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.

Preperations for the free feast

Posted by Andy Hamilton - 28/11/08 at 11:11:08 am

It’s been a pretty busy few days as preparations for the free economy feast step up. I was getting rather worried that the yarrow beer I brewed for it would not quite be ready in time but it is starting to settle and it looks ok. I did try some after the first fermentation and it was palatable although full of sediment, so fingers crossed it is ok now.

The free feast is open to anyone who turns up and will be held at Cafe Midnimo in Bristol starting at 4.30pm on Saturday 29th Nov in Bristol. The feast will be served around 4.30pm in Café Midnimo, 163 Ashley Rd, St. Paul’s, Bristol BS6 5NX.

The Yarrow Ale won’t be served up at Cafe Midnimo as it has a no alcohol policy the local of serving it is as yet undisclosed. I did make an extra gallon for myself, which I am going to give a lot more time to mature just to judge the difference in taste, I have no other ulterior motive with making my own brew, honest.

SO WHAT ABOUT FOOD?? Well we did manage to find a massive haul of wax caps yesterday. Enough to feed at least 20 people as a soup or starter anyway. I say we as Dave and I were joined by another forager called Fergus who is desperately trying to rid himself of his TV name “the roadkill chef“. So I am sure he won’t thank me for mentioning it again.  He is trying to rebrand himself as Fergus the Forager and I think it seems to be working. It was good to talk to him about foraging courses especially finding out how he sells them as Christmas presents. As this is to be Dave and I’s wage next year we really do have to learn how to sell them. We were also joined by a local helper called Dan who seemed to enjoy just spending the day out. It is always good to go out picking with good people.

Good people carried on as a theme this morning as a bloke from BBC radio Bristol turned up with his radio car. I asked where the crew was and apparently they don’t need them for these live links. This was a bit of promotion for the free feast, I basically had to do a live talk about foraging. It might be on the listen again thing, for another week. I was on at about 8.40-8.50 ish so right at the end of the 3 hour show, about 2.50 hrs. It was unfortuantely cut short as there was a big fight near where I used to live in Bath, off the London Road. Quite odd as if I had taken a different course in life I would have been there.

So this afternoon we are now going to be off around Bristol looking for more foraged food for the feast. I will have to get on to that now.

Brewing 100 pints of Yarrow Beer, free Economy and new desk

Posted by Andy Hamilton - 19/11/08 at 03:11:24 pm

Brewing 100 pints of Yarrow Beer for the Free Economy

Last week I turned up to a meeting in a pub regarding the free economy. More on that later. The free economy lot are throwing a party offering free food and drink to anyone that turns up at the end of the month to celebrate the founders experiment of living without spending money for a year and of course buy nothing day. The party is to be held in just over a week on buy nothing day (29th November) and I agreed to supply some home brew. Having never brewed anything over 40 pints before this was indeed to be a challenge. The ingredients were no problem being just Yarrow, Malt Extract, Sugar, Water and Yeast - I wrote up the recipe and a brief introduction just here.

The interesting thing I found out about Yarrow is that it contains Thujone an ingredient also found in Absinthe. So I am going to assume that Yarrow ale/beer could be slightly psychedelic. Well as I am brewing 100 pints of it for over 100 people I am doubtful that it will really matter as I can’t see anyone having enough of it to have any effect.

Yarrow has been used by humans for the last 60 000 years and apart from being used to brew a psychedelic beer it has had many other medicinal uses including treating toothache, kidney disorders, toothache, piles and to stem the flow of blood. In fact soldiers throughout the ages have gone into battle with a pocket full of yarrow for this very reason. Indeed, in some circles it has been called the warriors herb. I love it as it grows everywhere and I tend to take an infusion of the stuff when I am feeling a bit run down, it seems to help.

Making the beer itself was a bit tricky to say the least, I got my 100 litre (22 gallon) water butt (see below) and filled it with steralizing solution and warm water. This involved getting the hose out or I could have been there for hours; as I had no tap attachment I had to tape the hose to the tap and flooded the kitchen a little as it kept firing off. I then rinsed it out with colder water and had much the same experience.

Now knee high in water I added the malt and sugar to the brew bin which I then moved to a warmer room – The dining room. My girlfriend seems to be grinning and bearing it as my home brew collection starts to take over, I have not told her that I intend on having something brewing constantly now for ever more. She does make the odd comment that makes me think she might disapprove such as, “if that f*****ng thing bubbles one more time”, or “I can’t come into the kitchen I am going to heave”.

Boiling the yarrow did smell a little and it had to be done in two large pans that I have for home brewing, one 7 litre and one 4.  Picking the yarrow was easier than I thought as I found a spot with loads of it, I would suggest doing the same if you are to make this as you when there are only a couple of plants in one area they are best left totally alone to give them the best chance for survival; you need about 1 pannier bag or roughly one carrier bag full so you will need a lot. I later found that trying to measure out almost 2 kilograms of yarrow is not the easiest in a small kitchen with tiny scales. So to add to the water there are now bits of yarrow, grass and clover all over the kitchen.

Anyway, if you want to recreate this then here are the ingredients and the full recipe is over here.

Ingredients

• 3.4kg organic Barley malt extract (10 jars)
• 2.7 kg Brewing Sugar
• 1.75 kg Fresh Yarrow leaves
• 56 litres of water
• 1 cup of good ale yeast
• a small jar of honey (for priming)

You may ask what on earth is going on in that picture, the thing on the far right is my water butt  wrapped with a fleecy sleeping bag to keep the brew to a regular temperature without having to have the heating on all night. It is being propped up by a few bricks so that when it comes to draining out the brew into its beer barrel the job will be slightly easier. No need for siphoning tubes with this set up. I am slightly concerned that if the bricks get cold they will radiate coldness and cause the brew to cool down this is why the local paper has been pushed under as an after thought.

Free Economy

….Which according to it’s founder Mark Boyle, “It’s about making the transition from a money-based communityless society to a community-based moneyless society”. You might have heard about Mark in the past as he was the bloke who gave up everything he owned and decided to walk to India.

Dave and I have got involved with them on and off over the last few months, mostly offering free forages. What happens in short is rather like freecycle but with your skills instead. People list what they can do anyting from house building to scrabble playing. You sign up, putting in your address and it tells you who is nearby so if you need a head massage, want to borrow a drill or need help with your dahlias then it is worth a look.

New Desk

On Saturday we popped into the Bristol branch of Emmaus a big warehouse type shop full of second hand furniture. Everything there is donated and all the procedes go to help desitute people in need of a home, work and support. It is one of my favorite shops as I love second hand furniture. I saw a massive desk and immediately wanted it, my old one although it has served me well is just too small, once I have a couple of books on it, it is filled.

So I excepted delivery of my Edwardian second hand desk yesterday. Great I thought it is perfect so big that I could sleep on it. Then I awoke in the middle of Sunday night; the day before delivery. I realised that it was so big that it would not fit in the house. I measured up the staircase and the front door and indeed I felt sure it would not fit.

So all credit to the three blokes from Emmaus who worked out that by taking it around the back, through the french doors then, taking apart the bannister we could fit it in.  It was odd but I think there was a real sense of winning in the face of adversity when we eventually go it in.

Forage course and They can’t ration these

Posted by Andy Hamilton - 07/10/08 at 01:10:05 pm

Foraging Course – Our first all day one!

Dave and I had our first foraging course yesterday and to make sure it felt like a baptism of fire we invited along a film crew who were filming something for Irish National station RTE. There were smiling faces all round at the end and the whole group got on really well.

It seems that our forage is something slightly different than the usual forages some of the comments we got were, “I expected to be baffled with Latin names but you made it really assessable” and “I really enjoyed it and it was lovely to have the opportunity to learn so much with good company.  You both did a really good job of explaining things whilst keeping a good sense of humour and it showed in the light and friendly atmosphere.”

I am not just posting those comments to advertise the latest course here in Bristol on Saturday 11th October, 10am-4pm. But just to say what a great way we could earn a living. Well actually my motives are to try and fill the last few places we have left (email me for more details).

I keep being asked why we do this forage in a city and there is one really good reason, there are simply more plants. Think about the seed that gets planted in the countryside, acres upon acres of corn, maize, rape or whatever. Whereas every gardener seems to spend hours leafing through seed catalouges and will plant a huge array of different plants year after year.

Just as one gardener for example, I try to grow a new plant every year, this year being tomatillos and I also try different varieties of courgettes, tomatoes, basil, sweetcorn, beetroot and beans every year.  One year my fennel and my lettuce went to seed and Emma had also planted some evening primrose, now everyone on our allotment site is weeding out those plants.

The little extras that we gave out really seemed to go down well, I am just hoping that I can have some homebrew ready for the next one. We did instead have rowanberry and hawthorn berry jelly, sumacade and something else that will remain a secret until the RTE program is aired that the presenter Baz Ashmawy seemed to really enjoy!

He was a pretty nice bloke in the end, just a normal chap not sure how famous he is over in Ireland (or should I be saying Eire??). I asked him if he had a fan club and he it seems he does not, not sure if that is a real mark of fame or more of a reflection on the sorts of people who follow you. It made me and Dave realise that TV work really is not that hard and I hope it we will come across well. I would love to meet the editor though and just make sure that we do come across well!

They can’t ration these

I just picked up a book called “They can’t ration these” by Vicomte De Mauduit. It was recomended to me twice so I had to get it really. Quite an odd little book perhaps one for people who have made their first steps in foraging as it does not have much of a field guide. It does tell you how to cook Hedgehog though!

I guess this book for some would have more of curosity value as it does feel like a little window into what Britatin would have been like during the war.

There are some recipes about how to make food go further, others for wild food and it even tells you how to make the selfsufficientish old favorite the haybox oven. It was a war time book after all and I can really imagine someone during wartime treasuring it for the wisdom it opertunes. It would have really empowered the reader to make their rations last.

Drying Haw Berries, Haw Jelly and Haw wine

Posted by Andy Hamilton - 28/09/08 at 02:09:44 pm

A few days ago Dave and I went out and collected a big bag of haw’s. I have had these haws lying around my house for a while and I decided it was about time I did something with them. 

Drying Haw’s

I looked all over the place for information on this, I think that sun drying would probably be the best way to dry Hawthorn berries. Laying them out on a baking tray in the morning and returning in the evening. I would have to go to the park and do this as my yard faces north and subsequently does not get much sun. So I put them in the oven on a low heat, yes it is a waste of electricity but I did put them in straight after the oven was used before turning the oven on, meaning I used a little of the heat leftover. Not entriely convinced this will work. I will return and edit this post with some results.

Haw Jelly

Firstly I made Haw Jelly, this was first introduced to me as my present from the secret selfsufficientish santa a couple of Christmas’s ago and I have loved the stuff ever since. Pretty easy stuff to make. The recipe that I use is inspired by some ofthe ishers on our web forum.

Ingredients

• 1 lb of Haws (500g)
• 1.5 pints of water (800mls)
• 3 crab apples
• 2 cooking apples

Method

Boil until the haws and the apples are all mushy. Then get a muslin cloth/jelly bag or an old CLEAN t-shirt pour in the mushy liquid, tie up some where (cupboard handles are a good spot) and strain through into a bowl. This is best done slowly even overnight as apparently squeezing it can make the jelly go cloudy, but I have no patience and tend to give it a helping hand. I am not puritan after all.

Measure our what liquid you have left and pour in the same amount of sugar. So one pint of sugar to each pound of liquid, 500g per 500ml. Then boil until you reach setting point. To test this put a saucer in the freezer for a bit, then dollup the jelly onto every now and then, when it seems to set and not run all over the saucer it is ready to put into sterilized jam jars.

It makes about three Marmite sized jars full. Unless like me you drop one into the rest of the big pile of haws and end up with a big jammy mess of haws.

Don’t drop a half filled

Hawthorn Berry Wine.

There are probally a few hawthorn berry wine recipes out there that are tried and tested, if you are reading this near or in September 2008 then I can’t tell you if this recipe is any better than any of the others. If you are reading it in or after the spring of 2009 then there might be an update and so you should look for it to find the taste.

Ingredients

• Four pints(2 litres) of Hawberries (fill a pint glass four times with them)
• 1 lb (500g) of chopped raisins (don’t go looking to buy them ready chopped do it yourself lazy tyke)
• 2.5 lb (1.25 kg) Sugar
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 gallon of sugar
• 1 campden tablet
• 15g yeast and 10g yeast nutrient.

Take out the stalks and all the bits of twigs. Rinse the Haw berries with cold water. Pour six pints of water over the top of them and leave loosely covered for a couple of hours.  No it is crushing time, squeeze every last berry with your hands so that you get right messy (make sure you have washed your hands).

Add the raisins and lemon juice leave for 24 hours in a fermentation bin if you have one, otherwise a steralized bucket covered in a tea towel.

After the 24 hours is up stir in the sugar when you are sure it has disolved add the  yeast and yeast nutrient. Keep covered in a warm place for 5-7 days depending on how busy you are.

Strain into a demi-john fit an airlock and leave for about 3 months, rack* then bottle after a month. Storing the bottles on their side.

*Syphon into another demi-john leaving the sediment.

Quince Comfits and Knowle west

Posted by Andy Hamilton - 14/09/08 at 09:09:42 pm

Quince Comfits

Just finished making some Quince Comfits a recipe from the 1700s. I made it with Quinces that I picked from along the river Avon last week. The recipe came from an excellent book called “Food in England” by Dorothy Hartley. I won’t bother putting a link to anywhere to buy this as it was first published in 1954 and you are sure to find it in a second hand book shop or charity shop somewhere.

Anyway, the recipe for quince comfits is pretty simple. Chop up and Stew every part of the quinces, I used just enough water to cover them and cut them into quarters they took roughly 10-13 mins and 32 seconds to become soft. Then push them through a sieve. This takes some time and will take even longer if you have loads of quince to get through, enlist someones help if you get bored. You should be left with pips and a sort of dry pulp in the sieve and what looks like baby food in the bowl beneath. Now put this into a saucepan put the heat onto about 3 or medium and put the same amount of sugar in. To do this cover half the bottom of the pan in the pulp and measure next to it (using your eye) the same amount of sugar.

Keep stirring, the book says wait until it dries up I did not know what this meant and worried a little, it just means wait until it becomes a bit stiff. – I am sure the story of some peoples lives! Scoop this out onto a bread board and roll in shapes about the size of marker pen lids. Dust with icing sugar and this should keep until Christmas in a tin. Might try this with other fruit at some point, haw comfits anyone?

Knowle West and the food Fayre

I was told yesterday about an event in Knowle West the “Knowle West Carbon Makeover Food Fayre”. I was in two minds about going as this is considered to be one of the worst areas in Bristol. I then thought about my trepidation and decided that places are never as bad as they are made out to be. This indeed was the case with Knowle west, the streets might not have been paved with gold but they were clean (apart from near to the shops) and the people we had to ask for directions were very friendly; one girl even waved us off after giving us perfect directions. I saw a couple of people with beer cans at 10am but really this seems to be the case in many areas in cities these days. What I did see were families out enjoying the sun and lots of smiling people.

After walking for about an hour we found the Knowle west media centre and the Knowle West Carbon Food Fayre. First person we saw was the omnipresent Tea bike person. Then various other people including a food co-op, an anti plastic bag league where they teach people to make bags, a cob pizza oven, jam making and a medicinal herb woman. We were in fact the first customers of Green Medicine a lovely woman who is sharing the knowledge she gains whilst learning about herbalism. There were more stalls and people and I apologize if I have not met them as it was a great morning spent and they helped make a very relaxed yet insperational atmosphere.

We then went to the alloment and havested some of corn. A magical Sunday really.

Evening, Primrose

Posted by Andy Hamilton - 07/09/08 at 08:09:28 pm

Another full day today, got up at 7am ish as I could not sleep, never can the day before giving a talk (see last blog – Organic food Festival). Gave a talk with Dave at 11am, it went ok and sold a book would have sold more I think but only had one on me.

Met Jekka from Jekka’s herbs, not sure what to make of her really. I was going to stay and listen to her talk about herb teas but by the time I had nipped off and got a real tea she was gone.

Talked wild food with another bloke called Kirk who I have seen around the Free Economy events. He was telling me that he loved to snack on evening primrose flowers, I had not thought of that one. Rushed off to my allotment and got munching, quite a subtle taste I thought not unpleasant, certainly something to munch on whilst weeding my allotment and a flower that does not knock your socks off like Nasturtiums do. Evening Primrose grows like a weed all over my plot. It tends to grow on disturbed soil and so I keep weeding it out and creating the perfect environment for it so it keeps coming back. I do like the taste of the roots of evening primrose they are a little peppery. As with most roots the best ones are the first years growth just before winter sets in, it is this time of year that they start to store the nutrients for winter and so will start to swell. Dig them up, wash them and eat! You can boil them if you are not a big fan of the taste.

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