Drive-by Foraging

gathering wild food the lazy way

By The Bimbler

I can’t recall when my pastime of spotting edible plants on road trips started but foraging just got lazier!

An oncoming Council tractor was busy mowing the roadside vegetation and obviously not going to give way so turning back on the quiet country lane I noticed a single stem of Wild Asparagus next to my open window so reached out and picked it.

Bath Asparagus Ornithogalum pyrenaicum is not actually Asparagus although there is a vague resemblance. Native to certain areas near the City of Bath its flower shoots are edible when cooked but should generally be left to thrive due to its scarcity…

However, realising these culinary gems would be shredded when the mower passed in a few minutes I cruised along the empty lane stopping to pick enough for a light lunch.

with such a beautiful backdrop I soon stopped to boil a mug of water which is all that’s needed to cook Wild Asparagus.

It needs nothing more than a dunk in hot water for sixty seconds.

The flavour is more delicate than cultivated asparagus and they’re delicious as they are, but I tend to keep a few kitchen essentials in my vehicle so after draining off the water they were drizzled with Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper and by good fortune… Lemon juice courtesy of an earlier food shop.

I also got to sample a tasty Wild Gomasio Seasoning which I’d been given to try by Robin Harford from Eat Weeds

Wild Asparagus with Sedge Grass Gomasio Seasoning… Wow!

Bath Asparagus can be bought from various seed companies so if you want to try them without depleting the wild stock… grow a patch in your garden or even in a window box for the ultimate in lazy foraging.