Foraging for food rather than preloved clothing
What does preloved clothing and foraging have in common? Answer: I’ve been embracing both since the 1960s and find in 2024 they are very much ‘on trend’.
What is it about foraging?
I’m not a foodie. I am a pretty basic cook with a few good signature dishes but nothing too complex. So, it’s not about enhancing my repertoire.
It’s not about survival as we have a shop in the village and there’s a Waitrose just a 15-minute drive away.
It’s something rooted in my past, memories of carefree sunny days and freedom to get lost in my own thoughts. With mountains and rivers on our doorstep to explore I would lose track of time. I didn’t wear a watch, but my sensible friend did so that and hunger pangs would eventually drive us home for supper.
Back then I’m not sure I would have used the word ‘foraging’ and I certainly wouldn’t have looked upon it as therapy or promoting wellbeing. But being outdoors and interacting with nature brings with it a sense of calm. Maybe mindfulness is the word I’m looking for. I always feel refreshed and energised after some foraging. Plus, I love getting something for free!
As a child I wandered the country lanes and picked fruit from the hedgerows. My parents grew most of their own fruit and vegetables but also took advantage of the bounty in the countryside around us. The hedges seemed to be constantly filled with juicy blackberries and tiny wild strawberries, there were bilberries amongst the heather and gorse on the Brecon Beacons and of course the ‘pick your own’ opportunities. We kids would gorge on the strawberries or raspberries so much that when my mother placed bowls of the fruit in front of us at dinner time, we’d turn our noses up.
Like most of her generation, my mother wasted nothing. Excess fruit from our small orchard would be turned into jam, elderflowers into cordial and nettles into soup. My father kept bees, so we had an abundance of honey, and our chickens provided the eggs.
Even on holiday we foraged … usually in west Wales. I remember finding scallops on the beach and getting up early to pick dewy mushrooms from the field next to the caravan park.
Fruits of the forest
London in the 80s and 90s were dry years for me in terms of foraging but when I moved to a village just outside Cambridge in 2004 my love of this peaceful pursuit was reignited.
I tinkered with a small vegetable plot but I’m not a gardener. However, give me a thorny bush to battle or a tree and a ladder and I’m in heaven.
There is an abundance of fruit in Haslingfield, on the many walks by the river, around the quarry and in the meadow. I gather sloes, blackberries, damsons, medlars, pears, greengages, apples, figs and plums.
Gin versus vodka
I made sloe gin for several years but think I prefer damson vodka. My last batch was a blinder. The damsons came from a tree in a friend’s garden, and I have a deal with anyone who allows me to forage on their land. I’ll return the favour by giving them a portion of the end product.
Just desserts
I would happily take on a Bake Off or Master Chef challenge with my fruit crumbles. My personal favourite is apple and blackberry. But any surfeit of fruit and it’s … ‘let’s make a crumble’. I just keep baking and distributing them to neighbours who all seem very appreciative.
Jams and chutneys
I’ve had success with damson jam, and plum and chilli chutney. But the crowning glory of my kitchen is medlar jelly.
The medlar was once a very popular fruit, particularly in the 1600s as it’s the only fruit to be harvested in November/December making it one of the very few sources of sugar that would have been available in medieval winter. It went out of fashion for several reasons. They only become edible when they’re ‘rotten’ (this process is known as bletting) which can be off putting, and once tropical fruits became cheaper and more available during winter the poor medlar was shunned.
As you can see my foraging is limited to fruit and reliant on the yearly crop. 2022 was an incredible year for figs. This summer the largest blackberries I’ve ever seen have been spilling over the hedge into our garden. The medlars in the meadow are looking enticing so I wait in anticipation of those being ready to harvest.
I’d love to do a foraging course and learn to identify more edible plants and fungi. If anyone can recommend one around Cambridge and would like to join me do get in touch.
