Dioica Herbs

🐔 Chicken of the Woods, Laetiporus sulphureus 🐔

There are not many more cheerful sights for a forager than the bright, sulphurous yellow of Chicken of the Woods. Its scientific name translates as laetus, meaning bright, pleasing, or happy in Latin, and the Greek poros, meaning pore. I’m sure you can guess what sulphureus translates to!

Dario cooked this up quickly two ways:

🐔 Grilled with salt, pepper and a splash of gin.
🐔 Simmered in cream, wild garlic salt and nutmeg.

Chicken of the Woods can be cooked any way that chicken can! It has a mildly lemony flavour.

Here are some cool facts I found about Chicken of the Woods:

💚 The orange pigments, known as laetiporic acids, possess a carbon skeleton not found in any other known orange pigment from any organism. Truly one of a kind in the fungal kingdom.

🌼 This fungus is a forest pathogen that causes brown cubical heart rot, growing both as a parasite on standing tree trunks and as a saprobe, decomposing the fallen tree it has killed.

💚 Laetiporus sulphureus has a long-standing presence in Indigenous and folk knowledge, particularly among Native American groups in the eastern United States, admired as both food and medicine, with oral histories referencing its use in healing rituals and as a meat substitute during lean hunting seasons.

🌼 The fruit bodies are a rich source of glucans and polysaccharides, which activate immune-modulating mediators and provoke a hypoglycaemic effect.

💚 Extracts have shown strong inhibition of Gram-positive bacteria and high anticandidal activity against Candida albicans, suggesting potential as antimicrobial and antioxidative agents.

🌼 Strains have demonstrated antimicrobial activity against a wide spectrum of bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and glycopeptide-resistant strains.

Beauty 💚

Foraged dandelion roots, scarlet elf cups and hazel catkins. Also spotted a unicorn turd 💚. A blessed day indeed.

Hello everyone!

Spring is springing and it's time to start posting again 💚.

Last Friday, I teamed up with Brogan of HEAL THY SELF The Ancient Art of Healing (a wonderful complimentary therapist, who gives the world's best massage), to make this stunning Viola odorata (sweet violet) glycerite. A glycerite is used as an alternative to an alcoholic tincture, suitable for children and those with sensitivities to alcohol. Vegetable glycerine itself is mildly laxative.

🌺 Violets have secret underground flowers, which may not see the light of day, but still go to seed! Sounds like fairy magic, but ok.

🌺 Viola odorata has been used for centuries in Europe as a pulmonary remedy, to ease dry coughs with it's mucilage action. This action paired with its anti-inflammatory properties, are excellent for reducing pulmonary inflammation (inflammation of the lungs).

🌺 The flowers and leaves are high in vitamin c.

🌺 The plant contains high levels of rutin, which strengthens capillaries, and salicylic acid: the compound that aspirin is made from for reducing pain.

🌺 You can make a beautiful syrup with the flowers and as a ph indicator, it can change from violet to pink when lemon is added, eventually turning green over time. Pretty cool!

🌺 Pinched from Brogan, because it's cool af "They’re used in love magic, often worn as an amulet to increase your love chances as they are considered an aphrodisiac." Thanks Brogan 💚.

P.s. In the name of sustainability and general courtesy towards the plant allies, we never take more than 1/3 and always give thanks. In this instance, as well as saying thank you, we cleared some rubbish from the area, giving our hands a light coating of fragrant fox p**s.

They're finally listed 💚.

In the interest of keeping things fresh apart from the mushrooms, I'll be doing limited prints of everything.

All prints are hand embellished with gold and white acrylic. They look great paired with a gold frame for a special gift.

https://www.numonday.com/shop/amanita_art-store/

These amaretto infused, chocolate dipped jelly ears with Himalayan salt and orange, were a big hit at the session yesterday. My favourite foraged treat 💚.

So happy with how this turned out 💚.

If you would like to book your child on to the crown-making and foraging workshop on the 11th, I would encourage you to bring any special feathers, or light trinkets you would like to incorporate into this to make it extra special and personal. I'm going to keep adding to this one over time with special things we find 💚.

In picture number 3, we have an amazing winter edible: black mustard / Brassica Nigra. Look out for a rough textured plant with serated, pinnately lobed leaves. These plants have yellow, cruciform flowers (four petals in the shape of a crucifix), appearing in spring. Mild at first, this plant builds up a fiery punch in the mouth. A real treat in cold weather. As an extensively cultivated plant, it escapes extensively too!

I love coming across these gorgeous teasels, who never dropped all their seeds, before they got wet and begun growing out of the plant 💚.

The little selection of things laid out to dry, are for the crown making workshop on the 11th.

Very excited for our festive foraging Sunday on the 11th 💚.

We'll be running a kids crown making workshop in the morning, where we'll go out and find things to make our own fairy headdress, accompanied by delicious nettle cake, served with fruits.

The adult session will be all about the food and art. We will forage for winter greens to make a delicious seasonal soup, amaretto and dark chocolate wood ear mushrooms, forest chai, rosehip and acorn mince pies, and wood avens mulled wine 💚. We'll also be using the foraged inks to make little mushroomy Christmas decorations.

Contact Rachel at [email protected] to book a place.