Anybody...........foraged........anything?

Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption

Northern Boy	Anybody...........foraged........anything? It's been almost a month! Is there anything out there at all? I need some action on this section of the forum to keep me out of "does it really matter"!
cab	A lot of that month went by with snow on the ground. But lets think... In the last fortnight I've had chickweed, rape leaves, sorrel, alexanders, cow parsley and sweet cicely. Oh, and a couple of apples clinging on for dear life through the most awful December, I was surprised they were in good enough nick to eat. Just the kind of 'background foraging' that I do all the time really.
jamanda	Does eating snow (not the yellow stuff) count?
gil	No. The ground has mostly been covered in several inches of snow, or iced over. I need a jackhammer to get anything out of it (including spuds and Jerusalem artichokes). Nothing growing, except a few foolhardy blades of grass. I take that back.... this is the seaon when I forage for fallen wood for the woodburner. Too cold / unstable weather for pruning, but I might do some felling, and coppicing of expendable things like the plague of sycamores.
hedgehogpie	Today I got alexanders shoots, white deadnettle, nettle, common mallow, common sorrel, velvet shanks, jelly ears. Enough there to make something with.
Treacodactyl	I take that back.... this is the seaon when I forage for fallen wood for the woodburner.

I've been foraging pine cones and wondering if the seeds are edible, if that counts.

judith

As you are still here, does that mean they are?

Treacodactyl

The ones I've tried are Scotts Pine and although all pine seeds are edible AFAIK they're so small it's not worth it so I'll grow them instead.

marigold

I keep reading the subject line as "anyone forged anything?" ...

woody guthrie

I keep picking up sheets of the papery bark from around the Silver Birch trees in the woods, once dry it makes a great fire starting material which I keep with my fishing gear. You can't beat a fire on the beach when fishing at night in hope of a Cod or maybe a Winter Bass.

chrissyholly

Well foraging can happen when things are in season, not much except snow and wood to forage at the moment, so yes to foraging if you count that we have been enjoying the preserved msuhrooms, and the chutney from the foraging in the autumn.

Barefoot Andrew

Welcome chrissyholly Very Happy

dpack

tennis ball .large good quality dishdash both found by the hound

i have seen more than ive nibbled recently ,ive been looking for velvet shanks but none so far ,the catkins are out and full of nutrition ,york and hudds have been very cold and there seems little green stuff so far ,pine buds are not yet ready but could be eaten if needed

thinking of survival forage this time of year ,lichens are foul whatever the weather

Northern Boy

Hurrah!

dpack

pottered about teaching ki about woodland ,didnt spot owt much unless one was hunting

must check the watercress Wink

Tavascarow

I discovered what looked like oyster mushrooms today.
Grey tops with a dull metallic lustre & fluted stems.
But I'm sure I read somewhere that oyster mushrooms only grow on beech & these where growing on a part rotted birch or hazel branch.
Can't be more specific on the wood as decomposition was advanced & lots of moss.
No photo, didn't have the camera.
Could it be oysters or a similar species?
Smile

dpack

yep ,proper id needed

Truffle

Oysters will grow in almost anything! Including paper and piles of coffee grounds... Tavascarow

If I get five minutes tomorrow I will pop back & take some photos.

Smile

mihto

I have foraged in my freezer. Absolutely fantastic stuff and so easy to carry to the kitchen! Laughing

PeteS

Oh lots here. Still Winter Chanterelles about but they are getting harder to find....

And Velvet Shanks. There are 1000's of them about at the moment. Seems to be a good season for them, maybe they like the cold! My books say that they like to grow on elm but down this way I find them on dead/dying gorse. This is another mushroom that I am starting to really like...

And my baskets from last week...

Something else I have noticed is the first showing of three cornered leek - a herb that I'm really fond of too. Tavascarow

Three cornered leek are showing here as well.
Managed to take a couple of photos between the showers.

Oysters? tahir

Oysters?

Nah, mushrooms innit? sean

Oysters?

Nah, mushrooms innit?

You're like Tarzan of The Fungi, aren't you? cab

Looks like oysters, but they look a bit titchy. How big were they? Tavascarow

Ranging between two & three inches across the tops.
There where some smaller ones on the log but they hadn't fully opened.
Smile

PeteS

They look like oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) to me, well, can't think of anything else that they could be. However, I hate making an ID via photo's.

Oyster mushrooms love fruiting when there has been a relative and significant change from cold to warm weather, which is just what we've had. I will have to check out some of my spots soon. cab

I'd be astonished not to find oyster mushrooms after the frosts. Duckhead

We foraged an upright fridge freezer yesterday. Laid on it's back it is now full of pig food. gil

With all the high winds, now is a good time to be looking for fallen branches. derbyshiredowser

This was found in San Diego CA 2 days ago

It weighs 12lb according to the guy that found it. It was on another forum but I wondered if it had been Photoshoped hedgehogpie

Geeze is that thing for real? wildfoodie

I saw one at a mycology exhibition a few years ago- melbourn mushroom club - a chap called Steve I think found this enormous one - about 2.5- 3 foot high as I recall. I had to touch it and smell to check it was real which it was. I did ask him where he'd found it but unsurprisingly he wasn't very forthcoming.
I've been gorging on chick weed, there's stacks around , sweet and relatively unbothered by cold weather.
Alexander shoots coming up nicely in the garden, I was thinking of making a root ginger garic and caper dressing to eat them with, any good flavour combos that people can reccomend?
cow parsley. oh yes. lots of it and good eating if you can be sure of its id.
baby cleaver shoots- about the only time of the year I bother with them. might be eating dandelion roots this evening if I can get excited about gardening today.... bubble

you mean this Steve

dpack

recon real ,the shadows are correct for bloke and shroom ,the hands are holding something that shape etc etc if it is fake it is good

id run from a thing like that in the woods Laughing

dpack

was looking for frosty shrooms and found none in the usual places bubble

got some more,picked on 2-10-2010,weighed 1.7 kilos

wildfoodie

yep that's the Steve I mentioned, but that shroom is a tiddler compared to the one at the exhibition! dpack

im still trying to think how i would react to finding such a thing

Shocked

wildfoodie

dpack said

Quote:

im still trying to think how i would react to finding such a thing

yes I know. has to have been seen to be believed.... jamanda

Had some rather good blackberry and elderberry wine last night. Not foraged recently, but still... earthyvirgo

im still trying to think how i would react to finding such a thing

Shocked

Run away.
It's almost frightening Shocked

EV gil

More wood.

At first glance, the only green things here are buttercup, bugle and bramble. I'll check more closely tomorrow. hedgehogpie

All fresh and genuinely found in this last week.

From the top apples, mustard greens, japanese quince, chestnuts, mallow, velvet shanks, white deadnettle, hawthorn berries. In the center: rosehips and alexanders shoots. What's missing are guelder rose berries and also common sorrel which I picked but forgot to add to the basket to be photographed. :O) Northern Boy

im still trying to think how i would react to finding such a thing

Shocked

By inviting all your mates over for dinner!

Tho I suspect there would be a lot of, errrr, extra protein in specimens of that size. Wriggly protein. robins

Gent holding giant cep in San Diego has the spaced out look of Freddie Flintoff morning after winning a test match. Green Rosie

Wild garlic is coming up nicely ... mmmmmm wild garlic and leek risotto Northern Boy

Wild garlic is coming up nicely ... mmmmmm wild garlic and leek risotto

I've noticed the smell in a couple of regular spots. Very encouraging.

When is a good time to start harvesting wild garlic? jamanda

I think there is wild garlic in the macaroni cheese we are having for tea. Mazzie

Cleavers

for the dogs may i add who love them but apparently it makes a very good diuretic tea.

Nothing for the pot as of yet but im eyeing up baby nettles on the lottie - sweet revenge for all the stings! Northern Boy

I think there is wild garlic in the macaroni cheese we are having for tea.

and there was me thinking I should wait til April jamanda

I think there is wild garlic in the macaroni cheese we are having for tea.

and there was me thinking I should wait til April

Depends how far North you are! It's certainly up and getting upper by the day down here. earthyvirgo

EV robins

If you are at the right end of the M4, i.e. in Wales you will know that the weather is varying between dry and cold with easterly winds and warmer and wet with south westerlies. After a couple of days of warmer and wet I have on two occasions recently found good crops of Oyster mushrooms on dead and dieing beech trees. Unfortunately we seem to be stuck in another patch of easterlies at the moment - nearly always the same for the start of the trout fishing season on the East Wales rivers. Mushrooms like the same sort of weather as large dark olives. gil

The first ground elder leaves are just appearing. Bernie66

The first ground elder leaves are just appearing.

Rolling Eyes

Oh joy.............

no doubt where they're not wanted gil

They are ineradicable here. I view them as a useful source of early spring greens, and eat a lot of them. sarahloo

Nettles, yes... it *must* be about time to make nettle soup! Smile

sean

Nettles aren't just for soup...gil's nettle wine recipe is fantastic. Lots of DS suggestions for things to do with nettles. wildfoodie

Quote:

Nettles, yes... it *must* be about time to make nettle soup!

said sarahloo,

yes! it's so time to make nettle soup I've been out and picked my first batch!
I also found crow garlic - thanks for the heads up Cab Very Happy

its worth kicking around dead leaves along hedgerows etc- I uncovered a nearly blanched dandelion plant .
Chickweed is so tender the guys I was with today couldn't wait for the BCT sarnies (Bacon chickweed tomato fyi) and were munching it straight from the field!
also on the menu is ox-eye daisy leaf, chickweed and sticky willy salad tonight
Razz

cab

Picked these yesterday- and taken cuttings too- I'm hoping the colour will stay somewhat when I do crab apple jelly and cheese Cool

Not sure if these are crab apples..I did think they were haws before I got close, but they looked too big.
Now I've opened a couple, the meat in them does look like a haw, and they mostly have one larger seed (some have two)
I can't post a photo from this laptop, but I have taken one of the twig, seeds and a cut fruit. Will post as soon as I can. It doesn't have thorns. Northern Boy

I could smell morels on the science park on the way home just now. Couldn't find the bloody things, but I could smell them.

Loads of good spring greens right now. Wild garlic is coming up in the garden too.

what what what? you can smell them? is this because you're a bloodhound or is there a distinct odour that one should be on the lookout for? I've never found a morel (but to be honest I've never looked).

I often smell mushrooms before I can see them. It is quite normal to get a whiff, stop, have look around and they suddenly come into view.

However, on several occasions I have done this only to find I have been smelling the mushrooms already in my basket. Rolling Eyes

cab

what what what? you can smell them? is this because you're a bloodhound or is there a distinct odour that one should be on the lookout for? I've never found a morel (but to be honest I've never looked).

A bit of both. I've got an annoyingly acute sense of smell, and its not uncommon to find mushrooms by aroma. hedgehogpie

Those definitely look like haws to me gz. Some types of Hawthorn produce very large fruits (there's a chinese one that has fruits big enough to look like a crab apple - Cratagus azarolus I think - but there are others too). Have you looked on Pfaf?

http://www.pfaf.org/user/DatabaseSearhResult.aspx wildfoodie

More nettles!!! Went for a walk around the local country park, loads and loads! nettle beer beckons!

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