Gather round folks, cos not a lot of people know this.
Round my way, gorse bushes are almost omnipresent. They are very common on the local heathland and, due to their extra prickliness, are used by security minded folk as garden hedges. Gorse thrives in very poor soil conditions and so is fairly common even in urban environs.
Gorse is an outstanding forage plant for three good reasons. Firstly, it is very easy to identify. The dense prickly bush is usually covered in bright yellow flowers, hence the old country phrase at the top of this post. Secondly, because it is so prevalent, it's usually easy to find in spots that don't require permission to forage from. Finally, and most oddly for those who've never tried, the flowers smell and taste of coconut!
I wouldn't recommend eating any other part of a gorse but the flowers can be used to flavour things such as honey, ice cream or vinegar. In addition, they can be used to make wine, or a gorse flower cordial. Pick a few and experiment.....perhaps with the aid of some nice thick gloves.
I briefly touched on permissions above. This is an important element in foraging. In my next post I'll be covering the 'rules of the road' as applied to foraging, both from a legal and an etiquette perspective.
In the meantime, I'd love to hear from you with your gorse experiences!
There's not much gorse out at the moment, here. Yes, there's a few flowers here and there, but not enough to make foraging worthwhile. Which is a shame, because now I'm gagging to try the Gorse Flower cordial! LOL
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