Cyberforaging on the Rise Since I first started sharing foraging posts on social media about 15 years ago, I’ve seen the number of foraging-focussed social media accounts grow exponentially. A lot of previously niche activities have seen a steep upcurve in their online profile, but foraging’s rise appears to have been particularly rapid. This isn’t surprising as  foraging fits social media surprisingly well: it produces a steady flow of highly photogenic and  interesting plants, seaweeds, mushrooms, preserves, recipes and “moments” throughout the year”. Platforms  inc ..read more

Image: Wiki Commons, Skogtroll (Forest Troll), by Theodor Kittelsen, 1906 Trolling – Slang – Intentionally trying to instigate conflict, hostility, or arguments in an online social community Discussion, disagreement, debate and criticism are core parts of the modern social media phenomenon, and that includes the foraging scene. Anyone who has shared posts about their foraging activity on the internet is likely to have been challenged about their foraging behaviour at some point. I have no problem with that: as I discussed in my post exploring the wider context of   ..read more

Matricaria discoidea (also, occasionally syn. Matricaria matricarioides) AKA: Pineapple mayweed, disc mayweed, rayless mayweed, wild chamomile, pineapple chamomile, pavement weed Pineapple weed, Matricaria discoidea. It thrives in disturbed, compacted ground and is most typically found at farm gates. Identification – 4/5 – Unmistakeable once you crush and smell a flower, to reveal its distinctive fruity pineapple – mango – apple scent, but could easily be mixed up pre-flowering (especially with other types of chamomile) as most of its distinctive tropical aroma is in its flowe ..read more

This vegetarian wild mushroom paté recipe is a delicious, easy and versatile way to use the wide range of fungi that often come back from a foray, as well as those old jars of dried mushrooms lurking at the back of your store cupboard from previous autumns. Browse more Wild Mushroom Recipes Wild Mushroom Paté ©GallowayWildFoods.com Its also a great way to get the best out of fungi that aren’t quite on the top tier of gourmet mushrooms – perhaps with an unappetising texture (like mature birch boletes for example), or those that are no longer in pristine condition. I grade ..read more

Foraging Teacher and AoF member Mark Williams explores the notion of benchmarking, accreditation and qualifications around foraging and wild foods in the UK.  This article refers to a Wild Food Accreditation Scheme Scoping Report funded by The Association of Foragers and NatureScot, which you can read in full here: Wild Food Accreditation Scheme Scoping Report. The report authors will be hosting a discussion around Wild Food Accreditation and ways forward arising from the report, at the Scottish Wild Food Festival on Saturday 17th September at 13.45. Please  join the conver ..read more

Honckenya peploides Aka sea chickweed, sea pimpernel, sea-beach sandwort, lus a’ghoill – “Stranger’s plant” in Scots Gaelic, seaside sandplant (Canada) and sea purslane (though in the UK sea purslane generally refers to a different edible coastal plant – Atriplex portulacoides). Sea sandwort. ©GallowayWildFoods.com Edibility – 4/5 Sea sandwort is a delicious succulent perennial plant with good texture and a flavour reminiscent of cucumber skin and pea shoots. The whole of the above-ground plant is edible, though their excellent flavour in early spring becomes bitter when they start to f ..read more

My daughter Alice Aries is an artist who specialises in fungal and botanical-inspired linocut prints. I dragged Alice around on many a fungi foray as a child and teenager. Its hard to know what is sinking in with your kids, so I was delighted to see that mushrooms had entangled her imagination when she recently started making these images! You can browse and purchase Alice’s creations on her Etsy shop here, and follow her on Instagram @aliceariesartworks where, where she shares films of the print making process. Fly Agaric Gaze, original linocut print by Alice Aries Artworks   “Mother ..read more

Honey fungus suffers from a bad reputation as a virulent parasite of trees, but I admire it as a remarkable and ecologically important organism that also happens to be super-abundant and delicious. Don’t get me wrong: you certainly don’t want it feasting on your prized garden tree specimens, and it can be highly problematic in monoculture plantations, but in healthy, diverse ecosystems it can be viewed as a cornerstone species – an apex predator, that culls old and infirm trees, opening up new opportunities on the forest floor, providing food for successive fungi, and ultimately building soils ..read more

Grifola frondosa aka Maitake (Japan – which translates to “Dancing Mushroom“), Signorina (Italy – which translates to “Unmarried Woman”), also occasionally called ram’s head or sheep’s head mushroom Hen of the Woods, Grifola frondosa I try to resist choosing a “favourite” wild mushroom – they have such distinct personalities and idiosyncrasies of growth habit, flavour, abundance and usage that ranking them doesn’t seem meaningful even if it were possible. But if I was forced, with a mushroom knife to my throat, to pick a favourite, I think it would have to be hen of the woods. They have ..read more

Plantago marítima (var. marítima) Sea Plantain – Plantago marítima Edibility –Leaves 4/5 – A superb, tender, salty succulent plant with a complex flavour:  crunch, salinity, fresh green, some sweetness and mushroomy backnotes. Eat the green leaves, not the flowering stems, which are tough and flavourless. Leaves are good eating at most stages of growth, though can get a bit stringy with age, and depending on where they are growing. While the flower stalks, roots and seeds are all edible, they aren’t particularly worthwhile compared to the leaves. The immature flower heads (still green ..read more