orchardsnearme

chocolate-orange-curly-dock-recipe

Wild Food Recipe: Chocolate Orange Curly Dock Brownies

Are brownies one of the most popular treats today? I will admit that I am not much of a baker. Cooking is my calling and I love to work with food but I find the strict nature of baking, where you have to measure every ingredient carefully, too restricting. So when it comes to baking recipes I need easy to make ideas that will allow that extra room for flexibility if I decide to put in an extra spoonful of chocolate. These wild curly dock brownies turned out to be super simple and super tasty. chocolate-orange-brownie-recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 cup softened butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup of ground curly dock seeds
  • 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup of cocoa powder
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 200g of Dark chocolate

Chocolate Orange Buttercream

  • 3 Tablespoons of butter
  • 1 Cup of icing sugar
  • 1 Teaspoon of Cocoa
  • 3 Tablespoons of freshly squeezed orange juice
  • Orange zest sliced thinly

How to Make Your Brownies

Preheat oven for 20 minutes.chocolate-orange-buttercream-topping

Line a baking tray with parchment paper or tinfoil. Beat the sugar and butter together until it is light and fluffy, add the eggs and mix. Leave to the side while you prepare the dry ingredients. Melt 1/2 the chocolate over a hot pan and leave it cool down. Fold into the wet mix.

Sift the dock seed, flour, baking powder and cocoa power together.

Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

Spread mix in lined baking tray.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until centre comes out clean with a knife.

Add wild berries and icing sugar to decorate.

Voila! Now you are ready to treat your friends to some wild curly dock brownies. Learn more about Foraging for Curly Dock seeds here.

wild-plants-curly-dock-seeds

Foraging for Curly Dock Seeds: Wild Flour, Crackers and Seed Mix

Getting to know Curly Dock aka Rumex Crispus is the perfect way to start a love affair with wild green leaves and wild seeds. It is a native plant in Europe and Asia but can today be found in agricultural land across the world. As one of the five most widely distributed plants in the world it is strange that we don’t find it is use in many areas.

Perhaps it is overshadowed by its edible cousins Buckwheat and Japanese knotweed, the Curly dock gets left on the shelf. As a medicinal plant it has been used as a laxative, to treat blood diseases and to treat jaundice.foraging-for-curly-dock-seeds-orchards-near-me

Is Curly Dock Edible?

Nearly every part of this commonly found plant is edible; the stem, the leaves, the seeds and the root are used in different ways.

Where to Find Curly Dock?

Curly dock isn’t fussy when it comes to its habitat and where it chooses to grow. You will find it on shingle beaches, roadsides and walking trails. It also grows in wet conditions, hence why we have so much of it here in Ireland. The leaves can be found all year round.

There are many myths that suggest rubbing dock leaves on a nettle sting will relieve the pain. Although there is no scientific evidence to prove this actually works, there is something soothing about using nature to cure any natural stings or bites.

In the summer and early Autumn the seeds start to appear on the dock leaf stems. They will turn brown and get lighter in weight.

How to prepare dock seeds?

The seeds should be harvested in late summer when they have turned brown. Simply use a knife or clippers to cut the seeds from the curly dock stems. Then gently pull the seeds from the stem while holding it over a large pan or bowl. You can either wash them gently or sift them through a sieve to remove any bugs. Finally use a pestle and mortar or a coffee grinder to blend the seeds into a fluffy flour mix.curly-dock-flour

The seeds are gluten free for anybody looking for a wheat free flour. Be sure to store the dock flour in an airtight container.

Dock Seed Recipes

Curly Dock Crackers Recipe

If you are looking for a simple snack recipe then curly dock crackers are easy to make, nutritious and full of flavour.

  • 1 cup of ground curly dock seeds
  • 1 cup of all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon of sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon of Dried Thyme or Rosemary
  • Water

Wild Seed Mix

You can use this wild seed mix to add a spoonful of natural nutrition to your meals. We hand pick and dry out all of the seeks on a tray and combine an even amount of each one.

  • Curly Dock Seeds
  • Plaintain Seeds
  • Nettle Seeds

Now that you know all about Curly dock seeds you can keep an eye out for them the next time you are out for a walk. Let us know if you have any curly dock recipes to share too, we love swapping notes.

wild-kidney-vetch-foraging-coastal-plants-orchards-near-me

Is Kidney Vetch Edible?

Kidney Vetch aka Anthyllis vulneraria

This striking, woolly headed plant certainly stands out from the crowd. We often stumble upon Kidney Vetch when we are out for a stroll along the seaside but is kidney vetch edible? The answer is yes.

Many parts of this wild plant are used in herbal medicine. The dried flower heads are a tea substitute and the roots and leaves are used as an astringent and laxative. To use the flower, leave the petals to dry naturally in a warm, dry area for 3 – 4 days, add a teaspoon of honey and voila you have yourself a vetch tea.

kidney-vetch-coastal-wild-plants

spear-beaded-orache-edible-foraging-wild-food

Is Orache Edible? Identify and Use Orache

Spear leaved Orache is a dusty green leaf that is commonly found on and near the beach. Coastal tracks will lead you to this salty wild treat. The first time we encountered to wild edible leaf was on a coastal foraging excursion to the west coast of Ireland with our foodie friend Denis. He would often stop and taste the delicacies of the land: samphire, dulce and chamomile were definitely on the list but then we stumbled upon Orache and he told me to try some. I was blown away.

This is the salty spinach I wanted to add to every soup dish I had tried so thanks to Denis we made a new discovery and have been using Orache to experiment ever since.

coastal-foraging-orchards-near-me

What is Orache?

Orache is a green plant that loves to grow in saline laced sand and coastal areas. It is also know as Atriplex (A.prostrata)

How to Identify and Eat Orache Leaves

The spear headed leaves and the coastal location makes this tasty plant easy enough to identify.

There is a look-a-like plant called lambs quarter which is also an edible cousin of this plant but not as salty and mostly found near woodland.

The leaves are arrow like triangular shaped.

You can eat Orache leaves raw in a salad or fry them up in a little olive oil. Substitute it for some of your spinach recipes.

When to eat Orache?

Forage the young leaves in late March and April. They maintain their saltiness while also having sweeter tones that are easy to digest when raw. Harvest the mature leaves in summer time. I snip the leaves in the summer months, leaving the stems for wildlife to nibble on.

Orache Recipes

Orache Flatbread

Wild Orache Dip

Seafood and Orache Pho

 

wild-focaccia-recipe-orchards-near-me-foraging

Wild Onion Focaccia Recipe

This is a super easy and super delicious wild recipe that you bake over and over again. One batch a month is probably enough but in the summer months wild onion focaccia recipe goes well with any main meal.

Ingredients

For the Flavour

  • 1 large handful of Wild Onion chopped finely
  • 1 small bunch of wild garlic chopped finely
  • 3 cloves of garlic grated
  • Fresh herbs chopped finely (we used rosemary and thyme)
  • 1 Cup of Olive oil
  • Pepper and Sea salt

For the Dough

  • 1 packed of dry fast acting yeast
  • 2 1/2 cup of flour
  • A teaspoon of salt

Putting the Ingredients together

Add all of the flavour ingredients to a pan and pour over the olive oil. Leave this heat gently. Once the oil is infused with all of the ingredients leave it cool down.

Add the yeast to a cup of warm water. Mix in 1 cup of flour and leave for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes add the salt and the remainder of the flour. Now you are ready to add half of the oil mixture to your dough. Knead the dough 20 times and put into the fridge for 1 hour.

After an hour, remove the dough from the fridge, roll it out roughly (you don’t want to flatten it completely, just make a nice bulky rectangle). Now pierce holes all over the top of the dough with your thumb, pour over the rest of the infused oil and put into the oven for 25 minutes at 160 degrees.

To Serve

Whip together a few homemade dips, wild garlic hummus or just a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

A simple, wild focaccia recipe for family and friends. Enjoy!

ways-to-learn-about-herbalism-orchards-near-me

6 Ways to Learn About Herbalism for Free

We have been brushing up on our herb knowledge for years and if you are truly passionate about the subject you will know that it is a never ending commitment to life long education. Learning about plants, natural remedies, foraging, botany and forestry is time well spent.

Herbalism is something that can be taught in the classroom but like everything in life, nothing beats real life experience.

To truly understand the value of herbs in your daily, weekly, monthly life then you must practice, experiment and dedicate time to each individual herb you wish to study.

Here are a few of the free ways that you can learn about herbalism:

Head to the Library

A free space that provides you with all of the materials you need to learn about every herb, plant and chinese medicine techniques; the library is like a slice of heaven for any life long learner. Enjoy spending an afternoon browsing through the many books that will provide you with insights, inspire your foraging adventures and allow you to expand your knowledge of herbalism in all of its glory.

Free Courses for Herb Enthusiasts

Learn about herbalism with an online course. There are plenty of herb related courses you can take to get inside knowledge of herbalism. Check out the beginners course from the Herbal Academy and if you are interested in the plants that are used in natural Chinese medicine, this one has five sessions and will teach the basics of Everyday Chinese Medicine.

Watch Herbal YouTube Channels

We love watching videos on YouTube that can teach us something new and herb related tutorials are a treat for anyone interested in learning about plants. Eat the Weeds, Mountain Gardens and Avena Botanicals have some super videos packed full of herbal information for you to digest.

Visit your nearby Plant Shop

Your local plant shop and neighbourhood stores will provide more insights than you can imagine. We regularly visit the local garden centre, plant shops and hardware stores to pick the brains of the staff who have provided years of expertise when planting and growing herbs. Check out the plant descriptions, examine the growth of the plants from season to season and ask as many questions as you can.

Listen to Herbal Podcasts

Tune in to the Natural MD Podcast where we learn how natural medicine. She provides a weekly podcast on women’s health that will teach you something every time you listen in. Listen to the For the Wild podcast from fellow foragers and nature enthusiasts. It focuses on the protection of land, storytelling and our relationship with the landscapes around us.

Get to Grips with Herb Gardening

There is probably no better way to get familiar with the native and non-native herb species around you than by working with them on a weekly basis. The best way to do this is to grow them from seed or stem. A major plus with herbs is that you don’t need a lot of space to grow them in abundance and you can have several different herbs growing alongside each other. Try the mint family, basil, thyme, rosemary and wild herbs as a beginner.

Pick up a copy of our Herb Planner Pack here and start recording your herbal remedies, wild adventures and herb knowledge.

If you have anymore suggestions of how we can brush up on our herbal knowledge please get in touch with us. We are always interested in learning about herbalism, the benefits of herbs, the uses of herbs and how we can incorporate more wild herbs into our everyday cooking.

contact-us-button-orchards-near-me

ways-to-use-cleavers-spring-foraging

Spring Cleaning: 5 Ways to Use Cleavers

Cleavers aka Sticky Willies aka Goosegrass is a herbal treat in Springtime.

It is an annual sticky plant that you will find in your parks and woodland walks. They have small star shaped flowers attached to their pointy leaves. If you brush up against it you won’t need to pick it as it will naturally stick to any piece of clothing.

Benefitscleaver-infused-water-orchards-near-me

Traditionally used to cleanse the blood and strenghten the liver, cleavers are particularly useful for a spring cleaning tonic. Native Indian tribes used this plant as an anti-inflammatory and to help with gonorrhoea. The cleansing properties can help to get rid of toxins in the body and decrease congestion. It has also been reported to help with Urinary tract infections and swollen lymph nodes. They can help to protect the lining of the bladder from irritation. Cleavers are also rich in silica, used to strengthen hair, nails and teeth. It may be worth adding a little cleaver smoothie to your beauty routine in Springtime.

Ways to Use Cleavers

Cleaver infused Water

This is the perfect afternoon refresher on a bright Spring day. Pick the young stems of the plant before they growth tall. Rinse them gently under water and chop finely. Add to a jug or bottle of water and let them infuse over night in the fridge. Add a slice of lemon to your glass and pour over the infused cleaver water.

Cleaver and Nettle Smoothie

Cleavers, nettles and pears are all that you need to make this delicious, healthy Spring smoothie. Packed full of nutrition and made to detox the body, this delicious smoothie is just what the doctor ordered. Blend 1 bunch of cleavers, 1 bunch of boiled nettles and 2 pears together. Add crushed ice, a squeeze of lime juice and a sprig of mint for extra flavour.

Herbal Cleaver Tea

Harvest your cleavers, leave them dry out for a few days, cut them into tiny pieces and use them with a spoonful of honey for a soothing cup of tea.

Cleaver Infused Oil

Dried cleavers and almond oil makes the perfect massage therapy. Put a half a cup of dried cleavers in a jar, fill the jar with almond oil and leave to infuse for two weeks. Enjoy this herbal skin treat.

Cleaver, Nettle and Wild Garlic Soup

Tis the season for green, wild soup and there are plenty of delicious plants out there to add to your homemade soup recipes. For this one we use 1 cup of cleavers, 1 cup of boiled nettles, 1/2 cup of chopped wild garlic or three cornered leek and two large potatoes. Boil the potatoes, add all contents to a pot of cold water and boil until bubbling hot. Add salt and pepper. Blend the ingredients together. Serve with some fresh, warm bread.

Note: Cleavers have a high tannin content and it is generally advised that you don’t use it or consume it for long periods of time.

This plant is natures way of telling us that we need to Spring clean our bodies as well as our houses. There are so many ways to use cleavers in your foraging recipes but hopefully the above tips will give you some food for thought. This plant is one of the reasons why foraging in Springtime is so much fun.

wild-spring-samosa-recipe-ingredients-orchards-near-me

Recipe: Wild Spring Samosas

This is one of my favourite Spring dishes. Serve them as snacks to impress your dinner guests or rustle them up as a lunch time treat. Our wild samosas will put a spring in your step. We used three of our most loved wild Spring ingredients for these delicious samosas but feel free to get creative and add your own wild herb mix.wild-spring-samosa-recipe

Samosa Ingredients

  • Three cornered leak
  • Wild garlic
  • Dried Nettles
  • Potatoes
  • Cumin
  • Tumeric
  • Chilli Flakes
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Puff Pastry

Step 1. Boil your potatoes and mash them.

Step 2. Add a little olive oil to your pan. Next add wild-garlic-samosa-orchards-near-mechopped garlic leaves, three cornered leak, dandelion leaves, cumin, tumeric, chilli flakes, salt and pepper. Fry gently for 5 – 10 minutes.

Step 3. Add your curry mix to your mash potatoes. Add 1/2 cup of frozen peas and stir for another 5 minutes.

Step 4. Roll out your puff pastry. Turn over a bowl and cut out circles. Cut your circles in half and brush tips with flour and water. Make cone shapes with your pastry and add a spoonful of your samosa filling. Squeeze the sides together.

Step 5. Bake until golden crisp.

Step 6. Enjoy

wild-dandelion-flatbread-recipe-spring-foraging-orchards-near-me

Wild Recipe: Delicious Dandelion Flatbread

This week we are foraging in the garden, using Spring weeds as the main ingredients in some of our daily dishes. Today we have a real recipe treat with easy garden weed flatbread.

Flatbread Ingredientseasy-garden-flatbread-recipe

  • 250g of plain flour
  • 1 Teaspoon of Baking powder
  • 1 Teaspoon of salt
  • 50g of butter melted
  • 185 ml of milk

Flatbread Toppings

  • Dandelion Leaves
  • Nettle Pesto
  • Pine Nuts
  • Mozzarella
  • Baby tomatoes
  • Balsamic Vinegar
  • Garlic
  • Salt and Pepper

dandelion-garden-flatbread-recipe

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Head out to the garden to collect your freshflatbread-toppings-orchards-near-mely grown dandelion leaves and a few dandelion heads to decorate. Be sure to wash them gently under luke warm water.
  2. Measure the flour into a large bowl and add the salt and baking powder.
  3. Melt butter in a saucepan over a low heat, once it is melted add the milk and remove from the hob.
  4. Make a whole in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients.
  5. Gently mix all of the ingredients until it forms a sticky dough. Now knead the dough for 5 minutes and leave to the side in a bowl wrapped with cling film for 30 minutes.
  6. Once ready, divide the dough into 4 or 5 pieces and roll it out.
  7. Heat oil on a pan and gently fry the dough for 1 or 2 minutes. You should see pockets of air rise as you cook.
  8. Now you are ready to add your toppings and place in the oven.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with toppings for this delicious flatbread.

contact-us-button-orchards-near-me

tempura-battered-dandelions-recipe-wild-food

Wild Recipe: Tempura Battered Dandelions

Dandelion (aka Taraxacum officinale)

Today we are cooking tempura battered dandelions, a real Springtime treat. Famous as a garden weed, this yellow headed plant isn’t often noted for its fantastic healing properties but dandelions are a real gift from nature.

They are a natural anti-inflammatory, used in skincare to treat anti-aging and has a long history as a medicinal plant since the 11th century. Dandelions can provide a welcome boost to your immune system in Springtime. All parts of this special weed are edible. Today the root is used as a trendy substitute for coffee.springtime-foraging-wild-garlic-and-dandelions

Try this delicious recipe to add some freshly washed dandelions to your diet.

Tempura Battered Dandelions

What you will need: Freshly Foraged Dandelion heads (aim for between 15 – 20).

Batter Ingredients

  • 1 Large Egg
  • 125 g Plain Flour
  • 250 ml/1 Cup of very cold water or sparkling water

Aioli Dipping Sauce

  • 2 Egg yolks
  • 4 Tablespoons of White wine vinegar
  • 120 ml Olive oil
  • 3 Cloves of Garlic
  • 1 lemon juiced
  • 2 teaspoons of sea salt

STEP 1
Prepare the batter. The key here is making sure that the water is very cold. Leave it in the freezer for a 2 or 3 minutes if you want. Add the egg to the water, now gently mix in the flour with a spoon until smooth.Heat the vegetable oil in a wok, deep saucepan or deep fat fryer to 180’c.

STEP 2tempura-battered-dandelions
Prepare the Dandelion heads by gently washing them, removing the stem and leaves. Pat them dry before using them.

STEP 3
Before you start cooking your flowers, prepare your aioli sauce. Mince the garlic, mix the egg yolk and vinegar, whisk in the olive oil, add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

STEP 4
Now is the exciting part. Heat a large portion of vegetable oil in a pot or wok. (Note: Never leave a pan of oil heating alone. Stay with the cooker until you are finished). Sprinkle your dandelion heads with flower, dip into the batter and drop into the hot oil for 2 minutes until they are golden brown. Only do a handful each time.

STEP 5
Sit back and enjoy this super weed snack.

To start planning your foraging adventures you can download a copy of our Foraging Workbook Planner here.

If you have any recipe tips or foraging knowledge to share we would love to hear from you.

contact-us-button-orchards-near-me

 

Select your currency
EUR
USD