On one of my now frequent visits to Epping Forest, I had no intentions of foraging, just out for exercise; However, I just happened to come across quite a lot of tree fungus in Epping forest this time. Both easily identifiable, and (at least for me) unidentifiable. Birch Polypore So the first thing I cam […]
The Judas’ Ear fungus is one that I was on the lookout for, and came across it by accident. It’s quite unique looking and has been used in food and medicine for a very long time. Other Names The common, but now unacceptable name “Jew’s Ear” probably came about as a corruption of the original “Judas’ […]
This polypore is quite an incredible fungus, well worth knowing how to identify it, and definitely worth harvesting for its health benefits (the usual rules of collection apply). The first time I was certain that this was what I was looking at, I was very excited and like most of these things, when you’ve positively […]
On a recent trip to Epping Forest, I came across some bracket fungus growing on an old log pile. I didn’t know what it was at the time, so I took some pictures with the intention of identifying it later. So here I am and it looks like it was Turkey Tail Fungus, one of […]
I had a couple of hours spare so I thought I’d go foraging the edges of Epping Forest in Winter (late January to be precise). Wildlife Seen Not much to see today, but then it is absolutely freezing. The wildlife clearly has more sense than me! However, I did see a lot of Redwings on […]
Kit I Take When Foraging for Free Food I was thinking about a new addition to my foraging gear/foraging pack, and I thought it might be worth sharing the rest too. Of course, when I say my standard foraging pack, I mean my standard walking pack. After all, you wouldn’t want to come across a […]
My first crow garlic video, please bear with me and I’m sure I’ll get better with practice. A short talk about foraging for Crow Garlic, how to recognise it, and how to bring it home and use it. Including looking for the dark-olive colour and height/stiffness of the blades (compared to grass), looking for the […]
Crow garlic dinner Now I have a pot of Crow Garlic in the garden; It’s simple to snip some off, give it a quick rinse and chop it over this lovely chicken dinner; Which was already lovely, now it’s a bit more garlicky.
Where to forage Berries, fruit, leaves, seeds, nuts etc. When I think about where to forage from, for such things as berries, fruit, leaves, seeds, nuts and anything else that doesn’t involve taking a whole plant, I take from anywhere apart from private property, unless I have permission to take from the private property. EXCEPT, and this […]
So this may be a basic one for some people, but I’d never heard of crow garlic until last week. So on Sunday I was looking out for it and there it was; By the side of the path in Lee Valley park. I thought it looked like the pictures, so I grabbed a few […]