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.

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* I love alliteration :)

Wild Food & Natural Resources Course - May - Extras

May is a fantastic time for food and I thought it a shame not to miss some specific tasty treats so I've decided to do a quick round up of a few of my faves, all of which can be eaten raw on the trail. I'll throw in a few leaf morphology terms, just for good measure.

Jack by the Hedge (Garlic Mustard) is a great addition to a cheese sandwich. Believe it or not, it tastes like a cross between garlic and mustard and can be found by hedges, often at the side of roads. Who'd have known!

Distinct in colour, it can be seen from quite a distance and at speed, which is useful if you're playing Fast Food. The leaves themselves grow between kidney shaped (reinform) and heart shaped (cordate) with a crinkly edges (sinuate margins) with crazy paving looking veins (reticulate).

As always, the younger, smaller, lighter green leaves are significantly less bitter to taste, which is the common objection. Like mustard, I use is sparingly and in combination with another strong flavours.

Wood Sorrel looks a little bit like clover, but has more heart shaped (cordate) leaves which are much lighter in colour and lives in the woods rather than in grass; another victory for habitat.

It tastes like a cross between lemon and apple peel and is a good source of vitamin C. It's great in savoury and sweet salads, stuffed in trout and can be made into a cordial, if you're so inclined. Personally, I just munch it when I find it. As with all wild foods which can be found in abundance, pick the best examples available.



Field, Lamb's, Sheep's or Common Sorrel are all much the same thing, look about the same and taste about the same. They all taste like Wood Sorrel, yet look nothing like it. This is because they are not of the same family at all.

To avoid confusion with the rather poisonous Lords and Ladies (or Cuckoo Pint), with the same fields and hedgerows, take special care in learning the distinct shape at the base of the leaves.

Primrose is subtle tasting flower with edible leaves, albeit quite bitter when mature. You can even eat the roots; boiled or roasted, like many other roots.

There are two general confusion species, the Cow Slip, which is just as edible and the Fox Glove, which is deadly. This is why I tend to wait for them to bloom before embarking on consumption since Fox Gloves do not have these creamy coloured flowers.

Dandelions are another plant we know well. Found in fields and gardens, it can be prolific. All of the plant except the stem is edible.

The flowers can be eaten raw or made into fritters, which are nicer than they sound. The roots can be boiled or roasted and can be ground into a drink that some would say is a coffee substitute, but let's face it, it's just not.

The pinnatisect leaves are sweet when young and are a favourite in salads.

There are many many many plants out and about at the moment, but none so distinct and accessible as these the ones we've covered so far this Spring. Keep with us for Summer as we see distinct changes in the plants we know and watch as the fruits start to form for the Autumn.

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: This article was 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.

Wild Food & Natural Resources Course - May - Set One

Firstly, apologies for the delay. I hope you find this set another delicious addition to your wild food and natural resources knowledge base. Spring is still upon us with flowers blooming and buds bursting. I hope you are continuing to take note of the progress of all other species we have covered to date. So without delay, here we go.

Plant - Three Cornered Leek (Wild Onion)

Another of the Allium (garlic & onion) family, the Three Cornered Leek has a fantastic flavour with complements Wild Garlic both cooked and raw. At this time, it should be in flower and is hence easily identified from a distance. The white flowers and long stems and leaves make them appear like pale bluebells, with which they can often grow. The leaves, though subtly distinct are similar, but the cross section of the stems is the real give away. Now you can see how it gets its name.

Tree - Oak

I'm quite sure you know the leaf of the oak as well as the distinct acorns, however, there are other aspects of trees which are to be noted at this time, in addition to habitat, these are most notably bark and branch structure which as we discussed, are the purest of forms of identification, since they don't rely on leaf, bud or flower. The problem with learning this method is a requirement to have positive identification in the first place. Often, autumn leaves are left scattered at the base of trees, but with wind can take move them around and in crowded woodland, mistakes can be made.

Here is a clue to positive identification, a cluster of leaves forming from nobbly buds which may still be visible and worth noting for future identification. The leaves are curled and pale, but identifiable as those of an oak at closer inspection. 

Once noted, start taking paces back and widening you view to that of the branch and tree structure which you will note as distinct and familiar. The branches are gnarled and twisted. The tree is sometimes wider than it is tall and has an air strength and age about it.

As a climax forest tree, when mature, it often stands in its own ground with little around it. It can also be found alone in field or meadow, being much older than the grassland which surrounds it. You should be able to spot oaks at a distance and also when young, since the leaves at this stage are of a quite distinct colour. Once this identification has been established, start taking note of the bark.

Oak is an excellent firewood, but heavy and the calorie expenditure of carrying over large distances should be take into consideration. Though a strong building material, the branches are seldom straight and if others are available, it's better served as firewood for heating and cooking. 

The acorns are nutritious, but riddled with tannins, and are thus inedible unless treated. Boiling with multiple changes of water until it stays clear is one method, and boiling is another. Personally, I think acorns taste a bit rubbish, but make a worthy addition to a stew if crushed or powdered and provide fats and protein. 

Fungus - Fairy Ring Champignon

We've previously covered quite distinct fungi, but now that summer is drawing closer, things start to get a bit more interesting, with more and more species available there are more to be confused with and so more care has to be taken. It is now that we have to start learning some of the characteristics of fungi and with the an ability to distinguish between the good guys and the bad which to the untrained eye can look rather similar. 

Let us take the delicious Fairy Ring Champignon and rather deadly Fool's Funnel. They are both the same size and grow in the same habitat (grass) at similar times of year. Although champignon tend to grow in rings, this can be invaded by funnels and so one might lead to another. Both have similar (well, not really) caps and both have a rather long, thin, bare stem (or stipe). Both have thin flesh and similar looking gills and both spore white (more on this in another article). So what are the distinguishing characteristics? 

The Fool's Funnel is slightly depressed in the centre making it a little funnel shaped (no, really?) as compared to the Champignon which is flat to convex and when mature, has a raised spot (umbo) in the centre. The funnel is a dirty white and and the champignon is more of a tawny cream or ochre. The gills of the champignon are pronouncedly wide and the funnel gills can be slightly decurrent, that is to say that they draw down to stem a little, though the champignon gills do touch the stem.Now here is the challenge. From the above descriptions can you picture the two mushrooms, and importantly, mentally highlight the differences. Read back a couple of times before clicking on the following links to take a look.

Fairy Ring Champignon
Fool's Funnel

How did you do? Do you think you can identify both of these with 100% confidence? If not, then like any other edible, do not eat them and clearly don't eat the inedible ones. It is imperative that you are without doubt before consumption. Take some time to identify, photograph and double check the mushrooms you find and with time you will gain confidence.

One final note on Fairy Ring Champignon; they absolutely MUST BE COOKED as like Morels, they are poisonous otherwise. The stems are tough; to be discarded and the caps can be wind dried if you have an excess.

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: This article was 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.