Autumn’s Wild Food Forage

If you go down to the woods today, or even just out into the fields, or into a hedgerow or two…. Just not beside a busy road please! What you will find is an abundance of wild, FREE food to forage. Though hurry because the weather is doing a great job of obliterating the berries! It actually makes me weep a little inside when I see wind fall apples lying wasted in their dozens by the sides of roads and yet the world is full of starving people — Britain is full of starving people?! WTF!

And, not only that, what about all these digestive disorders we’re all riddled with because we’re not eating indigenously or in season? Happier chowing down on mass produced, artificially inseminated and flavoured, toxin heavy, nutritionally light crap, mistakenly perceived as a quicker fix?! Not really fixing anything tho is it? And, don’t get me started on Brexit, I’ve Bryon Katie’d that one, but seriously if it leads to a food shortage wouldn’t it be wise to learn how to eat what’s around you and free?

So, what can you find in nature’s larder this autumn? And why it’s totally worth getting your butt outside, you can even accessorise with a fancy woven basket to complete your ‘forager’ look! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nutleys-Medium-Rustic-Willow-Vegetable/dp/B005GLT09K/ref=asc_df_B005GLT09K/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309954644536&hvpos=1o5&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9257188974982596506&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006602&hvtargid=pla-655082386064&psc=1&th=1&psc=1

So, let’s start with magic apples, did you know that if you slice an apple in two, the five-pointed star made by the pips represent the forty-year path Venus traces through our sky. The wild apples we can scrump these days are unlikely to be truly wild, but more of a hybrid species, but still they’re growing naturally. Medicinally, these are perfect for those struggling too ‘go’, a very natural laxative courtesy of their fibrous pectin. Which is also ideal for stabilising blood sugar, protection against colon cancer, and lowering cholesterol. Wiki do a fabulous chart, to help you determine the different apple varieties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malus

Crab apples high pectin content means they are great for helping jellies or jams to set or making crab apple cheese. Here’s a handy article on what on earth that actually is, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/anyone-for-fruit-cheese-give-damsons-rosehips-and-medlars-a-new/ And, you can make them into toffee apples, how scrumptious does that sound, almost sin free! https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2018/10/crab-apple-recipes/

Hawthorn Berries, these gloriously bright red little globes of loveliness, grow on hawthorn bushes and trees. They have been used in traditional medicine for eons, and are a firm favourite in Chinese Medicine because they pack a big medicinal punch. Being a power antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, they are used to treat digestive issues, reduce blood fats, lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety, prevent hairless and heart failure.

A great way to use them is to make fruit leathers to nosh first thing as a healthy pick me up or for those sluggish moments during the day. They lasts up to 6 months and make a great alternative gift idea. Check this blog for a great recipe — it takes a few hours but is totally simple, just make sure you don’t forget they’re in the oven drying! https://www.wildwalks-southwest.co.uk/blog/hawthorn-berry-fruit-leather/

Sloes, aka blackthorn, and take note because you can use their thorns to tell them apart from damsons. Tho, the latter are larger and more plum like. Pick these after the first frosts, they’re ripe when they go pop in between your digits. These little purple beings are astringent, thus making them medicinally excellent for diarrhoea, coughs and colds. A lot of folk like to make sloe gin, which is a delightful digestive on a winter’s eve.

However, I am promoting a delicious nutritious jam alternative to you, https://www.eatweeds.co.uk/country-hedgerow-jam This recipe also contains rosehips and crab apples, which are also around in abundance at the moment. They’re excellent for arthritis, especially in the knees.

We’re now in the season for wild plums, aka damsons or bullate. These guys range in colour from white, yellow, green and purple and taste sweet only upon ripening, which is when they are soft not squishy. Health-wise, you want plums in your life if you’re looking to stock up on minerals and potassium or satisfy a sweet tooth without increasing your blood sugar levels. They are another natural heart medicine, it’s all in the colour and shape people, rich in antioxidants. They keep you regular, lower your cholesterol and are made for skin problems like scarring, hair loss. And finally, good for bone health, so us menopausal ladies better get pluming!

Eating-wise, again excellent for jams, pies, cakes, liquor and chutney. Here is a chutney recipe, a great alternative to shop bought cranberry jelly at Christmas perhaps, http://www.hedgerowharvest.org.uk/Recipes/Wild-Plum-Chutney

Elderberries, another of nature’s heart medicines, is a powerful “anti” wonder. These little dark purple beauties are anti- inflammatory, oxidant, diabetes and cancer. They’re also another excellent vitamin C source. It’s best to remove the pips because they contain cyanide, which can be irritating to some digestive systems.

I drop a handful into my gluten free banana bread mix when they are in season. You can add them to crumbles, pies, jams and liquors, check https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/berry-bonanza for some easy recipes.

Wild nettle seeds, you’ll need to rush out to get these little nutritional bullets, and make sure you only collect from the female common nettle. You want them in your life as a free, un-compromised — if you collect away from animal piss — source of Omega 3 oils. They are a native adaptogen, which makes them perfect for adrenal support.

You can identify the lady by the weight of her flowering bounty, the male flower clusters don’t hang so droopily and they’re more stringy. The female’s seeds look wispy and like they are wearing little bishops hats. You want the seeds when they are fresh and green, which you can then store in an airtight container for up to 3 months, freeze or dry them for a year. To gather snip them off their strings, put them in a paper or linen back and shake. I’d recommend selecting someone afflicted with osteoporosis in their hands to collect them, this way they’re getting free urtication therapy. Nettle stings relieve the associated joint pain!

They taste nutty and can be added to your morning cereal, soups, smoothies, homemade bread… Just imagine, homemade nettle seed bread topped with sloe, elderberry and crab apple jam….how amazing is breakfast suddenly…and mainly free of charge?!!!!

Another seed you might want to snaffle on your walks would be Himalayan Balsam, certainly if you’re looking for some nuttiness in your life. Given that this is an invasive species, you’d be helping out by consuming the seeds, but please make sure they haven’t been sprayed by the council because of their naughty status. You want the seeds when they are pale, not hard and black, and they literally explode out of their pods and thus are easy to get at. Medicinally, they are used for treating anxiety, a natural alternative to pharma drugs?

You can eat them right then and there or dry and grind them for flour to add into cakes, bread. They also make a wonderful addition to homemade curries, I like what these people are doing with theirs https://www.eatweeds.co.uk/himalayan-balsam-seed-curry-recipe And, if you happen to be allergic to hazelnuts like me, this are a great alternative.

Moving smoothly onto Hazelnuts, or cobnuts if you prefer, as they’re out now. You want them when they are mature and a little dried out, when the leaves on their trees are starting to turn and the seed pod’s fuzzy outer husk splits and exposes their hard shell. If you want to eat them on the go, you need to be tooled up or else you will never get them open, please don’t be tempted to try your teeth!

Medicinally, rich in unsaturated fats (mostly oleic acid), high in magnesium, calcium and vitamins B and E, they’re also good for your heart. Similarly to everything else I’m asking you to get out and forage, they decrease blood fat levels, regulate blood pressure, reduce inflammation and improve blood sugar levels.

You can make them into butter, or simply roast them if you want them quick and simple. Here’s some good advice on where to pick them and what to do with them https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/08/hazelnuts-where-and-when-to-forage/

Sweet Chestnuts, now until November, ripe when they’ve fallen from the tree and their seed burrs are open. Have to admit having done this once when every single one had already been devoured by worms…most disappointing!

So what are they good for, Chestnuts are an excellent source of manganese, molybdenum, and copper and a good source of magnesium. In addition, they are a good source of vitamin C as well as vitamins B1, B2, and B6 and folic acid. Additionally, they’re like everything else I’ve covered, good for reducing cholesterol, stabilising blood sugar levels, constipation, diverticulosis, energy levels, brain function, bone health, immune system, heart health. But most importantly, and person to moi, their gluten free so celiacs can eat them!

These guys are perfect for roasting — I love roast chestnuts, or making into flour for bread, pasta, cakes, or smashed for pesto or soups. Here’s a lovely link to a soup recipe https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/woodland-activities/foraging-for-sweet-chestnuts/

I hope you’ve noticed that all these glorious natural delicacies are so beneficial for our health, they’re preparing us for winter wellness. You can either DIY or pay a fancy chef a fortune to do it for you… I know which I’d prefer, it’s very mediative picking your own food and making nourishment with it.

For more information on what to look for, where to find it, how it can help you medicinally and how to make herbal remedies, I recommend and work with Alice Bettany, https://sacredseeds.org.uk. She hosts seasonal foraging walks, private tailored walks and 1–2–1 health consultations, a great and valuable Christmas unique gift….

Originally published at http://celticwitchmama.com on October 4, 2019.