Most successful forage of the year so far...

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Most successful forage of the year so far...

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cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 05 8:45 am Post subject: Most successful forage of the year so far...

Had a great wander through the woods on Saturday. Came home with lots of garlic mustard, ground elder, hogweed, cow parsley and dandelion (flowers and leaves). That formed the backbone of our salad on Saturday (along with some Chinese celery out of the garden), with a whole bunch of cow parsley for soup on Sunday (a soup made with pork stock, spuds, cow parsley, salt and pepper and a little nutmeg - I highly reccomend it if at this time of year before the cow parsley flowers).

Also gathered in smaller quantities my first coltsfoot flowers of the year (also for salad), some water mint, sorrel, shepherds purse and plum flowers. But the star find was on a patch of abandoned farmland on the way home, a patch that's about to be built on (no great loss). I'd just been sorely tempted to pick some sweet violets from under a patch of plum trees, and I came across another patch on this field. Those violets are going to go under the bulldozers anyway...

Closer to when the building works start I may go and rescue the violet plants. Yes, I know it's illegal, but in this situation so what?

Edit: Cow Parsley Soup recipe here:
https://forum.downsizer.net/viewtopic.php?p=36229#36229

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 05 1:11 pm Post subject: Re: Most successful forage of the year so far...

cab wrote:

Closer to when the building works start I may go and rescue the violet plants. Yes, I know it's illegal, but in this situation so what?

I've often thought about this and the rescuing of animals such as slow-worms, frogs and toads. Seems daft that you may not be able to move things but it's fine to bulldoze 'em.

If the land has planning permission granted, and there's no specific conditions for the builders to move stuff, then surely the land is no longer wild so you're not actually collecting plants from the wild?

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Tue Mar 22, 05 2:04 pm Post subject: Re: Most successful forage of the year so far...

Treacodactyl wrote:

I'd hate to argue the case in court

The land in question is listed as low grade farmland, and it's ploughed every two or three years to keep it that way till the developers move in. There's been some archaeology done on the site, but there's nothing in the way of building on it now. In truth, rescuing plants from there isn't immoral, but as I'm not the land owner its clearly illegal.

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