Herbs, herbs everywhere

Posted by Andy Hamilton - 10/12/09 at 11:12:47 am

In another life I think I want to come back as some kind of medicine man, well herbalist really.  In fact I have not ruled it out of becoming one in this life. My interest in the medicinal side of wild plants has not dwindled in the last few years and with each passing year, I seem to become more knowledgeable on the subject. It helps that I pick plants and treat myself whenever I get ill; almost getting excited when I am ill just so that I can nip to the local park and pick something to cure myself. It also helps that I take people on wild food walks and that they often love to share whatever knowledge they have. Indeed, I am always pleasantly surprised when the most unexpected of people pipe up with a gem of knowledge.

As with any interest the more you follow it, the more you will meet people with similar interests. In fact I found myself at the opening of  a herbalists apothecary, (I say find myself, I was actually invited). I have to applaud the fella (Max Drake) who opened it as starting a business and especially a retail business at the moment is not up there as one of the wisest moves.  However, this place is perfect from someone like me. If there are herbs that I can’t forage or have not grown enough of I can nip down to the Urban Fringe dispensary at the top of the Christmas steps , Bristol, UK and pick some up. Since the closure of Bristol’s Culpepper shop, Max’’s shop is the only place in Bristol where you can actually buy herbs (excluding non culinary of course). He is providing what I think is an essential service and the more that people learn about herbalism I am certain, the more they will agree.

Without becoming to gushy about this shop and risking sounding like a long advert, I have to say that it is worth popping in just to have a look round the place. As you walk in you will see to your right a display area made from wood salvaged from a 16th Century church.  This really does give the shop some context as it was built 400 years ago, the structure of the building gives this away and apparently parts of the building are made from bits of old ships! You get a real feeling of the people who populated Bristol when looking around this old place. It also seems too that by stacking it full of herbs used to make people well, you are somehow nodding to the past residents of the place.

Anyway, back to the official shop opening. I found myself chatting to all sorts of people from different places. I spent most of the night talking to Zoe Hawes another medical herbalist. We got to talking about books and I got very excited about the book she is working on as it sounds right up my street. It’s called a Foragers Guide to Medicinal plants and will be published by Haymln in March 2010. I have a copy of her 2010 herbal journal, which would be a lovely gift for anyone interested in herbalism and in need of a diary. Zoe seems to have a similar outlook to me insofar as she believes that picking our medicines roots us firmly as human beings and reminds us of the thousands of years of practice that preceded our treatment.

Talking to (but not for) Max, Zoe and another herbalist friend Kathy (who practices at Neils yard in Glasgow) makes me question much about the present medical system and especially the commerce that surrounds it. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes western medicine really is the best option. However, there are times when I make up someone a herbal infusion of lets say mint, chamomile, yarrow and elderflower when they have a cold and I know they are only humouring me when they say thanks just to reach for a paracetamol. Or if someone has an upset stomach and I pass them some ginger. I know that I am in danger of sounding real “new worldy” or “hippyfied” in some peoples eyes by openly talking about herbalism with this but I would not mention any of it if I did not know that it worked. Time and time again I hear of medical trials that place herbs above western medicine for certain ailments. Take cold sores for example Lemon balm comes up trumps when used to treat them! What’s more with herbs is that there are little or no side effects.

I guess the real difference with herbs, herbal medicine and especially foraged for medicine is that there are not huge companies making huge amounts of money from them. It everyone grew their own drugs where would we be then? Perhaps the massive drug companies would start to flounder and we would not want that would we? They do such a great job of keeping us well and as such reasonable prices too.

Max Drake’s Urban Fringe Dispensary is situated at 58 Colston Street, Bristol, BS1 5AZ, Zoe Hawes is the author of the Herbal Journal out now and Foragers Guide to Medicinal Plants out in March 2010. Cath Kay practices from Neils yard, Glasgow.

City foraging – Collecting wild food in a City

Posted by Andy Hamilton - 02/05/09 at 09:05:35 pm

Over the last two days Dave (My twin and co-selfsufficientish fella) and I have been foraging for wild food with groups of people in Bath and Bristol.  Yesterday we were in Bath to help out Topping and Co bookshop and also to help promote our book. There we took a group of around 20 folk aging from 6  to bus pass age out for about an hour.  We found a good selection of wild edibles just a stones throw away from the bookshop, we even gave an old lady a bit of a start as we gathered outside her front door and inspected the weeds growing in a tub on her doorstep.

Today we were in Bristol conducting our monthly wild food forage. Which is is basically a walk starting at the city farm looking at the ecology, wild foods, bio-diversity, medicinal uses of plants and a bit of folklore. I have just got back and despite being rather tired I am very happy. There is always a bit of a bulletproof feeling that you get when you arrive back after a day out engaging with plants. Foraging (collecting wild food) can leave you with a feeling unlike any other outdoors pass time even gardening. It is hard to explain without sounding like a bit of a hippy so I apologise from the outset.

Foraging gives you a connection with your surroundings in many ways, firstly is a nutritional link. We have evolved around plants over thousands of year and different plants will have different properties at differing times of the year. We have different needs throughout the year. Take spring time for example, plants that are considered to be cleansing such as goosegrass (aka cleavers or sticky willy) are in abundance. During the harsh winter months we stock up on sugary and fatty foods. This winter belly is perfectly natural as it would have kept us warm. We don’t need it in the Spring and cleavers has been used not only to help cleanse the system but as an aid to dieting.

If you have been foraging for some years you will also find that you are much more likely to notice the subtle changes in the climate. Plants that are blossoming a week or two earlier or plants that simply have stopped growing in certain areas. These are a couple of the tangible things that foraging can do, the far less tangible is the overall feeling of belonging to something bigger than yourself that you get after connecting with the planet (see told you I would get a bit hippy).

Anyway, back to the actual forage – we left our crew of people at the end of a  hot days foraging looking very happy if a little tired. They all want to book again later in the year and as a group there would not be a single one I would not apprechiate coming back. It does seem that mostly good folk are drawn towards wild food forages which certain does help when you are the facilatator.

To see us in action we are on this clip (after the Gurellia gardeners) it is a French/German show called Global Mag on the Arte channel. To read more look in the months edition of Ethical Living magazine. If you want to learn more about our wild food forage or book a place on the next course please do follow this link,we’d love to see you.

Cooking with Japanese Knotweed

Posted by Andy Hamilton - 20/03/09 at 07:03:16 pm

Japanese Knotweed Fallopia japonica is a plant that can divide forages from allotmenteers. Many foragers and love the stuff whilst allotmenteers dread seeing it. Why, you may well ask. Well it is because it is such a thug in fact to call it a thug is to play down its perniciousness. This weed is more like a guerrilla force than a thug, in the plant kingdom this stuff makes mint, brambles and couch grass look like Luxembourgs army.

This plant is hardy up to temperatures of  −35 °C and to ensure that you have gotten rid of it you have to dig down up to 3m to get every last bit of the root. It can grow very quickly at 3cm a day and reach a height of 3m.  This plant is worse than having your brother come and stay for just one night, as once this plant arrives it is very difficult to get it to go! It can grow through tarmac, walls I have heard of one woman who dag and day over 5 years and has now eradicated it from her garden – I will add that this is a woman I met on a boat and I have never seen her again to verify if she has still got rid of it. Mostly it is sprayed and sprayed with powerful herbicides and this is the only way many people can get it to go.

So why would you want rid of it, well I love the way that Paul Kingsnorth likens this plant to a major supermarket in his book real England. The following paragraph beautifully sums up how both knotweed and Tescos behavior.

“Just as Knotweed is all cloned from one single plant, so the big chains are all cloned from global corporations. Just as Knotweed makes it impossible for the local plant life at its roots, and thus kills off the local insects and the local birds, so the big chain shops kill off the local independent shops around them and thus destroys the local economy. Just as Knotweed will come back again several growing seasons in a row until those of us out there with mallets and rollers are exhausted, so a big supermarket, refused planning permission, will apply again and again until the Council and local people are worn down and give in.”

I guess you are wondering why foragers might like it. Well it is because as the title of this blog suggests, it can be eaten as a food at this time of year in the UK. The trick is to cut it when it is about 15-20cm tall. It has a taste very similar to Rhubarb when cooked.  In fact replace rhubarb with knotweed in any recipe and you can’t go far wrong.

Knotweed fool

This is simply a fruit fool made like any other. It is absolutely delicious and I think could eaisly start to show up on menus. Perhaps I should send my recipe to Heston Blumenthal.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon of sugar or half a litre of apple juice
• A big handful of knot weed (12 shoots)
• 2 Bananas
• 1 cup of double cream

Method

Cook the knotweed for a few minutes in sugared water (or apple juice) until tender.  Strain and blend until proper mash up.  Throw in the bananas and blend them too. In the meantime beat the cream until it is stiff. Fold in the resulting goo. Refrigerate for about an hour and serve with a foolish counternance.

Steamed knotweed

I have read that you can serve knotweed like a vegetable, simply steam it. However, it does taste like rhubarb with a texture like asparagus. It is certainly interesting and I think I will need to experiment with it further before I can really suggest that it works.

Advice on harvesting knotweed and the law

As knotweed is such an invasive plant you have to be aware that it can be regually sprayed. The patch that I found is in an area that I walk past every day and so I know that it is safe. If you have any doubt about your patch of knotweed being sprayed then I would strongly advise on leaving it well alone, it is simply not worth the risk. I have seen a patch that has been sprayed for knotweed and 3 years on it is still fairly barren.

A second note of warning is about the crop once you have picked it. Do only use the first shoots of the year (15-20cm or 6-9 inches) as the adult plants are not only too tough to eat but they have a sap inside them that can leave your mouth blistered.

Whenever we contduct our wild food walks we always tell people to only pick what they will eat and leave at least a 2 thirds of the plant or if there is only one plant in one area then leave it alone. Japaneses knotweed is slightly different in that (I personally think) you are doing a bit of service by harvesting it as it must weaken the plant. So take as much as you use and even cook it up and freeze it. Although do use all of it, I have heard of people throwing bits away only to find it growing out of the bin. So I would advise burning anything that you have left over or at least try cooking and eating all of it.

Remember that the plant can grow from a piece of the root the size of your thumbnail so it is rightfully covered by the Environmental protcetion act (see below).

Environmental Protection Act 1990
Japanese Knotweed is classed as ‘controlled waste’ and as such must be disposed of safely at a licensed landfill site according to the Environmental Protection Act (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991. Soil containing rhizome material can be regarded as contaminated and, if taken off a site, must be disposed of at a suitably licensed landfill site and buried to a depth of at least 5 m.

An offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act can result in a criminal prosecution.  An infringement under the Environmental Protection Act can result in enforcement action being taken by the Environment Agency which can result in an unlimited fine.  You can also be held liable for costs incurred from the spread of Knotweed into adjacent properties and for the disposal of infested soil off site during development which later leads to the spread of Knotweed onto another site.

Herbal uses

My herbalist friend Max gets very excited about knotweed as it contains a resveratrol. A link to his site explaining the herbal uses will be arriving shortly*

*When he gets round to writing it.

Some Japanese Knotweed videos

A very infromative video about knotweed.

Here is a poem about Knotweed in Wales.

Foraging season is almost here

Posted by Andy Hamilton - 25/02/09 at 02:02:21 pm

Well when I say foraging season is almost here, I guess it does not really go away it is just that the amount you can pick goes down.

I am happily tucking into dandelion roots which are not massive at the moment but are starting to swell up. This is where my allotment life and foraging life cross over as it seems a shame to waste any of the weeds I am digging out. The cold weather has been a sort of god send on the allotment as not many weeds are growing. Not so great for us foragers although saying that weeds don’t need that much encouragement.

Back to dandelions – The way to cook them is to wash them (don’t peel), choping off the leaves. The leaves can be dried and drunk like a tea, which is good for hangovers. Cut the roots up like you would a carrot then lightly fry in butter for about 5 mins. Now add a little water and simmmer until soft.  Serve with soy sauce. They do still have a bit of a taste of battery acid, which is where the soy sauce comes in. But similar to olives repeat eating and you can enjoy it.

I am also experimenting with dandelion leaves by making a beer out of them, more on that when it is ready.

The same can’t be said about evening primrose root which, no matter what I do I still can seem to get to stop from either ruining everything else in the pot with its gloopy horrible taste or just tasting pretty horrible just on its own.

And of course it also means that the season is on us for our wild food walks. It would be lovely to see some of you on them.

Colds, manflu and herbs

Posted by Andy Hamilton - 04/12/08 at 03:12:25 pm

I have been feeling sorry for myself all week as I have been suffering from what is these days termed as Manflu, no longer can I call it a cold. I am debating if “manflu” help matters. It’s almost living up to a sterotype, “right I am ill, I am a man ergo I must be incapable of doing anything and must whine”.

Anyway it will teach me to boast, at the weekend during the “free feast” I announced that I was so healthy at the moment I would not catch my mates cold. Well, how wrong I am.

I think perhaps drinking for two evenings did not help. It might also be that I am not used to being surrounded by over 100 people; as there were at the free feast. Pretty amazing that really, feeding 100 people without spending any money, makes you realise how wealthy we really are in the west.

Well that’s if for the short blog as my head can’t cope with anymore, I also have to go out and forage my next dose if cold relief.

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