RESOURCES: Wild Harvest There is such a huge amount of food growing wild, untended, abundant and free - if you only know where to look. Our ancestors would have considered wild food as an essential part of their diet, and there are many reasons to give foraging a go. The adventure, the great outdoors, the huge nutritional and medicinal benefits. We are lucky to have on the Seed Truck team a seasoned herbalist, Elspeth Killin, who has a huge depth of knowledge about all sorts of wild plants and their uses.
Healing foods - tame and wild. Written by Elspeth Killin
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erbs and wild plants can be found everywhere – in the fields, lanes and hedgerows, woodlands and seashore – your garden and pots on the kitchen window. They are a key ingredient of our diet – not only adding interesting – and very individual tastes – but also providing nutritional and medicinal benefit. I have listed 5 key tastes (although some traditions define them differently). Taste unlocks our food and sets the digestive system in motion. Tastes should be balanced in the diet. • • • • •
Sweet – basic cereals, root vegetables, fruits dried & stored Sour – fruit acids including berries & rosehips Bitter – dandelion, chicory, wild lettuce, hops Salty – seaweeds, possibly nettles ? Acrid/pungent – cayenne, mustard, horseradish, garlic (which becomes ‘sweet’ when cooked)
Gathering plants in the wild is a joy – the different seasons offering different bounty. Spring has ransoms (Allium ursinum – bear garlic), nettles, raspberries and elderflowers.
“
Our food should be our medicine. Our medicine should be our food.
- Hippocrates
Ripe elderberries on the tree
Elder was known as the ‘medicine chest of the country people’, referring to its number of uses – the flowers may be used in sinus conditions and a traditonal tea (EYP) was made from Elderflowers, Yarrow and Peppermint to help with the symptoms of coughs and colds. Elderflower are made into various flavoursome drinks and deserts. In Autumn the elderberry is abundant – cooked before use – and made into wine and a ‘rob’ (the juice thickened by heat – using other ingredients – perhaps brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves and lemon. ) – full of vitamin C and a base for cold remedies. Hawthorn berries,
sloes, rosehips, crab apples and brambles are all at hand at that most abundant time of year Autumn, or Hairst (Harvest) in Scots. Please note: • • • • • •
! Berries may have to be cooked ! Never strip a plant bare! ! Collect away from traffic and sprayed fields ! Never lift whole plants ! Ensure you have the right plant ! Harvest only what you can use
family – fennel, coriander and dill seeds – used in digestive remedies. Dill – a quiet and unassuming plant has many uses in the kitchen – the seeds & flowers are used in pickles & the leaves may be chopped and used to enhance the flavours of potato salads, cream cheese, soups, grilled meats and fish. As we gather herbs in the wild we should not forget the wildflowers – essential supporters of wildlife everywhere, and many having uses now forgotten. Their seeds can be gathered in Autumn and many benefit from being planted at that time as they need to be stratified (or put very simply – survive a frost – with apologies to all botanists).
Lore
Stripping the elderberries from their stalks
Kitchen remedies
Kitchen remedies are a traditional way to use herbs and wild plants at home, honey and onion syrup being two of the simplest and most useful remedies, whilst infused oils, vinegars, syrups and oxymels (a vinegar and honey combination) can be made from the home and wild garden – preserving the herbs for all year round use. Bring a touch of summer sunshine to winter salad dressings, with a rich, sweet and sour dressing made with raspberry cider vinegar. Make bramble ‘butter’ with cooking apples, sugar , lemon zest and juice. Chutneys, jams (my favourite after a
glut of marrows being marrow and ginger – made with crab apples), jellies, cordials and wine are all possibilities.
Companion planting
In the organic garden herbs are important companion plants – sage is a true friend to the strawberry – and thyme deters the cabbage moth. Sage leaves are made into a gargle for sore throats – although they are not used in pregnancy – having a strong hormonal effect. The pot marigold (Calendula officinalis) is a key companion here – and is also beautiful with edible flowers. Oils, ointment and creams may be made from its blooms. Nasturtiums are widely used in the garden grown beside tomatoes, cabbage and cucumber. Add edible nasturtium flowers to salads, stuff for tiny appetisers or mince an assortment of colours and mix them into softened butter for a confetti effect. Grow herbs for scent and beauty as well as culinary uses. Lavender is used in breads, scones, biscuits and cakes. Delicious with coffee & chocolate. Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis – mel being the Latin for honey) is known as bee balm – used traditionally by bee keepers to scent the hives – attracting and keeping the bee colony. Lemon balm makes a delicious and refreshing tea. Culinary herbs from the Mint family – e.g. rosemary, peppermint and sage were all added to meat dishes as they are considered to aid in the digestion of fats. The digestive system might also benefit from herbs from the Carrot
The wildflowers and herbs also give us an abundance of folklore and stories – belonging to people who knew the plants as neighbours and could tell the numerous country names of flowers, sometimes changing by district. The ever present cleavers (Gallium aparine) is known as Sticky Willie to most of us – but Sticky Geordie in Fife. Like many common ‘weeds’ this is a medicinal plant also used as a foodstuff. Which shrub should you sleep under on Midsummer – to see the King of the Fairies pass ? What medicinal herb (known to the country people as ‘Archangel’) pretends to be a nettle ? Come for a walk sometime soon – and we’ll discover more ….. Elspeth Killin M.A., B. Sc (Hons), ITEC (Arom), M. NIMH Medical Herbalist Wildlife and Herb Gardening Education for all ages elspeth.killin@btinternet.com or call 07947 066149. Please note – Any information on herbal treatments is provided for illustration purposes only
Find out more about the Seed Truck: www.fifediet.co.uk/seedtruck
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