Foraging is not only having very long walks in the woods, but many common plants can be found just in our closest surroundings and used for delicious dishes or herbal medicine.
This weekend I was not feeling well, so I didn’t want to take a walk around the forest. Nevertheless, I wanted to cook some wild plants-based dishes and started to look right outside my house and found over 20 plants just by taking approximately 20 steps.
Have a look here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxUxAS7Ooqw
If you’re interested in the common names in English, German or Italian, you can go through the list at the end of this post (order according to video). As you have probably seen, the last ones (Thyme, Marjoram Parsley, …) are wild plants though in this case, they have been planted some years ago by me. Since then they are an important part of my daily menus and let’s not do any discrimination, there are just too good to be left out.
I started this post, writing that I was not feeling too well, but still wanted to cook something with wild herbs. So, I created Dandelion noodles and as an extra I added some Ribwort plantain leaves. With the same leaves I made as well a tea.
- Home-made dandelion noodles
Dandelion grows pretty much everywhere and is used for upset stomach, muscle aches, eczema and bruises. Whereas the Ribwort plantain provides improvement in respiratory health and helps to relax. Both plants are bitter, so I recommend to use rather the young leaves since the concentration is not so high. Besides the bitterness, the Ribwort plantain reminds me a bit of mushrooms.
Have you had a look at the video and have you already tried out some recipes with one of the list? If you want to know more about a plant (properties, usage) comment below!
Plants from the video
| Latin | English | Deutsch | Italiano |
| Veronica Persica | Common Field-speedwell | Persischer Ehrenpreis | Occhi della Madonna di Persia |
| Stellaria media | Chickweed | Vogelmiere | Centocchio comune |
| Lamium purpureum | Red-dead nettle | Purpurrote Taubnessel | Falsa ortica purpurea |
| Taraxacum officinale | Dandelion | Löwenzahn | Dente di leone |
| Ajuga reptans | Blue bugle | Kriechender Günsel | Bugola |
| Prunus persica | Peach | Pfirsich | Pesco |
| Plantago lanceolata | Ribwort plantain | Spitzwegerich | Piantaggine |
| Bellis perennis | Lawn daisy | Gänseblümchen | Pratolina comune |
| Fragaria vesca | Wild strawberries | Wald-Erdbeere | Fragola di bosco |
| Viola odorata | Sweet violet | Duftveilchen | Violetta odorosa |
| Cardamine hirsuta | Hairy bittercress | Behaartes Schaumkraut | Crescione primaticcio |
| Urtica dioica | Stinging nettle | Brennessel | Ortica |
| Primula vulgaris | Common primrose | Stängellose Schlüsselblume | Primula comune |
| Alliaria petilota | Garlic Mustard | Knoblauchsrauke | Alliaria comune |
| Malva sylvestris | Common mallow | Wilde Malve | Malva selvatica |
| Salvia officinalis | Sage | Salbei | Salvia |
| Thymus vulgaris | Thyme | Thymian | Timo comune |
| Origanum majorana | Marjoram | Majoran | Maggiorana |
| Petroselinum crispum | Parsley | Petersilie | Prezzemolo riccio |
| Helichrysum italicum | Curry plant | Currykraut | Elicriso italiano |
| Menta x piperita | Peppermint | Pfefferminz | Menta piperita |
I very much enjoyed your video 🙂 Looking forward to the tasting today!
Wow, the noodles are looking delicious!
Thank you, they actually tasted really good, but I need to make them a bit more pretty! Maybe I’ll do a tasting sooner or later 😀
Hello, I just discovered your video and I would love to speak to you about a lovely project I am working on right now which I think you would enjoy. I would love to get to know you better and maybe even meet up and learn from you if you would like and are still in Switzerland!
Love from a fellow plant lover and alchemist