APRIL FORAGING TIPS

APRIL FORAGING TIPS

​April is a month when our native plants are beginning to come alive, a perfect time to forage provided you know 100% what the plant is and you can check with an herbalist about allergies or reactions you may have. Do not ever trample plants and only pick when they are abundant!

Celandines (Ranunculus ficaria) are part of the buttercup family. I find celandine rootlets delicious, gently fried they taste like pine nuts and can be added to a wild salad or stir fry. The waxy heart shaped leaves are distinctive followed by the bright yellow flowers. Ideally collect before flowering and do not eat raw.

​Primroses (Primula vulgaris) are named after their own family and by April they are coming to the end of their season for it is the young leaves and flowers that are the tastiest added to a salad.

​Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea)- The kidney shaped leaves cannot be mistaken when crushed as they have a pungent smell typical of the mint family. The leaves are rather bitter raw but can be added to salads and to flavour food. I prefer them as a soothing tea for the stomach.

Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) are part of our largest plant family known as the daisy family. It is a welcome bitter addition to salads as its leaves are full of vitamins and minerals and are a natural diuretic which naturally replaces the potassium in the body. Pick fresh leaves or dig up its roots to make coffee. The roots need to be baked in the oven for about ten minutes on a low heat though be careful not to burn them!

Chickweed (Stellaria media) is part of the pink family and is a refreshing tasty salad leaf full of nutrients. Not to be mistaken with upright mouse ear chickweed ( Cerastium fontanum) which grows more upright and is hairy hence the name ‘mouse ear’. Common chickweed is brittle and sprawling with only a few hairs at the base of the leaves.

​Herb bennet (Geum urbanum) - The roots can be dug up and washed to eat raw with a taste of cloves and in moderation its leaves can be used in salads and to flavour food.

Early tree leaves - can also be eaten raw such as hazel (Corylus avellana) and hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) and a little later the beech Fagus sylvatica which is very tasty and lime (Tilia cordata) which is my favourite tree leaf to eat.

​These are just some of my April favourites, most of which are commonly available, how abundant is nature’s harvest!