Purple Reign

Bluebells

March filled our world with vivid shades of green. April now introduces a different colour pallet. Birds are more vocal, singing to attract mates or proclaim territory, and starting to build nests.

Wisteria

This month is more commonly known for enchanting woodland displays of Bluebells, and wisteria wrapped cottages, but you cannot eat these plants.  

Cherry Blossom (White)

April also brings us Apple and Cherry Blossom. If you are familiar with these trees, you can be sure of where the first fruit (Cherries) will turn dark red and ripen in June. Similarly, with Apple blossom, you can easily spot where the trees are, but they might not be ready to pick until later in the year, around September.

Apple Blossom (Pink)

Japan is so famous for its cherry blossom season that it has created a tourist over-population problem. Fortunately (for some perhaps) in the UK, most people don’t even notice it ;-)

Purple Sprouting Broccoli

Incidentally, the song, Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White – is quite misleading! Cherry trees with pink blossom are often ornamental hybrids, bred purely for the flowers not the juicy fruit we all desire.

Jack by the Hedge

More significantly, my favourite foraging edibles in April are Wild Garlic, Ransoms and Jack by the Hedge, commonly known as Garlic/Mustard. These tasty plants are often easier to detect by their pungent smell, particularly in woodland settings. The leaves are very simple to collect and make easy additions to cooking. The flowers or buds can be pickled to make tasty capers. You should not dig up the bulbs but leave them for next year.

Rhubarb

Our purple sprouting broccoli is looking and tasting very nice too. Also, I’m now on my fifth Rhubarb crumble! I noted that the stalks in the garden were quite thin this time, so I gave the plot a copious watering. We’ve had three months of rain followed by three months of no rain at all, making gardening more complex. We should be recognising signs of Climate Change, as well as signs of Spring.

Ransoms

Elder Flower & Other Forage

Summer finally seems to have arrived. The hedgerows are heady with the smell of Elderflower and we have been busy bottling our cordial and champagne.

Elder Flower

We also collected a load for the Unity Brewing Co, to flavour their, Été  Summer Saison range. 

Elder Flower

This year, I have also been investigating some other, non fruit, forage. Expanding my knowledge base has been a good thing to work on during the Spring.

Jack by the Hedge 

Jack by the Hedge is one of my favourite plants to nibble on while out walking. Its leaves have a lovely peppery taste, perfect for pepping up a salad, and is actually related to mustard. When they ripen, the seeds explode out of the pods on touching.

Jack by the Hedge 

I have also identified Horseradish in the wild, which will add an exciting new dimension to our cooking and diet. The root of this plant is spicy enough to make your eyes water, as well as your mouth.

Leaves of Horseradish

Last year a friend wanted to obtain Angelica root, to help flavour some gin. Understanding this plant meant that I needed to investigate the Umbelliferous, carrot family (Apiaceae) further. 

Alexanders and Cow Parsley

This is very common hedgerow group is made up of many similar but subtly different plants. Alexanders, Ground Elder, Hog Weed and Cow Parsley can all add tasty dietary variations. 

Water Hemlock Dropwort

However, picking and consuming them, at all, is complicated by surprisingly common and lethally toxic Hemlock varieties. For this reason, it is best to learn to identify these plants by their various traits over a whole cycle of seasons, before picking them (using at least three id points), or eating any at all. The main thing that you understand by doing this, is how little you actually know. I was genuinely astonished at how common Hemlock was.