Take a walk on the wild side
Autumn is the ideal time for foraging, so this half-term head outside for an incredible edible treasure hunt
If you’re stuck for something to do with your kids or grandchildren this half-term, look no further than an autumnal treasure hunt.
From apples and berries to rose hips and hazelnuts, there is a veritable feast to be found outside.
Foraging is a fantastic family activity, getting children out and about, away from screens and into the open air. Not to mention you might stumble across your dinner.
Here, wild cookery expert Chris Bax (tastethewild.com) explains how to forage up a free feast.
Get clued up
You should never eat something you can’t positively identify. Before going foraging, find a good book with lots of pictures that will help you tell the difference between wild plants.
Foraging With Kids by Adele Nozedar is a great starter guide. If in doubt, look at the shape of the plant’s leaves to differentiate it from others.
Think before you pick
Before they grab anything edible, encourage kids to think about where they’re picking it from. If it’s a route where people are likely to walk their dogs, then pick from higher up the bush.
If you’re boiling the fruit to make jam or washing it before eating then it’s less of a worry, but if you’re going to eat the fruit fresh, be extra careful.
Forage on your doorstep
You don’t have to live in the countryside to go foraging – there are edible plants all over the place, including in cities and even on wasteland. Anywhere plants grow, there are likely to be edible ones.
Pack a bag
Take a backpack with ziplock bags for nuts and a lunchbox for berries, which will stop them getting damaged on the way home.
If you’re going to be reaching high, a walking stick with a hook is useful as it means you can get to branches you couldn’t otherwise. A pair of thick rubber gloves will help you deal with spiky plants or nettles.
Look for wildings
Wildings are plants that grow from food we might buy in the shop – for example, if someone throws an apple core out of a car window and the pips grow into a tree.
If you keep your eyes peeled, you’ll see pear, apple, cherry and plum trees which have been planted accidentally by passersby. Most of the time, the fruit simply falls off the tree and rots, which is a great shame, so look out for these as you walk and take some fruit home to eat.
Go blackberry picking
Little ones love hunting for these delicious juicy berries, so pick them to eat or make them into jam.
The best place to find wild blackberries is in hedgerows. However, bramble is found widely, including in cities and on waste ground. Look for dark red, almost black berries with multiple round sacs on them like a raspberry.
The bush it grows on is covered in thorns, and the leaves are round with a pointed tip.
Eat them fresh, or boil them with an equal amount of sugar to make blackberry jam. The leaves are edible too and can be used to make tea.
Make a lunchbox treat
Fruit leather is a great sweet snack. It’s similar to Fruit Winders, which you can buy in the supermarket.
First, find some wild apples, then pick some blackberries.
At home, peel the apples and stew them with the blackberries until you have a pulp. Taste and stir in some honey to sweeten.
Spread the pulp thinly on to baking paper and dry it out in a low oven, until it is flexible but firm. Cut it into strips.
Make friendship bracelets
Although they can have a nasty sting, nettle plants can be used for all sorts of things, from making tea to doing crafts.
Find a nettle – they tend to like damp environments such as woodland. Using gloves, take off the nettle leaves and rub the stems to take off any spikes.
Peel the stem apart and separate the fibres inside, before twisting them loosely in your fingers to make string. This string is safe to touch and can be plaited into friendship bracelets.
Taste rose hip jelly
Rose hips are rugby ball-shaped red fruits that grow on spiky rose bushes. They can be found near the sides of roads, in hedgerows and in woodland. And they make a very tasty rose hip jelly.
Weigh the rose hips before boiling them in a pan of water for about 40 minutes, or until very soft.
Strain through a muslin cloth, add an equal amount of sugar, and boil for a few minutes before pouring into a
clean jar.
Look out for autumn nuts
Many of the nuts eaten at Christmas, such as hazelnuts and chestnuts, can be found when
Nettles can be used for all sorts of things, such as making tea or bracelets
you go for a walk.
Hazel trees are native to the UK and can be spotted in woods, on scrubland and in hedgerows.
Look out for the tree’s hairy oval leaves, with the hazelnuts growing in clumps.
Chestnut trees are also common in Britain – keep your eyes peeled for the clusters of hairy green cases that house the brown nuts.