Foraging in Brighton and London

Last week I went visiting friends in Brighton, after 4 months away it felt great to be back. So far I've not been anywhere that feels more like home than Sussex does for me which is an interesting realisation. Maybe one of the outcomes of this journey will be I feel it's definately the right place for me to put down roots and I'm very open to that possibility. Whilst staying with my friend in Shoreham-by-sea we went foraging along the river Adur and harvested lots of juicy blackberries, elderberries, sloes, rosehips and some delicious apples from a tree amongst the blackthorns. Although we couldn't survive on this it is very empowering to be able to identify edible plants and make your own healthy organic produce with it. The plastic packaged food from the supermarket starts to look even more unappealing. A couple of days later I was staying with some other friends in Brighton who also like a good forage and on our way to the Firle fair we found more sloes, blackberries, elderberries and damsons. I've been thinking for a while now it would be great to make a map of where the best places for foraging are but not share it with everyone though for obvious reasons.

Drying rosehips for tea

Home produce
Back in London where I'm staying for a bit before my Findhorn trip I'm drying out the rosehips in the airing cupboard to make rosehip tea, I didn't have enough to make syrup but would like to try that next time. Having made sloe gin last year I thought it would be good to try sloe vodka (partly because it's a variation on a theme but mainly because vodka was in my parents drinks cabinet!) They have an apple tree in their garden that produced a bumper crop this year so after my mum made apple cheese, similar to the quince jelly (membrillo) the spanish eat with manchego cheese, we dug out the juicer and made some delicious fresh apple juice with the rest.

Kimchi and sloe vodka in progress

I also made some kimchi to use up the store of veg box cabbages that can start over running the fridge if you get them every week. Kimchi is a very popular pickle in Korea made from cabbage, carrots and radishes with a spicy mix of garlic, chilli pepper, ginger and onion that is not only delicious but has health benefits as it promotes healthy tummy bacteria. As it's now september and there are still lots of green tomatoes on the plants in my parents garden I also had a go at the method of ripening which involves putting them in a draw with either a ripe banana or apples that give off ethylene, a gas that ripens fruit and so far this seems to be working. Otherwise it will be time to make some green tomato chutney!

Green tomatoes ripening with apples in the drawer

Eat weeds
Whilst searching for foraging recipes I found this website with some alternative recipes to the usual ones you find http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/. It serves as a reminder that the plants most of us have come to know as 'weeds' can be made into tasty, nutritious organic meals and with more information coming to light about the health problems associated with food produced by industrial agriculture and the rise in food prices we really don't need much more encouragement to learn about how to benefit from this free food. All you need is the knowledge and adventurous taste buds to get you started!