My friend Jack’s noodle frittata with duck eggs, wild onion, three cornered garlic and scurvy grass. Delicious it was too. Jack has his own ducks. I think these were Jemima’s eggs but I could be wrong there. Can anyone tell me what the garnish is?
All posts by Martin
Respect your elders
Elder trees are just beginning to develop tiny white flower heads, which are often purple tinted during their early stages.
Although these trees won’t be in blossom for a little while, its a good idea to note the location of plants early on in the year, so that you will know where to go when the time comes.
The Elder is a generous tree, giving us wonderful fragrant white flowers during May and the familiar dark purple berries which appear in vast quantities in the Autumn.
Elderberries are packed with antioxidants, and vitamins A, B and C – so they’re fantastic for helping to keep colds and many other illnesses at bay.
I’m looking forward to making, among other things, elderflower frittatas and elderflower champagne with the flower sprays in May, and with the berries, elderberry syrups and vinegars. I will post some recipes soon.
Eat shoots and weeds 1.
A real sign of spring. Young hawthorn leaves, still tender at this time of year, are full of goodness. I tend to just nibble a few leaves straight off the tree.
Winter foraging
At this time of year you would be forgiven for thinking there is not a lot of wild food to be found. Not so. There is in fact an abundance of new growth occurring at the moment. With the mild winter we’ve had so far, certain plants such as three cornered garlic (pictured above) seem to have decided it’s spring and are not only sending up new growth but are flowering.
Mushrooms too are still to be found; and not just the varieties I would expect to see in the winter months such as Oyster Mushrooms, Velvet Shanks and Winter Chanterelles but Hedgehog Fungus can also be spotted if you know where to look in your local woods.
This is a great time of year to start noting and observing young plants. As they grow through the spring and summer you will learn what they look like at each stage of their development and in this way you will really get to know each plant.