Foraging Plants.
Foraging is searching for and collecting edible plants, fruits, nuts, seeds and fungi from the outdoors.
Free Resources - Foraging Plants.
FORAGING, verb; present participle of FORAGE - “to go from place to place searching for things that you can eat or use” - Cambridge Dictionary
The Basics.
It is important to understand why you would like to forage. It could be to understand more about how our ancestors lived in harmony with nature. It could be to harvest plants for food or their medicinal properties. It could be simply to gain a better understanding and connection with nature, and a mindful opportunity.
Whatever, your objectives, it is important to learn and understand each plant’s properties. What could be nutritious, what could be health supporting and what could be toxic. Consider the component parts of each plant for risks and opportunities, such as the seeds, the fruit, the flowers, the leaves, the stems and the roots.
Before you start, consider how you plan to process and use the plants.
Foraging Etiquette.
Always get land owner’s permission.
Avoid Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Do not pick endangered or protected species.
Respect nature and be appropriate. Consider the impact to others including wildlife.
Consider the plants themselves; will your actions inappropriately harm them.
Only harvest small amounts for your personal needs.
Try not to disturb habitats and always remove rubbish.
Consider risk of pollution, herbicides, pesticides and other contamination on plants.
Consider toxicity of plants as well as possible health concerns such as allergies.
Share knowledge, but be mindful about sharing your foraging sites to prevent over use.
Foraging Equipment.
Wear appropriate clothing, usually covering legs and arms. Consider layers to keep warm and to regulate your temperature. Consider wearing gloves to protect hands. Wear sturdy footwear.
Method of identifying plants such as field guide or app.
Secateurs. These come in design styles of “bypass” or “anvil”.
Basket, rucksack or bag.
Foraging Calendar (Northern Hemisphere).
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Wild garlic, Nettle, Common Mallow, Garlic Mustard, Ground Elder, Chickweed, Sheep’s Sorrel, Dandelion Root, Hairy Bittercress, Wood Sorrel
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Borage, Chickweed, Beech Leaf, Elderflower, Nerttle, Wild Garlic, Wild Thyme, Wood Sorrel, Yarrow, Hawthorne Blossom, Dog Rose Flower, Cleaver, Common Poppy
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Apple, Blackberry, Hazelnut, Beech Nut, Elderberry, Gooseberry, Raspberry, Chicory, Chickweed, Chamomile, Burdock, Common Mallow, Dandelion Leaf, Dandelion Flower, Rowan Berry, Nettle, Plum, Sweet Chestnut, Juniper Berry, Garlic Mustard, Wild Thyme, Wood Sorrel, Yarrow, Strawberry, Spearmint, Hawthorne Berry, Horseradish
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Chestnut, Hawthorne Berry, Horseradish, Spearmint, Sweet Chestnut, Sloe, Walnut, Chickweed,
Consider Risks.
Depending where you are planning to forage, consider managing exposure to risks such as the following:
Contamination (e.g. animal faeces, chemicals and other pollutants (such as air pollution, insecticides, herbicides, soil pollution)
Weil’s disease.
Ticks.
Liver fluke.
Thorns.
Stings.
Disturbing habitats.
Toxicity of plants and poisonous plants (e.g. poison ivy, henbane, foxglove, poison hemlock, water hemlock, yew, giant hogweed (phytophotodermatitis).
Toxicity of fungi and poisonous fungi.
Similarities in plants and errors of incorrect identification.
Processing.
Consider the processing you may need carry out to prepare your collected plants for consumption, whether for food or medicine. For example, confirmation of identification, washing, grinding, cooking, dehydrating, tincture making.
