I hadn’t heard of wild chamomile/pineapple weed until coming across a post on Instagram by Wild Food UK. As seems to be typical with things like this, I suddenly started to see it everywhere! This hardy little annual loves harsh conditions and poor soil, yet manages to have such a lovely, delicate flavour. As its various names would suggest, the flavour is like chamomile with a hint of pineapple, and apparently it has calming and stomach-soothing properties.

How to find wild chamomile/pineapple weed

Wild chamomile loves rough, dry, gravelly paths and seems to really flourish along the boundaries of our allotment plot. The leaves are fine with lots of little fronds and the yellow buds appear in summer making them much easier to spot.

Remember My Golden Rules of Foraging, plus these extra tips for wild chamomile/pineapple weed:

• As wild chamomile is usually found in scrubby rough roads or paths, it’s worth taking extra care to ensure they haven’t been sprayed with any weed killers or become otherwise polluted.

Uses for wild chamomile/pineapple weed

Unsurprisingly, wild chamomile makes a rather lovely herbal tea. You only need a teaspoonful of the greeny-yellow buds in an infuser and you’re sorted for the calming flavour of chamomile with a fruity touch. The buds can be eaten fresh and have a bright, pineapple flavour so I think they would work perfectly as a slight adaptation of this recipe for Lemon and Chamomile Biscuits. Alternatively you can garnish a salad or a cocktail with them as well. The leaves are also edible, although they can be rather bitter once the buds have appeared.

This blog is not intended as a foraging or identification guide. Always use a trusted guide when foraging and comply with local laws.