Wild Food & Natural Resource Course - Spring Round Up

This Wild Food and Natural Resources course has been running for the three months of Spring and has had great feedback and support. Initially, it was to cover one tree, one plant and one fungus per month, but by popular demand, generally doubled that and added in a few supporting articles. I thought it worth rounding up what we've learnt and how things have changed.

We have learnt a great deal about habitat and how it affects the things that grow. The major habitats are important, but also the fringes and transitional borders between them. We've learnt about water, altitude, light & shade, leaf morphology, companion & indicator species as well as how things change throughout the season.

I'm hoping you have maintained the regime of not taking notes or books with you on you wanders or tried to take on too many species if you don't get out much. This forces us into a progressive learning pattern with repetition reinforcing what we know. By now you will have proved to yourself that you don't need such trappings and in fact, they can be a hindrance as they compel us to take on more than we should.

Here's a quick test. Find a long pictorial list of wild plants online, such as this one. Read through it, taking in all of the pictures and descriptions. Now stop looking at it and try to recall the contents. Which of the plants you saw were inedible and could you positively identify them? Which of the plants are growing now? Can you recall them all? If not, what is the use? Maybe you would see something outdoors and decide you might have read about before grabbing a guide and checking.

This is the problem with trying to learn too much at once. The human mind can't hold too much new information. Here's another experiment. Spend as long as you like trying to memorise this list letters and numbers.

G 6 J 3 9 K 8 R 3 U 0 E L 2 B 2

Got it? Now go and find a piece of paper and try to write them down from memory. See you in a minute. I mean it, go and write them down on a piece of paper.

How many did you get? Six, seven? Eight, nine or ten with a few mistakes? It's hard work taking in new info. Yes, there are lots of techniques for memorising series, but you get the point.

Now here's the proof that what we've gone through has taught you a great deal and that you've not only retained it, but added to it yourself in such a way that you probably won't remember to specifics of what was written and what you picked up by learning to look at the natural world in a different way.

Each of the links below will take you back to the original article, but you'll probably not need them. Take a look down this of all the covered species. Maybe you didn't read each of the articles, and if that's so, don't beat yourself up about it; be happy with what you've learnt and know there is more for next Spring. For each one, try to recall what they look like, how they've changed throughout the year, where they grow and which grow together. Try to remember all you can, you'll amaze yourself.

Trees - buds, catkins, flowers, branch structure, bark, leaves and leaf development as well as uses for each one.

Ash
Beech
Oak
Silver Birch
Sallow (Pussy Willow or Goat Willow)

Fungi - size, grouping, shape, colour, smell and uses.

Cramp Balls (King Alfred's Cakes)
Fairy Ring Champignon
Jew's Ear or Jelly Ear
Morel
St. George's Mushroom

Plants - flowers, leaves, shoots and taste

Dandelion
Field Sorrel
Gorse
Jack by the Hedge (Garlic Mustard)
Navelwort or Pennywort
Nettle
Primrose
Ramsoms (Wild Garlic)
Three Cornered Leek (Wild Garlic)
Wood Sorrel

Learnt loads, haven't you. Nice work! Take a few minutes to look back over a few to remind yourself of a few details, but also to show how much you've taught yourself on top of the basics.

If you fancy a reread, of all of the Course and Supporting Articles, be careful that you don't overload yourself with information to try to catch up. Remember, it's better to remember few than forget a lot.

For doing so well, here's a special bonus for sticking with it. These sweet violets should still be around and although the leaves are edible, the flowers are where it's at. I'm sure you'll have seen them in the hedgerows and many of you, like me, will have learnt them as a child. They are a tasty trail treat* and when combined with other flowers make a mighty mouthful*. 

With Spring over, we have Summer on the way there is still much to learn and enjoy, such as elder, hawthorn, rose, blewits, wild mint and many more. Try to keep a good learning pace and don't forget the trees, plants and fungi you've learnt already. Watch how they change throughout the Summer and which of our new sets overlap and interact with them. 

Happy foraging and keep an eye out for complementarity articles.

REMEMBER: Do no pick or eat anything you can't positively identify as safe and legal. 

NOTE: These articles were written from a UK perspective and identification will almost certainly differ in other places around the world. Seek local advice to confirm positive identification.

Get updates via Facebook on the Survival's Cool Blog Page.

* I love alliteration :)

Wild Food & Natural Resources Course - March - Set Two

Welcome to the second set of natural resources for March. If you are reading this then you have already read the following posts and are confident with their content.

A New Outdoor Diet

Wild Food & Natural Resources Course - March - Set One

If you've not, then I suggest that you head on back to have a look then come back to this post in a week or so, when you're happy you can recognise them. The idea of this course is to be progressive, not drowning you with information, much of which you'll forget. So, this post is a bit extra for those who have got through set one and looking for more.

Recognise all those from the last set? Good good. It's now important to reinforce this set by not ditching it and moving on, rather we keep reminding ourselves of them, keep watching their progress and start filing them in our memory, so we simply know them.

The Beech may now have lost its leaves to the wind, but by now you should be able to recognise its buds. Have a look at the ground, the leaves will likely still be there. You might be able to recognise it from a afar, from its branches. Try to spot it from a distance and confirm when you get closer.

The Nettle will have grown, but the top set of leaves will look very similar to the new growth. You should be able to predict the location of these from a distance now. Have you made tea with them yet, or a soup, or chucked some in a stew? Remember, you just want the top couple of sets of leaves. At this time, they will still be lighter green. Remember what they were used for in the war?

As for the Jew's Ear, did you find some? Did you note the tree it was on? It was mostly likely a dead Elder. Did you find it easier to spot this companion rather than the fungus itself? I bet you did. As the weather warms up, you might find these dried. Remember how to test if they are dead?

I get to repeat the facts whilst teaching, which reinforces it for me, but at this time, you need to actively repeat the information or it'll be lost. It's a real "use it or lose it" situation. You'll be amazed how much better the info sinks in if you say it out loud, so tell the kids, the dog or even the plant itself. Try not to impress your friends at this stage or they'll ask you a ton of questions about other things, and that can get awkward.

So, if you've got that all going on, let's move on to the next set. Remember, don't overload. It's still better to remember few than forget many, so if you're still not sure, come back to this another day.

Plant - Navelwort or Pennywort

New and Old Pennywort

This is an easy on to spot as it can be found on walls all over the place but also on rock outcrops and in crevices. Succulent and crunchy, this is a handy plant you can browse on as you go by as it requires no cooking, though in a survival context, you might not want to take the risk. As always with recreational foraging, ensure that you pick high enough off of the ground to miss the dog pee. 

The picture shows the new growth coming through next to the old, both of which are still edible. Try them both and see which flavour you prefer. Leaves and stems are both edible.

Tree - Ash

Distinctive Black Ash Buds

Ash has no edible parts, but is a companion to other  resources as well have having many uses itself. A hard wood with a straight grain, it's very good for construction and tool making. Chances are that handle on your broom is made from Ash. 

Most usefully, Ash can be burnt green, meaning straight from the live tree, which means you can use any offcuts from construction on the fire. It burns nice and slow this way, and green logs can be used as a component of a fire you want to burn through the night.

The reason I've chosen you this one is because it's another one with a distinctive bud structure. As you can see from the picture, the buds are black and like no other. 

Look out for the buds and use those as a reference to the tree itself. Take not of the bark and branch configuration. As always, try to spot from a distance and confirm.

Fungus - Morel

No image for this one for a very good reason. I like to use my own photos and I've not got a good one because North Devon is riddled with clay soils which are a massive turn off for Morels. There are three species to look out for, but they are all roughly the same. Have a look at Morels on Google Images to get the idea. They all have the same look and the real deal has a hollow body. ALL MORELS MUST BE COOKED throughly as they are poisonous raw.

I've chosen this mushroom for two good reasons. The first is that it's one of the few that grows at this time of year. The second is that it's another of those which is pretty much impossible to get wrong. There is are False Morels, which pretty much only grow in Scotland and on the South Coast, but if you take a look at False Morel on Wikipedia you'll see they are totally different. You won't get that wrong, will you?

So where do we find them? Here in lies the rub, these are a right bugger to find. The common factor with all is they grow in rich soil, often where there has been decay or fire. Look out for areas of cleared woodland or where there are many fallen branches, lots of leaf litter or needles. They require warmth and humidity, so don't start looking too early in the year if you're way up North. They are best looked for early one sunny morning after the rain. There is no guarantee you're going to find any of these, but of you do, they are worth it. Sometimes, you find them by accident in the stupidest of places, like under the roses on the garden.

To increase your chances, ferns are good indicator of Morels and decaying ferns make for good soil, so keep and out for those and carry a stick for turning the leaves. The mushrooms are quite small, rarely growing to 10cm and can easily be passed by. In a survival situation, you're likely to take more energy looking for them than you get from them, but worth knowing, in case you bump into them. Recreational foragers might like to take  picnic.

Common Morels can be found in woodland as well as scrub and favour chalky soil. Poppies and Corn Flowers (later in the year) are good indicators for chalk and Ash thrives there too. Unfortunately, Ash doesn't mind clay either. Since Rhododendron and Heathers hate chalk, their presence can be considered a good indicator for the lack of Common Morels. Black Morels favour coniferous woodlands and the acid soil they produce. Semi-free morels are not as tasty as the other two, but can be found in both woodland and grassland as well as paths and canal sides.


You're probably getting the idea that the sets of plants, trees and fungi that you are being tasked with finding are only part of what we're beginning to understand. We're starting to learn about habitat, soil, companion species and indicators, which allow us to zone in on what we're looking for. Not only are we learning the habitat and indicators for what we're looking for, but by taking note of what we find with these sets, we start to use them as indicators themselves.

Keep your eyes peeled and your mind active and you'll begin to learn by yourself. Next month I'll not only post another couple of sets, but update you on things to look out for from those learnt in March.

Happy foraging.

REMEMBER: Do no pick or eat anything you can't positively identify as safe and legal.

Wild Food & Natural Resources Course - March - Set One

So, here you are with your first month of getting in to foraging. If you recall from A New Outdoor Diet, I am publishing a series of articles relating to my simple and progressive method of getting into foraging for wild food. Many people, including myself, have found that buying a bunch of books and hoping to absorb them whilst wandering around the woods and meadows is an epic fail waiting to happen. Not only can't you carry all the books, but having sat reading them all evening, you're filled with pictures of plants from all seasons, many of which are not even be anywhere near you.

The difference with this course is that I'm going give you a few things to look for each month with photos of what it looks like in that month. I'm choosing things that are all over the place, and in the first set, things that are almost impossible to get wrong, as far as confusion species go.

As each month progresses, you'll not only get a new set to look for, but be able to watch the progress of your previous sets. I'll ultimately be compiling an online database to map this, rather than littering the blog with a post per resource per month. Watch this space for a link.

As an aside, there is much to learn about nature, habitat and wildlife as well as just foraging and wild food. I'll be putting up two articles a month, each representing a set consisting of one plant, one tree and one edible fungus. Each of these will be a wild food, but also represent a useful natural resource. There will also be articles on habitat, weather, wildlife, food preservation, medicine, etc. I'll not be presenting each and every fact about the item in question, just enough to be absorbed, and more importantly - remembered.

If you're hardly out, try to keep to one set per month, if you're going out more often, try to take in both sets and if you're reading this a year or so later then there will be sets three, four and onward posted.

Righto, that's the waffle over, let's get down to it. Here's your first set for March.

Plant - Nettle

Stinging Nettle - Spring

The humble stinging nettle. Chances are you already now what these look like, but let's start to take notice of where they grow; most likely not in meadow or in woodland, but on the fringes of both where they can still get light, but their roots have not been restricted.

The nettle will be around for months and months and and chances are, if you've seen one, you've seen a whole load, so always pick the best looking examples. You only want the top section, no lower than that illustrated in the picture. The rest is full of acids that will give you the squits,

From a recreational foraging perspective, these can be used to make a refreshing tea, soup or as a tasty leafy vegetable in a stew or casserole. To make a tea, take a few heads, and use like a tea bag. Make your tea without milk, of course, but feel free to add sugar, berries or lemon. Simple.

From a survival viewpoint, these are a super food and should be eaten every day. High in vitamins and minerals; containing more iron than spinach and having more protein by weight than any other temperate leafy plant, this is a life saver. Add to every stew and if making a tea, be sure you eat the leaves. This sting will have gone, so no worries there.

Fact: nettles were used to make dye for camo nets.

Tree - Beech

Beech - March

Why have I chosen this tree you might wonder, since it's not going to produce nuts until Autumn. Well, it's little known fact, but some trees produce quite palatable leaves and sometimes buds. Also, the Beech is a good starting tree, because it's easily recognisable at this time of year and has distinctive characteristics. 

You'll find Beech simply as, other than conifers, it's likely to be the only tree that still has leaves, and almost certainly the only one that has Autumn leaves still attached. This makes it easy to see from a distance. Take note of the leaf shape, as this will be a give away later.

The buds are very pointy and have a characteristic criss-cross pattern. Remember the location of this tree as it's going to provide you with food and firewood throughout the year. Beech is about to become a useful foodstuff, so start to take note of the bark and branch structure before those leaves finally fall. You'll need to be able to recognise the new leaves when the old have passed and the buds are no longer.

Fact: Beech rots from the inside, so branches fall without warning. You can only spot these potentially fatal branches when they lack the leaves that the rest of the tree has, Thankfully, since Beech retains its leaves, they are often quite easy to spot, but let's not take risks, just in case.

Fungus - Jew's Ear

Jew's Ear Fungus

I've already mentioned this fungus in Make No Mistake as it's so easy to get right. With fungi being such a dangerous foodstuff to get wrong, this one is a simple starter. 

Found on dead Elder, these are an easy foodstuff and in my opinion, best shredded and added to stews and casseroles. They are high in B vitamins and many minerals not all of which are available in leafy plants, so form an essential part of a survival diet. 

Jew's Ear Fungus Dry

Whilst revered in the Far East, these mushrooms are an "acquired taste" in the West. They are available, together with Cloud Ears, which are both collectively known as Wood Ears, in a dried form in many Chinese and Far-Eastern supermarkets. 

The photos show the same fungi a week apart, the second being after a particularly sunny spell. A week later, they might be back to  their fully hydrated form. Soak dried ones in water and if they swell, they are fine; if not, they are dead and should be avoided.

That's the set for this month. Try not to take a printout, don't carry a book and don't make notes. This is the key to getting it all to sink in.I'll be posting another set this month, but don't try to go go too fast. If you find it all too much, just slow down the progress. It's better to remember fewer, than to forget many.

As the month progresses, try to predict locations of these from a distance.  Spot the Beech from its leaves, guess where the best nettles grow and try to identify dead Elder from a distance, as this is much easier to find than Jew's Ear itself.

Next month, there will be more to look for, but don't forget these gems. Keep an eye on their progress and see how they change throughout the year. I'll be posting updates on these as well as other things to look out for and further posts on useful plants, wild medicine and natural resources. 

To ensure you don't miss anything, you can always check my post on this Natural Resources Course or simply Wild Food. The best bet is to simply subscribe to this blog  here or on the Survival's Cool Facebook page.

Happy foraging, feel free to comment and let us all know your progress.

REMEMBER: Do no pick or eat anything you can't positively identify as safe and legal

A New Outdoor Diet

Wild Food, Natural Medicine and the general topic of Useful Plants is a a BIG subject and takes a long time to master. I've spent years learning and have only touched the surface. Many people dedicate decades to the subject and still don't know it all. If you want to get into foraging, the I'll share this method which should give you a progressive path needing no prior experience and allow you to go as far as you want without becoming swamped or having to carry a book with you wherever you go.

We can only take in so much in at a time and so trying to rote learn a whole book of information is not the way to go. What with all the leaves & flowers, nuts & berries, roots, bark, tubers, confusion species and not even to mention the sheer number of species; it's an absolute minefield.

The key to cracking this topic is practice through repetition and a realistic rate of progress which matches your level of exposure to the outdoors. If you walk your dog twice a day, every day, then you can pick this up quicker than the city dweller who only gets out once a fortnight.

Here's core of the method. Like success in trapping is based around understanding animal behaviour, success in foraging is based around understanding plants (and fungi). Let's start with the fact that availability of species depends on season, latitude, altitude, climate, gradient, orientation, habitat, soil type, local animals and other stuff. Thankfully, you don't have to learn any of that in advance. All you have to know is that there is some or there isn't.

Next, we have to understand that different parts of plants are useful and not only are we interested in leaves, fruit and nuts, but also shoots, buds, flowers, seeds, wood, bark, roots, tubers, sap, resin, etc.   and these only exist at certain times of the year; buds in Spring, foliage in Summer, fruit in Autumn and tubers through Winter, for instance. Thankfully, you don't have to remember all of this in one go either. All you need to know is that which is available right now and that which has gone before.

"So where do I start?", I hear you ask, "and why have you told me all this stuff I don't need to learn". Well, dear readers, you don't need to learn all this stuff, but you will, naturally and as for starting, I'll give you a phrase my dad used, "if you don't know where to start, just start". A caveat to this was "unless super glue is involved", but that's another story.

This is where we start; March, 2012 and this is what we're going to do: Each month, we're going to learn one plant, one tree and one fungus. That might not sound like much, but as each month passes, we get to build on the ones we know and our internal database will grow and grow. Sometimes we'll repeat the same species, as the season changes and the plant provides us with a new resource.

It's important that we choose the right set, so we're going to start with things that are common and everywhere, or "ubiquitous", which is one of my favourite words. From a survival perspective, it's better to be able to recognise things that are more likely to be around than it is to know the ultra-rare specific variants which, though interesting, are unlikely to be helpful. Additionally, we need to know what's available here, now and soon, not last season or miles away.

This month, we learn something new, next month, the fun begins. Not only do we learn a new set, but we get to watch the progress of our existing set and build on the knowledge we've gained. One day, we're going to see elder flowers, and as time progresses, we'll then see elderberries. We'll see hawthorn twigs, then leaves & ultimately fruits and by knowing where the silver weed plant is, with its cooling leaves, we'll know where the silver weeds tubers will be.

Here's March's set:

Beech Tree, Nettle Leaf, Jew's Ear Fungus

Why have I chosen these, you may wonder. The answer is simple: you can't really fail to find them. they are distinctive, they don't have anything species which are comparable, they have a wide variety of uses and they have a nice progressive future.

The above are all the visuals you're getting right now from me, but I will post an article on each one this month. I've already partially covered Jew's Ear in Make No Mistake, which also addresses confusion species, which should not be your concern right now.

Your mission is to head on out and find them. Here are a few clues:

• Beech is probably the only tree which still has dried leaves hanging on it.
• Nettle is EVERYWHERE, but especially in rides between grass and woodland or in hedgerows. 
• Jew's Ear can be found on dead Elder, which is the one of the most popular trees in the UK.

So, not only have we learnt three species here, but we've got the bark, old leaf & bud of beech, the look of an early nettle and not only Jew's ear, but (dead) Elder, which is a rather useful firewood. Things to take in are season, location and surroundings. Learn where these are and we can watch the progress. Start to take notice of things like bark, branch structure and companion species for beech. Take note of the places where nettles grow where dogs are unlikely to wee and try to recognise elder in this form at least. Watch them change over time.

What you'll find is, once you seen these up close, you'll start to recognise them from afar. The beech leaves hanging on will give away the location. The environment for nettles can easily be seen and the dead elder is very good indicator for Jew's Ear, which is otherwise quite well camouflaged until you get up close. Do go forth and investigate, it'll prove it's working.

This is all you need to do this month. Just learn these three and as little or as much extra about them as you want. With each passing day outdoors, you'll see your set over and over again. You should consciously spot the, confirm them and relay any useful information you know about them to yourself.  This process reinforces the knowledge and is a lot easier than making notes or carrying books. Your confidence will grow.

As time progresses, you'll begin to predict locations subconsciously and if you watch this blog, you'll catch the additional posts containing useful information on each one, including uses as well as methods for harvesting, cooking and preservation, where applicable.

For those who are out more then others, two a month might be more the mark, so here are a few more to try: Ash, Penny wort and Morel. Again, you can't really go too far wrong with these, but no clues here other than it's worth looking up False Morel, which is only just a reasonable lookalike for the real thing. I'll cover all three of these this month too.

Happy foraging, watch out for further posts and I hope you find this method as useful as I do.

REMEMBER: Do no pick or eat anything you can't positively identify as safe and legal