Food for free

[Sara]

Hi everyone,

Could you help me out with a question? I know many of you are experienced gardeners, but do any of you forage for food, too? I used to love blackberrying when I was younger but I've never hunted for mushrooms in case something poisonous sneaks itself into the basket!

If you don't forage, what is it that puts you off? Are you like me and worried that you'll misidentify the plants or do you get more satisfaction from eating crops you've grown at home? I know some gardeners worry about the impact pollution or contaminants can have on wild plants, too.


Your comments may be edited and published in Grow Your Own's September issue.

[OverWyreGrower]

I try and forage as much as possible, however, it's mainly for fruit/berries; rather than mushrooms!

We forage for elderflowers, wild garlic, various berries and fruit.
I'm not overly bothered about contaminents etc, as I think if you grow in your garden/allotment, chances are you'll get some contaminents etc anyway unless you are in the middle of nowhere!

[chris]

I don't, simply because I'm worried I may misidentify & also that it may be comtaminated.

[SarzWix]

Lots of things can be eaten from 'the wild', and basic common-sense should help to keep pollutants at a minimum. For instance, don't pick blackberries from the side of a very busy road, go and find a quieter patch alongside a canal for instance, or in an overgrown corner of the local park.
We pick blackberries, elderflowers, elderberries, young leaves of hawthorn and beech, dandelion flowers (using the petals for wine), rosehips, rowan berries, sloes, bullaces, the odd puff-ball mushroom if we come across one, and even cherries and apples can be found on the canal towpath near here!

[dave_norm_smith]

Hi
I love to forage and use it as a good excuse to take the kids out for a walk. Last years bounty included Blackberry's, Walnut, Apples, Horseradish, plums and Pears. However, I draw the line at Fungi for obvious reasons until I can find an expert to take me under their wing! We are still eating the jam now.

Dave_norm_smith

[Nicos]

I forage for berries, nettles, comfrey,sloes- the 'usual' foods.
I wish I knew more about what you can eat- and what can be done with them.
It's a safety issue with me too rather than pollution worries.

[FROSTYFRECKLE]

I don't forage due to my ignorance - scared I poison myself

[vicky]

I love foraging for the usual sloes, blackberries, elderflowers/berries, apples and crabapples. Fungi are too easy to misidentify so I leave those apart from puffballs. I have also spent many a day looking for truffles - with no luck so far! I have since planted a 'truffle tree' in the garden so I can forage there now! Apparently they look like something a dog may have left!
I would love to be closer to the sea to hunt for mussels, razor clams and all the other fun things HFW collects in Dorset!

[Birdie Wife]

I forage for some mushrooms but I only know a few that are edible - and the differences between those and the poisonous ones that look similar - so I just stick to those 3 or 4 species (field mushrooms, chanterelles, shaggy parasol and cep/pennybun if you're interested which ones!). I love berry picking are we're blessed with a clean climate up here so I can happily pick lots of blackberries, bilberries, even the odd wild raspberry and cranberry. I'm quite a hardy soul so I'll tend to pick from the tops of blackberry bushes, pushing my way through the prickles, and leave the berries lower down for others. I only pick enough for myself and the family, and I try not to go too crazy, though it's so hard to tear myself away from a laden bush! i wish we had wild pears, plums, damsons, quince, greengages... but they don't grow this far north. On the plus side, we have lots of beautiful clean water up here so we go fishing and collect mussels in some places too.

[winstonwobble]

I go and collect berries and the like darnt touch mushrooms though for fear of killing myself could be something for the mag to look into give us a few pointers

[rana]

Fruit, flowers, leaves - I'll forage for whatever is worth eating (do you count roadkill?). I look forward each year to the autumn because of the abundance of edible fungi growing in the forests. Some are especially good for drying - thereby providing a treat for the future. You do need to know what you are collecting though as there are some poison species to be found in amongst the good stuff.

[Bramble_killer]

Of course! This year we've picked elderflowers and left some on the hedges nearby to go back later in the year for elderberries. We have a huge patch of brambles in the corner of the play area in front of my house and last year I picked 5kilos!! Made me laugh when they were being sold at Waitrose up the road for £1.99 a punnet. Also try to look for sloes and rosehips but am rubbish at spotting those.

Last year we went on a mushroom indentification walk/tour (Wilderness Wood - Home) and learnt how to spot a few things but still a bit scared of picking the wrong sort so will maybe learn one kind and try it in the autumn.

[kernowyon]

I am lucky to live in an area with huge military training areas all around, perfect for foraging, we go mushrooming regularly when in season mainly for the ones that are good for drying, and it has all the usual berries.

Last year I 'found' an old fruit garden that used to belong to a long demolished convent and is now just wasteland, there was at least five types of plum, mulberry, fig, sloes and damsons. Needless to say I didn't mentioned the location to too many people.

[solway cropper]

Can't imagine not foraging and can't understand why others don't do it. When I was a small child I'd go out with grandma to pick brambles and bilberries and mushrooms when they were available. Been doing it now for nearly sixty years.

My mate picks up all the road kill he finds but I haven't got round to that yet.

[Sanjo]

We forgage for the usual blackberries, apples, elderberries, rose hips wild greengages and this year cherries. I consider all these are organic since we pick in country parks etc and there is no way they will bother to spray the trees. We never pick by the roadside so have no fear of contaminants.