by Ruby Taylor | Jul 11, 2024 | Forage of the Month
Nettle Seeds Nettles are a truly amazing plant. They’re a valuable food source to key butterfly species, and also humans, plus their fibres are very strong and good for making cordage and textiles. Over recent years, the big nettle patch at the end of my garden...
by Ruby Taylor | Jun 15, 2024 | All Journal Entries, Forage of the Month
Elderflower Cake The fragrant, frothy elder flowers are out now, a lovely sign of summer. Elderflower cordial recipes abound, so here’s a favourite recipe of mine for elderflower cake. I’ve created a vegan version for this recipe too, which you’ll...
by Ruby Taylor | Feb 21, 2024 | Forage of the Month
Bramble Tips Lots of us know bramble as the blackberry bush, the one that gives us those delicious autumnal berries that stain our fingers and tongues. Bramble plants are vigorous and plentiful in their growing habit, and the hardiness of the plant means it has a...
by Ruby Taylor | Oct 31, 2023 | Forage of the Month
Birch Polypore This is the wild mushroom that’s in the soup we cook on the fire for lunch on my woodland courses. Birch Polypore (Fomitopsis betulina) is also known as razor strop fungus, birch conk, birch bracket. My herbalist friend Lucinda Warner describes...
by Ruby Taylor | Oct 9, 2023 | Forage of the Month
Beech Nuts Beech trees are beautiful for so many reasons! Where I grew up, near the Chilterns in South Oxfordshire, we roamed in beech woods during bluebell season, and in the autumn when their fallen leaves glow copper. For other creatures and plants, beech woodland...
by Ruby Taylor | Sep 1, 2023 | Forage of the Month
Fruit Leather Fruit leather is a really popular snack and easy to carry around with you. It’s basically thin, pliable sheets of dehydrated fruit puree with a flexible consistency (like leather). But don’t buy it in the shops because it’s incredibly...