The Forager's Calendar: A Seasonal Guide to Nature’s Wild Harvests

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There is a wide variety of food you can forage for in Britain, including nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables and more. Foraging is a great way to appreciate seasonal change, connect with nature and find wild local ingredients to use in delicious home cooking recipes.

This was produced by me, James Walters, as a personal project to help stop climate change by inspiring others to grow, eat, and live sustainably.

With the brown, feathery appearance of its scaly cap, it’s a polypore, meaning that its underside is covered in pores rather than gills. Vitamins A, D, B complex, C, iron, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, manganese, sodium, copper, silica Over the last five years, Scottish gin has grown in both profile and popularity. Indeed over 70% of the UK’s gin is produced here. Many producers use locally foraged botanicals to make their spirit stand out from others. One of the most unusual we’ve discovered is sugar kelp, which is used, along with other botanicals, to flavour Harris Gin . This hand-dived seaweed, gives the spirit a distinct and delicious taste that’s the very essence of the island it comes from. Williams' Bros. Brewing Co

Where a wild food has different parts that are edible I have noted those in the relevant months, such as roots or leaves. I’ve added a note at the top of the calendar as a reminder to buy your yearly yeast and other items if you are home brewing. Brewing using foraged food is extremely low cost if you use up old wine bottles so it’s at the heart of being self sufficient. It’s also incredibly fun but you do have to wait a year for your home brewed wine to mature so it’s worth starting as soon as you can to get the experience and start storing batches so you have them in future years. Found the calendar helpful? Our expert monthly foraging guide explains how to forage safely, the law and what's in season each month. What is foraging? I have colour coded the months as a reminder of the seasons, although they should only be taken as a heads up because global warming does mess with seasonality. Also, when plants grow is hugely influenced by the location so there will be differences all over the UK.

Plenty of fungi, including oyster mushrooms and winter chanterelles, will be appearing in woodlands, although it’s always safest to head out with a mushroom expert if you’re not sure. Medlars are in season at this time of year too, and hawthorn berrieswill be at their sweetest towards the beginning of the month. The tiny crimson fruits are good for making liqueurs and jellies. December