by Judith Stafford | Feb 29, 2020 | Into the Woods
February in the Wood Today I was very lucky. I went on my first foraging trip of the year today with Martin Bailey of Go Foraging in Bristol . So far this month it has rained – a lot! So I was expecting my first foraging trip to be in the rain, with a bit of sleet and hail thrown in. But, it was sunny, and we only had one small rain shower. What a surprise. In February there is not that much out, but there are lots of things emerging from their slumbers and poking through the ground or starting to bud. The first plant we looked at was wild garlic. This plant is one of the first we can forage and enjoy. The leaves can be eaten in salads, omelettes or pasta and when the flowers bloom they can be scattered over food to add a lovely garlicky taste as well as looking great. Martin told us that we need to make sure that it isn’t mixed up with Lords and Ladies whose leaves look similar when they start to grow as these plants are poisonous. Another plant of interest was cleavers or sticky buds. You will probably know this plant as its seeds have sticky spikes that stick to jumpers or pet’s fur and great fun can be had sticking them on friend’s clothes! These are a used in herbal medicine as a cleansing herb and can be drunk in a tea along with nettles as a spring tonic. There were other plants coming up including cow parsley, stinging nettles and dock leaves. All these were...
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