Forgaging

[LadyCG]

OH and I are thinking of taking the little one foraging this weekend, to get him used to nature and so on.

Can anyone recommend what sort of things to forage for and perhaps suggest some recipes - maybe for jams or for a nice jus for meat. I also love adding herbs to just about everything. I'm particularly curious about edible flowers.

Any suggestions appreciated and any tips / stories from avid Foragers would be most welcome. There's abundant woodland and countryside where we live.

Thanks.

[barry1010]

Bit late in the year to be foraging for food. I suppose you could forage for things to make Christmas decorations

[LadyCG]

I'm happy to forage for food or anything for that matter. It's the experience I'm hoping to create for the little one - although if I could take something home and create something out of it, that would be a bonus.

[barry1010]

You should find sweet chestnuts on the ground which you can cook in a variety of ways and maybe damson type fruits.

[rowanwitch]

Bit late for edibles unless you are confident identifying fungi, maybe time to hunt for things to make decorations.

Fircones, beech mast, twigs covered in lichen, ash and sycamore keys bendy willow twigs
Or things you can grind down and make paint from, again lichens. On fallen twigs only but it can give different colours if you add acid or alkaline( vinegar or bicarb.)
Berries, that are non poisonous rowan, hawthorn, berberis, tree bark and common moss, you won't need much.
Collect a few for garden birds but leave most behind.
For the future the RSPB do a great first garden wildlife book that will cover a lot of the wildlife in a normal woodland.

[tiggerblue10]

One thing I would steer clear of is mushrooms.

[emmie]

me too, too many are poisonous.

[barry1010]

How old is your child? You could make a chart of birds, animals, trees and plants you are likely to see, with pictures. Put a gold star alongside each time he sees one. I did this with my kids and laminated the chart so that the stickers could be removed ready for next time.

[Sqad]

Never been one for nature,too wet,too cold,uncomfortable and I prefer comfort.
However what you are doing is what I would describe as good and responsible parenting.........something I was not very adapt at.
As a child I was occasionally taken for a walk on Sundays across what I called the Penny Fields, grandad would throw down a penny when I wasn't looking and I would find it...I really believed that one found pennies in that field.
The walk ended at a pub called the Paul Pry where grandma and grandad went in and I sat outside with half a shandy and a packet of crisps.
That was my only experience of foraging.
Well done to you CG.

[barry1010]

I've just looked online and there is a lot of illustrated scavenger hunt charts you could print off, stick on a bit of card and cover in cling film

[emmie]

he's two isn't he Lcg?

[Rosie29]

Its not the tome of yesr but I used to pick Fat Hen - a sort of long stemmed broccoli spear type plant with small flowery tops.
I used it as a vegetable and it was good.

[barry1010]

Rock painting is very popular where I live. Collect suitable stones, take them home, paint them and hide them for others to find. He might enjoy looking for stones and pebbles.
Pine cones can be painted and glittered for Christmas decorations.
My two year old grandson loves jumping in muddy puddles more than anything in the whole wide world, especially if it is raining. Wellies and a rain suit and he's set for the day. He spends at least 4 hours a day outside whatever the weather.

[barry1010]

Fat hen (too late this year though) https://www.wildfooduk.com/edible-wild-plants/fat-hen/

[tiggerblue10]

I recall one time when I was little, I'd collect different brown, red and yellow leaves and press them in a book.

[barry1010]

Good thinking with the leaves. You can use them to print paper just by painting them, might be a nice way to decorate the backs of the Christmas card envelopes. A two year old can do it easily if the leaves are big enough

[woofgang]

you can preserve leaves with glycerine too. 1 measure of glycerine (amazon is cheapest, don't buy the tiny ones in supermarkets) 2 measures of warm water, stur till dissolved bung leaves in and weight down to keep under the liquid.

[woofgang]

oh sorry, leave like it for four days then drain and dry at room temp

[straydog]

There’s still a lot of crab apples around which make a lovely jelly which goes with both savoury and sweet things. Or rose hips for syrup. Good for winter coughs. Sloes for sloe gin, that’s really easy to do. Prick the sloes, put in a screw top bottle 3/4 full or so, fill to the top with granulated sugar and gently add the cheapest gin you can find. Swish around every day or so until the sugar has disappeared then leave in a cool dark place for a few months. As everyone else has said I’d leave fungi alone though.

[LadyCG]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I'll look online and see what's abundant at this time of year.

I also like the idea of the pressed leaves, etc.

[237SJ]

When I was little we used to pick mushrooms, blackberries, whortleberries, lava and cobnuts. It's too late in the year for all of those. In junior school we used to go out on walks with the teacher and pick a wild flower, bring it back to school, find the latin name for it and press it in a book. That activity gave me an appreciation for the hedgerows to this day. You are not supposed to pick the flowers these days but identifying them (maybe by taking a photo) would be fun.