Tag: common chickweed

12 Easy-To-Forage European Plants For Spring And Early Summer

12 Easy-To-Forage European Plants For Spring And Early Summer

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As spring moves towards summer, there are plenty of wild edibles to choose from. Some of the easiest to collect are the green aerial parts of readily recognised plants as well as some of their flowers. Many of these provide great additional flavours to seasonal salads and some can be used as stuffing herbs or as the basis of a soup. All of these uses provide additional micronutrients to your diet. Flavoursome teas can be made with several of the featured plants and some also have medicinal uses. In this article I present a dozen easy-to-recognise and easy-to-collect seasonal plants for this time of year…

Wild Wanderings 5 – Seasonal Shift

Wild Wanderings 5 – Seasonal Shift

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Raspberries, blackberries, rowan berries, hawthorn haws, sloes are in fruit and there a good many seeds around for eating and for other uses. Yet many lush green edible leaves are still to be had and some common plants still in flower. This time of year is one of transition as the seasonal shift takes us from late summer to early autumn. As always there a subtleties worth exploring…

Paul Kirtley answering bushcraft and survival questions in episode 20 of Ask Paul Kirtley
#AskPaulKirtley Episode 20: Ember Extenders, Natural Soaps, Safe Combinations Of Wild Edibles, Tapping For Sap, My Woodlore Instructor Knife & Waterproofs On A Budget

#AskPaulKirtley Episode 20: Ember Extenders, Natural Soaps, Safe Combinations Of Wild Edibles, Tapping For Sap, My Woodlore Instructor Knife & Waterproofs On A Budget

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In this episode of #AskPaulKirtley I answer questions about cramp balls as ember extenders, natural soaps, tapping trees for sap (other than birch), have I still got my Woodlore instructor knife, are combinations of wild edibles always safe and waterproof jackets on a budget…

Greater Stitchwort, Stellaria holostea, flower
Greater Stitchwort, Stellaria holostea

Greater Stitchwort, Stellaria holostea

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Greater Stitchwort, Stellaria holostea, is a very common plant of wayside verges and open woodlands. Until it flowers, however, it is easily missed. Greater Stitchwort is a relative of Common Chickweed, Stellaria media, and like Chickweed, Greater Stitchwort is an easily-collected source of edible wild greens…

Foraging for Spring greens - Ramsons and Opposite-Leaved Golden Saxifrage.
Foraging For Early Spring Greens: Some To Eat, Some To Avoid…

Foraging For Early Spring Greens: Some To Eat, Some To Avoid…

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Late winter and early spring is a lean time. As soon as shoots start to appear, however, there are some tender, young spring greens to gather. They grow quickly too – the early spring plants race to grow before the trees produce leaves and cut out much of the light to the forest floor. You must be careful though – early spring plants often have defence mechanisms by way of toxins…