As we descend into winter, there are gradually less and less wild plants you can find to eat. However, this doesn’t mean that nature’s larder is totally empty. Here are 5 things you can forage for in December:
Dandelions
These hardy ‘weeds’ can be used in salads or to make a variety of drinks. With leaves resembling lion teeth, dandelions can be found virtually anywhere, but most commonly in open fields.
Gorse
Gorse is almost constantly in flower, even in winter. Found on the Downs, in woods and wasteland, this spiky bush has vivid yellow flowers that can be eaten raw, in salads, or made into tea. If you close your eyes it tastes a bit like coconut.
Winter Chanterelles
A forager’s delight that continues into December, particularly in milder areas. They’re easy to miss as their brown caps blend into the forest floor. Find them in woodland and on moss or decaying wood. The funnel shaped caps are 3-7cm across, with a distinctive yellowy stalk.
Wood Sorrel
Wood sorrel is extremely robust and whilst it carpets the forest in spring and summer, it can also be found in winter. Wood Sorrel looks like clover with three heart-shaped leaves at the top of a thin stalk (clover’s leaves are round).
Garlic Mustard
Abundant in damp shaded areas, in hedgerows and at the edge of woods. This wild plant has a characteristic smell of garlic when crushed. The leaves make ideal sandwich fillers, and salad greens, and if chopped and mixed with olive oil, make a good salad dressing.
Wild Human 