People are always asking me to do workshops on wild foods and foraging. I have done them and incorporate them into my workshops as much as possible, but really, it is the simplest thing that anyone can start to do which requires very little basic knowledge to begin with. Once you can spot a few wild edible plants in your garden, hedgerows and seashores, you will begin to ‘tune in’ to more and more and realise that there is free food growing all around us!

Now is the time for nettles, wild garlic, chickweed, cleavers, garlic mustard and  wild herbs such as thyme. These all grow abundantly all over the Europe. All you need is a basic wild foods book, a pair of gloves and a bag, and you will almost certainly fill your bag with green goodies in an afternoon. Start by checking your garden if you have one. Is there a stray nettle patch which you have been avoiding the whole time? Or a bramble bush which climbs up the fence? Ground Ivy and chickweeds can be a nuisance to gardeners, but when you start to realize that you can eat your ‘weeds’ and that they are one of the most nutritious foods in your garden, you can grown to love them!

I am so excited to see the first shoots of garlic mustard, purslane, dandelions and sorrel poking through the ground. These super leaves are natures way of telling us to add more cleansing foods as the days grow lighter and longer, each one providing us with a different intense flavour to make a delicious green salad. A dish made of completely foraged foods can be not only tasty but free and satisfying!

Wild spring greens salad
A selection of Dandelion leaves, wild purslane (claytonia), wood sorrel, garlic mustard, ground elder, chickweed, fat hen…

Wash and select leaves and place in a large bowl or serving dish. If you want to add some seasonal cultivated salad greens such as spinach or chard, than you can add these too.

To dress up your salad, blend up the following dressing:
Hemp, Orange & Ginger dressing
3 tbsp Hempseeds
1 Blood orange, peeled and pipped
1 ‘’ Fresh ginger
1 Clove garlic
3 tbsp Olive or rapeseed oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 pinch salt

You can also try adding some sliced stored pear, walnuts, wild-garlic pesto, lovely European blood orange slices, marinaded seeds, sprouted seeds or some home made sauerkraut to your salad.

Here are some of the wild greens that are starting to appear in my wild garden right now:

I was introduced to the amazing sea buckthorn plant by a friend who forages around the coast in Suffolk. It grows abundantly along stretches of southern England’s sea shores, as well as Scotland and in land, in dry, sandy areas. It is commercially grown mostly in Asia, where it grows in desert conditions where other plants do not survive. I often think that plants which thrive in these harsh conditions have a very strong energy which is present in the fruits we consume. Goji berries and Acai have been widely used by people searching for the ‘super-fruit’ full of antioxidants and healing properties, though these are not presently hugely available to pick within the UK. Sea buckthorn can be found not only all over the UK, but covers itself in bright orange berries from July -November, when the first frosts hit and they lose a lot of their nutrients and flavour. As long as you can get beyond their spiky thorns, which can hinder picking unless you are armed with thick rubber gloves and secateurs, then they are the ultimate local, wild and seasonal super food. Just one berry will fill your mouth with an intense hit of tangy, acidic, sweetness. You’re unlikely to be eating them as you gather due to their potent taste. However, added as a medicinal supplement to raw food dishes,  a small amount will pack your food with nutrients. They are high in vitamin C (12 times greater than oranges), carotenoids (evident in the bright colour), vitamins A, K E, B1 and B2, amino acids, folic acid and flavanoids. The oil is commercially used in skin products for its anti-aging properties.

Making your own sea buckthorn juice can be a tricky, thorny business, though can be done by blending the berries with 1 part water to 6 parts berries, then squeezing the juices out through a nut milk bag. If you can’t wait until the summer to get your sea buckthorn super juice, it is available to buy online or in some health food shops. My favourite way to enjoy the super fruit is to use it as an addition to smoothies. I’ve also been adding it to my water kefir base for a buck-fizz!! Just add 10% juice to the second fermentation stage and leave for 48 hours. Wows!

Here is my recipe for a simple sea buckthorn smoothie. You can just drink it on its own, or try making two smoothies (I made a green smoothie) and swirling them together. If you want more of a layered smoothie, use less liquid so that they ‘sit’ on top of each other.

Sea buckthorn smoothie:
15ml sea buckthorn juice
2 frozen bananas
250ml orange or apple juice
1 tbsp shelled hemp seeds

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and enjoy straight away or swirl into a green smoothie for a green and orange layered drink:

Green smoothie:
2 frozen bananas
250ml apple juice
1 handful leafy greens
1 tsp barley grass powder
1 tbsp hemp seeds

Blend all ingredients together and pour into glass, alternating with the sea buckthorn smoothie.

Having been experimenting for some time now with fermented foods, and have joined forces with Amy to create our fermentation masterclass. I have been busy formulating endless combinations of sparkling, probiotic beverages using the amazing kefir grains and kombucha ‘scobie’. If you are new to the idea of fermentation for taking your raw food skills to the next level and for their amazing health benefits, I encourage you to give them a go or book onto one of our fermentation classes! Fermented foods are one of the foods I think everyone should try adding into their diet. Not only are they great for your digestive health, encourage the good bacteria in your guts to flourish and help many health issues including some degenerative diseases, they also taste amazing, are a fantastic way of preserving your produce and are fun to make!

Water Kefir Grains generally contain close to 30 strains of beneficial yeast and bacteria. They thrive on a sugar-water solution, and the grains produce lactic acid, alcohol and carbon dioxide, yielding a fermented carbonated drink. Don’t worry, the end product has an alcohol content of less than 1% if made correctly so you’re unlikely to feel the effects! The bacterias formed are highly beneficial to people suffering from conditions such as candida or irritable bowl, or for anyone who has been using anti-biotics, to re-populate their guts with the good guys.

Keeping on a wild foraging theme, I have decided to try making a version of elderflower ‘champagne’ using water kefir as a base. Elderflowers are often used to help prevent colds and hay fever, so I though they would work well with some bee- pollen to make a spring hay-fever preventing fizzy drink. Bee pollen works amazingly in water kefir, unlocking some of the enzymes which are thought to be unavailable to our bodies unless fermented first, and produces the fizziest kefir I’ve ever seen. The natural pollen and bacteria’s on the flowers will increase the enzyme and beneficial bacterias in the finished drink. As fresh elderflowers are a few months away from being ready to harvest, I chose to use some dried elderflowers, usually used for tea, to add to my water kefir base. The result was a sweet, sparkling, fruity and fresh drink which reminds me of early summer days in the sunshine. I hope this adds some sunshine to your week!

Ingredients:
1 litre water kefir base made with white sugar and lemon
1 handful fresh elderflowers, or 2 tbsp dried elderflowers
1 tsp bee pollen
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Make your water kefir base using white sugar and a slice of lemon. You will need to obtain some water kefir grains first, or check out our fermentation masterclass for more details.
Leave to ferment for 48-72 hours. Strain the grains and lemon out of the liquid, and pour water into a bottle or kilner jar with a tight fitting lid or clip top.

Pour in the lemon juice, bee pollen and elderflowers, and leave to second-ferment for another 48 hours. Check it is ready by carefully releasing the lid, watching for lots of fizzy bubbles rising to the top. Strain the drink through a nut milk bag, and store in bottles in the fridge.

Where do I begin with nettles? They are my number one local, wild and free superfood! The health benefits of nettles are huge, especially high in iron and vitamin C, they are great for anemia or fatigue, especially in women. They are a powerful women's tonic, especially for young girls or older women going through the menopause. They are also a diuretic, increasing the flow of urine thus helping with urinary, kidney and bladder problems. Nettles are a powerful detoxifier, full of chlorophyll which builds red blood cells in the body, and cleanses the blood. They have been shown to lower blood pressure, help colds and flu, treat prostate problems and even stimulate hair growth.

Everyone can find them, and they are just re-emerging through the soil and will grace us until late autumn. Now is the time to get those first young green tips, perfect for juicing, smoothies and soups. You can just pick the first two layers of leaves ( you may want to wear some tough garden gloves to prevent being stung!)  and pop them in your juicer, blend them into your favourite green smoothie or try this super soup recipe, which packs in a good dose of nettles and is perfect for a light lunch or as a new recipe to add to a liquids cleanse.

Nettle tonic soup
Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado

2 packed cups fresh nettle tops

1 spring onion

1/2’’ ginger root

1 stick celery

2’’ chunk cucumber

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp flax seed/hemp seed oil

½ c water

Method:

Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a bowl, top with sprouted seeds and drizzle with oil. Enjoy straight away.

Things that lurk in the hedgerows have always fascinated me; Curious berries that we always gathered as children for sweet crumble and the first shoots of green leaves, which pop up at this time of year. I’ve always had the knowledge to use what most people refer to as ‘weeds’ as food and medicine. I believe that our best medicines are the ones growing outside our back doors!

The warm spell of weather that we are blessed with right now has brought on the emerging of many of our spring greens, herbs and blossoms. I adore this time of year, when nature really ‘springs’ back to life after the dormant winter. Scraping back the leaves I uncovered my beloved nettle patch this morning. I cherish my wild back garden and take great pride in my abundant nettles! Keeping them cut short once they grow up in the summer keeps the prime young tips coming, which is what we want for use in our diets. Mine will grow now until late autumn, when I will harvest the last young leaves to dry in the dehydrator for use in teas throughout the winter.

This weeks series of posts will include five new ‘superfoods’ to add to your diet. At this time year, some times we can get too focused on what we are giving up from our diets, though how much better we could feel if we switch that to what we will add in! I like to think of a living food diet as one of abundance, rather than denial. When we make that shift to adding in lots of new exciting foods, the old unhealthier ones will naturally drop away. As spring seems to be well and truly upon us now, what better time to add some new local, seasonal superfoods into your diet to help that detox along?

Having been exploring raw foods for many years now, I have adapted the diet I discovered whilst travelling in tropical climates to one that supports our local and seasonal produce here in the UK. For me, it is so important to focus on these foods, and feel that eating this way puts me more in touch with nature. I am going to be excited as ever watching all the spring cleansing greens appear, wait patiently until summer to gorge on fresh berries and tomatoes, and switch back to my earthier, warmer diet of roots and squashes as autumn rolls in. But for now, it’s all about shaking off the winter layers and lightening up with fresh, wild greens, flowers and berries! Some of the plants I am going to posting about may take a few more weeks to appear where you are if you live in the UK, but here’s a start to get your eyes opening to the abundance that grows all around us.

My first favourite recipe, which is going to be a staple in my diet, is my Wild Garlic Pesto. Wild garlic (also known as ramsons) carpet the floors of woodlands from early spring until early summer, and you can smell them before you spot them! They have a lovely strong, garlic flavour within a broad, bright green leaf, which grown in clusters around a main stem with a white flower bulb, which can also be eaten. You can use the leaves in salads, but my I like to make them into pesto, which I use on raw veg noodles, stirred into warm grains or on raw crackers. I keep my recipes very simple, using very few ingredients, but you can change the seeds/nuts to vary the taste, or make it with a mixture of wild garlic and other green herbs like parsley if you wish. I use sunflower seeds as they are so cheap compared to pine nuts traditionally used in pesto, and have a mild flavour which lets the strong taste of the wild garlic through. Wild garlic is high in vitamins A, B and C, and contains the same antiseptic, anti bacterial and antitoxic effects as onions and garlic, so they are great for digestive cleansing. The sunflower seeds contain protein and vitamin E, and the flax seed oil is high in omega 3 fatty acid. The pesto will keep in the fridge for weeks as long as you keep a layer of oil on the top.

Ingredients:

2 handfuls Wild garlic leaves

½ cup sunflower seeds (or pine nuts, pumpkin seeds seeds, walnuts, pecans…)

½ cup flax seed oil

1 Tbsp Nutritional yeast flakes

½ tsp salt

Method:

Put the seeds at the bottom of a blender, add oil and blend until the nuts are broken down. Add the washed and torn wild garlic leaves and stems, salt and nutritional yeast flakes. Blend until creamy and transfer into sterilized jars, sealing the top of each jar with some oil to preserve the pesto.