Belfast's Wild Larder - A lecture on foraging in Belfast by Claire McParland

I attended a Faculty lecture by Claire McParland titled ‘Belfast’s Wild Larder’ in the Black Box in January 2019. This was an excellent talk encouraging foraging, identifying common plants in the locality an discussing uses. Here is a summary of notes I took during this event. Seedhead Arts regularly run other Faculty Lectures ón topics they feel people will be interested in to encourage continued learning in adulthood.

This talk was particularly useful as Claire focused ón using pictures to help the audience recognise & identify common useful plants in Belfast. I will not include pictures here, but a quick online search will help you put an image to the name.

Claire runs some foraging walking groups & can be found ón instagram as @clairemcparland. Some other foragers she noted were; Phil Simpson, Dermot Hughes & Mark William’s programme ‘Scotland’s Wild Spices’.

Abundant Foraging spots mentioned : Colin Glen Forest Park, Comber Greenway, Cavehill Country Park, Botanic Park. Use the contact details if you know of any other good spots you are willing to share!

Worth noting – Wash everything thoroughly, avoid collecting beside busy róads, beware of collecting anything below the knee high ‘pee zone’.)

Leaves

· Wild Garlic (White flowers, easily identifiable by strong smell, prolific in Colin Glen)

· 3 cornered leek (White flowers which begin to show in January. Distinctive shape because of ridge in middle leading to the ‘3 cornered’ name. Same flavour family as onions, scallions)

· Ground Elder (‘parsley’ like. Good in pestos)

· Garlic Mustard (found ón the Greenways)

· Sow Thistle (Easily confused with a dandelion. Mild taste, can be used in place of spinach)

· Bittercress (Grows in an easily recognisable rosette shape.)

· Chickweed (has 10 uniform white petals)

· Sorrel (Identifiable by ‘ears’ at bottom of leaf)

· Nettles (abundant everywhere, can be used in teas, pakoras, shampoos)

· Wood Sorrel (easily identifiable ‘shamrock’ May be confused with a clover which is also edible but not as good)

Trees

· Lime (found in abundance at Stormont. Leaves can be used like vine leaves for wrapping. Rumoured to have a slight hallucinogenic property in large quantities. Can be used to make Linden Tea. Can be used to make liqeur by soaking leaves in Gin for 6 weeks then mixing with brandy.)

· Hawthorn (texture likened to ‘N.I.’s avocado’. Leaves are edible when new growth. Flowers are edible. Berries can be used to make ketchup, or for brandy as in the recipe featured in ‘The Homemade Apothecary’)

· Beech – (Nuts can be taken from the tree & toasted. Leaves are edible when very young an almost translucent & can be made into a tea.)

· Spruce/Pine (citrus flavour. Tasty when ground with sugar or mixed with vinegar for a salad dressing. Use the new, softer growth which appears around March & chop finely.)

Flowers

· Daisies (stalk & leaves edible – look good as decorations for cakes.)

· Dandelion (‘tooth of the lion’ bitter taste. Flowers are also edible. Adds colour to a salad. Can be used to make a syrup/vegan honey alternative.)

· Roses (all roses are edible. Make beautiful decorations for special occasion cakes. Can be used to make rose water or use dog rose for rosehip ketchup. Japanese roses found commonly along the embankment & identifiable by beautiful smell).

· Clover (Not a strong flavour but can be used as beautiful, edible decorations.)

· Mahonia (I highly recommend you look up this plant as I see it EVERYWHERE but never knew it was edible. Edible, sweet flowers, blue, dusty berries which make a very tasty jam. Found in Botanic.)

· Gorse (Found in abundance at Cavehill. Edible flowers with a coconut smell. Great for adding colour & decorating)

· Himlayan Balsm (This plant is invasive & therefore is often sprayed with chemicals. Only forage from untouched areas. Thick watery stalk like rhubarb. Sweet delicious flowers. Seed pods are also edible as a type of tiny mange tout. Seed pods explode when touched so collect by placing a bag over the top to avoid further spreading of this invasive species. Seeds have a nutty flavour. Pink flowers that reminds one of my friends of female anatomy.)

· Herb Robert (Geranium family, strong smell. Found at Cavehill. Can be used as a tea with someone claiming it cured their gout. Edible flowers that look good in a salad. Found at Cavehill.)

· Magnolia(Sometime found in people’s gardens. Flowers have a ginger flavour & can be used as a pickled ginger accompaniment for sushi.)

· Fireweed (Pink with many flowers. Inner stalk is also edible but not necessarily worth it.)

· Cherry Blossom (Edible Flowers which can be fermented, pickled, dried. Flowers early in the year.)

· Elderflower (Common ón the Greenways & Victoria Park. Elderberry vinegar can be made as an alternative to balsamic. Elderflower champagne is easily made with elderflowers, sugar an lemons.)

Fruits

· Apples (all apples are edible. Can be used for curd, juice, cider, applesauce.)

· Meddlers (An old plant, like small apples with bottoms similar to rosehips. French translation means ‘dog’s bottom fruit’. Want them far past ripe, let them rot/blet ón the tree or at home until a stewed apple texture. Can be used to make a jelly to go with meat. Found in Botanic.)

· Bilberries (Dark blue berries, found up high at Cavehill. Also known as Brayberries or Wild Blueberries. Grow low ón the ground. Like Blueberries but better!)

· Sea Buckthorn (Grows along M2 which can be useful for recognising but not an appropriate foraging spot. Orange, tightly packed berries which grow close to the bark. Silvery green leaf. N.I.’s most exotic fruit! Citrusy, punchy, sour flavour good in cocktails.)

· Rowan, Mountain Ash (Red edible berries but it is not recommended to eat many raw. Cook down & extract the juice for sauces & jellies. N.B. Gather’s facebook page also has a great video ón Rowan which lists many other uses)

· Hazel (Found ón the Greenways, Cavehill & Donegal Street. Animals usually get the nuts before us as they are a good source of protein. Nuts are seen in a bunch with a covering around September.)

· Blackberries (abundant all over Belfast & commonly known. Pickled blackberries go great with fish.)

· Sloes (Blue, dusty colour. Common in Belfast Parks, Cavehill, Greenways. From the blackthorn tree. Commonly used in Gin but also go well in dark rum. Bitter taste.)

Weeds, Funghi and Everything Else.

· Staghorn Sumac (Non-native plant but commonly found in parks & car parks. Grows in hand-sized cones with a fuzzy, dusty covering which is the sumac dust. Sour,tart flavour. Pick, wash, pick off berries an put through a sieve.)

· Bush Fetch/Sweet/Wild Pea (Purple flowers with tiny edible pods.)

· Scarlet Elf Cap (Easily identifiable crimson coloured mushroom that grows ón déad wood. Velvet texture inside. Start to appear around January. Good for drying & powdering. Found in Colin Glen.)

· Shaggy Ink Caps (Found in September/October. Collect when bright white & use straight away as they disintegrate very quickly.)

· Puffballs (Found in Stormont & Belvoir Park. Nó gills, solid shape, covered in small bristles. Collect when bright white & rub off bristles.

· Cat’s Ear (Looks like Dandelion but grows in a ‘carpet’. Bright yellow flowers, great for pickling. Make capers from closed flowerbuds. Flowers close overnight so pick first thing in the morning.)

· Cleavers (Also known as Sticky Willy, thrown by children at each other’s backs. Take a big bunch, crush & stick in fizzy water to make a tonic. Or roll fresh cleavers into round balls & fry like onion bajhis.)

· Yarrows (Small, blue flowers. Can be used in cocktails, tinctures, bittering beers.)

· Japanese Knotweed (Edible but like Himlayan Balsam almost always sprayed as it is very invasive. Make sure it as not been sprayed before eating.

*Claire also recommended the book ‘Food for Free’ as good starting material.