• Sorrel – (lemony flavour) add to a cocktail skewer of hard boiled egg, and olives. Use as you would lemon!
• Plaintain – add seeds to biscuits, stir fries, bread
• Reedmace- Dig up the rhizome in autumn –winter, roast, good source of carbs.
• Ash – seeds, peel then pickle when green
• Fairy Ring Champignon mushroom – dry them and add to soups and stews
• Dandelion – (bitter flavour) Cut rounds of boiled corn on the cob sweetcorn and spread with cheese/cheeselike spread, garnish with plenty of dandelion leaves.
• Hogweed Pannacotta
• (dessert spice) Use the seed to infuse in milk based desserts.

1. For a simple dessert for 2, add 3 tblsp lightly crushed dried Hogweed seeds to 260ml soya milk (or other milk),
2. Simmer for 5 mins.
3. Strain out the seeds and add 50g sugar.
4. Mix half a sachet of Vegi Gel in 50ml cold water then add to infused milk.
5. Pour into moulds, cups or shot glasses.
6. Leave in a cool room or fridge for at least an hour to set.
7. Garnish if desired with a little sugar, hot blackberry sauce and water mint leaves J

 

 

 

 

• Nettle Falafels

1. Gather half a carrier bag of fresh nettle tops and add dried nettle seed if you have it, half a cup will do 😉
2. Boil in just enough water to cover, then pulp til a puree.
3. Add ground oatmeal until the mixture thickens to a dough like consistency.
4. Meanwhile fry a large clove of garlic, a large chili if wanted or some onion. Add this to the mixture.
5. Roll mix into falafel sized balls, coat in flour
6. Depending on where you are, fry in a pan til golden brown on each side and crispy to the touch, or bake in oven for 30 mins Gas Mark 6 – probably less if your oven is better than mine, which is quite likely!

 

 

 

 

Horseradish Sauce (Ve)

1. Dig up a piece of horseradish root. Wash.
2. Grate 2 -3 tblsp off the root with a fine grater. Leave in 2tblsp hot water to allow the powerful flavor to release.
3. Meanwhile mix 150ml vegan milk with 1 tblsp corn flour to thicken (do this cold at first), add 1tblsp white wine vinegar, a pinch of caster sugar and a pich of mustard powder plus salt and pepper to taste.
4. Heat til it thickens, add more cornflour if necessary, but a little goes a long way!
5. Add the horseradish root. Enjoy!
6. Keeps for around a week in the fridge.

 

Wild Fruit Leather

1. 400g hawthorn berries, 500g crab apples, 200g blackberries and/or elderberries, 150g sugar
2. Chop crab apples, add all the fruit together in a big saucepan with enough water to cover. Boil, then simmer for 20min or until fruit softens and breaks up.
3. Mash, then push through sieve to remove large pips.
4. Add sugar, heat and stir til sugar dissolves.
5. When mixture is like syrup, pour into baking trays lined with baking paper (NOT foil as this will stick!)
6. Smooth out into a thin layer
7. Put in oven at very low heat (60c) for around 7 hours. Check halfway through as if it goes too hard it will be burnt. The leather should feel rubbery to the touch.
8. Allow to cool, then gently cut into strips or squares and peel off baking paper.
9. Store in a sealed box for up to a year!

 

 

Teas – Pine needle tea, Ground Ivy, Mugwort, and Blackberry & Water Mint

Infuse in boiling water for 5-10 mins.  Pine needle contains 5 times more Vitamin c than citrus fruit!  Enjoy!