Eat the weeds/foraging

[difflock]

I thought this was a link to sommat like;

Goats, forestry and a Stihl advert thrown in.

What more could a man want.

Well a kid stewed in its own mothers milk might be nice.

[Stere]

Alot of more obscure forage food was only ate if there was a famine

 

Elderflower champange is nice though, ad elderberries  make nice jam also

 

Richard  Mabey Food for free is a nice reference book bit of a  classic.

[scbk]

26 minutes ago, 5thelement said:

I do like to look around the meat section of the large supermarkets here playing ‘guess the animal’ with the kids.
 The French don’t disguise anything and use everything, some things are completely unidentifiable, but horse & rabbit are common, along with gargantuan duck breasts.

I once went to the Asian (Chinese) cash and carry in Glasgow, up the back was like going to the Sea Life Centre!! Rows and rows of tanks full of all the wonders of the ocean, swimming round, ready to be bagged up and taken away.

 

 

Recently I had some French folks staying the night, I was showing them the menu from the local chippy and explaining the delights of a black pudding or haggis supper. They asked what it's made from, but had a horrified look on their faces when I told them  

 

 

Never even got as far as the deep fried pizza, or battered mars bars.

Edited August 9, 2023 by scbk

[5thelement]

4 minutes ago, scbk said:

I once went to the Asian (Chinese) cash and carry in Glasgow, up the back was like going to the Sea Life Centre!! Rows and rows of tanks full of all the wonders of the ocean, swimming round, ready to be bagged up and taken away.

 

 

Recently I had some French folks staying the night, I was showing them the menu from the local chippy and explaining the delights of a black pudding or haggis supper. They asked what it's made from, but had a horrified look on their faces when I told them  

 

 

Never even got as far as the deep fried pizza, or battered mars bars.

Yeah, if it moves the Chinese will eat it.😂

Surprised at the French reaction to black pudding and haggis, they will make sausage out of just about anything, they also have a few crackpot ideas themselves, Ortolan Bunting for one.

Most shocking for me was my first visit to a supermarket in Reykjavik, they just band saw the animals head down the middle and vacuum pack it. 

[Dan Maynard]

We visited Harlech castle in Wales yesterday, found a patch of grass down the bottom of the hill labelled as JKW control zone, but it seemed to be doing ok in bushes along the ditch. I was really surprised as they appeared to be letting it seed, didn't walk near it.

[5thelement]

20 minutes ago, Dan Maynard said:

We visited Harlech castle in Wales yesterday, found a patch of grass down the bottom of the hill labelled as JKW control zone, but it seemed to be doing ok in bushes along the ditch. I was really surprised as they appeared to be letting it seed, didn't walk near it.

The seeds are usually sterile, they are probably letting it flower before stem injecting it as its in hedges/ditches.

[Dan Maynard]

4 minutes ago, 5thelement said:

The seeds are usually sterile, they are probably letting it flower before stem injecting it as its in hedges/ditches.

Ah interesting, would make more sense in that case.

[sime42]

8 hours ago, Ty Korrigan said:

Aside from a few select fungi and blackberries, I've not really bothered actively looking for wild foods though I'm considering giving pignuts a serious try.

A recent thread on a French gardening forum for Brits has a discussion on Japanese Knotweed with a few people advocating eating it.

A quick Google brings up endless articles and blogs on the health benefits of knotweed.

If it is really so nutritious, why is it not commonly sold in our Supermarkets? 

Anyone here regularly consume knotweed?

I understand it tastes much like Rhubarb so hardly likely to be a side dish with a main course.

                 Stuart

 

 

 

Have you seen Pignuts, or know where they grow? Apparently they're quite challenging to forage. Hard to spot in the first instance and then tricky to harvest as the eating bit, the nut, is underground and only attached to the leaf by a thread, so easily lost when you try to dig it up. That's what I read in a Ray Mears book anyway. We've tried but failed to find them before.

 

I'd recommend more plentiful wild foods such as stinging nettles or wild garlic, or if on the coast samphire, sea spinach or seaweed. I'm curious to try JKW though.

 

[Ty Korrigan]

55 minutes ago, sime42 said:

 

Have you seen Pignuts, or know where they grow? Apparently they're quite challenging to forage. Hard to spot in the first instance and then tricky to harvest as the eating bit, the nut, is underground and only attached to the leaf by a thread, so easily lost when you try to dig it up. That's what I read in a Ray Mears book anyway. We've tried but failed to find them before.

 

I'd recommend more plentiful wild foods such as stinging nettles or wild garlic, or if on the coast samphire, sea spinach or seaweed. I'm curious to try JKW though.

 

 

Yes, pignuts in my garden.

I've read about how tricky they are to dig up.

Also Samphire, picked that a few times in Breton estuaries. Alot tougher and stronger flavour than the palid farm raised stuff sold in fancy deli's.

I've considered Eryngiums too but I'll need to be discreet about digging those up in the dunes.

 Puffballs recently appeared on the edge of the veg plot, this is the smallest being fried in olive oil.

No wild garlic locally and I'm not mentally up for nettles just yet.

 

 

[sime42]

Puff balls are a real treat, you certainly get a lot for your money! Eryngium is a new one on me.

 

This is American but looks like it might be useful;-

Eryngo, Tough Sweetie - Eat The Weeds and other things, too

WWW.EATTHEWEEDS.COM

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Array

 

I forget to mention Ground Elder, makes good soup. Apparently introduced into Britain as a food stuff, by the Romans.