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Guide to foraging British summer berries
Yesterday on my way to work, I spotted some ripe blackberries! Very early. If you love picking berries like I do, check out my guide for the edible ones and when to find them.By u/AstroNards
What is the law on foraging?
I’ll list brief points on the law, but please read it all for yourself!
- Pick the 4 Fs; fruit, foliage, fungi, and flowers
- Only take enough for you, for personal consumption
- Only pick on public land
- Check the local bylaws before picking
- Do not uproot or damage wild plants
- If you require a knife, make sure it is within the law
https://www.woodlands.co.uk, Ben Lee, Gardener’s World |
Blackberries grow on the bramble plant. A very thorny plant and my worst enemy! I tolerate it as much as I can just for the blackberries.
- Leaves vary, could be palmate or oval
- Common blackberry has lots of dark purple clusters to form one berry
- Stems are covered in painful, sharp thorns. I have also noticed that the leaves tend to have thorns on them too
Wildfooduk, Fotofreak75, green.kingcounty.gov |
Hawthorn is one of the first trees to flower at the beginning of the season. They are said to smell like almonds or marzipan, and taste like slightly overripe apples.
- Deeply lobed leaves
- Oval orange to deep red berries, with a star on the bottom
- Berries grow in clusters
- Long sharp thorns on branches
Wildplantculture, The Baltimore Sun, Alvaro Docio for British Local Food |
They look just like ‘normal’ strawberries, just much smaller. Their taste can differ between being sweet and tart, or even tasteless.
- Often found in mixed woodland or hedgerows
- Stems have little hairs
- Soft red fruit with seeds on the outside
Wildfooduk |
Gooseberries tend to taste sweet (flesh) and tart (skin). It can be difficult to know which plants are wild as many were cultivated in the UK.
- Rounded leaves with 3-5 lobes
- Woody stem with sharp thorns
- Fruit can be green, red, yellow, or purple, with little hairs
Wildfooduk |
The raspberries look just like the ones you find in the shops. Don’t get them confused with blackberries; they do look similar!
- Compound leaves with 5-7 serrated leaflets
- Fruit is ripe when it pulls away from the core easily
- Stems have small soft red thorns
- Leaves can be used to make tea
Wildfooduk |
Bilberries look very similar to blueberries and have a deeper, richer flavour.
- Most commonly found in acid rich woodland
- Leaves are small and oval with serrated edges
- Leaves can have small red patches
- Berries a dark blue with a ‘cog’ on the bottom
Wildfooduk |
A red member of the gooseberry family and tastes sweet and slightly sharp when ripe.
- Palmate leaves with 3-5 toothed lobes
- Berries look like they grow on strings. Ripen when they are a deep red
- Looks similar to the Guelder Rose but the berries grow in bunches not strings of redcurrant berries
- Found commonly in dense open woodland, hedgerows, river and stream banks and waste ground
Wildfooduk |
There are a few different species of cherry trees in the UK, most people refer to the wild cherry. The taste can be sweet when ripe - usually best in recipes with honey or sugar.
- Elongated pointed leaves with a serrated edge
- Bark appears to have horizontal ‘scars’
- Often used to line pavements
Wildfooduk |
The flower bracts over the berries, gives the plant a very alien-like look! To add to their whimsical appearance, they taste like toffee.
- Dark green leaves with wavy edges
- Fruit is dark brown, purple, or black.
- You find them in gardens or in the wild (when they have self-seeded)
- The berries burst when ripe
I hope you enjoyed this post! Let me know how your foraging goes.
----> Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, Nate.
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