Foraging ... A GUIDE TO FORAGING by Kath Gavin FORAGE – two dictionary definitions: 1.noun ‘food for animals especially when taken by browsing or grazing’. 2. verb ‘to wander in search of food’. Some Reasons to Forage  To enjoy a walk in the fresh air and take time out to watch the wildlife encountered along the way. To appreciate and connect with the natural world around us, following the changes throughout the seasons. To explore local green spaces and learn about the habitats within them , recognising the different species and their interactions with each other. To reassess the meaning of a ‘weed’. To seek out tasty morsels and experience new, interesting and nutritious wild foods. To learn how to eat foraged foods raw, cook with them, and, when bountiful, preserve them. To inspire the growing of more hardy perennial and self-seeding annual species to provide food (and medicines, dyes, useful fibres, etc.) With careful planning and planting, beautiful edible landscapes in urban environments can be created, providing truly local and sustainable nutrition. Responsible and Safe Foraging  • Avoid picking from areas subject to road or industrial pollution. • Pick only from plants you can positively identify. Use a good field guide. • If you are going to cause damage to other vegetation to get to it, don’t try and pick it. • When picking, take care to leave the rest of the plant intact. • Harvest only as much as you will use, from common plants, growing in abundance. • Take small quantities from several plants rather than stripping one plant bare. • It is illegal under The Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) to dig up wild plants by the root, except on your own land or with permission of the land owner. • Remember the local wildlife’s survival depends on wild sources of food. The foraging site should be left barely any different from how you found it. • Take suitable containers and bags and an appropriate cutting tool. • Take an extra bag for any rubbish you find along the way. • Be cautious with new foods. Try just a little of one thing at first, to make sure it agrees with you. • Enjoy it and give thanks. Some common plants to be starting with  NETTLE Urtica dioica One of best with so many uses, well known, abundant, nutritious, cleansing and delicious. Cooks like spinach. Older leaves can have a laxative effect. Take some rubber gloves! CHICKWEED Stellaria media Year round salad and cooked green, found on field edges and common in gardens, allotments and where the ground has been disturbed. High in vitamin C. A herbal treatment for eczema. BRAMBLES/BLACKBERRY Rubus fruticosus An autumn hedgerow treat for purple tongues. Eat fresh, make into jams, pies, crumbles, wine... ELDERFLOWER/BERRIES Sambucus nigra For cordials, fritters, champagne, wine. The berries makes a valuable flu remedy. SWEET CICELY Myrrhis odorata Found in field/ hedgerow borders. Sweet aniseed leaf, delicious stewed with sharp fruits such as gooseberry and rhubarb. Young green seeds like juicy liquorice torpedoes. DANDELIONS Taraxacum officinale Bitter (reduced if blanched) but nutritious leaves and flowers. Try in moderation mixed with other salad leaves or cooked like spinach. WILD GARLIC Allium ursinum Springtime gourmet treat found in damp semi-shaded areas. Use leaves and flowers as a herb, raw or added towards the end of cooking. FAT HEN Chenopodium album Common annual of disturbed ground. Spinach like leaves and edible seed heads. DOG ROSE Rosa canina Delicious red rose hips found in autumn hedgerows and on waste ground. Make into a syrup to ward off winter infections. Dilute or use as a fruit sauce. Useful resources BOOKS ... FOOD FOR FREE. Richard Mabey WILD FOOD. Roger Phillips THE WILD FLOWER KEY. Francis Rose THE WILD FLOWERS OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND. Alistair Fitter HOW TO MAKE A FOREST GARDEN. Patrick Whitefield 101 USES FOR STINGING NETTLES Piers Warren HOW TO STORE YOUR GARDEN PRODUCE Piers Warren A HEDGEROW COOKBOOK Glennie Kindred WEBSITES ... PLANTS FOR A FUTURE www.pfaf.org Fascinating and useful information about the many uses of plants. BRITISH MYCOLOGICAL SOCIETY www.bms.ac.uk/Code Mushroom pickers code of conduct FERGUS DRENNEN THE FORAGER www.wildmanwildfood.com Useful information about foraging and the environment plus legislation. PERMANENT PUBLICATIONS www.permanent-publications.org.uk Many useful books and links to permaculture sites NATURALI www.naturali.co.uk Seasonal guide to edible and medicinal wild plants EAT WEEDS www.eatweeds.co.uk Interesting recipes
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