Category Archives: FORAGING

SMALL STEPS

Blogging isn’t easy for me, so I’m trying a new approach – very quick posts.
Yesterday we went for a bike ride along the old East/West Berlin border. Really recommendable! The part we went to is between a river and an autobahn and it’s really green. There is quite a few people there, but it’s still kind of mystical. I’ve never been there before. We even went outside Berlin, crossing the border to Brandenburg, the next state. We saw horses, sheep, lots of birds and a crane.

rocket

On the way we’ve found some wild rocket. I have been finding it around Berlin quite a bit this year, never noticed it before or knew it grew wild. Just came across the smell one day and thought I’d try it. It tastes amazing! Quite peppery and so much better then from the store!

In one of the little towns outside the city we came across some bushes of different kinds of cherry plums next to the road. The bigger yellow kind, some red ones and some small unripe looking things, literally the size of cherries. I first was worried they’d be really sour. But they are delicious, bursting in your mouth, just a bit tangy, but also really sweet. So, we were grazing from these bushes for a while and then took some home too.

plums

Another good thing about them, they are really easy to pick, coz not on a tree. If I get a garden I need to plant a couple of those. I didn’t like the yellow and red kind too much. Too floury, not so juicy and refreshing.

We also went into a garden colony, which was very neatly kept, around the corner from us. And people had put out baskets with apples and little pots with plants to take. Very sweet!

Yesterday was great! We’ve been having really great weather the last couple of days, actually the whole summer has been pretty good so far. I’m soaking in the last rays, getting worried autumn will be here soon.

Anyways, we had an awesome day out, it was really cool seeing a very different side of Berlin, at times I thought myself in another town and to get some foraging in.

Have a great week!!!

FLOWER PANCAKES

The other day I went to the forest with my friend to collect some more edible plants. Since I went on my first proper forage walk I’m really into it and very keen on learning more.

our bounty from the first walk

I picked some greens for a green smoothie and then my friend showed me some edible flowers. I knew you can eat elderberry flowers, but robinias were new to me. I know how the tree looks like and the smell is just delicious, but I didn’t know you can eat the flowers. I tried them and they are delicious. They taste flowery, sweet and buttery. And while you eat them you can ‘smell the flowers’, great right?! I also found them very filling, I think they’ve got lots of fats in them. I picked them at a sunny lakeside beach in Berlin, the whole area smelled fantastic!

Pretty and sweet smelling!

From Elisabeth, the lady who did the first forage walk with us, I learned you can make nettle pancakes. And I’ve heard of people making elderflower pancakesĀ before. So I thought I’d try my own elderflower robinia pancakes.

robinia flowers and elderflowers

Pancakes I made are of curz vegan, I used,

1 part of rice milk
1 part of white flower
some baking powder
some crystal salt
and some oil

I made the mixture, heated up some oil in a frying pan, dunked the flowers in the mixture put them in the pan and put some more mixture on top of them so they look like pancakes. I didn’t read any instructions before, so I just improvised.

You can use as little or as much flowers as you want/got.

Pancakes!!

I liked them. I like trying something different. And the flowers add something fresh and sweet.

Pancakes make me really tired. No other food seems to make me SO tired! I assume it’s the gluten, not sure..

Also we saw a snake, in German it’s called ‘Blindschleiche’, in English ‘slow worm’? That’s what the dictionary said anyways. It’s like a silvery lizard without feet and it “walks” like one too. It’s completely harmless and I touched it!

Snakey!

Here is another picture of the bag I was carrying. Or I should say, ‘huffing’, on the way through the forest.

Sweet and yummy!

Have you tried a new food recently?!