Ramsons pesto

Woodland lane

 It was a pretty overcast morning here today, drizzling too. We ummed and ahhed about whether to go to the woods to collect a whole load of ramsons for making pesto with but, as we're really pushed for time usually and we had the morning free, we decided to go ahead. I'm really glad we did because most of the drizzle didn't reach through the tree canopy and, as most other people had been put off their dog walking, it was really peaceful.

We headed for the same ramsons patch where we found Spirit. No sign of owls today though but plenty of ramsons.  We set the basket down and gathered handful upon handful. The woods we visit is very ancient, probably at least medieval but maybe even older and this particular patch of ramsons is very well established. I'd love to know how long it's been there for. Hundreds of years maybe? Longer? When I looked back at the ramsons patch as we left, there wasn't an obvious difference to when we arrived which was surprising.

Can you spot the poisonous leaf in amongst the ramsons?

That's the one ... Lords and Ladies. You can tell the difference but it's a warning against blindly picking handfuls at a time

Handful of ramsons

We picked around 5 or 6 times this many and there were many, many times this amount left

Total amount that we gathered

 The scent of garlic all around us was incredibly strong! I wish I had weighed the leaves we had before using them ... so many! On the way back along the path we found hundreds and hundreds of pignuts. They look so beautifully delicate above ground and then, when you dig far enough below there is a "nut" joined to the stem by the thinnest, most fragile thread.

Hundreds of pignuts on the way back

Anyway, back at home, A was in charge of endlessly washing ramsons leaves while I gathered the ingredients and grated the cheese. Neither of us expected to gather so many leaves so we had far too little pine nuts or cheese and only enough olive oil by accident. 

Pesto ingredients

 Wild Pesto

Plenty of freshly picked ramsons leaves, washed and checked over 
Olive oil
Grana padano cheese, grated
Pine nuts
Sea salt

Put a good handful of leaves and some oil in the liquidiser, whizz it up. With each whizz, add more and more leaves and as much oil as needed to make it a good consistency. Add a good amount of pine nuts and salt to taste with a generous amount of cheese. Whizz it up again and store in the fridge. If you want to store it longer, it can be frozen ... easy peasy and very lovely!

Finished pesto to the left, whizzed ramsons with oil and salt to the right (they need cheese and pine nuts adding tomorrow)

Finished pesto

 I just can't express the sheer beauty of the greenness of this pesto. Forget the type in the supermarkets ... this is pure, raw goodness. Wonderful! 

Such a beautiful colour!

Tonight, we had a couple of spoonfuls mixed in with stuffed jacket spuds. I can't say I've ever eaten green potatoes before but they tasted absolutely delicious!

Wild Sag Aloo and woodland walks *Pic heavy*

Wild strawberries in flower at the woods

 I love this time of year! It's as if summer's come early at the moment and the wild flowers have come on so well. We've had a few lovely strolls in the last couple of weeks and each time you can see a difference in the plants.

Yellow Archangel

 

Dandelion seedhead

Woodland raspberries forming

Vetch

Wood sorrel

 Wood sorrel is quite a distinctive little plant and the leaves taste just like apple peel. Take a look at the leaves and remember them ... you'll see them again, lower down this post :~)

Woodland lane

Ramsons patch lit up by the sun

 Ramsons are wonderful. You can see the way this patch was lit up by the sun ... it almost seemed to glow and "show" itself to us. As if that wasn't enough, the scent of garlic all around told us where to look.

Ramsons flowers

 The leaves of the ramsons can be shredded and added to food for a delicious garlicky taste which is pleasantly strong. The flowers can be eaten raw in salads and have a much stronger, sharper taste with a hint of honey. 

Ramsons flowers and leaves

Wild queen bee

 

Crabapples forming ... they'll be headed for my preserving pan in the autumn :~)

Bluebell wood

Albino bluebell

Wood sorrel "weeds" at the allotment

  Oh the irony! Remember the photo I said to look at further up this post? Well, the lovely man who had one of our allotment plots before us said the "weeds" above were some sort of clover and it came in on a load of soil he had delivered. He could never get rid of it and we've been pulling it up for years now ... it finally dawned on A the other day that it's wood sorrel! It has the same distinctive apple peel taste and everything!

Fat hen

 Today I finally gathered fat hen which has been on my "to do" list for several years now. It grows in abundance at the allotment and we know it's organic from there took advantage of it in between hoeing this morning. I'd always stress that, before you gather wild food, you should be completely sure of what you're collecting with the aid of a good identification book. If you can find someone to show you what you're looking for that's even better! 

To help you along the way, I've tried to show fat hen quite clearly in the pictures. Above, you can see the grey-green colouring and the slight silvery sheen that the leaves have.  

Fat hen side view

Fat hen seed head

 The seed head of fat hen, shown above, is quite obvious at this time of year. The plant is related to quinoa (amaranth) and you can see the similarity.

Broad bean rows

Baby slow worm at the allotment

Gooseberries swelling

Redcurrants

Goldengages

Allotment raspberries forming

Poppy

Medlars forming

Fat hen bunch for lunch

 We gathered a bunch of fat hen from the allotment and then scooted up to the woods to gather some fresh ramsons. On the wander through the trees we found an abundance of pignuts and dug just a few, leaving the rest untouched.

Pignut

Pignut flower

Today's foraging basket: Left - Ramsons, right - fat hen, front - pignuts

Gathered fat hen

Gathered ramsons leaves

Shredded ramsons

 We arrived back home just before lunchtime so washed and shredded the ramsons leaves and fat hen, boiled some spuds, sliced some onions and created wild sag aloo which is probably even better than the original version :~)

Wild sag aloo ingredients (plus onions which were already cooking!)

Wild sag aloo

 Wild Sag Aloo

Floury potatoes, peeled (if you want to) and cut into pieces
Onions, halved and sliced
Fat hen, leaves taken off the stalk and shredded
Ramsons leaves, shredded
Curry powder to taste (I used vindaloo, enough to taste good but not be overpowering)
Black onion seeds (optional)
Oil
Salt 

Bring the potatoes to the boil and simmer until softened but not falling apart. In a separate pan, gently fry the onions. When soft, add the curry powder and black onion seeds. Stir and warm the spices through. Add the ramsons, fat hen, potatoes and a little salt. Stir though, adding a little water if needed until everything is warmed through and coated with green leaves and spices. Serve. 

Wild sag aloo