Spring is an ideal time to start discovering the delights of foraging locally for your own wild food, with leafy greens at their most tender. Though once you catch the foraging bug, you’ll look forward to each turn of the season and the new bounty it brings.

Foraging is a wonderful way to feel more connected to the natural world; it encourages us to slow down and notice the nature around us; and it introduces us to flavours we won’t find elsewhere (especially not in the supermarket).  

Safe and sustainable foraging

Before you get stuck in, make sure you read up on how to forage safely, sustainably and within the law. These 9 foraging rules are a great place to start. It’s also worth considering whether the spot you’re foraging from is likely to be exposed to pollutants. And when you do find a spot, be sure to take only what you need today and tomorrow – don’t strip it.  

With the number one rule of foraging in mind – don’t munch on a hunch! – it’s also worth investing in a couple of good guides so you can be 100% sure you’ve identified something correctly (if you’re any less than 100% certain, don’t eat it).

Richard Mabey’s Food For Free is a longstanding favourite. I also particularly like John Wright’s Hedgerow and his more recent The Forager’s Calendar. You may also find a good field guide such as Harrap’s Wild Flowers useful to cross-reference (it’s always sensible to cross reference three sources for a robust identification).

Five Spring finds

Armed with your guides, start by hunting down these five firm favourites:

Nettles

Stinging nettles are absolutely packed with goodness! Pick them – with care, of course –when they’re young (once they start to flower they lose their flavour) and use them in the same way you’d use spinach: chuck them in a risotto, sauté into aside dish or make the classic nettle soup. Only pick the top few leaves by nipping the stem a few centimetres from the top – these are the freshest, and the stem will be soft and edible. Blanching will remove the sting.

Later in the year, look out for the nettle seeds; these can be harvested and dried out to sprinkle on porridges and salads or used in energy balls for a natural mood booster and an injection of vitamins.

Bistort

Bistort is abundant all around Glossop and Hadfield. You’ll find it in Manor Park, Bankswood Park, and in many damp places. The leaves look similar to dock, but there is a narrow strip of leaf material – ‘wings’ – along the length of the leaf stem, and the stem often has a lovely pink tinge. Bistort has a mild, lemony flavour, and is a tasty and easy way to pad out a Spring greens salad.

Common sorrel

Talking of lemony flavours, common sorrel packs a real punch. It has a citrusy tang and is reminiscent of crisp Granny Smith apple skin. It’s great thrown in a salad, used as a garnish (it goes well with fish), in soups and stews or as a sweet ingredient. I like to add it to my wild garlic pesto. You’ll often find sorrel in grassy verges alongside paths or in grassy meadows. Take care not to eat too much, especially if you are prone to kidney stones, as it contains oxalic acid. And make sure you’ve not mistaken it for Lords & Ladies (the pointed ‘tails’ of sorrel leaves are the biggest clue here).

Wild Garlic

Wild garlic (or ramsons) is where many people start their foraging journey. It loves damp, shady areas and is often found in woodlands and along riverbanks. From the young leaves to the buds, the flowers and finally the seeds, wild garlic is the foraging gift that keeps on giving right through from late Winter to late Spring. The internet isn’t short of ideas about what to make with wild garlic but if you want to keep it simple, mixing some chopped leaves through your mashed potatoes is a satisfying way to start. Read up on how to tell young wild garlic leaves from Lily of the Valley or Lords & Ladies, both of which can be found in similar habitats or growing among wild garlic.

Ground elder

Ahhh ground elder. A gardener’s nightmare! But once you can appreciate its culinary uses it’s possible to see it in a more positive light! The taste has notes of carrot, parsley and celery and the young, fresh leaf shoots are lovely insalads or stir-fried in butter. Once you can identify this plant, you’ll spot it everywhere.

Make a mental note for later in the year

It’s also worth getting your eye in to spot things that aren’t yet ready to forage but will be come Summer or Autumn. A classic example is bilberries (or as they’re better known in these parts: wimberries). Given how many places around Glossop boast healthy quantities of this tasty shrub, it’s worth learning to identify it now as the leaves and unripened berries start to form so that you can eye up where to go back to collect for wimberry pie come Summer.  

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Wimberries: look out for the unripe, pink berries forming (left) so you’ll know where to come back when they are ripe (right)

Similarly the blackthorn is currently in full bloom, and if you make a mental note of where, you’ll know where to return to pick sloes to make sloe gin.

Get creative in the kitchen

Experimenting with your foraged finds encourages culinary creativity. Here are a couple of recipes to whet your appetite:

Wild garlic pesto

2big handfuls (around 100g) of wild garlic leaves

1handful (about 40g) of common sorrel

100ghazelnuts or pine nuts

100ggrated parmesan

1-2tbs olive oil

Salt and pepper

Simply whizz all ingredients apart from the salt and pepper up in a food processor. Add more olive oil if needed for your preferred consistency. Season according to taste and place into a sterilised jar.

Mucky-mouth pudding

A recipe from Richard Mabey’s Food For Free, which sets the berries in a kind of Yorkshire pudding, making a change from the usual wimberry (or mucky-mouth) pie.

100gflour

1egg

1large cup milk

2tbsbrown sugar

200gbilberries

-       Make a thinnish batter by beating the eggs with the flour and then slowly adding the milk

-       Stir in the sugar and the bilberries and pour into a greased tin

-       Bake in a medium oven for 30 minutes

Follow Suzanne on Instagram at @wheretheresahill

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