The foraging calendar starts in spring as life returns to our parks and gardens and wild leafy greens come into season.
Look out for
- nettles, just wilt them to destroy the stingers and use them like spinach
- wild garlic, can be cooked as a substitute for kitchen garlic
- sorrel, add to salad or make into soup
- garlic mustard, pick the top leaves and flowers to add to salad
- ground elder, use in salad
- hawthorn, leaves and leaf buds are edible.
Remember to be safe and make sure you know which species you are collecting!
Spring is also a great time of year to spot badgers as cubs are born now and adults are out in the evenings collecting food and fresh bedding. Even if you don't see the badgers you might see signs of them: paw prints in the mud, balls of rolled up straw bedding, or 'snuffle holes' where they have been digging up their favourite food: earthworms.
To find out about organised badger-watching events, contact the Lothian Badger group.