My Herbs 1

WILD SOURCES OF FAT AND OIL
Paleobotanical evidence shows that
hazelnuts (Cornus avellana), which
contain up to 60 percent fat, served as
a vital source of oil (so much so that it
was even possible to pay taxes with
them through the Middle Ages). The
nuts of European beech (Fagus sylvatica)
were also popular; the highestquality
oil was the one cold-pressed
from peeled beech nuts.
During World War I, it was forbidden
to feed beech nuts to cattle, as the nuts
had to be kept for oil production. It is
also likely that seeds of English walnut
(Juglans regia), false flax (Camelina
alyssum alyssum) or hedge mustard
(Sisymbrium officinale) were used to
make oil. There is also evidence that
flax (Linum usitatissimum) and opium
poppy (Papaver somniferum) oils were
being produced as far back as Neolithic
times.
Cannabis sativa was also widely
grown, as was rapeseed (Brassica napus)
and elderberry fruits (Sambucus nigra),
which poor families used to make butter.
Ripe elderberry fruits could be
boiled to release oily substances which
were then collected from the surface.
When the oily substances stiffened,
they could be used as grease.
WILD SPECIES OF FRUIT
In the early Neolithic era, mixed oak
forests provided a natural supply of
food. Many forest berries like
strawberries and blueberries
(Vaccinium mytrillus) are still being
picked to this day. They were used to
make a dense sauce with milk and
honey, known in Central and Eastern
Europe as “žahúr.” There are also
raspberries (Rubus idaeus), blackberries
(Rubus fruticosus) and cloudberries
(Rubus chamaemorus).
From today’s commonly cultivated
species, there were mainly wild apples,
plum species, and prunes growing in
the forest. Cultivars appear first at the
end of the La Tène period (about 500
to 1 BC), when the territory of Central
Europe was inhabited by Celtic tribes.
The transition from wildly growing
species to orchards had probably begun
when people were clearing forests and
decided not to take down fruit trees
and other useful kinds of trees.
Examples of picked (not grown) fruit,
based on findings from the Neolithic,
Chalcolithic and Bronze eras include
European crab apple (Malus sylvestris),
pear (Pyrus sp.), wild cherry (Cerasus
avium), sour cherry (Cerasus fruticosa),
common hazel (Corylus avellana), cornelian
cherry (Cornus mas), elderberry
(Sambucus nigra), danewort (Sambucus
ebulus), blackthorn (Prunus spinosa),
rowan berry (Sorbus sp.), currant (Ribes
sp.), common dogwood (Cornus sanguinea),
bladder cherry (Physalis
alkekengi), hawthorn (Crataegus sp.)
and bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara).
An important virtue of wild fruit is
that it can be very well preserved by
drying. Without preserving wild fruits,
our ancestors would have suffered from
a lack of vitamin C during winters.
Try:
Lady’s mantle
(Alchemilla xanthochlora)
This perennial plant that blooms
from May to July grows in abundance
on meadows, pastures and in gardens.
It likes wet, nutrient-rich soil and
grows across all altitudinal vegetation
zones, from lowlands to mountainous
areas.
The plant has a short stool with fine fibrous
roots. The caulis is up to
12 inches/30 centimeters tall, and it is,
straight and branched in the upper parts.
Leaves are arranged in a rosette at the
ground level; they are round and lobed,
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