I love how you always put in the botanical names of plants on screen! Especially for people from another country it makes it really easy to translate since different plants can have the same name and the same plant can have different names but the botanical name is always easy to accurately translate.
This kind of video that you make is so lovely. It makes me feel like I’m on vacation, leisurely walking around with an incredibly knowledgeable forager, and then going over to a friend’s house to learn how to cook with the goods.
@@gwenmorse8059 also I learned that the best part of the plant is the roots, so I will collect some seeds and grow a couple of plants at home next year
"I have an interesting theory...well I think it's interesting" That quote so perfectly defines so many things that are interesting to me but then I share it with friends and family and it very obviously was not as interesting to them as it was to me 😂
I know I've commented this in past videos but I can't overstate how much I love these nature videos. I used to love taking walks like these but I've become wheelchair bound in adulthood. It's so nice to be able to feel like I'm out there again. 😊
Your videos are, without any doubt whatsoever, THE most relaxing, interesting, enjoyable, educational and variable (by that I mean all encompassing) than any others on the internet. You outperform any other by a country mile. Always fresh and surprising where others signally fail. There are only so many comparisons one can perform without becoming stale and you avoid this by being so varied in your content and I might add, your videos are longer too. So Mike, a very sincere THANK YOU for yet another brilliant offering which I will watch several times. Thanks also to your ever patient wife Jenny, for encouraging and supporting you in this 'career' change. Best wishes to you and your family. 😁💐
Mr. Shrimp's warning about his videos not providing enough information to make one a reliable forager is well taken. I figured that out long ago because I live in the USA, and I realized the difference between the flora here and that in the UK is far greater than I would have imagined. A little story on that point: My father grew up in the 1920's in a small town that was packed with recently arrived immigrants from many countries. The Italians (who were probably all from the same village in Italy) all became excited at one point because they had heard that an Italian man (whom they all knew by name) was coming to America. They were excited because he was an expert mushroom-picker, and they thought they would all have tons of mushrooms with him in the neighborhood. My father concluded the story by pointing at a hilltop and saying, "He's buried over there on that hill." As it turned out, this man's mushroom expertise was only valid in Italy. He died after eating some of his haul from his first mushroom-gathering trip in America.
Foraging knowledge is very specific to where you learned it, especially when it comes to look-alikes you need to avoid. I wouldn't even dare to pick chanterelles or hedgehog mushrooms abroad without confirming with a local expert first, because I have no idea whether there are things I might confuse them with elsewhere in the world.
I saw a bunch of Asian people picking (what looked like) abundant wild spinach around our local river here in UK. My wife asked them about it and they said, "yea, it's edible", but I wasn't sure enough to take some as recently some Asian people in this region bought and ate young daffodils thinking they were something edible. Just not worth the risk unless you are absolutely certain.
I started watching this days ago, but felt that I couldn't pay attention to it at the time (because I was playing video games, of course) so I decided to set it aside for later. Very glad I did, as I sat down to eat tonight and remembered that I had this to watch while I enjoyed my big ol salad. These sorts of videos are excellent for meal entertainment as they're always so cozy and chill.
I grew up in Dorset but now live in Ireland. Your videos all over Dorset have taken me back years down memory lane, so lovely to explore again through your videos. We lived Lulworth Cove as kids but our favourite beach in the area was Beer because we were kids and thought it was a hilarious name
While I'm a big advocate of weighing in general cooking, lacto-ferments are very, very forgiving. That's a 2L Kilner jar, and you're pickling stuff that's very similar in density to water, so instead of faffing separating and weighing around once you'd already added the water, I'd just have assumed 2%*2kg = 40g. And because I'm generally eyeballing when I lacto-ferment, I'd probably throw in another pinch to be on the safe side. I generally aim for 2.2-2.5% though, so it'd probably end up being more like 50g for that jar if I were doing it. Anyway, big fan of your videos! Thanks for what you do :-)
I was down there, and Durdle door, last Saturday foraging. Got some good nosh, lovely rocks and seaweed for the allotment. I was impressed by the lack of visible plastics on the beach. I found one piece of nylon rope. That was it. Lovely.
I visited Lulworth as a teenager (about 40 years ago) and hired a row boat (there were none of those private boats in the cove back then). That day the water was crystal clear and perfectly calm, a forest of beautiful, different coloured seaweeds below. Since I was a teen and had a lot more energy, I walked to Durdle Door and beyond. I remember there were hardly any people around back then, despite it being prime holiday season. How things change.
Your videos are always interesting to watch. What a beautiful place to walk and so much to see. Thank you for uploading this. Eva is so cute, love to see her in your videos 😊 even if we only hear her bark 😊
I just did my first “foraging” (in my lawn) of ground elder today, to make pesto. I personally thinks it can be even better than basil pesto, and unlike basil, ground elder _thrives_ up here (thanks monks for introducing it, I guess, because now it’s practically impossible to get rid of so I’m definitely not afraid of over harvesting).
I've just today discovered ground elder in a corner of the garden here at Shrimp Cottage. I love eating it, but I will probably try to eradicate from this garden. It's in a fairly contained area, so I might win
I recently named a Scyther in Pokemon Alexanders. (I'm naming all my Pokemon after edible herbs from a wikipedia page) So it's neat to see how Alexanders is actually eaten!
Haven't been down to Lulworth in donkey's years, which is mad since we're only over in Swanage! If you're after ramsons there's a couple of acres of it near Old Harry. Picked a great bunch (responsibly of course) a couple of weeks ago that's just gone in the jar as our year's supply of wild garlic salt. Great sprinkled on just about anything savoury, and the best way to preserve the flavour in my view.😄
A three-cornered leek appeared in my front garden last year. This year I've already had several clumps dug up, but it's even growing in the cracks in the footpath now. So invasive!
That definitely looks like an excellent place to visit, not many coves anywhere in the UK that are as pretty. Thank you for taking us on the walk because some of us can't manage it, especially in wheelchairs 😅😅
I got a lactose-fermenting kit for my birthday & a couple of months on, I'm still yet to use it. I'm keen to watch part 2 before I start my own (I'll probably use some more conventional vegetables as I'm not a confident forager), as watching your process makes me feel more confident to give it a go.
Lovely video as always. We went to Lulworth in August on a dank misty day. But we were mad enough to go down to Durdle Door, up and over to Lulworth and then back to the door. A whole week's worth of fitness points in a day!!
The mudstone looks like it could be part of the strata there. As you mention the watercourse there's a phenomenon where rivers and streams may gollow the course of a stream first formed millions of years ago, as the mudstones and sands deposited there are often a less resistant route than the surrpunding more consolidated rocks!
If you leave your tap water sit out overnight/24 hrs in an open-top container, the chlorine will off-gas and then you can then use that water for fermentation without any issues. I live in the US and the water in my state is heavily chlorinated/treated. I am an avid fermenter for health reasons and I’ve never had an issue doing this. No special spring water required.
you sound well! I'm endlessly fascinated by your channel, it's this special little comfort I've had for years and years now. thank you, wish you the best!!
Great minds think alike! I found out that coffee jar lid / weight trick a few years ago, it’s revolutionised my sauerkraut. Also when I pickle and ferment hogweed shoots I weigh them after preparation and add the correct weight of salt directly to the veg,leave for an hour to draw out the excess liquid, pop the veg in the jar and then top up with fresh water. I’ve never had a batch of any fermented veg go bad- Just an idea to speed things up. Enjoy all of you videos immensely, we share a similar knowledge base when it comes to the outdoors, I however do not possess the technical ability to turn that knowledge in videos. Keep up the good work!
I was taught to massage the shredded cabbage with the salt to draw out the moisture, but also to break down the tough fibers a little bit. Makes it a little easier for the bacteria to do their work, afterwards. Makes for a somewhat quicker ferment, I think. Of course, the whole process still takes some time, but I do think, it speeds things up a little bit.
Lactofermentation is REALLY easy and very tasty! The main thing is keeping everything other then the vegge clean and making sure you're using the right amount of salt, buy some cheap kombucha pH strips (test 0-6 pH very cheap!) and maybe, maybe a decent kitchen scale but that is definitely optional. If you already vinegar pickle things its definitely worth trying lacto-fermenting. Lactic acid is sour without the sharpness of acetic (vinegar) acid and the fermentation adds a bunch of other fun flavors!
I was just watching a scam baiting video when I got the notification for a new vid! Yipeee! This channel is my comfort channel. All I been watching while stuck in bed sick.
Thank you so much for this video! Loved hearing about the stones. We went to lulworth cove and durdle door last year. Such stunning places! Really worth a visit. But the way down to durdle door beach can be a bit of a bother. Still both are absolute beautiful.
Awesome pickle! If I could add to your theory.... during periods of extreme drougt wetlands near the sea will still have green meterial that is edible by people and animals. Research done in south america had animals graze on the grasses and marsh plants near the sea. They found that the plants sequestered lots of salt. The cows consumed way more water than they otherwise would. Here's what I think. The people would soak the plants to get rid of the salt. I think someone put some soaking plants aside and forgot. Being drought conbitions with food scarcity, they ate it anyway.
Your weather at this time of the year is amazing. We're still getting snow in the mornings and only now getting a little grass sprouting up. I figure I need to wait another month before planting my garden. Last year I almost lost my potato plants when we had a bad frost and snow May 24th. Luckily they sprouted new leaves and the dead leaves I just cut away. I should say, I live in Central Newfoundland.
Three cornered leeks are indeed invasive, but I prefer them to the bindweed that was in my garden before and which they managed to smother! At least I can eat these. Re. tap water, I haven't had a problem using it in my ferments, though it might be interesting to do a side by side comparison.
oh so THAT'S why the UK has so many pebble beaches! I've always been curious because they're very rare here. Only just thought to check if I can get alexander seeds, have been interesting in trying them for years and it looks like I can - thanks for the reminder :D
One small comment - the saltwater is actually really important because Lactobacillus are one of the few bacteria that are not only acid-tolerant, but are also quite salt-loving. While most bacteria have trouble with the kind of osmotic pressure that saltwater created, Lactobacillus thrives in such conditions, and that's what allows it to outcompete others initially and drive the acidity up.
Oh, nevermind me, you did mention that! Really interested in Alexanders, I wonder why it fell out of favor as a garden plant. Seems lovely. Not native to here, I wonder if I can get some seeds somewhere.
Around 7:32-7:36 minutes into the video it looks like a face made out of the cottage and hill, funny how humans can depict faces out of anything! Love the videos as usual 🙌🏼
Oh yes, I did find this interesting for a number of things. I'm on a Pacific coast (California), and I'd never heard of Alexanders or Sea beets, and I do enjoy learning about stuff people eat. For a long time I have wondered where all of the pebbles on 'shingles' come from! I'm used to seeing mostly fine grained sand on 'beaches' with the occasional rock or pebble, shell, and/or litter,🤥 etc.. I used to wonder if it was trucked in. I don't recall seeing iron ore in situ (and I'd like to see the video of you smelting some!). For a good little while I've been thinking about trying to make my own sauerkraut (it costs a FORTUNE for what it is, and I could use a large quantity at times) and maybe even other pickles, but I haven't yet bothered. I think getting the salt level right will be the hard part for me. Anyway, I always really enjoy all of your videos but thank you very much for this, and I look forward to the continuation of this project and whatever else you do. BTW, I too was once invaded by three cornered leeks in a grassy area, and before we knew what was happening we had a very large mass of them. We had to move away too!😆 When we mowed the grass the whole neighborhood smelled delicious! It's too bad I never thought of cooking and eating them. It was pre-internet, and no one I asked had any idea.
For what its worth, I home lacto-ferment with Canadian municipal tap water and I've had a lot of success. Last year I did a 9 jars of garden grape tomatoes with only one failure (which I think was for unrelated reasons)
That was very interesting. Thanks for taking us along on your outing. That pickling process takes time and we didn't want to wait for it to finish to see this video..
Good haul! I didn't see the whole harvesting process, but from the very first harvested one it made me think that it could be worth thinking about from which angle you're harvesting from in a public area like that. The bees and the plants themselves probably don't care, but since you were clear about other people visiting the area also, it could be worth keeping in mind to harvest the flowers and such at angles that will still preserve the beauty of the plant as much as possible for those who just want to spectate. Of course it's not something you need to think about during casual foraging, and as you explained you foraged in an area where it hardly even made a dent. But again, in such a well-visited area, it could well be worth thinking about such harvesting angles, especially when the plants grow in abundance. Loved the video anyway! Always nice to see your explorations into the countryside (and sometimes the wild).
If you like garlic try fermented one as well. I do mine in salt brine - it turns a beautiful golden colour and fermentation takes some of the heat away, but not too much. It's amazing. Oh, and fermented tomatoes - a must in my house.
Thank you for a wonderful video, and probably not for the usual reasons. As a South London school child of the 50's, my parents scraped together the money to send me on a school trip to Lulworth Cove. I didn't want to go but the money was paid (at a huge sacrifice) so I went sobbing. We stayed in a hut which was freezing. But my overriding memory (apart from being homesick and cold) is of climbing over barbed wire to get down to the beach. We were told it was mined and definitely out of bounds. Thinking now I guess it was the MOD firing range. My childhood memories are sketchy, but I have the scar to this day so it must be half right. Thank you for transporting me back there.
I'm 110% a person who LOVES the warm time of year. And i become really difficult to handle (to myself aswell as others) when its cold. So i'm over the MOOOOOON today, now that i had the first wonderful sunshine and warm weather. I redid a planter of thyme and oregano and had a long, nice walk. And on TOP of ALL that wonderfulness, it also means the start of another packed outdoor season of videos from Mr. Shrimp and i could barely be any happier right now
Ooh, looks worth trying. I have Alexanders in my garden (grown in the shade, it behaves itself and doesn't try to take over). Also, I have Ransoms, Common Hemlock, Walking Onions, Welsh Onions, Dandelions aplenty (inc 2 cultivated versions), and maybe a few springs of Oregano would go nice in there. I did grow the Alexanders from seed, understanding that future seed can be used as a substitute for pepper. Understand this - it is not a great substitute. I used it once for this purpose and never again. It's too bitter. However, the plants look so lovely and healthy, it's one of the few garden plants that are not attacked by pests or diseases, and the occasional leaf in a cheese sandwich is welcome.
Ah. I was wondering about the exact taste. Considering, that pepper used to be so expensive once upon a time, I was wondering why something like these seeds would have been replaced by it. I wonder, if people ever made an attempt, to improve the taste by deliberate breeding.
You’re right to be wary of the pH indicator paper, some of the chemicals used as the indicator are ferocious laxatives. Phenolphthalein is the one that comes to mind, a single drop or two in a big punch bowl can absolutely ruin a party.
Iv always got heavy floral flavours on the rare occasion iv tried Alexander seeds. It's personally not a flavour that appeals to me as I'm not a massive fan of overpowering floral. I am however lucky enough to have mustard growing along the clifftop near me and the leaves of those are lovely and sweet with a mild mustard heat. I could Imagine those fermenting very well as part of a sauerkraut
Alexanders aren't growing in the wild where I live (in the Netherlands). They do have a Dutch name (Zwartmoeskervel). I got some seeds and now there's a plant growing in my garden. It's still too small to pick from it. I hope it will grow on happily, so in a few years I can make such pickles (with the different kinds of wild garlics/onions growing here too; not the 3-cornered).
A great video to watch while I relax in the bath. The weekly stress just fades away. Liked the improvised weight, perhaps add a small screw 'handle' into the plastic part to help extract if it sinks too far down
Three cornered leek was plant that got me into foraging for the first time- I noticed a patch by the river I walk past to the gym and the smell made me curious enough to take some and do some research. Over the next couple years it's spread and taken over at least 1km of the river and I've noticed huge stretches of it in multiple local woodlands where I've no doubt it's killed a ton of local natives so it's now, like you, very much a love-hate thing. On the plus side I don't need to feel concerned about eating too much and it's essentially pointless to buy spring onions here, at least during Spring.
Nice move down to Dorset. I moved away from Devon 30 years ago to Cheshire, but would dearly like to move back again. I grew up learning foraging from my Father and we had all kinds of collectables from mushrooms to hazel nuts to winkles in our diet. There's definitely something better about own collected or grown produce.
I'd love to take samples at different points in the fermentation process and perform metagenomic analysis to track the composition of the microbial communities that are forming.
I'm not going to try it anytime soon - but I also really appreciate you publishing the video now so others can 👍👍 hopefully in a couple of weeks you can do a taste test when using it with one of your wicked recipes.
i always do my lacto fermenting in those douwe egberts coffee jars. i remove the plastic thing from the lid and let it push the liquid in the plate the jat is in. i top the water up every day with some salt. im not a fan of the closed lid fermentation personally. i have a large jug of cauliflower that finished fermenting just the other day, super super good. if you havent tried it i can recommend cauliflower, and swede is very good too! i flavour my cauliflower with fresh garlic and dill, the swede with fresh garlic and tarragon. the swede has a very interesting almost radish flavour, goes really well with asian style food
