Forum home› Fruit & veg
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Eating wild fruit and veg

Seddonjoel1Seddonjoel1 Posts: 3
in Fruit & veg
Can we eat wild fruit and veg? Is it healthy? 
«1

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited September 2018
    If you can identify not just the ones that aren’t harmful , but know the ones that really are good to eat then yes ... providing you know they’ve not been treated with herbicide or pesticide or contaminated by pollution then of course it’s healthy ... I’ve been doing it all my life and I’ve lasted quite a long while so far ... 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    The key issue is to know what you are eating. Anything you buy in the supermarket is safe but not all the pretty berries and interesting mushrooms you find on a country walk are reliable. If you have any doubt, don't eat it!
  • treehugger80treehugger80 Posts: 1,923
    edited September 2018
    as long as you know what it is, then its fine to eat hedgerow fruit and vegetables, I teach wild food and foraging skills and you'd be surprised what is actually edible in the wild,
    alternatively there are plants out there that look edible that will kill you (hemlock water dropwort - one of the UK's most deadly plants can look like watercress at certain stages of growth), so be sure before you eat anything

    there is a saying with wild food folks

    "There are OLD foragers, and there are BOLD foragers, but there are no OLD, BOLD foragers"
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    pansyface said:
    And make sure anything you pick is above dog pee level.
    Oh always pansyface!
    Brambles picked while out on a walk is one of life's great joys  :)
    As already said - take some time to learn about different plants, and then you can choose wisely. If in doubt - don't eat.
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Perhaps worth doing a foraging workshop local to you to help with ID. It’s good to know what to look for in which time of year. Lots of wild plants can mistaken for others, esp in the beginning.
  • Valley GardenerValley Gardener Posts: 2,851
    I've established a raised bed of wild strawberries,they are delicious,and we share them with the blackbirds!
    The whole truth is an instrument that can only be played by an expert.
  • tessagardenbarmytessagardenbarmy Posts: 346
    The classic book is called "Food for free" by Richard Mabey. 
    Ayls Fowler also produced  "Thrifty Forager "which had some useful  bits.
    Edible York have site where people log the location ( using Google )fruit trees in the wild or good clumps of berries .  Near me are a wild damson,plum,crab apple and loads of blackberries  and sloes.
  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    My brother lives in the Czech Republic and makes me envious when he tells me about the fruit they can pick just growing at the roadside. He gets fresh walnuts from his ma-in-law's garden too - out of this world compared to our usual dried up ones!
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Tessa, you’ve just reminded me, I’ve got that Food for Free, bought in the ‘70’s when it was first published. Must be up in the loft. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • ZeroZero1ZeroZero1 Posts: 577
    I would say DON'T unless you really know what you are doing for instance death cap mushrooms look very similar to wild mushrooms, deadly nightshade produces a lovely red berry which looks so enticing both can kill. 
    There is a book by Richard Maybe which is called Food for Free, but make sure you really know what you are eating
Sign In or Register to comment.