Foraging For Adventure

You have probably seen the videos, read the articles or been given a foraging book for Christmas at some point.  The first thing most people think is will I die doing this? Eating an out of season winkle taken from the shores of a pristine looking lake leading to a brutal and hard to forget two days on the toilet. Or enduring the ignominy of getting your stomach pumped after picking and eating a dodgy mushroom. The second response is often wow that looks fun, and cheap!

Both are relevant. Its not always that fun and in most cases you might not die. In an age of immediate gratification its often surprising how long it takes to collect enough of anything to make a reasonable meal much as we are surprised at how much effort it takes to grow a potato.

On a recent trip to the Isle of Mull in the Western Isles of Scotland we went searching for mussels. Having already been to two local farms, the islands smoke house and the local diary for more venison, lamb, smoked salmon, cheese, eggs and local vegetables we could shake a stick at we stumbled across some mussels wandering along a Loch shoreline.

The next afternoon, at the low tide we went searching!

Scottish water is not just cold. Its bone numbingly, ball crushingly, nerve tinglingly, frost nip inducingly cold. As a Scottish surfer and Kiter I know how painful it can be but scrabbling around in the low tide shoreline, without a wetsuit, really brings home the level of chill.

Rooting around in the rock pools, turning over lumps of seaweed our bucket of mussels gradually began to fill up at the same pace we lost feeling in our fingers. When you sit in a restaurant and get a huge bucket of mussels put in front of you it had never really occurred to me just how long each mussel takes to find, collect, clean and then prepare. As the pile gradually got bigger I was mentally dividing the bucket into two bowls and praying that we got enough mussels for two before the feeling in my hands totally gave out.

Forging for food doesn’t need to be an all out assault on nature’s larder. It can be picking some wild garlic to have with dinner, collecting blackberries with your kids or catching fish from your neighbours pond J. You don’t need to go full Bear Grylls.

Depending on the season you can also use foraging as a way of getting some extra food whilst on an adventure that you don’t have to carry. I have used cherries from trees in the Southern Norwegian Fjords to keep my energy levels up whilst doing an adventure race. Blackberries to lift my spirits whilst wild camping in a soggy Devon woodland and seaweed to try and add some flavour to a drab expedition meal. Crisped over a jetboil!

The Woodland Trust has a great selection of UK and Northern Europe guides which tells you month by month what is worth keeping an eye out for and how you can use it. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/things-to-do/foraging/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2KGZvp3A3wIViUPTCh3aswDlEAAYASAAEgJBdPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

The end result, as every Christmas forgaging book or youtube channel vid will tell you is always worth the effort. The mussels we collected tasted amazing. Made all the sweeter by the effort and nerve endings we had sacrificed along the way. A footprint free meal and a great way to get an excellent appreciation of what it takes to get a mussel in your bowl.

So I reckon you should always try to forage where possible. They are always meals with a story and often go hand in hand with an adventure. Its food that hasn’t even been near a factory, a lorry or a freezer and will defiantly have zero miles travelled!  

Please make sure you aren’t picking any poisonous fungi’s to fry for breakfast or accidentally eating a shellfish at the wrong time of the year (Only in months with an R at the end in the UK). Use a book like John Wright’s (see below) or use one of the many foraging apps available to stay safe and follow the Woodland Trusts Guidelines for responsible foraging below.

John Wright from River Cottage is an expert forager, and has produced several books on the subject. River Cottage Handbook No. 5, Edible Seashore includes recipes. (Bloomsbury 2009, £14.99).

The Woodland Trusts Guide to Responsible Foraging

Guidelines for responsible foraging

Seek permission from the landowner

On Woodand Trust sites we do not allow foraging for commercial purposes, only personal use.

On some of our sites we prefer you not to forage even for small amounts of fungi or other species. This is on sites that are important for conservation, or are habitats for rare or vulnerable species, or where there are problems with over-picking. These sites can be identified through signage on site, but please always check before setting out.

Find a wood to explore

Know what you're picking

Never consume a wild plant or fungus unless you are absolutely certain of its identification. It could be rare and protected, inedible or even deadly poisonous. Use reference books to identify. Fungi can be notoriously difficult to identify, so if you're unsure it's best to leave alone.

Only collect from plentiful populations

Only collect flowers, leaves, fruits and seeds where they are in abundance. For fungi, only take mushrooms that have opened their caps (so are likely to have dropped their spores). Do not collect small ‘button’ mushrooms.

Leave plenty behind for others and for wildlife

Wild food is vital for the survival of the UK’s wildlife and it is important to forage sustainably to ensure there is enough left for birds and others, and to allow the plant or fungus itself to produce seeds and spores that grow into the next generation. Please also be aware that you may not be the only person foraging.

Beware poisonous species

Make sure you know what you are collecting before setting out. 

Do not collect rare species

Only take plants and fungi where you are certain you know what they are. Take a good field guide to confirm species in the field and avoid confusion. Some species are protected by law, so know what not to collect. Ancient woodlands in particular can contain many rare species so take special care.

Minimise damage to the nearby habitat and species

Do not just collect everything you see and sort it out later, and take care not to trample down areas you are collecting from.

Take no more than those you plan to eat

Uprooting plants is harmful so pick leaves or berries with care and moderation and avoid damaging the plant’s roots.

Wild plants and the law

All wild plants are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981). It is illegal to dig up or remove a plant (including algae, lichens and fungi) from the land on which it is growing without permission from the landowner or occupier. Some species are specially protected against picking, uprooting, damage and sale. A list of these can be found on Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981).