Foraging notes from the workshop held on the 10th March 2022 – on a 4.4km walk in mixed terrain we found a minimum of 31 edible items these are listed below with a short description.
| Bedstraw | The young shoots and leaves of cleavers bedstraw are perfectly edible. Bedstraw is like a hairless version of cleavers. |
| Birch Sap | Birch sap may be consumed both fresh and naturally fermented. When fresh, it is a clear and uncoloured liquid, often slightly sweet with a slightly silky texture. After two to three days, the sap starts fermenting and the taste becomes more acidic. |
| Bitter Dock | Young leaves are edible fresh or cooked. These leaves do have a bitter taste, especially the older they become. Some people will cook leaves in at least one change of water in order to reduce the bitterness. They can also be dried for later use. |
| Bitter Lettuce | Related to a cultivated lettuce, far to bitter to enjoy, but edible. |
| Blackberry | Steep Leaves for tea, Eat the berries there are 365 different varieties of blackberry all edible. |
| Cabbage | Famers field overspill, use as a shop bought cabbage, All edible. |
| Cherry Blossom | Eat in small amounts, flowers, leaves, twigs and bark contain cyanogenic compounds which breakdown when chewed or crushed to release cyanide. This reduces when cooked or fully dried. |
| Chives | Use as you would shop bought. |
| Cleavers | AKA ‘Sticky Willy & Goose Grass’ eat the young tips. It has a pea flavour. |
| Cowslip | Member of the primrose family. Has a sedative effect, make tea from the dried flowers, roots can be used to help ease a cough if made into tea. Flowers make an excellent country wine. |
| Dandelion | Dandelion is probably one of the most common and recognisable varieties of edible weeds and it’s also very versatile. The yellow petals from the dandelion flower and the leaves can be eaten in salad, and the leaves can also be cooked and eaten like spinach. Also coffee from the dried roots, salad from the leaves and wine from the flowers. |
| Dead Nettle | Purple dead nettle is not only a wild edible green, but a highly nutritious superfood. The leaves are edible, with the purple tops being even a little sweet. Since the leaves are relatively fuzzy, they are better used as an herb garnish or mixed with other greens in recipes, rather than being the star of the show. |
| Garlic Mustard / Jack by the hedge | Garlic mustard is edible and should be harvested when young. The roots taste much like horseradish and the leaves are bitter when mature. The first year plant is a rosette, and its leaves can be harvested year-round. |
| Hairy Bittercress | Hairy bittercress like other members of the mustard family (Brassicaceae), its tender greens are edible. Don’t be fooled by the common name—its flavor is mild and peppery, not bitter. |
| Herb Robert | Herb-robert was traditionally used as an antiseptic, as well as to treat stomach upset and nosebleeds. Its leaves are edible and used by some to make tea. They have also been used crushed and rubbed on the skin as an insect repellent. |
| Juniper | Juniper berries have a strong, bitter, slightly peppery flavour and gritty texture. Used as a botanical to flavour Gin. Fantastic flavouring for curing all types of meat. |
| Lime Tree | The leaves are edible when young and slightly translucent and can be used in salads or tea. |
| Lords and Ladies AKA Cuckoo-pint (poisonous/harmful) | Poisonous, but included here for the easy mistake of confusing it with Sorrel |
| Mullein | Leaves and flowers. Although the leaves and flowers are edible, enjoying a cup of tea made from these parts is generally preferable. Leaves and flowers can be used in a salad. |
| Ribwort Plantain | The unopened flower heads can be eaten raw and have a taste reminiscent of raw button mushrooms. The leaves are edible, but are bitter and it is best to remove the thick veins. They can be dehydrated to create a stock. The seeds can be ground into a flour or cooked. |
| Rosehip | The seeds/berries of the rose family. Can be used to make a syrup high in vitamin C. Caution, hairs inside the berry can cause irritation, they are historically used by children as itching powder! |
| Rough Chervil | Chervil is fine French herb that is often used in cooking fish and poultry, a bit like parsley but finer. Can be easily confused with poisonous members of the same carrot family. |
| Snails | Make sure to harvest them from vegetation that has not been treated with herbicides or pesticides. They need to be purged prior to eating. |
| Sorrel | You can eat the stalks, flowers, and leaves, raw or cooked. They have a fresh, lemony flavour that makes them perfect for mixed salads. In South Australia, wood sorrel is known as ‘soursob’ and is a common snack for children on their way to school. |
| Southern Daisy | AKA ‘Bruise wort’ fresh leaves will soothe wounds and help healing. Daisy. The ordinary daisy (Bellis perennis) that you see in lawns is an edible flower. Flower buds and young leaves can be added to salads or eaten in sandwiches. They can be used as an ingredient of soups, pickled as a susbstitute for capers and used to make wine. |
| Speedwell | Traditionally used as a substitute for tea, speedwell nearly went extinct in Victorian England as it was used to alleviate the symptoms of gout. |
| Spring Vetch | Vetch is a pretty good potherb, if you go for the younger leaves. It has a mild, grassy flavor that’s a lot like spinach, collards, or turnips. The unique seed pods are edible when they’re young – get them in early summer when they first come out, before they get too tough and stringy. |
| Stinging Nettle | The leaves are edible at any stage of the plants’ growth. Cooking or drying them denatures the sting. They are nice and tender earlier in the season when they’re young. If they have already grown flowers and seeds, they’re still perfectly edible – just pick the smaller leaves near the top |
| Sumac | Ground, dried sumac berries taste great as a spice rub for lamb, fish and chicken. These berries are also used as a salad topping, and you can include them in your favorite dressings. |
| Violet | Both the leaves and flowers, contain high amounts of vitamin C and vitamin A. The edible violet plant can be used to make syrups, brew teas, and in baked desserts. |
| Walnut | Crack open, eat if white, discard if brown/black. |
| Yarrow | A good insect repellant. Yarrow has a strong licorice-like scent and a mildly sweet flavor that’s similar to tarragon. This entire plant is edible, but its leaves and flowers are especially popular to use in recipes. They can be dried and used as a spice. But, fresh flowers and leaves are also great for salads, soups, and stews. |
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