Summer 2020

hi friends,

its been an unusual summer for everyone, we have been close to home and for some people that means a feeling of missing out. for the dusk it means we haven’t been able to travel for our usual grapes, walnuts, damsons, seaherbs…

but… needing to think more carefully about what is right under our noses can be interesting

you can find plenty of great plants on a quick walk around the city and so summer 2020 has been all about…

dandelions - taraxacum

they’re not weeds, they’re WILDFLOWERS! tell that to the next miserable bugger you see poisoning their driveway with wildflower killer. dandelions are great for beginner foragers, we all know what they look like. every part of this awesome plant is edible, flowers, leaves, stems and roots. in spring the leaves are a lovely bitter salad ingredient and the flowers make (hopefully) great wine… when the plant dies back in autumn the roots are bigger and, dried out, have a fantastic earthy quality that is a key note in our wild vermouths. and they are really beautiful plants too. lush

vetch - vicia

vetch is a fancy looking sprawling herb with a grassy pea taste, another name for it is poor mans peas. this was one of the first crops cultivated by early man. there are loads of different types of vetch but the safe edible ones all have purple flowers so they are easy to identify. in summer the tendrils, leaves and flowers are super fresh and tasty, and the most elegant cocktail garnish imaginable. (in autumn the actual peas are tiny and only edible after a tremendous faff of boiling and soaking so few people bother) pop it on top of your drink or make a really expensive looking salad

linden - tilia cordata

manchester streets are populated with loads of huge linden trees. the smell of the pale green and yellow flowers in june is so dreamy and sweet that you’re likely to smell them before you spot them. linden flower is a gentle and powerful natural medicine, with sedative and anti anxiety properties. used in the olden days to bathe hot and bothered babies and to make calming cuppas for upset adults. its a lovely tea and its floral and honey taste makes a gorgeous cordial, vermouth or spirit ingredient too

meadowsweet - filipendula ulmaria

the absolute queen of wild summer flowers, found growing in gorgeous fluffy bundles on stylish dark green stalks all around our local park lakes and ponds. it is an effective anti-inflammatory painkiller, the salycilic acid is the orginal asprin (but in this natural form it doesn’t irritate the stomach) 

in welsh mythology the queen of flowers, blodeuwedd, is made by two magicians out of oak flowers, broom and meadowsweet as the bride to a king. she is a powerful woman, not down with being assigned as someone’s wife, her story is dark and murderous..

meadowsweet tastes like vanilla, honey, almonds and soft fruit with a medicinal astringent herbal edge, really complex.

Its been used to sweeten homes, mead, and cordials for thousands of years. awesome, go get some! it will make your house smell really lovely

wild cherries - prunus avium

when you’re walking down the street and find loads of red fruit splattered on the pavement, it’s wild cherry time! wild cherries are really pretty all year round with gorgeous pointed toothed leaves, white flowers, dark red brown shiny bark and the fruits, and so are cultivated on pavements and supermarket car parks all over the place. in spring the clouds of pink flowers are famously dried and pickled in japanese culture, called sakura and make a fantastic martini and lovely floral cordial. the fruits are much more sour than cultivated cherries and are great as the fruity edge in aquavit spirit with plenty of herbs and seeds. you can use them like regular cherries but you’ll probably need to sweeten them more than a cherry from the shops

these are just some of the ace free plants i’ve found within a mile or so of where we live in the city, there are definitely loads more too. if you’re a beginner in the uk i recommend this brilliant book ‘the edible city’ by john renston for a month by month guide to easy city foraging

if you want to share news of your foraging i’d love to know what you find. if you have questions i probably wont know the answer, but i promise to ask the real experts and get back to you

in autumn we will be looking forward to nettle seeds, acorns, rosehips, hops, gingko leaves, cobnuts, crab apples, rowan berries, first frosts, scarfs, new tights, fireworks and telly

bye for now

emma x