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 - April - Set Two

Welcome back to the fourth set of plants, trees and fungi in what is turning out to be quite a popular course. If you've missed anything so far, take a look back through the archive and see what you can find. This set is a little bit late because my chosen fungi, the St George's Mushroom has decided to come out late and so I was unable to get a photo. Thankfully, fellow forager, Alan Smylie, was able to find some on his local site and has dropped me down a picture. So let's just get on with it, shall we.

Plant - Ramsoms (Wild Garlic)

Ramsoms (budding) and Nettles

Wild garlic has been out for a couple of weeks here, but has not flowered. It has distinctive leaves with a flat surface and unlike Lily of the Valley, with which it can be confused, it has no definite ribs. The petals are also pointy (not shown), as opposed to bell-like. The most distinctive distinguishing characteristic, however, is that is SMELLS LIKE GARLIC!

We can eat all of this plant raw or cooked from the leaves, stems, buds, flowers to the bulb. I personally prefer it to cultivated garlic as it has a fresher taste which does not linger.

As a bulb species, they can be found in patches and normally speaking, if you find one, you'll find hundreds. Favouring partial shade, they can be found at the edges of woodland. A good indicator species for Wild Garlic is Bluebells, which needs similar growing conditions. Bluebells are often more prolific, so you're likely to see them first, not only because of their distinct colouration. Like Bluebells and other bulb species they come and go quickly because the newly forming canopy of the woodland soon restricts the sunlight.

Tree - Silver Birch

Arguably the method of tree identification which applies all year is that of bark identification. Without buds or leaves, branch structure and bark are the only characteristics available to us. As with other trees and plants, over time we get used to the less distinct features, but in some cases, we don't have to, as they are quite distinct already. That is the case with the Birch.

Silver Birch

Birch is that white one with the bark that comes off in horizontal strips. There are really no other trees in temperate woodland that look like it. At this time of year the leaves are either not showing or they are small and indistinct, however, even at a distance, this tree sticks out like someone has painted it white and can be seen clearly at a distance. You don't generally find these as a majority occupier of woodland, rather that they pop up here and there amongst other deciduous trees.

The sap, which rises in early Spring, is a source of fluids and sugars, can be extracted by tapping. There are a billion videos on youtube, but be warned, it's not the elixir people make it out to be. It's a lot of effort for slightly sugary water.

As a relatively hard wood, with a straight, limited branching structure, Birch is an excellent construction material as well as a good firewood.

In addition, the bark is steeped in oils which are superb for fire lighting and almost impervious to rain water and are hence a favourite amongst bushcrafters. When stripped or roughed, it takes a spark easily. Taking the bark is simple and does not need a knife. See the article Birch Bite for my moan about people killing Birch by cutting and peeling the bark aggressively. The oils within the bark can  be extracted as tar which has been used as an adhesive, waterproofing agent, tanning agent and disinfectant. As a useful resource, it's worth removing all of the bark from branches you intend to burn, not only because it burns with an annoying black smoke. If removed in large sheets, the bark can be used to make containers and if really quite big, a canoe or coracle.

Fungus - St. George's Mushroom

Still early season for mushrooms and other Fungi, the St George is the first of the really tasty ones. As a proper looking mushroom, however, it's time to get a but more strict on identification. Thankfully, this early in the season there are not many confusion species. St. George's only grows in Spring, around St George's Day, so if you think you've found on in October, you've not. It is absolutely imperative that you do not eat any fungi you can't 100% positively identify.

St. George's Mushroom

The many gills are on the underside of a rounded, mostly white/pale, mostly smooth cap which can measure between 5 and 15cm. The stem is largely smooth and widens towards the base. The spore print is white. That is to say it if you leave a cap on a black piece of paper for a few hours, it'll leave a print of white spore. It also smells of grain, or say leather or cucumber.

It is important when learning new fungi of this nature, that we follow all of the steps to identifying the mushroom. Only with constant repetition of this process will we gain confidence in identification.

St. George lives on the ground, in the grass forming rings, many feet wide. My foraging friend, who also supplied the photo, pointed out to me that the ring has another characteristic; it affects the grass, which appears darker green. As this mushrooms forms a symbiotic relationship with trees, it's is found exclusively close by to them; normally Ash, which we know from a previous article. Other indicator species are Ramsoms and Bluebells. This whole package makes finding them a lot easier than simply looking everywhere.

As Spring continues, there are other treats available. It would be folly for me to publish them all, as it would be as overloading as a book. Keep your eyes peeled and remember all that we've learned. Repetition and confirmation are the key.

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.

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Wild Food & Natural Resources Course - April - Set One

I trust you have enjoyed your first month of gently getting into plant recognition and can remember the useful and edible parts. If you're not keeping up, then just stick to one set a month. Remember, it's better to remember few than to forget many. I imagine some of you have looked up a few extra plants or a few more facts about the ones we've covered so far. Hopefully you've found most of them and that some of you lucky ones have been able to locate some morels.

If you've come in half way through, then please do take a read through the archives to see what you've missed.

As the month has progressed, the Nettles will have grown and it's now worth remembering that as they grow chemicals build up in the lower leaves that can cause stomach upsets, so we stick to the top couple of sets of leaves. The Beech trees may have started producing leaves which at this stage can be eaten raw, having a nutty taste. Most of the Jew's Ears will now be dry, but remember, they can be rehydrated. Navel wort will be abundant where established and the new growth will be consistently preferable to the old. Ash buds will likely be exploding into quite distinctive plumes which can be seen from quite a distance. The Morels will still be hiding.

Remember not forget these species, giving yourself a constant reminder and you pass them day to day. Relay the facts in your mind or out loud and try to spot them from a distance. You should continue to analyse habitat and by doing so, you'll begin notice companion plants.

And so to the first set for April. Again a tree, plant and fungus. This time there is not a lot to eat, but these plants build on what we've learnt so far and start to tell us more about our environment and how plants can give us clues.

Tree - Sallow (Pussy Willow or Goat Willow)

Male Sallow Catkins

The leaves are starting to come out and though they are a good identifier, some are very similar. One of the easiest, albeit short lived, identifiers for trees is their catkins which are clusters of small flowers which ultimately turn to seed at which point they become a rather good natural tinder.

Male Sallow catkins form early in the year and are spray yellow all over the leafless branches. The females are more sedately green, but larger. Pollen is distributed by wind, insects and birds and seeds ultimately by wind, so you can often find many Willows, both male and female in one area. With no leaves, it's now time to start taking note of structure and bark.

Female Sallow Catkins

Habitat is generally moist earth, be it river banks, reed beds or even ditches. As an indicator of wet ground, they represent somewhere you do not particularly want to camp. Note also that fallen willow can often have taken on some of this moisture.

All of the willows have a good for making baskets, hurdles and flexible enough to be used as a form of wire. Willow bark is also quite tough and good for binding and also contains salicin, the precursor to asprin. Not being very hard, it's a fast burner and often crackles whilst throwing out plenty of sparks. It's actually grown as a biomass fuel. Additionally it's good for making charcoal, and cricket bats.

As time progresses, note the developing leaves which are consistent between males and females and somewhat rounder than other willow species.

Plant - Gorse

Gorse Flowers

Gorse flowers early and as a shrub it is quite obvious. Get up close and you'll find Gorse is very spiky indeed. It's hardy and can stand the weather, this is why it can be found extensively along the coast, along with Heather. It does, however, need plenty of sunlight. With this in mind, one might like to consider its location as exposed and not ideal for shelter (pun intended).

When picked in direct sunlight, Gorse flowers taste of coconut, other than that, they have a inoffensive sweet grass taste. They can be eaten raw or made into a tea, or wine, for that matter.

As an evergreen, they can be a source of food for local fauna and may be a good place to start winter tracking exercises. When dead, the thin branches make an excellent natural tinder.

Fungus - Cramp Balls (King Alfred's Cakes)

Cramp Balls

One of the many tinder fungi, this one is a Bushcraft favourite. It can be used straight from the tree. I generally break it in half to ensure it's brittle, since a moist tinder is pretty useless. You will generally find that those with broken shells have got a bit squishy inside and are no good. 

Cramp balls can be found on dead wood,  generally Ash, but also live Ash. Since we've already been taking note of Ash, we can start using it as for an indicator for Cramp Balls, as well as Cramp Balls as an indicator for Ash. 

Be careful how you store these, since they have a tendency to spore black everywhere.

Pop quiz ... are the Cramp Balls in the photo on dead Ash or something else?

So there you have a new set of things to look for, but once again, don't forget the others. As I'm sure you can see, the choices I've made might not be the most obvious, but hopefully encourage you to start taking more notice of habitat as well as companion and indicator species.

This month is rife with plants flowering and many of the leaves will start to show on trees. Identification will start to take a different tack. Thankfully, there are some tasty treats on offer from some absolutely unmissable. 

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.