and use fresh or dried. They are particularly good if bruised and browned for a few days by wrapping in a damp cloth and keeping in a warm place before drying. The leaves can also be used to make wine in the same way as oak leaves.
SHOOTS may to june
The top 10–30cm of rapidly growing new large shoot growth, once the flexible young thorns have been remove with a sharp knife, boiled a couple of times, make a passable vegetable when cooked like asparagus, lacto-fermented or used for tempura. But for me, the best fun can be had by de-thorning these shoots and cutting them into cross-sections of a few millimetres thickness. This reveals their delightful natural star shape. These stars can be pickled or candied.
WINTER STEMS dec to feb
Gather to make baskets (for blackberry gathering of course) and cordage.
FLOWERS
late may to aug
Flowers are white or pink, and can be used to decorate salads or desserts.
IMMATURE GREEN FRUITS june to dec
These can be vinegaror salt-pickled, or candied. Try making a green sauce to accompany fish.
IMMATURE RED FRUITS june to dec
Can be used in the same way as the green fruit, but also make an excellent, sweet and fruity red sauce or coulis. This is lovely added to natural yoghurt or poured over desserts.
MATURE RIPE FRUITS late july to early sep
Enjoy raw, straight from the bush, or use in 1001 sweet or savoury dishes Simple and drinks. blackberry fruit leather p11
SEEDS
late july to early sep
Sprout them and add to salads or use to garnish other dishes. Use like sesame as a topping for home-baked bread, or roast with a coating of soy sauce and sprinkle on salads. Dry and grind to a flour and mix with other flour to use in bread, biscuits, pastry and pasta making. eat wild! 7
wild plant
Think you might have found one of the plants featured here? See if your plant has all the characteristics on the score card. If you can cross them all off, then BINGO: you have the right plant!
Greater Plantain
8 eat wild!
Mugwort
Mugwort is a really common herb, found in sunny places in mid to late summer. It has such a good flavour, it’s surprising that it’s not more well known as something to cook with and make tea out of. It’s even got other uses – Roman soldiers used to put the leaves in their shoes to soothe tired feet. A quick feel of the leaves will show you why – they are soft and downy. It’s likely that the many aromatic compounds found in the leaves also have a soothing effect. These chemicals give the plant flavour, making it a delicious herb and tea. You can use mugwort in place of sage or rosemary in any recipe. Closely related Chinese mugwort is a popular herb in China, Japan and Korea, but whereas the leaf of that plant is the main part used, it’s the flower of our common mugwort which imparts the most flavour. Use fresh or dried to make a tea, which is said to help you remember your dreams more clearly if drunk before bed. A word of caution: do not eat or drink anything containing mugwort if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Nicola Burgess, Kim Walker, Miles Irving @ calluna_wild_craft handmadeapothecary.co.uk
PHOTOS: DAVID WINNARD
This plant can very often be found growing near where people are living – on lawns, paths, and bits of dry ground where people walk. When Europeans invaded native American territories, they took this plant with them and it started growing wild wherever they went. Native Americans called it ‘white man’s footstep’ and, being familiar with native plantains, valued it for its medicinal and food uses. The leaves, and less so the seeds, have a distinct mushroom flavour – this is because there is a tiny fungus which lives within the plant. A few leaves can be chopped into salads, curries or stir fries or eaten in sandwiches. They are a little bitter, but you won’t notice that once they are mixed in with other things. In late summer and autumn, the seeds are a readily available snack whenever you are out walking. They can keep you going if you forgot to bring any food. Just strip the seeds off the stem with your thumb and forefinger and tuck in. You can also gather a good handful or two to take home and add to salads or sprinkle over cooked meals or breakfast cereal.
Herbal Unity, Glasgow
A forager’s journey
I grew up in Rwanda in the 1980s, and learnt how to use wild plants for food and medicine from my grandmother. She said, for instance, that dandelions were magical and could lift your mood. She believed that plants had a healing spirit.
Plants from home
When I came to Scotland, I found that many of the plants I could forage were the same as my favourite Rwandan remedies. Plantain leaves were everywhere in the city – my grandmother would crush them and put them on cuts and bites, and she brewed the leaves as a tea to take if we felt light-headed. I also saw comfrey in wild spaces and gardens; it thrives all over Rwanda and is encouraged to grow, as the deep roots hold the soil together for crops later. There was one plant that I had always wanted to find in Scotland, but I didn’t know the name. My grandmother would cook the leaves and give them to under-nourished children and women who were exhausted after giving birth. To prevent indigestion, we would sometimes eat a few cooked leaves before meals. I tried to describe the plant to my Scottish friends; it grew everywhere in Rwanda. Mallow Then one day I saw a Facebook toilet roll anyone? post about plants that could be used as toilet paper. There it was in the photo – mallow. I have also learned about new plants to forage in Scotland. A friend, who was also taught by her grandmother, showed me an elder tree and explained how to pick and use the flowers and berries. I found elder trees near my home and made elderberry cordial. I’ve foraged wild garlic, nettles and cleavers on my walks. Foraging makes me feel at home, connected to nature and also to my past. Told to Catriona Gibson, catrionagibson.co.uk
MEET THE FORAGERS
Letter from America RESTORING COMMUNITIES
On a piece of waste ground in Glasgow, the Herbal Unity Garden is a rare space for people to reconnect with plants. Volunteers – including people going through the asylum system – tend the garden and harvest the wild weeds, making food and traditional remedies.
A sanctuary where people can build and learn together The remedies are offered as solidarity medicine for refugees in Glasgow, and other groups including people in the Calais camps. The garden, with its seasonal cycle, subtle changes and practical tasks, has become a sanctuary where people can build and learn together. Children who help out love getting their hands dirty, planting seeds and watching them grow. Picking marigold flowers is a favourite activity, nibbling a few petals along the way. facebook.com/ HerbalUnity
Since I was little, Fry’s Turkish Delight has been one of my favourite things, even if these days it is all artificial flavours; it reminds me of rose, and my favourite flavour, xkay, also known as islaya, a relative of plum in the rose family. But our family has moved away from buying food at grocery stores. It was making us fat and sick. Now, three quarters of everything we eat is wild and foraged. We supplement with farmers market foods and local foods we trade for. Though lots of NDNs [native Americans] like us are struggling with diabetes and other chronic diseases, we are not. Why forage?
If you do not forage, then May won’t mean hawthorns to you. The reed mace ponds in your midst will be drained. Seasons might come and go, Reed mace but you won’t fully notice. It doesn’t (bullrushes) have to be that way. Foraging connects you to land and community. Foraging helps you hone attention and other skills, builds confidence, makes you strong and healthy. Foraging builds your body out of what’s local. And it is all about finding diversity and embracing difference.
You are what you eat
Your local wild foods may be a bit different from the commercial foods you are familiar with, and getting, prepping, and eating them is definitely different from opening a bag of snacks or a frozen meal, but many of the flavours are similar, and there are all kinds of new flavours to enjoy. You will have to go outside, and you will likely have to talk to your neighbours somewhere along the way. If you come to rely on the foods you can forage, you will have to become more active in protecting the environments they live in. These foods will change you. Mark Lewis
eat wild! 9
Hogweed Salad-e-Shirazi
Ripe tomatoes Cucumber Sliced red onion Mint (wild) Powdered hogweed seeds (to taste) Grapefruit juice Oil (olive ideally)
A popular, refreshing and super-simple Persian salad. Hogweed seeds, or golpa, are used a lot in savoury Persian cuisine and pickles. Toss together chopped, ripe tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, mint, olive oil, salt and grapefruit juice (orange or lemon will do). Grind some hogweed seeds in a pepper grinder or chop with a sharp knife. Sprinkle over the salad to taste. Add cooked potatoes or a cubed slice of toast for a heartier option. Rox Madeira, trossachswildapothecary.com
Elderberry and apple pie 750g Bramley apples 250g elderberries Sugar to taste 1 tbsp cornflour (optional) 400g sweet pastry (homemade or bought) A little milk
Peel, core and slice the apples. Remove the elderberries from the stalks with a fork into a colander and wash. Add the fruit to a large saucepan with half a cup of water and a tablespoon of sugar. Stew on a low heat with the lid on until the apple has begun to break down (but not completely). Add more sugar to taste. Roll out the pastry and line a 20 cm (approx.) pie tin or bowl. Fill with the fruit mix. Brush the pastry lip with water or milk. Roll out a second sheet, top the pie, and press the pastry together around the edges. Using a sharp knife, trim the pastry. Brush with milk, and cut two slits in the top to allow any steam to escape. Bake in a 150°C/300°F oven for 50 minutes. Serve hot or cold with custard, cream or ice cream. Amy Rankine, hipstersandhobos.com
Camp fire spuds with pineapple weed 6 small potatoes (twice the size of an egg) 1 tub prawn/tuna mayo sandwich filler 20 pineapple weed flower heads Butter
Quick fixes
Oxalis on toast 2 ways
Pick the heart-shaped leaflets from the stalks of your oxalis leaves. The leaflets are soft, whilst the stalks are crunchy, so it’s nice to enjoy the two textures separately! On toast, the soft leaflets complement crunchy peanut butter, while the stalks enhance egg mayonnaise. 10 eat wild!
serves 2
Get a fire really hot and create a good bed of embers. Remove the wood and bury the potatoes in the embers. Replace the wood and let them cook for half an hour. Meanwhile, crumble the pineapple weed flower heads into the sandwich filler. Cut open the spuds and add butter, followed by the filler. The skin will be a bit black and not to everyone’s taste, but the spud flesh will be delicious. Miles Irving, worldwild.org.uk
Wild seed sprinkle
Mix some or all of the following together, and season with salt and pepper: greater (or ribwort) plantain seeds; Himalayan balsam seeds; mallow cheeses; chopped hogweed seeds. You can toast the seeds first if you like (all except the plantain as the husks get too tough) by putting them in a pan with no oil on high heat Happy until they begin to darken. tummy tip
Plantain seeds are full of fibre & will feed your good gut bacteria
Wildly aromatic
Mugwort flowers can be used in place of sage, for example in soups, with pasta, or when roasting. Flowers can be chopped finely or, where a recipe involves simmering or boiling, flowering tops can be put in whole then removed like bay leaves prior to serving.
RECIPES
Aubergine and avocado bake with plantain 2 handfuls greater plantain leaves 1 large aubergine 1 onion (sliced) 4 garlic cloves (sliced) 1 avocado (halved and sliced) – optional 200ml Greek yoghurt 1 tin tomatoes / passata oil (rapeseed or veg) Grated cheddar cheese Cracked black pepper
serves 3
Fry the onion and garlic until soft, then rip up the the greater plantain leaves, add and stir for 30 seconds before adding the passata or tinned tomatoes. Cook until you have a thick sauce, and season with cracked black pepper. Next, put a layer of sliced aubergine (roughly 4mm thick) into an ovenproof dish, then on top put the sliced avocado. Pour over half the ribwort plantain sauce, then smear with the Greek yoghurt. Now add the remaining aubergine slices, top with the remaining sauce and finish off with grated cheese. Bake in a 180°C/380°F oven for about 1 hour, or until it looks done. Robin Harford, eatweeds.co.uk
Rowan and peach cobbler filling
2 handfuls rowan berries, washed 2 large tins sliced peaches 1-2 tbsp sugar, to taste scone topping
350g plain flour, sieved 1 tsp baking powder 85g butter or marg 75g caster sugar 150ml milk / water 1 egg Pinch of salt
Add the fruit to a saucepan with a little water or syrup from the tin. Cover and cook on low heat until the berries have broken down – the peaches will mostly retain their shape. Add sugar (to taste). In a large bowl (or mixer) add the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir briefly to combine. Add in the cubed butter or margarine and, using the tips of your fingers, rub until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and stir through. Add the egg to the milk (or water) and whisk with a fork until completely combined. Slowly add into the flour mix until it starts to stick together, leaving aside around 10–25ml. Use your hands to pull the dough together – it should be slightly softer than pastry. Transfer your fruit into an ovenproof dish. Roll or press out the dough on a floured surface until about 2 cm thick. Cut circles using a cutter, or squares with a knife, and arrange on top of the fruit. (Shapes should only slightly overlap – they will rise in the oven.) Brush the top with the leftover egg mix. Cook in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F for 20 minutes. Amy Rankine, hipstersandhobos.com
Preserving the wild Fruit leather
Cook blackberries, elderberries or both, gently, mashing with a spoon to burst all the skins. Add honey to taste. Once cool, spread between two pieces of greaseproof paper (or cling film). Place in the oven (or a dehydrator) on a very low heat (80°C/180°F, door open) overnight, or in a warm place for a few days. Fruit leather is light and takes up very little space – a great snack to take on walks.
Dried yarrow
Yarrow flowers can be dried and used in place of rosemary or lavender.
Yarrow tea
Use the same quantity of yarrow as you would tea leaves, and stir in a teaspoon of honey.
Yarrow sugar
Two-thirds fill a jar with yarrow flowerheads, then pack full with sugar. Leave for a few days to infuse, then remove jar contents and dry in a low oven (80°C/180°F) overnight. Remove flowerheads and discard. Use for baking e.g shortbread. eat wild! 11
WILD CHILD
Word play
I like to celebrate the ancient festival of Lughnasa on August 1st, midway between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox. This is the time of ripening fruit and nuts; the pollinators have done their job, and the first harvest begins. Have you noticed the ripening berries of hawthorn, blackberry, sloe and rosehip? When I pick plants, I am reminded of community: each time I learn about a new plant, tree, mushroom or seaweed, it’s like meeting a new friend. I spend time getting to know everything about them before I even think about asking them to do something for me, like becoming food or medicine for me and my friends! Lughnasa is a great time to say thank you to the natural world. We can offer gifts to the earth; in Ireland, there is a tradition of offering the first berries, such as bilberry, to the earth, on top of mountains. There are of course plenty of ways to say thank you without climbing so high. Lucy O’Hagan, wildawake.ie
Instant first aid
Plantain loves to grow everywhere! At this time of year, you’ll spot ‘ribwort plantain’, with its long stalks supporting a heavy seedhead. Broadleaf plantain seeds (left) are said to have been transported in the shoes of the first settlers in North America, spreading plants across that land. The Native Americans met the European version of the indigenous plantain they knew with curiosity, and soon found it to be a very useful friend indeed! You can play a game called ‘neepie-napie’ with this plant: holding a long stalk, try to hit the seedhead off your opponent’s stalk (more on p4 and p8). Plantain is our go-to plant for woodland first aid. It has antibacterial qualities and is good for applying to small cuts, bruises, insect bites and nettle stings. You can use this plant for medicine by making a poultice: crush the leaves, either through chewing or bashing, until the juices are released, then put it directly onto your skin. Simple and effective! 12 eat wild!
A very old Norse form of poetry is called a ‘kenning’. A kenning is two words put together to describe something, without actually naming it. The kennings below all refer to one thing – see if you can work out what it is: µ Bright star z µ Time-teller Meet more µ Lion’s tooth foragers and teach your kids to forage. µ Nature’s clock Search @Foraging µ Brigit’s flame for Kids! on µ Wishing globe Facebook
f
Did you get it?? That’s right – dandelion! See if you can come up with your own kennings about the different plants and trees that you have met.
Things to do
1
MAKE YOUR OWN ZINE, sharing with your neighbours what plants grow nearby and what they can use them for.
2
ASK AN OLDER PERSON or grandparent about their experiences foraging for wild plants for food and medicine. You might be surprised by their answers!
3
OFFER TO COOK something for your family and/or community using plants. Make sure you follow the golden rules of foraging: don’t eat, or offer, anything you’re not 100% sure is edible!
4
MAKE A PIECE OF ARTWORK outside using sticks, cones, rocks or leaves. Look up the art of Andy Goldsworthy for inspiration.
FORAGE SAFELY
Golden guidelines for foragers, no matter what age!
5
Make sure you are 100% sure of the identity of a plant before eating it.
5
Make sure to wash any plant before you use it for food or medicine. Ask an adult for help to identify a plant. Bring a field guide with you and work together to meet a new plant.
d
Remember all the other beings that depend on this plant and the wider ecosystem that this plant belongs to.
8
Never take the first, never take the last. Take only what you need. Use your harvest respectfully.
Pea Family: Fabaceae (FAB-E-ACE-C-A)
meet the family
Members of the pea family all have flowers with five petals which form a distinctive ‘banner, wings, and keel’. Relatives of peas vary widely in size and appearance. Gorse, a spiky plant with bright yellow, edible flowers, which smell like coconut on a sunny day is surprisingly related to the peas on our dinner plates! ILLUSTRATIONS: PAPER RHINO, PHOTO: RAE ALLEN keel
banner wings