So, everything is growing like mad, and, being the poor ne´er do well-dewy eyed dreamer that I am (Might as well be called a bum;-)), I set out by bike to do some serious foraging. Apples, it was, near my home, plus some more wild plums, apples the cartload full... lucky me, I brought a BIG rucksack. Next year I´ll build a foraging bike from a frame I still got in my cellar...;-).
More apples....
Blueberries are getting ripe as well;-).
Drui said this is not peppermint, but marjoram... my apologies... it was not toxic, though;-)... seems I am not perfect, after all;-). My thanks for informing me!
A more serious note: Please double check the info, and if you find something that won´t quite fit together, please note me, I am very grateful for it. I am a student of nature myself, and still learning!
Found this fleece blanket lying around in the woods...this actually was one;-).
Salvia officinalis (salvia, in German: Salbei). I collect this for tea and as a spice. as a tea, it´s good against bronchitis (brew with thyme and honey!Or was that time is money?;-)). In summer, it has a cooling effect, and it tastes great! Add some lemon juice and honey to the tea in summer and drink it cool, it´s delicious and refreshing.
´Shrooms are ´shrooming. This is a red cap, and I took it home with me, for it was starting to rain, and I could not stand it getting wet;-).
Wild apples, too. I dry them for tea. You can also take half a pound dark sugar on half a pound coarsely chopped wild apple plus half a handful of melissa, and fill up with one litre of brandy. let it rest for three days in the sun, and three weeks in the dark, pass through, and you have something to cheer on in winter...cheers!
Boskop and wild apples, great for mousse and on bannock and other pancakes or for baking cake! It´s a firm cooking apple, but I also like it as it is. It also keeps fresh a long time.
Something to just relish on and make dried apple rings. For that, remove the pips, and slice in thin rings. Either hang them on twine to dry, or use the oven at 50 degrees Celsius with an open door.
Made myself some wild stew afterwards, with some of the mushrooms, and some dried nettle and salvia fresh from the woods. You need:
1 onion
1 handful of boletus, red or brown caps (or all of them) or whatever non-toxic;-) ´shrooms are to hand;-)
1 cup of pearl barley
1 piece of smoked bacon
potatoes to your liking
three handfuls of dried nettle
1 knifetip salt
2 carrots
pepper to your liking
1 knifetip nutmeg
1 shot of red wine
1small pine cone
five leaves of fresh salvia
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon juniper berries
Chop onion, grind spices coarsely, slice bacon to little cubes.
Fry onion until glassy, bacon until dark. Add shot of red wine. Add 1 l of water. Add pearl barley, and cook until it opens. Add peeled and chopped potatoes. Add carrots. Cook until done, add water frequently. Turn down the heat, add dried nettles and spices. Chop mushrooms and add. Let them boil, then turn down the heat immediately and let rest for five minutes.
I added some champignons, too. Left the potatoes out, though;-) for I had none;-).
I was all finished, and had a hell of a sore back, but it felt good to actually reap the rewards!
