Edible Plants & Flowers

People are often surprised to learn how many edible wild plants and flowers there are in the UK, ranging from common garden weeds, like the dandelion and plantain, to the beautifully fragrant meadowsweet and crosswort. Due to the large diversity available, this is the biggest element of the Finds section, with a mighty 45+ easily identifiable edible plants for you and your kids to hunt down and try. The plants and flowers that make up this section are mostly Greens, Salads, Herbs, Garnishes or Beverage ingredients. Greens, such as nipplewort and orache, are great cooked substitutes for spinach and kale, whereas the more tangy or bitter finds, such as dandelion and wall lettuce, are better suited for consumption raw in Salads. Herbs are very fragrant or aromatic, and are mostly used to add flavouring to meat and other dishes either raw, dried or in sauces, such as wild garlic, wild thyme, mugwort and water mint. Finally, a number of the flowers in this section, such as mallow and vetch, also make wonderfully colourful and/or sweet Garnishes, but are also very useful for infusion in boiling water to make interesting and flavoursome Beverages, such as teas, syrups and even hot chocolate!

As with all the finds in this section, you should only attempt to eat them once you are 100% certain that they are what you think they are. Always double and triple-check from different sources to make sure, and if there is any doubt whatseover, then don't eat it!