Wild Food Foraging in Cornwall
More and more of us are discovering the wonders of Mother Nature’s larder. Growing in the hedgerows, woodlands and shorelines are an abundance of delicious ingredients, from nuts and berries to mushrooms and edible weeds. Join us on a seasonal trip down Cornwall’s country lanes in search of some wild food and meet the local foragers keen to bestow their knowledge.
Seasonal rich pickings in Cornwall…
Foraging in Spring
Spring is a time for regrowth and regeneration, burgeoning buds and probing shoots begin to fill the hedgerows and blankets of colour run wild across the woodland floors. Foods that will amply fill the forager’s basket at this time include wild garlic, the young leaves of cow parsley (be very careful to pick the right ones as it has several poisonous relatives within its umbelliferous carrot family), the herbs sorrel (well known for its medicinal properties) and chickweed, nettles, fresh birch leaves for teas, elderflower, pineapple weed and the peppery tasting cuckoo flower, all ripe for picking during the months of April and May.
Rachel Lambert is a wild food tutor, forager, award-winning author, wild recipe creator, nature facilitator and a singing forager. Rachel has been a keen forager for 25 years and runs a range of courses all over Cornwall where you will be introduced to the county’s edible land and seascape. Rachels’s book Seaweed Foraging in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly was a national winner of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2017 and she regularly features in magazines and newspapers.
Foraging in Summer
Wild strawberries are growing in the banks, hedgerows, and woodland verges and bilberries are ripening on the higher grounds and heathlands. The sweet nectar of honeysuckle can be sipped from its flowers (but don’t munch on the berries) while blackberries and elderberries are in plentiful supply. Mallow flowers will add colour to a salad and dandelions are packed with nutrition from petal to root. Rambling dog rose petals make for an aromatic tea infusion and also have a number of medicinal uses. Chicory flowers can be seen growing along the roadside verges and can be used for either fresh or dry tea or tinctures. Blooming yarrow, bee balm and red clover are also on the summer foraging menu.
Wild cookery school Fat Hen explores the communion between people, food and nature and runs several gourmet foraging courses for all those with a passion for Mother Nature’s larder. Set in the wilds of west Cornwall, Fat Hen’s Caroline Davey will help guide you on your foraging journey, introducing you to nature in bountiful and meditative ways and imparting her boundless knowledge.
Foraging in Autumn
The shades of Autumn are rich and wondrous, the forest floors filled with rustling leaves vibrant in their reds, oranges and yellows. It’s a time to gather nuts and berries; sweet chestnuts, beech nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts scatter the ground while hawthorn berries, rosehips, elderberries, sloes, blackberries, crab apples and damsons are there to be plucked. Growing in the fields and sprouting up from the bark are a myriad of edible fungi. Autumn is the season of plenty.
Running through the seasons, 7th Rise organise foraging and wild food days hosted by expert instructors and open to adults and children. Learn how to cook up from the ground and discover an enchanting array of ingredients handpicked from the seashore, woodland, meadows and hedgerows for the creation of some delicious dishes. Understand the edibility of the plants, flowers, roots and herbs growing in the Cornish countryside.
Foraging in Winter
There’s still a surprising abundance of edible plants available for foraging during the winter season, despite the perishing conditions. Wrap yourselves up and head out along the woodland trails and be on the lookout for the leaves of wood avens and bittercress, while dandelions are still there to be plucked. Alexanders, nettles tops, daisy leaves, wild chervil and gorse flowers are all easy pickings for foragers and a steaming mug of spruce or pine needle tea is a lovely winter warmer.
Discover the free food of Cornwall when you book a foraging course with Family Foraging Kitchen. Local experts will guide you along the shorelines and hedgerows of the Rame Peninsula in search of some delectable wild food, teaching you cooking techniques to capture its goodness and wholesome essence.
For more information on the foraging code and etiquette visit Wild Food UK
You might also be interested in this Toad Hall Cottages blog: Wild Food Foraging in Dorset