Everyone knows that going shopping when hungry, and worse, without a list, means that you end up with more than you’ll need. It was a bit like that on my forage this afternoon! Having decided to pick my own supper, and having vaguely decided on some kind of soup, I headed for the woods with a large rucksack. First up was a Spring Cavalier mushroom that I’d passed on my trike ride this morning. It was a nice big one.
Further along I spotted the first Vetch of the season. They are a member of the pea family. I decided to leave them for the moment as there weren’t very many and I know a bumpy track through the fields where they usually grow in abundance later on in the season. The Comfrey is also making a strong appearance everywhere! Below, the Vetch (small leaves with purple flower) and Comfrey (large leaves) can be seen in the same photo:
Now, Comfrey is a bit ‘loaded’ in the sense that older sources list it as edible, while more recent sources list it as toxic. In this blog I don’t want to persuade anyone to either eat it or avoid it, so please do your own research and then make your own decision. Personally I believe that our ancestors (who ate Comfrey) probably had a balanced approach to foraging and didn’t exclusively eat one thing all the time. So that’s the approach I will take, too. Comfrey is delicious and a small amount every now and then is what I enjoy. I stir-fried it together with the Spring Cavalier as a starter to my meal:
Walking on, I was building the meal in my mind. With the starter sorted, I now concentrated on picking things for the main course. The Garlic Mustard is shooting up, so that went in my bag:
It wasn’t long after this that the eternal fields of Ground Elder loomed on the horizon, a huge carpet of green. Several big handfuls of that also went into my ‘shopping trolley’! Completing the meal were some lovely soft leaves of Wild Garlic. Walking out of the woods, past the imaginary ‘checkout’, I walked into our kitchen, where not long after that a delicious aromatic soup was bubbling away. All free, all green, all healthy and delicious.
Next time I’ll give an update on everything that’s growing on our own plot!
The healthy forager 