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Hedgerows and Camp Fires; Autumn Foraging with the Wild Communities Project

Posted: Friday 22nd September 2017 by WildCommunities

Last Saturday, foraging enthusiast, project manager and all round fun-gi Chris Jones led an educational foraging walk around Ystradfawr Nature Reserve, Ystradgynlais.

WARNING: this blog is not intended as a guide. Use published guides and never eat a plant or mushroom that you aren’t 100% sure of - it could easily kill you. Mushrooms are a specialist foraging subject. Google Destroying Angels - they look edible but are fatal if eaten. Also, please never strip a tree or patch of goodies. Always leave lots for nature and regrowth.

On our walk we discovered:

Herb Bennet & Silverweed leaves – for salads

Raspberry Leaf – tea (pregnant and nursing women should avoid)

Dandelion leaves and roots – roast the roots for ‘coffee’ and eat the leaves in salad

Sloe Berries – for sloe gin or jam

Rose Hips – only use the flesh of the fruit & discard the irritating seeds. Make rose hip syrup for a high dosage of vitamin C.

Crab Apples - for tart jams and jellies

Goosegrass – can be wilted like spinach & cooked with garlic and lemon

Himalayan Balsam Seeds – add them to a dhaal

Hazlenuts – roasted, or made into hazelnut butter

Blackberries – for a tangy compote over ice cream or coconut yoghurt

Acorns – but must be soaked to be edible. Look online for guidance.

Gorse Flowers – add to fresh boiling water for a delicate, coconutty tea

Birch – nutritious sap. Only tap adult trees once every 3 years. Stop up the hole with a cork or peg or the tree will ‘bleed’ to death

&....

Pine Needles – for a vitamin c rich tea

Nearing Lunchtime, we approached a clearing in the reserve where Chris lit a camp fire and cooked a pre prepared foraged soup of Morel mushrooms, garlic and hazelnuts. 

This was a free event, put on by the Wild Communities Project. If you would like any information about our next events, such as our Bat walk on the 30th October, then please call 01639 844 273.

Sarah, Wild Communities Assistant

 

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