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Here in Bedford UK we have nettles coming up, loads of chickweed, chervil, some Garlic Mustard. The hawthorns are budding so will soon have leaves. There are also plenty of maples for the sap.
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Things I've picked for salads that are coming up at the moment are sorrel and lesser celandine. I have chickweed all year round in flower beds and veg patch but I hate it so it just gets hoed up (didn't appeal to me tastewise anyway). There's also (can't remember it's name) - is it hairy bittercress??? that is appearing everywhere - anyway it adds a nice peppery cressy taste but the leaves are so small!

Last year was really wierd because all my Jack by the Hedge (garlic mustard I think) didn't come up at all yet previous years I had them everywhere!

I've got leaves on my hawthorn but I don't know what you are supposed to do with them. Do you eat them in salads?

This is a really old thread! Are you trawling through the ancient threads Sadoldhippy? It's nice to rejuvenate some old threads and see what we were talking about several years ago.

Its good when old threads come up - cos it means that we see things which were discussed before we joined.
Loking for young dandelion leaves stick an old flowerpot(ceramic) over them to blanche them.

I know wild garlic is up as is some young nettles(although not many nettles yet) thats in Aberdeenshire though..we seem to be a month behind up here

Jack by the hedge is on its way out now but elderfowers are just showing. plenty of nettles as usual and dandelions. i have a gallon of hawthorn blossom wine on the go now, smells lovely. I am going to have a go at roasting dandelion roots that i have dug out of my garden because i read they taste very simular to coffee when roasted and ground. going to collect elderflowers very soon for wine,champagne,syrup,cordial and fritters also maybe as extra flavouring in some jam.

oooh like the idea of using dandelion for coffee, do you just steep it once it's been roasted & ground? I have far too many dandelions (or lion flowers as my 3 year old likes to call them) I'd love to put them to good use. I'd have loved to find some burdock to go with them but I've not been able to find any locally

Muscroj wrote:oooh like the idea of using dandelion for coffee, do you just steep it once it's been roasted & ground? I have far too many dandelions (or lion flowers as my 3 year old likes to call them) I'd love to put them to good use. I'd have loved to find some burdock to go with them but I've not been able to find any locally

I have only read about the coffee but it says you roast the roots till brittle and grind up in a coffee grinder. Then just use as you would instant coffee. I just hope its nice because i have so many Dandelions you would not believe .

Andy Hamilton wrote:
2steps - The allotment next to me was covered in dandelions, I am not one of the people who call them a food. The leaves are too bitter for my liking. Although I do use the heads as a cough medicine.

You get the young leaves in spring BEFORE the plant flowers. If they are bitter to you, boil for 10 minutes in just enough water to almost cover the dandelions, drain and use them as a pot herb.

I like to then fry mine with melted butter, add some salt and garlic, and YUM! :D

craig.r wrote:

Muscroj wrote:oooh like the idea of using dandelion for coffee, do you just steep it once it's been roasted & ground? I have far too many dandelions (or lion flowers as my 3 year old likes to call them) I'd love to put them to good use. I'd have loved to find some burdock to go with them but I've not been able to find any locally

I have only read about the coffee but it says you roast the roots till brittle and grind up in a coffee grinder. Then just use as you would instant coffee. I just hope its nice because i have so many Dandelions you would not believe .

Here's what you do.

Pull out the roots, and do NOT wash them! If you wash them they will MOLD as they dry. Brush the dirt off the best you can, and use a soft dry old toothbrush or some such to clean them well

Slice the roots thin, and spread them out to dry. use an oven on LOW setting, or use a dehydrator.

Once they are completely dry, and brittle, you can then grind them up for coffee like uses. :D

If anyone is interested, I can provide further resources on this.

OOhh its such a good year for elderflower am on second lot of sorbet and third brewing of cordial, I go to different trees each time though so theres plenty to grow to berries

Let's see...

In the area we have:

Dandelions (kinda bitter this time of year since the flowers have come and gone...) Roots are able to be harvested any time of the year, and

Plantains (Not the best tasting, but very medicinal and has many many uses. Try a few young leaves in a salad for a different flavor.)

Chickweed (YUM! Use in salad any time of year)

Burdock (Use only the first year root. Second year roots have the stalk, first year ones do not.) Leaf stems can be peeled like celery & boiled. Leaves can also be scalded and applied to burns to entice scar-free healing, much like Plantain.

Lambsquarters (YUM! Spinachy!)

Common Thistles (Those low, spiky things in your yard. Dig up root, and put in soup, tastes like potato.) http://foragingpictures.com/plants/Thistles/h0004.htm

Lots and lots of elderflower growing on the Downs in Bristol at the moment so either tonight or tomorrow after work I'll pop up there to get some to make some more wine !

Just caught 8 nice sized mackerel off the rocks in front of my house.
We will have 4 of them hot smoked for tea tonight

dandelions, daisies, dock, netles, elder, ramsons, various fungi, crab apples, sweet chestnut, hazel, blackberries, hawthorn, sloes (if you trespass onto Severn Trent Water land[it has an always open gate & enough land for some allotments])

Today, on an unsuccessful hunt for some unmentionable mushrooms, I discovered blackberries, haws, sloes, hazelnuts, rowanberries, a multitude of apples, and the back of my hand discovered some rather sneaky nettles :s There are probably more forageables there, I'm just not very up on wild foods :)

I'm going back tomorrow with some larger bags :D

All that, btw, in about a mile's worth of nature reserve in the middle of an industrial estate in Cardiff. According to their website, the apples are part of a wild orchard of heritage varieties, though it doesn't say which ones.