Interactive lesson

Foraging, step by step

Interactive lesson: how to pick wild plants safely — the forager's rules, where not to pick, protected species, deadly lookalikes and first aid.

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The whole lesson as text

1. The forager's rules

The rules are short and not up for negotiation.

A hundred per cent or nothing — Without 100 % certain identification you do not pick a single leaf. In doubt, leave it. Pick what you need for a year, not what you can carry.
The plant at every stage — Know the leaf, flower, fruit and root. Make a pressed specimen: dry the whole plant between newspaper under a weight and stick it on card with the date and place.
An app is not a decision — An app is useful as a first idea, but it gets things wrong precisely with young leaves and the carrot family. A field guide with an identification key and a person who has known the plant for decades are better teachers.
One species, one bag — Never mix species while picking. Do not uproot a plant when you only need its leaf or flower: cut with a knife or scissors.

Why: Every spring people end up in hospital after picking autumn crocus, lily of the valley or lords-and-ladies instead of wild garlic, or hemlock water dropwort instead of wild celery. Very often they were experienced foragers who picked by the handful, quickly, while chatting with friends. Each rule was written because of someone who broke it.

The first time, pick with an expert or an experienced forager, not from a picture online.
If you only know the flower, you do not pick the leaf before it blooms.

2. Where to pick and where not to

A clean plant from the wrong place can be worse than none at all.

Meadow and woodland edge — The best place is a meadow or woodland edge far from roads and fields.
Roads and railways — Next to a busy road or motorway, pick at least 50–100 m away. Herbicides are sprayed along railways.
Fields and pastures — Field edges, orchards and vineyards get sprayed. Do not pick herbs you eat raw from a grazed pasture, and never watercress from a stream below a pasture: liver fluke is a parasite of the liver.
The law on foraging — In the UK, uprooting any wild plant without the landowner's permission is an offence, and picking for sale is treated differently. In the US and Canada many parks ban foraging or allow only small amounts, and national forests often require a permit. Check before you go.

Why: Next to roads, plants collect lead, soot, oil and road salt, and next to fields and railways they get sprayed. Pastures and the streams below them carry droppings and parasites. On someone else's land you need the owner's permission, and in a national park or nature reserve picking is banned or allowed only with permission.

From March to November meadows have ticks: long sleeves, trousers tucked into socks, and check your whole body after foraging.
Wash low-growing plants (plantain, dandelion, wild strawberries, wild garlic) before eating them raw: parasite eggs from dog and fox droppings can sit on the leaves.