Forage by Month – Page 3 – Sustainable Life Birmingham

Hawthorn Berries – Haws

Name: Hawthorn Berries

Location: Found on Hawthorn trees, identify the tree first and make sure you have the right one before venturing this one.

Months: August, September, October, November

Edible Parts: Berries

Non-Edible Parts: The pips/stones inside are poisonous, never consume these.

Hawthorn berries are very common across the UK and last well into the deep winter so they are quite important as a food stuff. These haws pictured are quite a large variety but they are normally a bit thinner than this.

They make a great savoury flavour to accompany meat particularly game so I make them into a Haw Sauce (like ketchup but with much more flavour). I have found a lot of large ones this year that are lovely and soft so I will be exploring some alternatives.

Darwin’s Barberry

Darwin’s Barberry is a plant very similar to the Mahonia and also produces a fruit that is extremely similar in flavour and uses.

In fact, you may often come across a Barberry bush and mistake it for a Mahonia because they look so similar. You won’t come to any harm if you do, just bear in mind the differences. While the Mahonia berries are clustered into a grape like bunch across a stem, the Barberry hangs in bunches instead. The leaves are also the same as the Mahonia leaves, but tend to be much smaller, like a miniature version of the Mahonia. The Darwin’s Barberry bush is more commonly seen used as a hedge, whereas the Mahonia is a bit more of a stand alone plant.

Name: Darwin’s Barberry

Location: The berry of this plant, is typically found around early autumn in a plant that looks very similar to the Mahonia but smaller and often as part of a hedge.

Months: August, September

Edible Parts: Berries

Non-Edible Parts: Anything else

Darwin’s Barberry can be used very much in the same way as the Mahonia (Oregon Grape) to make jams and wine and perhaps even cordials. As a fresh fruit it is edible but a bit too tart to be a treat so is best used cooked/preserved.

Mahonia – Oregon Grape

Name: Oregon Grape

Location: The berry of the Mahonia, typically American but often found across the UK in posh gardens particularly in new build areas.

Months: June, July, August

Edible Parts: Berries

Non-Edible Parts: Anything else

The Mahonia Bush as pictured above is filled with sharp holly like leaves. As such people tend to stay away from the berries mistaking them for poisonous holly berries. The bushes typically look around this size in the UK with the same twisty wood at the base and a fluffy head of not so fluffy leaves. The berries look powdery blue like Sloes but are grouped together in long string bunches similar to grapes. The berries themselves are often said to be a bit too tart for raw eating but having now tried them myself I would say they are only slightly tart and quite sweet and full flavoured. In fact I was licking my red fingers all the way home enjoying the taste. Mahonia berries can be used to make jams and wine as with most berries. You will not be dissapointed with flavour.

One last tip to leave you with as we learned this the hard way: BRING GLOVES when harvesting. The leaves HURT and the juice STAINS. Ouch!

Silver Birch Sap

Collecting silver birch sap in the beginning of spring is a great way to get some extra sugar and clean water into your foraging diet. It does require some minor equipment and some thought and care though.

Equipment

Knife – sharp!
5L Bottle
Siphon Tube
Tape
Leaf and Twig or similar devices

Step One

Cut a “V” shape into a silver birch tree near the base but not at the bottom. If the sap begins to drip out rapidly, you are doing this at the right time.

Step Two

Insert the leaf into the base of the V shape and attach it in with a small twig. The sap should collect on the leaf and drip down at the point giving you a great way to direct the sap to where you want it. CAUTION: THIS WILL BE TRICKY!

Step Three

Attach the siphon tube to the tree underneath using non-permanent tape. Ensure the sap drips into the tube. Place the other end of the tube into the 5L bottle and tape securely in place. Use tape or other shade tools if you think it might rain to prevent rain water getting inside.

Step Four

Wait a couple of days for the bottle to fill up. This sap is clean, refreshing and a great emergency supply. You can also boil it down for syrup or make it into wine (which we will post about later on).

Remember:

Do this at the beginning of spring when the sap rises.
Try to look after the tree – seal the wound afterwards if possible and keep it clean.
Don’t keep doing this to the same tree, let it recover (some years).
The sap should be clear, sometimes with a tint. If it is brown it may be that the tree has a fungal infection and should be avoided.
Always seek permission form the tree owner of course.

How to Produce your Own Salt

Salt is one of our most important minerals for the human body but in the wild, it’s pretty hard to find in every day foraging. The coastal region is a massive resource for fresh salt whether it’s from the various food stuffs found from the coast or from harvesting the sea itself. Best of all, creating your own salt from the sea can be done all year round!

Salt isn’t as complicated and scary as you might first think. The way I will teach you how to produce your own salt from the sea today is pretty much exactly how large companies do it, there is no special secret you don’t know about.

Ingredients

Sea Water – Try to find a certified clean water area for the best and cleanest results!

Method

Collect around 5 Litres of sea water if possible. I used a large water bottle for this to get as much as I could.

Sift the Sea Water through several layers of Muslin. Repeat several times.

Allow the water to stand for a week and you may see a bit of excess dirt form on the bottom still. Siphon off the clean water from the top (as much as possible without disturbing the dirt at the bottom) using plastic tube (see homebrewing for help). Sieve through several layers of muslin again.

Boil off as much water as possible so that you are left with around 1 litre of water left at the most. Now your water beyond this point will begin to make salt so to avoid the salt burning on the bottom of the pan you should set up a gentle cooking system like this:

This is a large pan with around 30-50% water in it on the lowest heat setting on the hob. A metal bowl has placed on the top with the sea water in it. As you can see, after a few hours your water will disappear and you will be left with super strong salt! You may find your salt colour can vary from white to brown, it all depends on where you got the sea water from and the water quality. This salt has been produced from Morecambe and produced finer salt than I expected!

Next, loosen the salt form the edge of the bowl and leave it to air dry in a warm dry location like a windowsill. This will take a very long time but it prevents burning and allows the salt to dry properly for safe storage.

Bladder Wrack or Popweed Seaweed

If you get a chance to visit the coastal region at all then do not let the opportunity to harvest some coastal delights pass you by. The coast is an abundant source of food rich in nutrients and should not be passed over. Seaweeds are all year round but are at their best in April, May and June.

Name: Bladder Wrack, Popweed

Location: Seaside rocks and in the sea

Months: April, May, June

Edible Parts: Leaves

Non-Edible Parts: Stipe (to avoid damaging plant)

Bladder Wrack is easy to identify because it grows with small to large sacks of gas, it’s name comes from the inflated bladders they possess. You may recall stepping on this seaweed as a child and having hours of entertainment from the popping sounds – much like bubble wrap. Bladder Wrack (or popweed) is also abundant in the UK and if you find nothing else, you will find this.

Remember to only cut seaweed that is attached and living on rocks, avoid seaweed that is floating free. Cut at the stipe (the hard stem like part) giving a good distance away from the section that holds the seaweed to the rock, this will allow the seaweed to regrow without too much trouble.

Wash the seaweed thoroughly before use to clean it of contaminants and excess salt. Avoid seaweed that grows near Red Tide (the red algae) and other high pollutant areas.

Japanese Knotweed

Japanese Knotweed is a pest species in the UK. It’s pretty prolific stuff and even the smallest scrap can spread and take over an area very quickly. Therefore, we stick to two points:

Eat the stuff – Anything to hinder it’s growth has to be a good thing.
Always be extremely careful when approaching. Do not tread on it, dispose of all scraps completely. The slightest peel, fibre or speck an spread and it’s actually illegal to do so.

Name: Japanese Knotweed

Location: Anywhere, prolific pest species

Months: March, April (and to a lesser extent throughout the year)

Edible Parts: New stalks or top 10cm of stalks

Non-Edible Parts: Anything else

The stalks of the knotweed are greeny/red in appearance and are hollow thick tubes. You can harvest the top 10 cm of the stalk throughout the year but the best time to harvest is March/April when completely new stalks start to emerge (harvest just like Asparagus).

To eat, peel and cook the stalks like a sweet treat. The flavour is slightly sweeter than rhubarb but has the same flavour. This makes it great in crumbles! Just like rhubarb, you shouldn’t eat it in large amounts so use as a spring time treat only.

Chives or Crow Garlic

Name: Chives, Crow Garlic

Location: Rocky areas or roadsides

Months: March, April, May, June, July

Edible Parts: Young Leaves (softer brighter green ones)

Non-Edible Parts: Flowers

It’s amazing what you find out and about on a pathway or woodland path. In this instance I found Chives or Crow Garlic. They are essentially the same thing, long thin tubular leaves that smell and taste of onion/garlic. You can use them fresh as they are or dry them out to use as a herb later.

Nettles

It’s not just goosegrass that’s popping up this spring nice and early. Nettles are growing new shoots in abundance and these new baby leaves are perfect for a variety of household kitchen uses.

The newest youngest nettle leaves can be picked for a variety of meals and treats including nettle tea and nettle pesto. Why pay an obscene amount for a small jar of pesto or a few bags of tea that you can basically get for free from your garden?

Name: Nettles

Location: Anywhere.

Months: March, April

Edible Parts: Young Leaves (softer brighter green ones)

Non-Edible Parts: Tough older leaves (just not very tasty)

Caution: Wear gloves when picking and wilt before eating!

Make sure before you eat any nettles that you properly wilt them first. To do so, place the nettles in boiling hot water and push under the surface then take them out and put them into cold water right away to stop them cooking. This removes the sting and makes them edible.

Wild Garlic Paste

Now that the Wild Garlic is springing up again this season take advantage of it and try to store as much of it as possible to last you until your next garlic harvest.

A simple and easy way to store wild garlic is to create a garlic paste. All you need is some high quality oil such as Olive Oil and a bunch of wild garlic leaves/bulbs. SO long as the wild garlic isn’t flowering, you can use the whole thing for this paste.

Step One: Add a touch of lemon juice, a dash of salt and pour a tablespoon of olive oil to your Wild Garlic. Then, blend them together, a handheld blender works best.

Step Two: Add more love oil if necessary to make a strong garlic paste to the thickness you desire and mix well.

Step Three: Pour into a jar and top with a layer of oil to seal it in and stop air exposure.

You can keep this paste in the pantry or in the fridge, so long as the oil layer is maintained it shouldn’t go bad. You may find in the fridge the oil layer becomes hard, that’s normal! Just scoop underneath it and reseal after use. You should only need a teaspoon per meal to replace your usual garlic cloves as it’s reasonably strong flavoured.