The golden rules of foraging

The Golden Rules of Foraging

Why forage?

Foraging means taking wild food from natural spaces for our own consumption. Whether this is wild garlic, blackberries, rose hips or rowan berries, foraging for food can really help us to connect with our surrounding landscape.

To keep ourselves and nature safe though, there are a few golden rules we should always follow:

1. Never take the first, as it could be the last

When foraging, we should always wait until a healthy amount of food is available before we take from a particular space. When the first fruits or leaves have appeared, we don't know if there will be more and so taking these first offerings could risk harm to the plant.

2. Never take the last food either

The important thing to remember about foraging is that while we're doing it for fun, there may be wild animals that are dependent on these food sources for survival. So if we take the last of something, we are removing a vital food source for wild creatures.

3. Always leave more than half

Similarly, we should always leave more than half of any food source. This can ensure that wild animals will have enough to eat, and we don't run the risk of harming a natural ecosystem. Also, if we take too much, there's the risk that we'll just end up wasting it.

4. Get to know the space you're foraging from

Knowing a natural space means we'll respect it more and also understand how it changes through the seasons. This can help us to learn how to forage ethically, and also to see if other people are taking from that space too. If too many people forage from the same space, it could cause ecological damage.

5. Don't pick something unless you know for certain what it is

This is perhaps the most important rule of foraging! Even in the UK, there are poisonous and even deadly plants, and some of these can look similar to edible wild plants. It's therefore vital that we know what we're picking. While everyone knows what a blackberry looks like and so picking them can carry less risk, mushrooms can be much more difficult to identify, so take care out there.