Food for Free

Food for Free

There really is food for free, if you know what you're looking for, and once you do you'll find that there is food everywhere!!
Many of these plants have been used widely over the centuries, for food and their medicinal qualities, but have fallen out of favour in our modern times...giving way to heavily farmed and processed foods.

I've always been lucky enough to live in rural environments, and love surrounding myself with the natural greenery, but I've often wondered what all these wonderful are and how they can help us.

So I decided this afternoon, to explore a short woodland walk, and see just how many plants could be foraged in such a small area.  These are my findings.....

- Elderflowers
- Greater Plantain
- Fat Hen/Lambs Quarters
- Wild Strawberries
- Daisies
- Ox Eye Daisy
- Good King Henry
- Field Poppy
- Dog Rose
- Hedge Mustard
- Dandelion
- Red Clover
- Stinging Nettle
- Sow Thistle
- Herb Bennet
- Comfrey
- Lungwort

18 in all, that's not bad,and only 5 mins from my door..... a lot of these are growing alongside the pavement too.
There are a few surprise ones as well, that I found that I could eat from my garden..

- Campanula Flowers ( Canterbury Bells)
- Fushia Flowers, and the berries when they are ripe and squishy
- Violet, Pansy, Day Lily and Nasturtium flowers.

There are many books and websites with lots of information on this subject, and it's so important to get the right identification, before using.  Lots of these plants look very similar, and choosing the wrong one, could make you very ill.

One of my favourites, which is in abundace at this time of year, is Fat Hen.  It appears practically everywhere, on exposed land, and close to humans.  It has been around since prehistoric times, and the seeds were found in the stomach of  'Tolland Man' (whose perfectly preserved corpse was found in a bog in Denmark).  It is very closely related to spinach and can be used in the same way....last year I made a Fat Hen and cheese tart, it was delicious!!  It contains more iron and protein than either cabbage or spinach, and more vitamin B1 and calcium than raw cabbage.

Another amazing and plentiful plant is Dandelion.
We mostly know this plant as a gardener's nightmare, but it has a great many uses and properties....
All parts of the dandelion are edible, apart from the seeds, though most people only know about eating the leaves.  The plant is rich in vitamins A and C, also high in potassium, as well as high levels of protein, carbohydrates, calcium, iron, manganese, and fibre.  The leaves can be quite bitter unless they are really young, or picked after a hard frost (blanching can alleviate a lot of the bitterness).  The leaves are often used in salads, or in place of salad leaves, in sandwiches.  The root can be picked and dried in an oven, then ground down to a powder, this then is used to make beverages, much like coffee.  Be warned, this plant is also a diuretic.

Dandelion health benefits:
1) Cancer: Dandelion root extract is unique, and is one of the only things found to help with chronic myelomonocytic Leukemia and It is effective in treating Breast Tumors

2) Detoxification of vital organs: Because of the diuretic abilities of dandelion root, it is beneficial for flushing out the Liver, Kidneys and Gallbladder. İt works great to purify the blood and cleanse the system. This also makes it a good herb for Fighting İnfections.
It is also used for Arthritis, Osteoarthritis , Gout and Rheumatism

3) Dandelion tea actively ameliorates disease—it is a potent disease-fighter—and helps the body heal, helps Boost İmmunity and Heart Disease, and age-related Memory Loss.

4) Treating Anemia: Because of the high content of iron in dandelion root, it is beneficial for building red blood cells in the body to treat anemia.

5) Treating Diabetes: Dandelion root has been shown to lower blood sugar levels in patients. In Europe, it's used to treat Type-1 and Type-2 diabetes.

(taken from Organic Gardening web page)
 

These of course are only two examples of nature's abundant larder, free for the taking.  I hope this inspires you to go looking for yourselves....

....as a footnote if you do fancy a little forage
Some DO's and DON'T's

- It's illegal to uproot any wild plant, without authorisation
- It's illegal to disturb or collect plant material around any protected species of plant
- Only take what you need
- Foliage, flowers and fruit are the parts ok to forage
- Respect the environment, leave it as you found it, and do not disturb the wildlife.
- Only forage what you are absolutely sure about, if in doubt...leave it!! There are some very poisoness plants out there.
- Avoid areas and/or plants that are known to have been sprayed with weedkillers or similar
- Only pick from healthy plants, and always wash them.
- Always follow the given, correct information about preparing your foraged finds.  Some plants have to be cooked/prepared before consumption.
- Always try a new food in moderation, you never know whether you might have a reaction to it.

Happy foraging folks!!!