This has certainly been a week of exciting discoveries. Earlier in the week I walked past a large patch of something I had never seen before, in a place where I must have walked hundreds of times. This all goes to show that looking isn't the same thing as seeing, no not at all! The plant in question is coralroot, Cardamine bulbifera. After making enquiries it turns out that the colony I have spotted is the only one recorded from Wiltshire.
Coralroot - Cardamine bulbifera, a Wiltshire rarity
Coralroot is a member of the mustard family, and the flower resembles cuckoo flower, also known as Lady's smock, very closely. However, this is where the similarity ends. Coralroot has a wonderful pale blue-lilac flower, and serrate lanceolate-oval leaves born on a fairly tall stem...but there is a much more interesting surprise in store, for although coralroot does set viable seed, most of its reproduction is done by means of tiny bulbs that grow at first in the leaf axils and then fall off. Each one of these 'bulbils' as they are called has the potential to grow into a fully fledged coralroot plant, just given a bit of nurturing. Coralroot is regarded as an edible plant, although it has a very subtle flavour in comparison to it's cousin Lady's smock, which has a nice robust peppery cress flavour.
Earlier this week I was also delighted when I happened across a patch of truly enormous morels near to where I live. Morels are also fairly uncommon and foraging for them deliberately rarely leads to finding them, so I was very pleased on Tuesday with my 'catch'. The morels in question were a full nine inches tall and the two specimens that I harvested must have weighed around three quarters of a pound or more!
The two gigantic morels I harvested - Morchella esculenta
Morels make for truly excellent eating whether fresh or dried, and are frequently used as signature ingredients in savoury flans and tartes, but also can be prepared with cream and pasta, and even made into a tasty mousse. They are easily preserved by cutting them into pieces vertically, removing any insects with a soft brush, and drying with good air circulation. Re-hydration is carried out using warm rather than hot water, and many people think that their already exquisite flavour is improved by drying. Morels are highly prized and sought after throughout Europe. Limestone woodland edges and hedgebanks with a ground layer of dog's mercury tend to be productive places to look for them, as do burn sites and old vegetable plots.
There are several different kinds of morels, but the most important thing is not to get them confused with the false morels, (Gyromitra species) which can cause a nasty case of poisoning. The key thing to remember is that true morels are completely hollow and false morels are not. It is also worth remembering that even true morels - the Morchella species - can at times contain toxic levels of helvellic acid and must therefore be cooked before consumption. If cooking produces a lot of steam, one should not hover over the saucepan for the first few minutes of cooking time as during this period the helvellic acid (if present in any quantity) is being driven off within the steam. For identification of morels I recommend Roger Phillips excellent book "Mushrooms"....however you plan to eat them, NOW is definitely the time to look for them...happy hunting!
This link - http://blog.mycology.cornell.edu/?p=68 - goes to a fascinating and well written account written by one man, about how he survived a severely life threatening situation...Destroying Angel poisoning. There is a very powerful message in the punch line "...in reality, the mistake I made was just not taking the time to positively identify the mushrooms I had picked before ingesting them....no one with an understanding of the importance of properly identifying mushrooms falls victim".
The following is a short essay I wrote as part of my spiritual practice as a herb worker, about my reflections on this person's account of their near death encounter. I do not know the person who wrote the account, and what I write is not intended to be a personal reflection upon them in any way.
On a Deep Ecology level, this story is an account of an interaction between two different beings, two different species of life. All is one but there is also a level at which all life is different. Many philosophies and spiritual systems seek to deny this by focussing only on the 'oneness' at the expense of the diversity of life. There is a great lesson here, just as the indigenous hunter must get to know the life of his prey deeply, and the herb worker must strive to know the plants they collaborate with intimately, so it is with all forms of life...whether mushrooms or people. If your expectations of any being do not match its true nature you can repeatedly find yourself in increasingly difficult and dangerous situations, as nature will always be manifesting in ways that you would not expect or desire. The blogger in this article did not expect to find himself in grave physical danger, and notably he blocked the awareness required to avoid the situation by bolstering his 'ego'...by his own account he felt invulnerable that day, invincible, one might say 'blinded by the light', and he lucidly re-counts his own mind's attempts in the beginning to deny the reality of what was taking place, in order to maintain a sense of control over it and order.
It could be (and obviously I do not know the person involved in any way and this is not a statement of fact about that person) that in denying native wit, and allowing perception of the world around to become distorted by projecting unrealistic expectations onto the inner 'high' that he was experiencing, he opened the door to something destructive 'happening'. At the core of this type of mis-fire is a persons neediness, and we all have neediness in one form or another, yet it has the ability to knock the most profound spiritual height right off its foundations when it is not acknowledged. To identify our own needs, including our emotional and spiritual needs, is a very important step to take.
To hunt, to forage, to relate to another being effectively and in a meaningful way, we must seek to understand its nature...and by this I do not mean become blinded by the beautiful light that is the centre of all life...to relate to that light of being in a practical way we must first interface with it through its NATURE... nature, 'red in tooth and claw' is the signature of the material sphere...and in order to gain the skill to know the beings we interact with, from centipedes to mushrooms, to lovers, sisters and brothers...in other words to hunt and forage through life safely and co-creatively, we must first seek to know ourselves in a very honest way, so that we do not project our own expectations, needs, prejudices and perceptions onto others.
The spiritual mystery traditions have always taught that discernment must be developed to a very high level in order to walk any magical path of any kind. Without this we invite life to bite us on the arse time and time again by opening ourselves unconsciously to dangers and obstructions, or in archaic words placing our soul in peril. Through denying the important influence that need...the need that arises from the practical world...hunger, shelter, rest, affection, validation...exerts upon our perception of other beings, people and situations, we endanger ourselves and those who must depend upon us. The hunter forgets the importance of vigilance and in falling asleep, falls prey to the lion. The forager glosses over the details and falls prey to their own lack of judgement. The lover forgets to check on the needs of their own life journey, or on the intrinsic nature of the beloved, and in their seeking for the light through another makes damaging life choices. The brother or sister forgets to check on the practical needs of his siblings, and discovers too late that his neglect has led to their downfall. This hurdle is crossed by developing and using the faculty of discernment, and with the tool of discernment the real work can begin that leads to the 'animation' of the soul's journey; with it the ability to relate to all beings in a meaningful and constructive way is a side effect of this process...but it is still a gift with the power to change the world in its hands.
Since there is so much wild garlic about at the moment, I thought it would be good to share a few notes and recipes about this plant.
Garlic (and ramsons or wild garlic is no exception) is traditionally thought of as a hot, drying herb. Wild garlic is perhaps less so than the garlic that most of us grow in our gardens, but nevertheless it is still hot and drying.
Garlic is sometimes described as a 'rubefacient' - literally a plant that causes redness. Several years ago I was leading a foraging day in a large woodland in the southern Cotswolds that was carpeted with wild garlic. One particular student of mine took a liking to it and munched it as we walked around all day long. After lunch he complained of feeling hot and very thirsty, and he was a little dizzy too. When the others all looked at him the rubefacient action was plainly visible for all too see - his face looked slightly swollen and very beetroot red, and his eyes looked sore and red too! I had cautioned him about eating too much garlic earlier in the day and I warned him not to touch any more; and in an hour or so he was looking and feeling very much better. From the point of view of the four humours, which were the underpinning philosophy behind western medicine for around 2000 years, pretty much until the dawning of the age of enlightenment, he had thrown his humours completely out of balance. The herb, according to Culpepper is ruled by the fiery planet Mars, causes a strengthening of the fiery choleric humour, whilst countering any excess of the watery phlegmatic humour that is produced in the lungs. This is why traditionally garlic is used to treat chest infections such as chronic bronchitis that produce a lot of mucous discharge.
Garlic contains a number of medicinally active compounds, among them diallyl disulphide, which is eliminated from the body via the lungs and breath. This compound is a powerful anti-bacterial agent and hence the consumption of garlic is known to be greatly beneficial - from the modern perspective of disease - in the treatment of chest infections. It has a powerful reputation among herbalists as an anti-biotic whose action specifically targets the respiratory tract.
Another notable medicinal action of garlic is its stimulating and vasodilatory effect upon the circulation. This is why the long term use of garlic is recommended for a variety of circulatory ailments, ranging from Reynaud's syndrome through to heart failure. It is also regarded to have a normalising and lowering effect upon blood pressure and is thought to be beneficial in many cases of hypertension. A typical recommended dose for the long term use of garlic is between 3 and 5 cloves per day.
Ramsons or wild garlic is thought to possess many similar medicinal virtues to the garlic of market gardens, even though it is in fact a different species, and its properties are regarded as being lesser though still significant.
Ramsons or wild garlic - Allium ursinum
It is of course a very very tasty herb! All parts of this plant are edible. The flower buds make a tasty pickle which I call 'Eagle Pickle' as in the 'green language' employed by the mediaeval alchemists the eagle was synonymous with garlic - one of the most sulphurous herbs. The leaves are wonderful eaten fresh in salads with a vinaigrette dressing, and can also be carefully dried and laid up for winter use by the sack load.
Below are a couple of recipes given to me to post by friends Debby and Alecandr...all quantities approximate so you will have to experiment a little until you find a version that is right for you!
WILD GARLIC AIOLI
A splash of white wine vinegar
One egg yolk
A mixture of 10 parts sunflower oil to 5 parts walnut oil and 5 parts olive oil
Chop the wild garlic, cover in a vessel with the oil mixture so that there is just enough to cover the herb, add the sugar and salt and stir in a splash of vinegar to taste. Whisk in the egg yolk and put the whole mixture through a blender until a thick mayonnaise like consistency is obtained. Store in clean air tight jars and refrigerate.
WILD GARLIC PESTO
100g pine nuts or cashew nuts
250g of wild garlic (ramsons) leaves / buds / flowers
A couple of tablespoons of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Lightly toast the nuts and chop the wild garlic leaves to a shred (hold them together in tight bunches while you do this). Add the nuts, garlic, salt, pepper and lemon juice to the blender and blend them together thoroughly. Add olive oil and continue to blend until the right consistency is obtained, which is a matter of preference. Parmesan or Gran Pedano cheese could also be added to taste. Once prepared add to clean air tight jars and refrigerate.
The first public foraging walk of the season today was a great success :)
A great big thankyou to all who attended. I always love to hear people's tales about how they have used wild plants and the things that their parents and grand-parents used to do with them, it's always so interesting, and there was plenty of information of that nature shared among the group participants in addition to the teaching input from me.
The plants found / sampled and the parts of plants discussed in detail for their edible and/or medicinal properties were:
Cramp bark Viburnum opulus - bark, berries
Elder Sambucus nigra - bark, buds, leaves, flowers, berries
Tansy Tanacetum vulgare - aerial parts
Hogweed Heracleum sphondyllium - young shoots (fiddles)
Meadowsweet Fillipendula ulmaria - leaves and flowers
Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna - leaves and fruit
Goat willow Salix caprea - bark
Nettle Urtica dioica - leaves and seeds
Lesser celandine Ranunculus ficaria - young leaves, bulbs
Hemlock Conium maculatum (a deadly poison)
Cow parsley Anthriscus sylvestris - leaves
Bramble Rubus fruticosus - roots
Horse chestnut Aesculum hippocastanum - buds
Cleavers Galium aparine - leaves
Lords and Ladies Arum maculatum (another poison) - leaves, root
Sedges Carex species - seeds
Comfrey Symphytum officinale - leaves, roots
Foxglove Digitalis purpurea - leaves (a deadly poison)
Burdock Arctium lappa - leaf stalks, roots
Alder Alnus glutinosa - twigs
Meadowsweet - Fillipendula ulmaria
one of the three sacred herbs of the druids, and a valuable source of salicylic acid, the pre-cursor of aspirin
We also talked about spring soups and spring greens, macerations, teas, oil infusions, syrups and salves, and home made 'bath bombs', as well as the deficiencies in our modern diet.
Ailments discussed were bruising, fractures and sprains, psoriasis, gout, arthritis, liver cancer, adrenal stress, menstrual cramps, scurvy (vitamin C deficency), headaches, intestinal worms, influenza and fevers, tachycardia, circulatory disorders, degenerative memory loss, hypertension, headaches, narcotic addiction, lymphatic blockage, diarrhoea and varicose veins
Personally I am not in the habit of eating roadkill unless it happens to run under my car or I get told by someone that they just knocked down a deer, but for those who are committed to letting nothing go to waste, here is what to look for to tell if your game is safe to eat…..
Avoid any animal that has not obviously been killed by a car - avoid anything with no sign of injury, signs of being eaten, or with bullet holes
Avoid rabbits that have signs of myxamatosis – swellings around eyes and on face being the obvious sign – this meat can be cooked in a survival situation but the animals are not healthy
Remember some animals may carry tuberculosis, such as foxes, badgers and deer, and all mammals can carry rabies. Fortunately rabies is not extant in the UK at present – but avoid handling fresh blood and body fluids as much as possible, and always wash before eating, drinking, smoking or going to the toilet – as soon as possible
Try to pick animals with minimal bruising – like the winter roe deer in this picture, which was mostly damaged on just one hind quarter...
Does the animal smell like an animal, a corpse, or worse? Only go ahead if it smells of ‘fresh animal’. Death - even recent death - does have a smell of its own but it is not at all like the smell of decay
Are the eyes intact? If they are just a little glazed over that is fine, but not pecked out by crows or shrunken back. They should not be pestered excessively by flies either
Is the abdomen distended with putrefaction gases? A deer’s belly will begin to swell within just a few hours, but if it has reached this stage – the clock is ticking as the putrefaction may taint the meat. A small degree of bloating is OK, but you will probably need to remove the 'skirt' meat around the belly
Is there fresh bright red blood, as opposed to brown ‘changed’ blood? Clotting, darkening blood may be acceptable, but the fresher the blood, the fresher the meat. For deer – if it is very fresh the blood will flow if the blood vessels in the neck are cut – and some people find deer meat too ‘strong’ if it is not first ‘bled’. However, I actually like the taste of blood – it makes a nutritious stock and is too good to waste in my opinion – so, ‘to bleed, or not to bleed, that is the question’
Again – there should not be a clustering of flies on the meat in our climate – except in very hot weather – so long as the kill is fresh
Above all - understand rigor mortise – stiffening sets in after a few hours, but disappears again in a couple of days – by which time the animal usually shows all of the signs of being ‘old’ stated above
WARNING - No one can decide whether your game is fresh except you - but if you take care and look for all the signs of freshness, it should normally be perfectly safe to eat
Today I spent a lovely afternoon teaching Sue and her very enthusiastic 7 year old son how to safely identify and gather edible mushrooms, and how to identify and avoid a number of common poisonous fungi that grow in the south west. I was really taken with the enthusiasm that this little boy possessed for nature, and how he still looked at the world in awe and wonder, a quality that many of us adults have lost as we learn to label everything rather than experience it, and become jaded by the concerns and pressures of adult life.
I chose a wooded site on the edge of the Cotswold Water Park that is well known to me, and where I have been collecting fungi and carying out surveys for the past 15 years. This interesting landscape, prior to being wooded, was an area of rough grassland and common land - so called 'verny ground' - that was used by the Anglo-Saxons and Normans over a millenia ago to graze their pigs.
The edible species that we found today included wood blewit Lepista nuda, monk's head Clitocybe geotropa, goblet Cantharellula cyathiformis, various russulas, common puffball Lycoperdon perlatum, cow boletus Suillus bovinus, and clouded agaric Clitocybe nebularis. Despite expectations founded on previous year's experience the plentiful winter chanterelles, hedgehog mushrooms, saffron milk caps and occasional ceps that can be found in this place were not in evidence, but nevertheless we gathered plenty of mushrooms for the table and an enjoyable time was had by all!
Monk's head - Clitocybe geotropa
The monk's head is currently my joint favourite edible mushroom along with the field blewit - which is probably just as well since there are lots of both around this year. One fairy ring of monk's head found in France was over half a mile in diameter and estimated to be over 800 years old. When you consider that under the soil's surface this is one gigantic organism, that is a very large and very ancient 'creature'! I use the word creature advisedly as the fungi sit somewhere between the animals and plants on the tree of life.
At the end of the afternoon, my new foragers seemed very pleased with their 'catch', and Sue said;
"Thanks Fred for a brilliant afternnoon, and a brilliant soup and risotto are now to follow!"
... I have a feeling we all went home rather satisfied, and I certainly had another fine basket of mushrooms to put on the drier for winter.
Last night I came home to a carrier bag full of large toadstools nailed to my door, accompanied by a very anxious letter. The person who had left them, along with their contact details, was afraid that they might be about to die, as they had eaten a soup containing many of the fungi without really knowing what they were, or whether they were even safe to eat. Fortunately I was able to contact them immediately and to put their mind at ease, letting them know that the most alarming symptoms they were likely to experience were sweating and the plentiful breaking of wind! The person who left the mushrooms confirmed that this had already begun to take place, and thanked me profusely. A similar experiment with the wrong species most probably would have brought about their death, and in a most unpleasant way.
Up until the past 10 days or so it has been a very unproductive mushroom season in my locality of Wiltshire - so much so that I cancelled plans to hold public forays after one very dissapointing foray in early October. The weather pattern - a combination of climatic factors, has been 'all wrong' and has not encouraged many larger edible species to form fruit bodies (the mushrooms). True - there have been some worth harvesting - but generally in small quantities.
This situation has now changed completely over the past week or so and much better harvests are coming in, with people regularly sending me pictures of their specimens to identify. Today produced for me a good basket of horse mushrooms in lovely condition, and I have also been picking a range of woodland species.
Here is a stunning photograph (copyright Dierdre McMurray) of a cluster of honey fungus - Armillaria mellea. This is a common garden pest often killing specimen trees, but in the wild it does far less damage, and tends to be kept in check by the ecosystem of which it forms a part.
The caps of this fungus are tasty once cooked - but they do have to be cooked as they are slightly poisonous when eaten raw. Tasting a tiny amount of the raw fungus at the front of the mouth - accomplished by chewing a pea sized lump for about a minute and then thoroughly spitting it out - causes a peculiar acrid sensation in the back of the throat a few minutes later. This can be used as a taste test by the experienced collector (who must first be able to eliminate all the more poisonous species on sight) - and once tried the effect is never to be forgotten, being written indellibly on the memory, and aiding future identification.
It is likely to be a short mushroom season now if the weather turns colder - although one or two species will usually survive long after the first few weeks of frost - especially the wood blewit Clitocybe nudum, and the velvet shank Flamullina velutipes which grows mainly on dead elm stumps and branches.
This year I have started running one to one coaching in the art of foraging for edible mushrooms. For a 2 hour session in my local area I charge £35.00 - so if you are interested in improving your foraging skills and keeping safe, get in touch!
Over the past few days I have watched with interest as scouting honey bees have been checking over my empty baited hive...Could there be a colony ready to move in somewhere in the locality? We will have to wait and see! It is getting in to the late part of the season for recruiting swarms, and I am watching with anticipation and hoping to see some kind of result sooner rather than later - but I will have to be patient!
Photo by Richard Bartz, Munich Makro Freak & Beemaster Hubert Seibring, Munich.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.
The setting up of a bait hive in order to catch a swarming colony of honey bees couldn't be easier and is a good way for the would be bee-keeper to obtain a colony at almost no additional cost.
Obviously, one requires a hive of some sort, whether it is one of the types more commonly seen today, such as the Langstroth, National, or Commercial varieties, or one of the African Top-bar hives that are becoming increasingly popular with those taking an informed low-intensity approach to bee keeping (less focussed on large annual harvests and therefore less stressful to bees). Although bee hives can be prohibitively expensive to buy from new, it is usually possible to find a bee keeper in your locality with spare second hand hive parts that they will part with for a modest cost in the interest of promoting the practice of bee keeping. My own hive bodies were obtained this way and together with a smoker, an aluminium feeder and a hive tool I think I paid no more than £40 for the lot! The best way to get in touch with local bee keepers is through your local Bee Keepers Association, and you will mostly likely find that there is a branch nearby. If you do not know the whereabouts of your local association, the best place to look is on the British Beekeepers Association's excellent website:
If you are good with wood you could of course make your own hive bits. There are plans for an African Top-bar hive in this excellent free ebook by author of "Barefoot Beekeeping" Phil Chandler:
Once you have built a basic hive set up - and really if you are using the more intensive methods that are commonly used in the UK it need be no more complicated than a brood body (where the colony will actually live), a floor, a crown board (the board that sits over the top of the colony) and a roof to keep the rain off and unwanted predators out - you will need to furnish it with some old honey comb as any bees that come by looking for a new home will be attracted to its familiar, warm aromatic smell. A 'frame' is the technical term for something like a picture frame that is suspended in the hive and encloses / supports the honeycomb. It will greatly improve your odds of attracting a swarm of bees if you put a frame or two of honeycomb in the hive...it doesn't need to have any honey in it, just the wax will do.
If you have no ready built comb (you would need to get this from another bee keeper if you have none), you could put in two or three frames containing printed beeswax 'foundation'. This is the name given to sheets of re-claimed beeswax that have a printed raised honeycomb pattern upon them to encourage the bees to build their metropolis in a regular, uniform manner, and this is the aim of the bee keeper using methods such as National or Langstroth. Bee keepers that are using the less intensive Top Bar method could still accomplish this by wiring some beeswax foundation directly to a couple of the single top-bars.
To enhance the odds of a passing queen and her entourage taking a fancy to your new 'des-res' it is possible to obtain a small phial of queen pheromones that you can leave in the empty hive, and which serves as an attractant. This step is by no means essential as bee keepers have done without this high tech solution for many years...but every little helps, or so goes the theory! The attractant is placed within the hive, and the phial is made of a very slightly gas permeable plastic, so you should not open it but simply place it inside.
Sighting your bait hive correctly is a very important step. Bees build their honey comb in an east-west direction so it is important to orient the hive body so that they can easily accomplish this, otherwise they will tend to build their comb in the natural direction and in doing so will join together the existing frames and possibly even brace them to the body of the hive, making manipulation of the honeycomb and bees later on very difficult indeed.
Siting the Bait Hive
If possible you should site your bait hive in an area of abundant nectar sources in the form of plants that are flowering during the summer months. Not all plants can be pollinated by bees however, so aim for plants that are already known to be attractive to honey bees. You can find information about bee trees and shrubs here:
If you cannot accomplish this it may still be perfectly viable to establish a colony on your chosen site - even if it is a concrete back yard, as the bees will travel for up to 5 miles to gather their sweetness in, however there would probably be a lower chance of a recently swarmed colony passing by and therefore moving in to your hive.
You should avoid siting your bait hive - or any bee hive - directly under the drip line of trees or in damp heavy shade, as this will be counter productive to the colony in the colder weather from autumn to spring. You can site your hive in semi-shade if that is all that space will permit, and in any case it is quite good to have a bush or fence of some sort on the side of the winter prevailing winds (which tend to range from north-east to south-east in my locality) - as in the colder months the bees, like us, find it harder to keep warm.
Useful Reading
An excellent introduction to bee keeping is Ted Hooper's "Guide to Bees and Honey", which you can find on Amazon.co.uk at:
With this, as with many things where we foster our direct relationship with nature, patience is the name of the game. Once you have set up your bait hive correctly, all you can do is wait. Sitting outside watching for signs of activity, and watching the bees come and go once a colony has moved in, is a really interesting, rewarding and therapeutic pastime all by itself. You may be lucky, and you may not - certainly this year half of the swarming season has passed, but if you are not lucky there is always next year. In reality this method is effective more often than not, and it is certainly both cheaper and more satisfying than buying your' bees. One more thing...although you may get swarms appearing all of the way through June, July and into August, the later they come the smaller they tend to be and the harder they will find it to survive the winter. Bees usually start their swarming season around April / May, and these earlier swarms tend to be very large and strong...they also have more of the year ahead to forage for food before they prepare to overwinter, and so tend to have a higher survival rate. I would not be put off by this. If you want to learn the art and skill of bee keeping then get going...you actually have nothing to lose. By following the information provided in the guides that I have recommended you may learn how to nurture a smaller colony through the winter, and if they don't make it (as is often the case regardless of the level of husbandry) you will have learned a great deal and still have some nice honey to remind you of the summer, not to mention ready-made honeycomb to start off next season's bait hive.
Today saw the first meeting of the Wiltshire Greenwood Collective (WGWC); a group of like minded individuals who will meet on the 1st Saturday of each month in a Wiltshire wood to practice greenwood crafts, share skills and socialise with like minded folk with an interest in traditional woodland crafts.
Photo - courtesy of Kelly Saunders
What fun - the time certainly flew by, and after looking at my watch I was shocked that 8 hours had flown in the company of enthusiastic crafters and a tasty barbecue - where did all that time go? Activities carried out by members during the day included archery using home spun bows, ladle making and the sharpening and restoration of some lovely old axes and chisels obtained from various boot sales and clearance sales. The WGWC is set up as a branch of the Association of Pole Lathe Turners and Green Wood Workers, and we were pleased to be visited by the new Local Groups Organiser for the organisation, Jon Warwicker, whose enthusiasm for all things crafted was infectious! We wish him luck in his new role.
Anyone who already practices any of the green wood crafts, (such as pole lathe turning, hurdle making, wood carving from green wood, charcoal burning, making wooden clothes pegs, spoons, bowls, flowers, baskets, etc.), and beginners who are keen to try some traditional skills, are encouraged to come along and find out what the WGWC is all about. The group will meet on the first Saturday of every month and is very informal, so for further information email bobdogstar@yahoo.co.uk, putting WGWC in the subject line, and you will receive details about the next meeting by return. Anyone with an interest can attend, as it doesn't matter whether you already practice or want to learn something new - just bring something to sling on the barbecue! Hope to see you there :-)
For more information about the Association of Pole Lathe Turners and Green Wood Workers, go to their excellent website at www.bodgers.org.uk
St. George's day approaches (23rd April) and heralds the beginning of spring revelry. The Catholic St. George was a graft onto older stock, and though the slayer of dragons is found throughout Europe and Russia today as a protector and patron, his earlier guise was the form of the green man, representing the rejuvinatory powers of spring time, the mysterious balance of light and dark, growth, decay, winter and summer, that is central to the farmer's and the forager's year. Al Khidr, the Green Saint of Islam is another guise assumed by George, and in the holy land they are venerated at the same shrines, together with Elijah, bringing Jew, Christian and Muslim together. Similarly, in parts of India the cult of Kwaja Khadir is observed by both Muslims and Hindus, and in fact our 'green one', 'Jack' or 'George' predates all of these major religions considerably and has been absorbed into them by osmosis throughout much of the world. In many parts of Eastern Europe the festivities of Green George (Gergiovden) are marked by decking a youth in foliage, resembling the Hastings 'Jack in the Green' of Britain, and parading him through the streets prior to being given a good ducking in the village pond or local river. This festival is very popular in many regions, and in particular with the Romani people, who still preserve much of the 'old knowlege' of Euopean folklore; in the east it is the major event in their folk calendar. Soon, very soon, it will be time to make May Garlands, and our green 'one' will ready to marry his bride.
St. George's Mushroom - Calocybe gambosa
In the understanding of these cycles, walk out into the grassy meadows and chalky pastures and seek the plump creamy-white fruit bodies of St. George's mushroom; it smells pleasantly 'floury' (freshly milled), and often occurs in large rings. St. George himself was said to have been ground into flour at his execution, and spread upon the land by his Roman captors. Be very careful to identify it correctly as there are some other whitish mushrooms that are very poisonous, (so take a specimen to your local wildlife trust for identification). St. George's mushroom is very tasty and highly prized in Italy and France. It can be lightly sautéed in butter, and goes well with shallots and asparagus. It can also be pickled or eaten raw in salads. The flavour is both delicate and aromatic, so be careful not to overpower it with stronger flavours.
Also highly prized at this time of the year are the morels, often appearing in limestone woods and on sandy soils during the spring. The caps of these fungi, (there are several species), have an irregular honeycomb like appearance and the cap and stem are hollow. They are difficult to find but highly regarded as a cooking ingredient. Morels should be dried for storage, and re-hydrated using warm water, herbs and a little salt for half an hour or so before cooking as this improves their flavour considerably. They go well with cream based sauces and add something very special to many dishes. Fresh morels can also be stuffed – one popular recipe uses crab meat, egg, mayonnaise and breadcrumbs – and baked for 15 minutes at 180oC. Be sure of your identification and do not confuse them with the poisonous gyromitra or turban fungus that looks a bit similar. Never eat morels raw as occasionally this has caused poisoning! Once again, if in doubt a visit to an expert is required.
The days are now lengthening spectacularly and on March 20th, the 'vernal equinox', day and night became equal in length. Daylight hours will now exceed night time hours until the balance reverses at the autumnal equinox in September, and the whole of nature seems to be revelling from the impact of this change. During the past week I have noticed unprecedented plant growth and the spring emergence of many species is now well under way. The equinox used to be new year's day in Britain, (and still is in many parts of the world - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowruz) but it was moved to Lady day (25th) around a thousand years ago, and then in 1752 was changed again to January 1st. Lady Day is a very interesting phenomenon - being imbued with the symbolism of new beginnings by the mediaeval church, and in addition to it being the alleged date of the anunciation of Christ (his conception date more or less), was said to be the original date of his transformation on the cross, the date of Adam's expulsion from Eden, and of Cain's murder of his sibling Abel using the jawbone of an Ox...an act that in turn began his eternal wandering as the mythological father of art, craft and civilisation itself. These allegories hold in common the theme of radical transformation through the breaking down of established order, and the resultant re-vivification, and they may be tales that echo the transformative power of nature at this pivotal point in the year, coming down to us from earlier agrarian / herdsman / hunter forager times.
As the sap rises in early March the birch and sycamore trees can be tapped. Currently (at the time of writing), the birch sap is prime for tapping in my area of South West England. If you would like to try this, drill a hole in a clean smooth area of the trunk of a silver birch around 25 - 30cm in diameter. The hole should be 3cm deep and 1cm wide, and angled slightly upwards. A clean stick with a shaving removed from one side, if wedged into the hole, will give a steady drip into a container. Afterwards use a small dowel to close the hole, assisting the tree to heal. Filtered by the tree's roots, the sap is refreshing to taste and rich in trace elements drawn up from the soil. It can be reduced to a sweet tasty syrup for pancakes and waffles, or made into wine. Personally I like to drink a glass of the sap straight from the tree at this time of the year as a salute to the coming of spring!
Ramsons - Allium Ursinum
'Ramsons' or wild garlic is now putting in an appearance. All parts of this plant can be eaten but the young leaves make a delectable salad – with added benefits to the circulatory system as well as lending assistance in defeating chest infections. Do not confuse this plant with lords and ladies (cuckoo pint) or autumn crocus – always be sure to check for the garlic smell, which is obvious and pungent. These other two spring beauties are very poisonous indeed, although they seldom grow in large clumps the way that ramsons does.
Also, be sure to dress warmly for the 'blackthorn winter' as March draws to a close. As the blackthorn (or sloe) breaks into blossom, it tends to bring chilly winds. Currently the weather is very fine and warm and the blackthorn is just breaking bud where I live, but I have found this old tradition to be true far more often than not, so I will not go foraging without a sweater in my bag just yet.
Rural people at this time of the year have traditionally made use of 'spring cures'. A spring cure is a soup or pottage of fresh wild greens, used as a vitamin rich tonic after a winter spent eating preserved foods that have a much lower vitamin content.
A 'SPRING CURE' RECIPE:
Take 2 pints of nettle tops, and two cupfuls of mixed young cleavers, dandelion, white dead-nettle tops, ground elder and great plantain (all chopped). Sauté with a large knob of butter for 5 minutes, then add two cups of water and season with fresh herbs, salt and black pepper then bring to the boil. Turn down and simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on, and serve with crusty bread. A definite refinement of this recipe is to put it through a blender, then swirl in some cream or live yoghurt to taste. Enjoy - as this is really tasty!
On St. Valentine's day (February 14th) flowers, clothing or sweets would be left on the doorstep by admirers; the caller's identities remaining secret. A 'valentine' was chosen among friends by drawing lots, and all participated whether young, old, married or single. On Valentine's morning you were supposed to marry the first person you saw, so it was essential to avert the gaze from unwanted suitors.
Primroses, (prime roses) are protected by law but can easily be grown in the garden. The
Primrose - Primula vulgaris
flowers can be candied, or used to garnish spring salads and make an intoxicating wine. The leaves can be eaten raw in the manner of lettuce, or cooked with butter as a spring vegetable. Primrose promotes relaxation and in excess may cause a slight drowsiness, so remember to consume responsibly.
The lawn daisy (literally 'day's eye' because it closes at night) can also be used to decorate and garnish food at this time of the year. The plump but tiny leaves can be used to add a piquant 'note' to salads. Both leaves and flowers are thought to strengthen the immune system, and may help to keep colds and viruses at bay.
Last but truly not least, the lesser celandine has shiny rounded-triangular leaves that are available about now, and which are full of vitamin C. Later on as the myriads of pretty buttercup-yellow flowers emerge, the leaves gradually become toxic and should then be avoided.
The leaves can be added to salads and soups in small quantities. Be careful not to gather the greater celandine by mistake, although this looks nothing like the lesser and is not related, as it is poisonous.
Unlike the earlier part of January which was still very cold in Southern England, the weather now seems to have changed and become much warmer and wetter. Most of the natural world seems to think that spring has come early, with birds pairing up ready for the breeding season and spring vegetation already making a come back. Let's hope that if we do have another cold snap, it is not too prolonged or severe, otherwise the verdant cloth of spring will suffer a setback this year that may impact upon harvests later in the season.
Once celebrated by Roman and Celt alike, February 1st sees a noticeable increase in daylight hours. Imbolc (pronounced 'oi melg') was the Celtic festival of ewe's milk and marked the start of the lambing season, presided over by the Goddess Brigid, patroness of livestock, healing and smithcraft. The Romans also celebrated Lupercalia, the festival of lights, on this day. Later, the Christian festival of Candlemas (purification of the Virgin) came to be observed on the 2nd of February. This day was dedicated to St. Brigid of Kildare - who bore the title "Adopted Mother of Christ", and whose nuns were said to guard a perpetual flame. Candles were lit in church, although traditionally they were also extinguished in the home as a sign that daylight had now increased. Snowdrops, as heralds of spring, were used to decorate homes with their virginal white blooms and signified the return of hope and vegetation for another year. This was a time of ritual purification and aromatic herbs such as hyssop and rue would likely have been burned in the home as fumigants.
This year, to celebrate this festival of light I made some little votive candles from the fat of the mallard ducks that I have been eating. I re-cycled some used 'T-lights', complete with the little round wick holders, and if you want to give it a try the method is simplicity itself. Method: After setting the cotton wicks in their holders and centering them, the solidified fraction of the duck fat (goose fat or similar works just as well) is heated in a water bath in a saucepan until it melts.
Pour the fat very gently into the T-light holders so as not to disturb the position of the wicks, and leave them for an hour to cool and for the wax to stabilise. These candles burn with a very pure and satisfying flame and do not make your home smell of duck so no need to reach for the plum sauce. They will also keep for a long time. Providing you have not made the wick too thick or too long, they are very clean - virtually smoke free in fact - so have fun!
Stinging nettle is one of the finest vegetables. Go to a big old nettle patch, and search at ground level underneath last year's dead stems where you may find a young tender treat emerging in this mild weather. Oh yes, they do sting! Whipping a rheumatic joint with stingers can bring relief for 2 to 3 days, and if you are suffering from the gout then nettle tea is also worth a try. We are told that Roman soldiers used to flagellate each other with bunches of nettles, but given that they marched for hundreds of miles in the cold soggy British climate it would be no surprise if their use of nettles was innocent after all!
Stinging nettle - Urtica dioica
I prefer mine lightly cooked in a saucepan. Add just a little water and a knob of butter or 2 tablespoons of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and close the lid. Once hot, just 5 or 6 minutes of cooking will disarm the stings and render the nettles juicy and tender to eat!
Over the past week I have been collecting the Jew's ear fungus - Auricularia auricula-judae.
This fungus, which occurs mostly on the bark of elder trees, was originally named 'Judas' ear', recollecting the myth that Judas Iscariot was crucified on an elder tree. The jelly-like fungus really looks like an ear too!
You may have already tried the Chinese variety known simply as 'black fungus' in Asian cookery. It should be thinly sliced then dried in an airing cupboard or near to the fire, and after a short soaking can be added to stir-fries, creating a pleasing 'crispy seaweed' texture. It is also an ingredient frequently used in the French 'Garniture Forestiere' - a mixture of dried woodland mushrooms used as a stock ingredient and accompaniment to red meat.
CAUTION: People with blood or immune disorders should go easy on this fungus. Also, do not fry raw (non-dried) Jew's ear as it can spit and jump dangerously, showering you in boiling fat! For identification pictures go to;
After the severe snow and frost that we have been experiencing you may not think there would be much available for the forager in the way of vitamin rich plants for salads and soups...but a walk along the Kennet and Avon Canal today conclusively proved that there was much available.
It was a beautiful day for a stroll, and my partner and I decided that we could use some fresh air. I was a little surprised to find the ground still quite frozen in places, and more than delighted when I came across the plentiful tender re-growth of dandelion, cleavers and white dead nettle. Our ancestors would have known from experience that a mild spell after harsh winter weather was a sign to look for valuable green vegetables that are loaded with goodness (in the form of vitamins and minerals). Although the location was not safe for picking owing to the high volume of dog walking traffic, it was a welcome sign that food would be available for those who went looking, and it made the day even more special.
Dandelion is a wonderfully edible plant, though the leaves can be bitter when picked wild and are best mixed with
Dandelion - Taraxacum officinale
other salad greens and given a French dressing. In France 'salade de pis en lit' has always been very popular, and it is loaded with vitamin C, although it can be slightly diuretic as the French name suggests! Dandelion is also thought to be beneficial to the health of the liver. Cleavers are traditionally used as a wonderful tonic for the lymphatic system, and are also loaded with vitamin C, making a very good soup vegetable when young. White dead nettle has been used medicinally to slow internal bleeding (particularly uterine bleeding), and the tops are also good added to soups and stews!
The moral of this tale - when the weather turns warmer for a few days, seek out the more sheltered spots and you should still be able to find plenty of fresh green vegetables to eat!
Despite having a tight schedule, I just managed to fit in a wonderous walk today, through ancient woodland and park-land that I have visited since I was a child. The highlight was the splendour of mid-winter evening light. Whilst stood under a grove of tall beech admiring their silhouttes against the blueing silver dusk, I perceived the permanently windswept tendrils of twigs as veins within exquisite clear marble, and the negative space that enveloped myself and the trees took on an alternate meaning - hard to express in words but nevertheless it felt glorious to be somehow within such beauty, yet able to appreciate it still. If anyone had come along I guess they would have found me transfixed, motionless and apparently staring into the sky, but fortun
ately I was more or less alone apart from the occasional hooting of a male tawny owl.
The purpose of my walk was to collect the bundles of sticks that I will use in the Celtic Tree Ogham Weekend course (see the 'Book Courses' page soon)...and I left feeling satisfied with my bundles of Scot's pine, gorse, English oak and holly. I also managed to visit a yew tree that my partner and I planted about 14 years ago - a rescued seedling from a town garden, and I was very happy to find it brimming with health and vitality.
<Ogham inscription - standing stone>
Ogham (pronounced 'Oo - am') is a kind of script that was used to adorn wood and stone in the western British Isles nearly 2000 years ago. It appears to be unique to these islands, and every letter bore the name of a native tree. The script was used to write commemorative messages, such as could be found on monumental stones and markers, but Christian monks in the so called dark ages and early medieval period recorded a body of mystical and magical lore that surrounded the use of the Ogham, and it is occasionally used today as a system of divination and reflection.
There may be some bright crisp days ahead and perhaps even more snow, but January is always a mixed bag and after the Yuletide cheer, don't be surprised if you are feeling 'flat' as well as fat! Our livers may be suffering from over indulgence and due to short days our brains will be experiencing a shortage of serotonin – a neurotransmitter substance that helps us to cope and to concentrate, and prevents depression. Our bodies may also be lacking in the antioxidant vitamins D (low sunlight), and C (from a lack of fresh leafy greens).
Scientific studies have shown that contact with nature promotes a state of calm, can lower one's blood pressure and also relieves stress. Why not gather some vitamin rich foods at the same time as soaking up much needed natural light, and beat the blues the natural way!
Woodsman's Tea
Scot's pine is rich in vitamin C and contains aromatic oily substances that help to chase away winter infections. Simply place a good handful of lightly crushed needles in a teapot and pour on boiling water. The flavour is delicious but very mild (do not drink it with milk). The tea can be made to taste stronger by a little simmering, but be aware that the more you simmer, the less vitamin C there will be.
Scot's Pine Vinegar
The needles make a delicious vinegar. Bring some white wine or cider vinegar to the boil, turn off the heat, and at room temperature seal it into a bottle crammed full with pine needles. Let this steep for 3 months in a dark place and enjoy later on your first spring salads!
NOTE: For both of these recipes be sure to use only pine needles, not those from other types of evergreens such as fir, cypress or even yew, as some of these are very toxic. I do hope you enjoy the Scot's pine's subtle flavour, more ideas to follow very soon!
