Much of what we foraged was necessarily green and leafy and invariably tasted similar to either spinach or watercress (nothing wrong with that), however a few stand-out discoveries were Wild Sorrel (sharp and more lemony than a lemon), Goosefoot (seeds like tiny hazelnuts) and best of all, Fuchsia (sweet fruits reminiscent of Pomegranate). Less desirable was a fungi called Jews Ear, the eating of which was like sucking mushroom-flavoured jelly from a slightly perished condom.

Canal @ Walsden

Miner Lettuce

Good King Henry

Chickweed – loved by chicks, hated by gardeners

Greater Plantain

Sorrel – lemony delight

Wild Raspberry – a smaller, more angry version of the cultivated Raspberry

Fennel – aniseedy

Nettle – why not try this soup?

Red Nettle – same as above but with red/pink flowers

Ribwort Plantain

Some would-be foragers

Hawthorn – texture of avocado, flavour of nothing much

Nasturtium – sprinkle of salads

Goosefoot

Black Mustard

Himalayan Balsam – the seeds taste like hazelnuts

Elder – the flowers can be used to make ‘champagne’ – a definite future project

Jews Ear – so called because Judas was supposedly hung from an Elder tree (its favoured host)

Bilberry – a micro Blueberry

Bitter Cress – like Cress, but bitter(er)

(My Lovely) Gorse

Fuchsia – tastiest of the day

Mike -pointing at some Gorse

Fox(XXX)glove – best avoided as given the chance it would kill you

Finally, thanks to Mike and the Incredible Edibles for a most interesting 2 hour introduction to foraging.

‘Natures Bounty’ Wiltshire countryside.

Fortunately this wet bank holiday weekend we managed to escape the city, hop on a train to the Wiltshire countryside, and get down with nature. In a brief let up in the 48 hours of rain, I put on Blogger-D’s mother’s overcoat, a pair of rubber gloves and dashed out to the garden to harvest a bagful of nettles. This soup was the result.

‘Natures Bounty’ Victoria Park Pond, Bethnal Green.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Skill level: (Apart from the picking) Easy

Ingredients

• nettles – carrier bagful
• 2 small leeks – sliced
• 1 onion – chopped
• 2 stalks of celery – chopped
• vegetable stock – 1 litre
• garlic – 3 cloves – crushed
• nutmeg – pinch
• olive oil
• yoghurt, cream or créme fraîche – blob
• s & p

Put on some rubber gloves and very carefully remove the nettle leaves from the stems. Keep the leaves, discard the stems.

Heat some oil in a large saucepan, add the garlic, nutmeg, leeks, onion and celery and sauté for 10 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften.

Add the stock, bring to the boil, add the nettles and simmer for 10 minutes.

Liquidise to a green delight, return to the heat and season.

Serve with (or without) a blob of yoghurt, cream or créme fraîche.

Verdict: A bit spinachy, a bit rockety. Not bad at all. It doesn’t sting by the way.

Drink: A few beers from Belguim.

Entertainment: Two episodes of ’24′ on DVD. It’s lunchtime and Jack’s in trouble.