Wildcrafty Soup!

April 8, 2013 by It's a Wild Thing 1 Comment

As-Fresh-As-Can-Be Wildrcafty Soup:

1. Gather a couple of handfuls (say, one handful per person) of ethically foraged plants, buds and flowers- we used: henbit, ground ivy, hawthorn buds, burdock leaves, dock, dandelion leaves, garlic-mustard, young cleavers and nettles – probably a few more, but I can’t remember! We meant to find some wild ramsons, but they weren’t right in our area, and we missed some bishop weed that was in the area that would have added a huge flavour.
2. Water
3. Salt and Pepper – or local flavouring: dried tansy leaves would have been interesting.
4. Celery and/or carrots, cut into very small pieces – optional
5. Potatoes – cut into small cubes optional
6. Pre-cooked lentils  – optional – I cooked these the night before and brought them in a thermos. 1 cup of dried lentils, then pre-cooked is enough.

Get your campfire/camp-stove going, throw it all together, gather your friends and tell a story while the soup comes to a boil, then simmer until the potatoes are soft – about 20 minutes. We collected dried Beech-leaves that were rustling all around us and made a tea from them (not for pregnant women, though) and the tea was gorgeous – tasted a bit smokey, like Lapsang Suchong tea! This was part of a full, 6-hour day in the woods with Wild in the City!