Autumn/Winter Foraging.
Winter Chanterelle (Craterellus tubaeformis)
Surprisingly, late autumn to early winter is a great time for foraging in the UK – with various nuts, leafy greens, and fungi waiting to be spotted on chilly walks. All you need is a good pair of boots, some warm clothing – and a good guidebook.
Head down to you local woodland for nuts, leafy greens and fungi that are hardy enough to withstand Jack Frost. Sweet chestnuts are abundant in November, perfect for criss-cross slicing along the top and popping on top of your wood burner (let’s face it we’re all avoiding the energy costs at the moment).
Sweet Chestnuts
One of my favourite mushrooms is the Oyster mushroom, they can linger on well into December. I keep my cooking of Oyster mushrooms really simple. Fried with butter, garlic, salt and pepper on a nice slice of crusty bread and I’m happy.
Then we have chickweed which never seems to sleep. Most commonly found in fields and on forest floors, its leaves can be used in winter salads, sandwiches, soups and stews.
Next up we have Winter Chanterelles. This beauty continues to push on through the earth throughout November and into December. You can find them in woodland, on moss or decaying wood.
Moving on, I love wood sorrel. You can find it carpeting forest floors in spring and summer, when its bright pink flowers are flourishing. But you can also find it in winter – it's just a little less vibrant then! It has citrusy notes which work beautifully in salads and a cheeky gin and tonic.
Wood Blewit (Lepista nuda)
Finally, a mushroom that is not only tasty but beautiful too, we have the lilac coloured wood blewit. They grow in the most random of places and absolutely love leaf litter, so check your neighbours’ gardens, with their permission of course!
A few other edibles to look out for are sloe berries, Alexanders, burdock root, beech leaves for tea, fennel, garlic mustard, guelder rose berries, hairy bittercress, horseradish and rose hips.
Happy foraging!
