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~ a blog on wild food, wild medicine, wild living and the old ways of doing and being ~

  • Phytosemiosis. Talking to the trees.

    Chemicals in plants – cyanide

    plantsarecool

  • Variety, the superspice of life

    Thoughts and Musings, Wild Nutrition Facts

  • Cooking with Comfrey

    Wild Medicine Info

  • How to cook Sea Spaghetti

    Seaweeds, Wild Food Recipes

  • Forest trips help asthma and allergies

    Wild Medicine Info
Phytosemiosis. Talking to the trees.

Chemicals in plants – cyanide

Hydrogen cyanide (aka hydrocyanic acid) has a faint bitter-almond scent – although not everyone can smell it, due to a recessive gene. It is released in plants by compounds called… Read More

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June 3, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0

Variety, the superspice of life

Variety, we are told in the popular expression, is the spice of life. However, we are missing something today and I’d like to rewrite that old saying. I would argue… Read More

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May 25, 2017
by Monica Wilde
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Cooking with Comfrey

Today I’ve been eating a comfrey ratatouille. This was partly inspired by Ivan Van Rooyen’s comment on my post ‘Is comfrey edible?” He said “My family and I have been… Read More

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May 19, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0

How to cook Sea Spaghetti

Thongweed (Himanthalia elongata) is called sea spaghetti because it really does turn out like pasta! It can be eaten on its own or mixed with spaghetti, cooked and added to… Read More

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May 19, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0

Forest trips help asthma and allergies

Asthma and atopic dermatitis are common allergic diseases, and their prevalence has increased in urban children. Recently, it is becoming understood that forest environment has favourable health effects in patients… Read More

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May 18, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0

Escape from the City to the Sea

              To discover the peace and tranquility of Lambay and let the wildness of nature restore your body and mind, get away from the… Read More

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May 15, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Phytosemiosis. Talking to the trees.
plantsarecool

Chemicals in plants – cyanide

Hydrogen cyanide (aka hydrocyanic acid) has a faint bitter-almond scent – although not everyone can smell it, due to a recessive gene. It is released in plants by compounds called… Read More

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June 3, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Thoughts and Musings, Wild Nutrition Facts

Variety, the superspice of life

Variety, we are told in the popular expression, is the spice of life. However, we are missing something today and I’d like to rewrite that old saying. I would argue… Read More

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May 25, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Wild Medicine Info

Cooking with Comfrey

Today I’ve been eating a comfrey ratatouille. This was partly inspired by Ivan Van Rooyen’s comment on my post ‘Is comfrey edible?” He said “My family and I have been… Read More

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May 19, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Seaweeds, Wild Food Recipes

How to cook Sea Spaghetti

Thongweed (Himanthalia elongata) is called sea spaghetti because it really does turn out like pasta! It can be eaten on its own or mixed with spaghetti, cooked and added to… Read More

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May 19, 2017
by Monica Wilde
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Wild Medicine Info

Forest trips help asthma and allergies

Asthma and atopic dermatitis are common allergic diseases, and their prevalence has increased in urban children. Recently, it is becoming understood that forest environment has favourable health effects in patients… Read More

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May 18, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Wild Medicine Info

Escape from the City to the Sea

              To discover the peace and tranquility of Lambay and let the wildness of nature restore your body and mind, get away from the… Read More

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May 15, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Sweet Cicely and Rhubarb
All Recipes, Hedgerow, Wild Food Recipes

Sweet, Sweet Cicely

In April and May the ditches, damp hedgerows and water meadows are full of sweet cicely. Myrrhis odorata is a gorgeous member of the Apiaceae family – definitely one of my… Read More

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May 4, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comment 1
By Sten Porse - Own photo, taken in Jutland., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=735079
plantsarecool, Wild Medicine Info

How do dock leaves work?

I’ve already written extensively about the right way to use dock and how powerfully it works. The trick being to use the gel found inside the young, furled leaf sheath… Read More

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April 25, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
All Recipes, Wild Food Recipes

Hogweed Pakora

Hogweed shoots are my favourite vegetable in the Spring. They can be steamed but they truly come into their own when fried. I often just fry them in butter until… Read More

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April 7, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
All Recipes, plantsarecool, Wild Food Recipes

Tapping Birch, Walnut and Maple Trees

There are at least 20 species of tree that can be tapped for their edible sap. And in many cases, once the sap has been reduced, a syrup can be… Read More

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March 17, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Pate
All Recipes, Seaweeds, Wild Food Recipes

Potted Winkles

Here are some recipes for your steamed winkles including my favourite, Potted Winkles.  As a guide to quantities, one large mug will contain about 95 winkles, which will weigh about… Read More

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March 16, 2017
by Monica Wilde
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Winkles
All Recipes, Seaweeds

How to Cook Winkles

You can identify winkles by their colour – they’re dark grey (black when wet) with a white edged opening, and their shape and size – small and rounded. You might… Read More

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March 16, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Laver seaweed
All Recipes, Seaweeds, Wild Food Recipes

How to Make Laverbread

Laverbread is not a bread. It is a thick paste made from laver seaweed that was traditionally spread on bread or toast. It has a very savoury, umami taste and, in… Read More

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February 6, 2017
by Monica Wilde
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Laver seaweed balls
All Recipes, Wild Food Recipes

Laver Cakes Recipe

This is a delicious breakfast snack. A twist on an old Scottish breakfast classic and a great way of making sure that you get your daily dose of the vital… Read More

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February 2, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Seaweeds

How to Harvest Seaweed

I’m often asked when the best time to harvest seaweed is. It certainly isn’t in the summer. Sadly many people’s view of seaweed has been coloured by their childhood trips to… Read More

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January 26, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
plantsarecool, Thoughts and Musings

Our Plant Relatives

“Transformed seawater runs through the veins of my hand as well as the leaf’s veins – one carrying chlorophyll, the other carrying blood. The change of a single ion, from… Read More

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January 24, 2017
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Concerns for a Planet

The Sweet Smell of Danger

All scents, perfumes and fragrances contain aroma chemicals. This is what makes them smell nice. Some are natural, some are manufactured as nature-identical and some are created in the lab.… Read More

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December 2, 2016
by Monica Wilde
Comments 3
plantsarecool

Do Plants Talk? It’s Called Biosemiosis

Can plants talk? This century we’re learning that bacteria can talk and count – it’s called quorum sensing – and they know when there are enough of them to mount… Read More

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November 21, 2016
by Monica Wilde
Comments 2
Monica with hen of the woods fungi
Edible Fungi

Wild Hen of the Woods

Passing an old oak tree today looking in the grass for pink purslane, the old giant whispered to me as I walked past. As she did the thought entered my… Read More

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November 18, 2016
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Concerns for a Planet, Thoughts and Musings

Lament for the Loss of Wild Foods

Wild Fact of the Day: Once humankind used 7000 species of plant and 1069 species of fungi as foods.  A single community averaged 120 wild species in their daily diet… Read More

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November 16, 2016
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Wild Medicine Info

Hairy bittercress

Hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta). It’s the essential seasonal ingredient for winter soups, pestos, salads & garnishes providing a fresh, and tasty source of vitamins and minerals right through the winter. … Read More

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November 14, 2016
by Monica Wilde
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Wild Medicine Info

Making a wild fungi broth

The season of soups is starting as the first frosty mornings herald the transition of autumn to winter. Samhain is around the corner. Today I made a cauliflower fungus broth… Read More

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October 28, 2016
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Wild Medicine Info

List of Japanese mushroom names

I’ve always been intrigued by the poetry of Japanese names for mushrooms. beyond the top five edibles I couldn’t find a detailed list in English. Here is my list of… Read More

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October 19, 2016
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Wild Medicine Info

Thoughts on the Autumn Equinox

The Autumn Equinox marks the first day of autumn. It is end of summer, when the day and the night have become equal lengths and, for the moment, nature is… Read More

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September 21, 2016
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Wild Medicine Info

New Forest fungi picking ban by the Forestry Commission

Aside from the lurid media “Aliens Ate My Fungi” headlines, the alleged criminal gangs sweeping the forests, the unsubstantiated evils of fungi picking on conservation, the misreported fungi poisoning statistics… Read More

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September 13, 2016
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
foraging in Scotland
plantsarecool

Why foraging? A trend or an ancient connection to nature…

Foraging reconnects people with nature in a really positive way. Once you can identify plants, appreciate their culinary and medicinal values, recognise them as old friends and discover the wondrous… Read More

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September 8, 2016
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
plantsarecool

The Future of Food and Technology

I was asked for my thoughts on the future of food and technology. It may have been a spam email but I answered it anyway: “The future of food through… Read More

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August 25, 2016
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Wild Booze recipes

How to make Diodgriafel 

…or how to make wine with wild yeast In Wales, recorded in 1802, poor people would “make a drink called Diodgriafel by infusing [rowan] berries in water”. In 1798, John Evans writes that… Read More

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June 22, 2016
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0
Wild Food Recipes

Green Sweet Cicely Seed Sweets

How to make sweet cicely seed brittle, a form of boiled sweet, and mukhwas, a foraged wild take on Indian sugar coated fennel seeds. Sweet cicely (Myrrhis odorata) is found… Read More

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June 17, 2016
by Monica Wilde
Comments 3
All Recipes, Wild Food Recipes

Spruce Pine Honey

I love the fresh growth on pines, spruce and larch and make fresh, citrussy-pine needle teas from the young needles. I also adore this spruce ‘honey’ (a pouring pine syrup),… Read More

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June 17, 2016
by Monica Wilde
Comments 0

Search my Blog

Wild Food Info

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  • Fungi
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  • Thoughts and Musings
    • Concerns for a Planet
    • plantsarecool
  • Wild Medicine Info
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Recent Articles

  • Chemicals in plants – cyanide
  • Variety, the superspice of life
  • Cooking with Comfrey
  • How to cook Sea Spaghetti
  • Forest trips help asthma and allergies
  • Escape from the City to the Sea
  • Sweet, Sweet Cicely
  • How do dock leaves work?
  • Hogweed Pakora
  • Tapping Birch, Walnut and Maple Trees
  • Potted Winkles
  • How to Cook Winkles
  • How to Make Laverbread
  • Laver Cakes Recipe
  • How to Harvest Seaweed
  • Our Plant Relatives
  • The Sweet Smell of Danger
  • Do Plants Talk? It’s Called Biosemiosis
  • Wild Hen of the Woods
  • Lament for the Loss of Wild Foods

Reconnecting with nature through foraging is a path to health & happiness - not just our own but the planet's too!

Monica Wilde

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