Autumn Foraging

The wet August may not be ideal summer weather, but it ensures a cracking start to Autumn foraging with the warm, damp conditions setting the stage for a bumper start to the mushroom season. At the same time, we have some fantastic wild fruits available.

The first of the cèpes are out, as are a good range of other boletes.  You can also find parasol mushrooms and while it is still early on in the mushroom season, keep an eye out for field mushrooms and fairy rings.

I tend to stick to those edible mushrooms that I am completely familiar with. If you do not regularly forage for mushrooms then you need to exercise extreme caution as the wrong mushroom can be fatal. Ideally go with someone who knows exactly what they are doing, or else use a mushroom guide.  I would recommend Roger Phillips ‘Mushrooms’ which covers almost all UK mushrooms and their edible status.  You can compare each mushroom with similar looking ones.

The elderberries are just starting to ripen, and the blackberries are perfect.  There are also wild plums, damsons and sloes, rowan berries and rose hips.

Why not try and elderberry sauce with some wild Stansted Venison?