Foraging in November - UK Wildcrafts Foraging Calendar

[@Kermitthebadger]

I just wanna say how much I appreciate the effort and knowledge that go into making those videos, thank you man

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

Glad you like them 😁

[@SeedBorneDane]

Legendary for just manhandling the nettles

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

Haha there’s a technique, grasping them firmly from below and you (usually) don’t get stung ;)

[@rachelsharvell-smith7531]

Watching you is like having a cup of tea and a hug. Keep it up, you're a happy pill 😁

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

😁

[@anemone104]

Nice. Never knew that about dock or fat hen seeds. Have eaten nettle tops extensively during 'no money' periods and it's much nicer than spinach. You can always find some or even help the process along by going out and cutting patches during the summer and it will re-sprout for you. Best pick patches to cut away from infalling pollutants like dog wee or traffic splash. Medlar makes great jelly. 3/4lb sugar per pint of juice extract, but it's short on pectin, so it will be runny unless you add pectin. Great flavour. You can cut the juice extract 50:50 with crabapple juice extract and it will set due to the pectin in the apples. Ornamental crabapples will do nicely. Malus sylvestris wild type crabapples are great. Jelly from both is clear and orange to red with medlar towards red. Lovely with pork, lamb or chicken or on toast, which several veggie friends I inflict my jelly efforts on will happily do. Never fancied eating the bletted fruit. Thanks for posting.

[@neil1261]

Those hands immune to nettle stings by now 😂

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

Haha it’s all in the technique :)

[@roastntoast7550]

Hey dude. 👋 you are a walking library. I'm really impressed of your knowledge 👏 👌! Thanks for sharing.

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

Thanks 😊

[@jenann0350]

Thank you for a lovely film. The way you identify these plants is so easy to understand and clear! It has help me feel so much more confident & your recipe ideas are realistic 😉

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

That’s great, thanks 😊

[@az55544]

This is the first year i have paid attention to a couple of medlar trees in my area and have remembered to pick them. They taste wonderful. Thanks for your content!

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

You’re welcome :)

[@musique8818]

cant wait for decembers :)

[@adavies1752]

Tranquil informative in depth life saving info Thank you for taking your time and giving it to others Blessed be

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

You’re welcome 😊

[@skubbydankers]

Another amazing clear and concise video :) thanks for helping us all learn this magical craft!

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

Thank you 😊

[@honorata1935]

Great amount of information. Thank you as always. Greatings from Ireland.

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

Thanks 😊

[@UpToNoGood83]

Thankyou for your video. It was Excellent! Keep up the Great work!

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

Thanks mate :)

[@andmargbosanquet3181]

Fantastic, informative video. Thank you.

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

Thanks 😊

[@junedowling9677]

Thankq how interesting 👏👏👏💜

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

😊

[@maxibake9323]

Thankyou, for sharing another very informative video. ❤️🙂🐶

[@MarcoNegrisEye]

Medlars! For years I thought these were apples that no matter how early or late I went to get them were always rotten. They grow just down the road from me over a walled garden. Was a relief when I discovered just what they were and how to prepare them.

[@hellieflow8889]

Stunning work. Thank you for blessing us :)

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

You’re welcome 😊

[@stefheartsyou]

THANK YOU

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

😊

[@wolfenstein6676]

Well, Lewis does it once again, yet another edible plant in Britain I knew nothing about, the medlar fruit 2:17 :) . The purée you made from it looks superb, mate. As for eating wild greens, you'll never see me turn my nose up at that excellent source of free and organic food and especially, as you mentioned, the way prices in the shops are going nowadays. Thanks as always for the video.

[@simoncooke135]

Awesome video, loved seeing the process with the Medlars

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

Thanks :)

[@MaxSafeheaD]

PERFECT! I have LOADS of both dock and fat hen seeds waiting for me to figure out what to do with. How do you winnow fat hen though- the seeds are tiiiiny 🙈

[@QwinnieLu56]

Another great video. Thank you so much. A local community near me were harvesting medlars in August. Mine are still slowly bletting away!

[@mattgoodchild8215]

Superb thank you 👍👍

[@Teslafan369]

Where does meddler fruit grow please? Where is best to look for it? I have never seen this fruit before. New forager so I love these videos

[@TheUntypicals]

It's not native to the UK

[@MasterTheDoom]

It has been around in the UK since Roman times, as they enjoyed cultivating it, initially bringing it across from areas like Turkey. You can find them occasionally in some parts of the UK, especially nearer Roman settlements. If you really want one, a lot of garden nurseries in the UK now stock them.

[@az55544]

Ask your tree warden. Tree people often know where random trees are located. In Bath, there is one in the Parade Garden. It is loaded right now and perfect for picking, but ignored.

[@MarcoNegrisEye]

I get mines from someone's garden where the tree overhangs their wall. Shhhh🤫😂

[@wombatcom]

Might be a silly question, but when you were harvesting the nettles, you used your bare hands- does that not sting/hurt?

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

If you grasp the nettles quickly and from underneath you usually don’t get stung. Because all the stinging hairs point upwards, grasping the stem in an upwards motion flattens the hairs against the stem. Still get a sting now and again but I don’t mind too much :)

[@seebeeproductions]

Amazing man!!❤

[@MeditationMoments]

Love❤

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

😊

[@anitafamily9767]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@CampWithMatt]

Hey Lewis, just noticed on your bio you state you're a chef. Do you work in a restaurant? If so, do you use foraged ingredients? And finally, can you share which restaurant it is? Would love to try some of your nosebag!

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

Hi Matt I’m actually not working anywhere at the moment. Getting ready to go travelling in the new year :)

[@CampWithMatt]

@@UKWILDCRAFTS that's exciting Lewis! Where are you going?

[@invokalink162]

Could i ask... Do you have any books available? A year of UK foraging so to speak?

[@rachelsharvell-smith7531]

Ooo Lewis, that's an idea!! X

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

I’m working on a book, will be several years though :) x

[@gestucvolonor5069]

Thank you

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

You're welcome 😊

[@hoohargh9945]

Isn't there a conflicting dock like seed head that we shouldn't eat ?

[@kayvong6397]

Wow how do u pick it without stinging you 😂😲😲😲

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

There’s a trick to it haha. The stinging hairs all point up so grabbing the plant firmly from underneath flattened the hairs against the stem :)

[@TheUntypicals]

Do you know of any technique to germinate Medlar pips? This year some of my Medlar were ripe on the tree

[@az55544]

Clean the seed thoroughly and store them in a bag in the fridge for a few months. DO NOT cook the seeds. Add a slightly damp paper towel to the bag - ideal is damp wood shavings - so the seeds don't dry out. Check on them every week or so - no mold, not dry. In the late winter, plant them in pots or loose soil to warm up with the rest of the world. These may not make ideal fruit so grow a lot of them. Leave some to grow on and graft branches from known varieties. Grafted saplings will likely produce fruit sooner. You could also take cuttings in late winter and try to propagate this way.

[@TheUntypicals]

@@az55544 great thank you, I'll give that a go along with storing some outside. How do you take cuttings in winter is that for grafting?

[@blueskies6475]

Dock looks like Amaranth here in the US. Is it the same?

[@rachelsharvell-smith7531]

No x

[@naughtyskyline]

hello is fat hen the same as lambsquarters?

[@UKWILDCRAFTS]

Hi yeah different common names for the same plant :)