[blog-archive-images]
Foraging instructor and proud member of the Association of Foragers, Lizzy Mary Jane Farmer, shares her foraging journey, along with tips and tricks, with Slow Food UK.
Foraging and me
“Slow Food Believes in Good, Clean & Fair food for all. Whether you are a consumer looking for good food, or a producer looking for support, we are with you.”
With this tagline on Slow Food UK’s landing page in mind, I am humbled to have been invited to write a blog post for them and you, to which I hope the below suffices!
Currently, I am not a producer (though I would like to be in some wild manner, and I am actively working on this!). Nature does that part all by itself. But I am very much a consumer; it is, of course, something that we all are. With times tough for many of our pockets, foraging fits nicely in with this as a way to supplement both your diet and well-being all in one wholesome swoop.
Foraging ticks so many boxes and has saved me many pounds over the years in salad and fruit. Particularly, the fungi I now consume are vastly diverse, and I eat many species native to the UK over a single year. Foraging can be incorporated into a dog walk, a wander with the kids or grandkids, or even as a family and friends’ activity.
It is an easy, cheap hobby to start. That being said, it becomes more than a hobby for most; it becomes a lifestyle that fits with those who work and produce foodstuffs. In my case, I teach about wild foods and how to use them. It also suits those who just love the outdoors.
Essential Foraging Kit
Baskets are a fab bit of kit to get cheaply. My favourites have all been from charity shops and car boot sales. However, if you don’t feel like skipping about with one on your lunch break, you can pop a supermarket veg bag in your pocket for around 30p; it does the same job in essence and washes well too. Knives do not need to be the ‘Opinel’ ones that many foragers like to use. I now have one of these myself, an engraved one gifted by my lovely partner, but I also keep a pruning knife (thanks, Caz, The Don of Pinecone Jam—yes, that is a thing!) and even a sharpened butter knife as part of my kit too.
What to Forage in August?
As we head into August, there is an abundance of wild foods to find around us, from berries to cherry plums now ripe for the picking. Hedgerows are our friend this time of year in particular, dripping with blackberries, wild plums, and perhaps even elderberries ripening near you too.
You may also luck in on Chantrelle or Penny Bun mushrooms in a local woodland. There are far too many quality edible species to list here, but a good book will aid you as you hopefully immerse yourself in this wonderful hobby.
The Magic of Foraging
When it comes to forgotten foods and similar items that Slow Food showcases, champions, and encourages people to consider, it leads me to do the same as both my full-time role and my passion for our ever-seasonal outdoor supermarket. Our wild foods have, to some degree, been forgotten, sidelined by convenience foods, and demoted to simply weeds and wallflowers at the current party of fast food, bright packaging, and heavily processed foodstuffs.
I am chronically aware while writing this that, for most of you, quality food is important. Pairings between the things you produce and wild foods now feature heavily on plates across the country and beyond, combining the finest rare and perhaps forgotten meats, heritage fruits, and vegetables with their seasonal wild counterparts.
And why not? How cool is it that there is decent stuff out there to add to meals? As I type, I’m dehydrating wild oyster (Pleurotus) mushrooms foraged from a stunningly ancient farm’s private woodland, where I have full permission to do so. It’s very magical and rewarding. So perhaps get yourself a book or two and take a closer look to see what your land, or indeed local area, has in terms of delicious things to learn about and then eat! Just use your integrity when picking; we all know right from wrong. I leave you with that responsibility regarding both picking sustainably and smartly taking dog habits into consideration, for example.
It’s a slow and gentle hobby to start, and some species are incredibly simple to begin with. Just take baby steps, and you will be surprised how many you can learn well in a year and build upon going forward. We were hunter-gatherers in our not-so-distant past, and it comes back very easily as a valuable, fun skillset as you get into it. Who doesn’t like free food?
Make sure to check out the responsible foraging guidelines before you begin.
Lizzy runs Tellus Mater, an organisation that offers guided foraging walks and nature-based activities aimed at promoting well-being and a deeper connection to nature.
