Our Favourite Finds
Foraging knowledge has been passed down for hundreds of generations. A wonderful part of gathering wild food for the table is the awareness that our ancestors did exactly the same! This knowledge should be shared and passed on, which is why this section describes our favourite edible plants, flowers, mushrooms, berries and fruits that Arthur and I forage.
We've catergorised these finds into an accessible Finds Catalogue, a wild food knowledge database of finds that are ideal for the novice forager, and as such, are also perfect for identifying, exploring and eating with your children. Each entry into the catalogue contains images, descriptions and key characteristics for a positive ID in the form of a quick-access checklist. The checklists also contain visual keys to help children (and adults) identify a range of characteristics, from habitat and growing season to important ID notes and uses. For more information about these keys, please click here.
We've also included links below to a short section on some types of plants and mushroom that the novice forager (including children) should avoid, as well as information relating to our Top-Tens - quick lists of easily identifying finds categorised by ease of ID, Season, Location, and Tastiness.
The Finds Catalogue
Plants & Flowers
In this section, we guide you through some easy to ID, child-friendly edible plants and flowers.
Berries & Fruits
In this section, we guide you through some easy to ID, child-friendly berries, fruits and nuts.
Things to Avoid
In this section, we look at a couple of plant and mushroom families that should ideally be avoided when foraging with kids, despite having some edible members. We'll also look at a few toxic species that may be confused with some of the wild edibles in our Finds Catalogue, as well as a few individual species you should steer well clear of for eating due to their high toxicity.
Our Top Tens
To help you get to grips with the Finds Catalogue, we've also devised a series of "Top Tens" which provide a quick overview of common wild foods that you can try to find, ID and eat, with each find linking back to the catalogue to help you with an ID. The different lists are a great starting-point for understanding the foods that are available at different locations and times of the year and are grouped into easy to understand sets, such as food type, ease of ID, location, tastiness and availability during a given season.
