June is an amazing month to go foraging as it’s light early in the morning and you also have beautiful long evenings, perfect for a walk in the countryside. There are lots of plants to forage for in June, but as you’ll see the picking season for the plans varies and stretches beyond June into July and August. I’ll be adding more recipes, plants and descriptions, so please bookmark this page and come back later on.
I’ve included my favourite plants to pick in detail, but as ever I’d recommend to buy a pocket guide to take with you for your walk, so that you can easily identify your plants.
Elder (Sambucus Nigra)
One of my favourite plants to pick include elderflower as there are so many uses for them. Make sure that you pick your flowers well away from any busy roads, as it’s best to use the flowers unwashed to get the most of their delicate flavour.
What to pick
- Flowers (late May to mid June)
Notes
- Pick when flowers are completely open (morning/mid morning)
- Best used fresh, but can be dried, stored and then used later
how to use
Cordial, wine, tea, jelly, fritters, omelettes
Recipes
Lime Tree (Tilia Cordata)
I’ve always used to pick the lime flowers during school holidays at my grandmother’s farm house as we had a large lime tree just outside the barn. These days I find my lime trees in mixed forests or parks. The flowers have a faint aroma of honey and are great to make tea with.
What to pick
- Flowers (June, July)
Notes
Easy to preserve by drying and using in the winter to make tea.
how to use
Add fresh flowers to baking or salads. Tea
Recipes
Dog Rose (Rosa Canina)
Wild rose might not be the prettiest of the roses, but it’s the fragrance we are after here! It’s best to pick the flowers when they are just about to fall off (i.e. don’t pick the flower buds), this is when they have the strongest fragrance.
Use the petals straightaway or dry for later use. To dry your petals, make sure that you dry them in shaded and well ventilated area. Place them on plain paper sheets (natural if possible) and space them out so that they don’t touch.
Move around every day until fully dried. This could take about 2-3 days in colder environment, but if it’s hot your petals could be dried within 24 hrs. Store in unbleached paper bags placed in sealed containers to keep your wild rose petals fresh for few months.
What to pick
- Petals (June, July)
How to use
Add fresh petals to salads, desserts, decorate cakes. Add fresh petals to flavour jelly, syrup, make traditional sweets like Turkish Delight. Dry petals can be used to make tea or to add to sea salt baths, scrubs or home cosmetics. Also can by crystalised and uses as decorations for cakes or puddings.
Recipes
Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum)
Honeysuckle has a strong sweet, honey like scent, which means you only need a few flowers to infuse your food. Only pick flowers that are fully open and don’t pick any berries as these are mildly toxic.
What to pick
- flowers (June to September)
how to use it
Use the fresh flowers to infuse puddings, jellies, cordials. Other uses include tea, sorbets or vinaigrettes.
Recipes
Other plants that are in season in june
Borage, Brooklime, Carrageen, Chickweed, Cleavers, Cow Parsley, Dandelion Flowers & Root, Dog Rose, Elderflower, Fairy – Ring Champignon, Fat Hen, Gorse Flowers, Hawthorne Leaves & Blossoms, Laver, Mallow Leaves, Wild Mint, Morel, Nettle, Primrose, Prunella, Rosemary, Sea Beet, Shaggy Ink Cap Sorrel, St George’s Mushroom, Sweet Cicely, Sweet Violet, Tansy Leaves, Watercress, Wild Fig, Wild Garlic, Wild Strawberry, Yarrow
Monthly wild food calendar
- January >>
- June – you are reading this page
- July >>
- August >>
- November>>
- December >>
Leave a Reply