Foraging in Edinburgh

Unlike many concrete jungles, Edinburgh has a plethora of parks, cycle paths and green spaces which are ideal for foraging.

If you enjoy hiking and fresh air, foraging might be your new hobby.

In Scotland fruits and vegetables develop about a month later than in England, with the exception of warmer pockets. Beware if what is warming your nice patch of nettles in February is decomposing dog poo, as you may want to skip on it.

Safety and environmental tips

• Is this an area exposed to runoff or any other contamination?
• If it looks like a certain plant but is blooming or fruiting out of season - and not a month late like is normal in Scotland compared to England - then proceed with caution.
• Is this public property?

• Be sure to leave enough for birds and wildlife to eat

My Edinburgh Foraging Calendar

• late Feb/early March
• nettles start appearing - try Holyrood Park for particularly happy nettles. Avoid verges where people let their dogs poo, and overly dense nettle patches in thin, poor soil where the nettles look weedy and ragged and full of holes. New nettles have fewer stings but we always wear rubber gloves whilst picking! See my nettle quiche recipe. You can also make tea, soup and anything that would normally take spinach.
  
• April
• nettles in full swing, no need to buy spinach. 
• Dandelions out! 

  

  nettles have sharp, jaggedy leaves

• May
• end of nettles - they become a bit tough and woody now
• comfrey begins
• June
• comfrey
• elderflowers
• nettles are definitely too tough
• The nettles are still good for making fertilizer though. 
• July
• A few shy raspberry canes overflowing from people's allotments might poke a few berries out.
• Wild strawberries
• Wild garlic
• August
• blackberries begin to be tartly ripe and these are best for jam-making
• September
• blackberries in full swing!
• See my recipe for Heroic Brew
• And Bramble Ice Lollies
• And apple and blackberrry crumble
• October
• apples ripen. There's an apple tree on Restalrig Rd cycle path with small, tart, green apples if you don't mind taking your life in your hands to pick them.
• The rowan berries, red currants and elderberries start to be ready. 
• Rose hips are best around the first frost. Rosehips can be found but are sad, wizened creatures in the wild - it is much better to have a friendly neighbor who has a whole hedge of healthy, happy rosehips which they will let you pick.
• See my recipe for rosehip cordial!
• Michaelmas - they say that to remember how Satan fell from heaven, the frost comes around 10 October which is the older date for Michaelmas, and after that Satan has ruined the fruits. There must be something to this because the fruits all looking rather wizened, sad, or moldy after this point.
• November
• Hawthorne berries or 'haws' are the exception to everything being no good. They ripen when everything else is 'on the out.' They are plentiful at Dunsapie Loch in Holyrood Park and even to be found on the Restalrig Cyle Path. The interior pip is not good to eat, so be careful with the kids - you can turn haws into a gamey jelly or homemade wine.
• December - only really dangerous plants are available at this time of year. 
• You can pull a sprig of holly to put on your Christmas pudding, but don't eat it as it's poisonous!
• ivy - also poisonous
• evergreen boughs - flammable 

Note: I have never to my great grief found horseradish or sweet chestnuts or edible fungus, though Hopetoun House does woodland informational walks on fungi in the autumn for those interested. I would never go for animals - even or maybe especially ones that were already dead like roadkill.

The Firth of Forth

The forth is so polluted, I wouldn't try eating any variety of seaweed or anything that touches the tide.

Mussels or clams are not really safe to try either, even if you aren't pregnant.

The seaweed is fine for using as mulch in your garden though.

Shop foraging

• November: frozen section foraging is when you check the shops every day the week before Thanksgiving and sometimes find last year's turkeys marked down to make way for the newer, bigger Christmas turkeys and geese
• December - the best time for coupons as ever shop is competing to get your Christmas shop. Sign up for every loyalty card before December and make sure you keep them up to date on your address! You may even receive a £10 off a £50 shop coupon if you're really blessed! I did not get any coupons this last year so I don't know if all the shops are giving up on coupons or if the shops have just cottoned on to me!

Other sources of free foods

• Keep an eye out for grant-run cooking classes for young families - sometimes they let you keep your 'healthy and budget' meals you've made and this is essentially free food.
• Church barbecues with general invitations are a fun way to meet more people - and get free food
• We do not go on holiday often but this year I booked a few nights stay at Lumley Castle in the North of England and got a deal where most of dinner at the castle restaurant and an English high tea for two were free!