A chilly morning in January when there’s still snow on the
ground doesn’t seem the ideal time of year to go foraging, but that was the
unlikely plan for last Sunday and a group of eager foragers gathered in
Fletcher Moss Park in Didsbury to take part. Led by Jesper Launder, the intrepid explorers made their way down
through the park to see what was on offer.
One of our first discoveries was cow parsley, and we were
taught how to spot the difference between this and the significantly more
dangerous hemlock, which can also be found in the park. Jesper told us how best to use cow parsley,
as well as a number of other plants that he discovered in the undergrowth,
including hogweed, nettles and three cornered leek, which tastes a bit like a spring
onion. We gathered a bit of each of
these to cook at the end of the session.
While we were negotiating one of the many paths in the park,
one of the foragers spotted the first mushroom of the morning, which Jesper
identified as an oyster mushroom. After
this find we managed to see mushrooms under almost every log, including scarlet
elf cups, jelly ears, glistening ink caps and velvet shanks. Jesper explained which could be eaten and
which were best to avoid, and enlightened us about the medicinal
properties of each variety.
Once we had a basket full of goodies and thoroughly frozen
fingers and toes, we made our way back to the entrance to the park to see what
could be made. With the help of some
eggs, milk and butter, Jesper whipped up a mushroom and three cornered leek
tortilla, which went down a treat, along with some homemade Himalayan balsam
flower wine. The foragers split the rest
of the finds between them and went home with eager plans to head out into the
woods again soon!
There are more photos from this trip on our Facebook page. Click here to be redirected.
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