“Here, try one of these” Nicola smiles as she passes me a ripe berry from the pod of a crinodendron tree in our garden, “They taste rather sweet”. The seed is dark brown with a soft white coating and looks like a pale version of a pomegranite seed. I duly pop it into my mouth, roll it around my tongue and swallow. “I didn’t know that these were edible.” I comment in a trusting manner. “Neither did I…. are they”? Nicola replies quizzically.
I enjoy trying new foods, but I am a bit wary of the unknown, more so since my five year old son started eating lupin seeds, after enjoying a summer of popping peas into his beak. This innocent act resulted in a desparate call to the poisons help-line and an anxious couple of hours wait on all systems alert watching for vomiting or other symptoms which would precipitate a mad rush to A and E.
Now Nicola is well trodden gardener and a family relation of ours and is up visiting from Dublin for a short while. “They taste sweet and edible and nature has a way of telling us if something isn’t for eating. Inedible seeds and fruit are bitter”. Nicola continues with the confidence of a person that has survived in the wilderness for years. “Let’s have a look around your garden to see what else we can eat.” She takes me by the arm and leads me down the garden while I discreetly check my temperature and wonder if my glands are swelling.
I know there are tasty treats in the garden, we picked a few wild rasberries which are very safe and the blackberries are a winner with everyone and very distictive, so no ambiguity there. “Rising food prices may make foraging a cheap way to keep the fridge full”. Nicola is telling me. “There are hundreds of plants growing in the wild which can be safely eaten raw or made palatable by cooking. Most people know what a stinging nettle looks like and try to avoid them, but eating the cooked leaves fills you with iron”. Nicola has found one of the the patches of nettles in the garden. “Nettles are best eaten when young in a soup - older leaves can have a laxative effect though so you know where to come if you are blocked up”. She happily tells me waving a stem under my nose. “The London diarist Samuel Pepys spoke of enjoying nettle pudding in 1661 so it’s not a new thing.”I am begining to realise that Nicola has been studying the art of foraging for food.
“What can you do with these?” I ask her as a test, pointing to the rose bushes. “The Victorians used rose petals to add delicate flavours to their food but it is not done much now.” she replies instantly. “Most petals can be used for decoration but give them a good wash and don’t take them if they have been sprayed with chemicals.” Nicola warns as we venture further down the garden.
“Look at that dandelion,” she says pointing to a small victim in the crazy paving. “You can eat every part of the plant, though I wouldn’t fancy the fluffy seed heads, mind you you can use them for lighting the campfire”.
I am intruiged. Has Nicky been hiding in the woods all summer, living off the land? Nicola cuts into my ponderings.“The roots can be eaten like carrots and the leaves can be used in salads but are best picked in cool seasons or from shaded areas or they could be bitter. Dandelion is also used to make wine and there is the old dandelion and burdock drink. You can also roast the roots to use as an alternative to coffee if dried and chopped”.
“So what else is edible”? I ask. “Well”. Nicola pauses as her head turned in true Excorsist style to survey the area and then contuinues. “That wild rose hip is a great source of vitamin C. Hawthorn berries can be eaten, but I think have a nasty aftertaste, then there are sloes for your gin. Rowan (mountain ash) berries can be made into jelly and the Wesh make an alcoholic drink called diodgriafel that is supposed to be very tasty.”
“Hey this is good stuff, I might write about it for my article this week” I tell her.
“Well” she cautions, “you might want to add a disclaimer and probably a few words of warning. The common elder has edible berries but some people can react badly to them.”
“What else should I warn about” I ask her.
“Yew (Taxus baccata) seeds are regarded as one of THE most poisonous and deadly. I remember seeing a gardener suck on the red flesh and spit the seed out, but this isn’t to be recommended. The inner brown-black seed is deadly poisonous and must not be eaten.” Nicola warns. “There are loads of others, Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara) from the hedgerows. Holly berries can be very nasty; Ivy has black berries that are very toxic”. Nicola turns her attention to a hypericum we have in the garden. “These plants have pretty berries too and are used in medicine, don’t try this at home though. The dogwoods you have are poisonous too”.
We are at the end of our walk. We have eaten marigold flowers and sorrel leaves, a few sunflower seeds and a plum like fruit from the red fuchsia bush. And, as suggested by Nicola, a few words of warning to protect myself in these health and safety mad times.
NEVER take any chances with berries.If you do not recognise a berry as being one of the edible onesDON'T PUT IT ANYWHERE NEAR YOUR MOUTH.
PS. Crinodendrons are part of the Lily of the valley family and classed as poisonous.
SEE WHAT OTHERS THINK TO THIS SAGA ON THE SELFSUFFICIENTISH FORUM.....SOMETIMES YOU CAN WRITE FOR THE WRONG AUDIENCE.....
