{"id":1266,"date":"2014-04-17T08:22:58","date_gmt":"2014-04-17T08:22:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.gre.ac.uk\/greengreenwich\/?p=1266"},"modified":"2026-07-21T18:04:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T17:04:45","slug":"a-walk-on-the-wild-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.gre.ac.uk\/greengreenwich\/2014\/04\/17\/a-walk-on-the-wild-side\/","title":{"rendered":"A walk on the wild side"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There is no such thing as a free lunch\u2026perhaps this is not so true especially if you know how to forage.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foraging for wild food is what humans used to do before we became sedentary and reliant on agriculture. Now people are flooding back to foraging not only for the free food but to connect back with nature and learn more about the different foods that we tend not to find in the supermarket so much.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/i>Alex and Emily from the Sustainability Team were invited to a foraging day in Abbey Wood by Barracuda Digital<\/a><\/ins>, a digital marketing agency. The day was hosted by the Caravan Club<\/a><\/ins> and Napiers<\/a><\/ins>, to put existing foraging skills to the test and to learn more about what to look out for and the history of these plants in herbal medicine. Below they recount what they learnt and how foraging could become a regular event at the University of Greenwich.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

——————————————————————————————<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/b>On a beautiful spring morning we were invited to the Abbey Wood Caravan Club site to meet up with other London bloggers and delve into the world of foraging. We had had some experience of foraging but this was mostly limited to picking Sloes for gin and Blackberries for jam so were looking forward to learning more about the wild food available on our doorstep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We started the day meeting Monica Wilde<\/a><\/ins> who was to be our guide for a 3 hour session around the site and Lenses Abbey Wood.<\/a><\/ins><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/b>Monica is a director at Napiers- the herbal and plant remedy business, as well as an active foraging business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI live in a field in West Lothian. 4 wild acres where I am planting and encouraging medicinal and foraging species. I have been fascinated by herbs and plants since childhood. My original interest was sparked by a wild childhood in Kenya, where I was introduced to herbal medicine by a local Kikuyu herbalist at the age of six. We were outdoors most of the time and I remember with joy the freedom of those early years. I love foraging for wild food as well as wild medicine and would happily never visit a supermarket again.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We started with the innocuous daisy found on most lawns and learnt a fancy dinner party trick that we will definitely be trying out. When picked, daisies will start to close up however once dropped in liquid they begin to slowly open up again. For a spectacular starter you can drop a couple of closed daisies onto your soup and your guests will be impressed as the daisies open up before their eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Alex sampling some bitter cress.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We also took a look at the common dandelion which is a rich source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. The leaves can be used in a salad or cooked. Flowers can be made into juice, or added into many recipes.  You can even use the root and dry it to be used in dandelion tea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were many things to taste enroute and we sampled wild garlic, wild parsley hawthorn buds, common chickweed, pineapple weed and the favourite of the day which were the buds from a bramble bush which inexplicable taste like coconut!<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"wild<\/a>
Foraging for Wild Garlic and Wild Parsley, and learning about the dangers of Hemlock (also known as poison parsley)!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As well as expanding our knowledge in botany we also had a crash course in herbal medicine learning some historical applications of herbs as well as things we could benefit from now. Women have used the seeds from the wild carrot plant for centuries as a contraceptive, the earliest written reference dates back to the late 5th or 4th century B.C.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"wild<\/a>
Wild carrot with its distinctive purple spot.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

 Now we may not be trying this one out for ourselves but Emily did try some crushed clove roots on her wisdom tooth and will be reaching for the clove oil in future and not the paracetamol.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"clove\"<\/a>
Monica cleans and cut some clove roots for Emily\u2019s tooth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Alex found it extremely useful to learn about how to use dock plant sap to sooth stings from nettles. After a lifetime of mindlessly rubbing her hands and legs with the leaves of the dock plant, we learnt how it is actually the sticky sap at the base of the plant that you should rub onto your stings! If you venture into the base of the dock plant, around the point that the leaves divide above ground, you will find a sticky substance \u2018as if someone has blown their nose in the middle of the plant\u2019, as Monica described it. It is gross, but very worth it!<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"dock\"<\/a>
Monica ventures into the base of the plant to find some of that magical dock sap<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Foraging for food is extremely seasonal, allowing you find a huge variety of foods throughout the year. Successful foraging is also reliant on the ability to follow the food. Summer is a great time to forage on the coast for a huge range of edible seaweeds rich in iodine. Autumn is the perfect time to stock up on mushrooms (reliant on knowing what to pick of course!) and nuts for your winter larder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hope to return to Abbey Wood in autumn to see what seasonal changes have done to the wild food available.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"emily<\/a>
The smell of wild garlic gave it away as to what Emily was eating.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Now that we have caught the foraging bug we hope to continue this on our own patch. Learning your area and watching how it changes over the year is a great way to start and we would like to bring together people from around the University who either already know something about foraging and would like to share this knowledge, or people who are interested in learning more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foraging is a great way to get outside, enjoy the seasons and connect back with an aspect of nature that was so important in our human history. Foraging can help us connect to history, what we put on our plates, health and or course can be a social event too.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"hogsweed\"<\/a>
Delving into the hogsweed looking for delicious buds.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Thanks to Monica from Napiers who provided a very interesting and fun day out, and the Caravan Club for having us rummage around the bushes of your site in Abbey Wood. We would like to send special thanks to Barracuda Digital for arranging and running the day and encouraging us to meet other London bloggers!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So if you are interested in foraging at the University or would like to know more about our visit please get in touch at sustainability@gre.ac.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is no such thing as a free lunch\u2026perhaps this is not so true especially if you know how to forage. Foraging for wild food is what humans used to do before we became sedentary and reliant on agriculture. Now people are flooding back to foraging not only for the… Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":1271,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,6,22,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biodiversity","category-community-engagement","category-edible-garden","category-student-engagement","category-sustainability-team"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1219,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.gre.ac.uk\/greengreenwich\/2014\/03\/21\/health-and-social-care-new-arrivals-event\/","url_meta":{"origin":1266,"position":0},"title":"Health and Social Care New Arrivals Event","author":"Simon Goldsmith","date":"21 March 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Once you start asking the question: 'what are the links between sustainability and health?', you can find yourself with endless answers. 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