Foraging in and around Plymouth, help im a beginner!!

[jesssarahmurray]

I'm new to all this and could really do with some tips to start me off! Been watching River Cottage and has given me a spark of inspiration!
Any good tips on sites for foraging berries, elderflowers, apples or anything really, any shared advice would be fab to set me on my way!

[Chants Cottage]

I'm pretty new to foraging too... picked some sloes last year and made sloe gin and in the last few weeks have made the most fantastic soup from nettles... I know it's hardly revolutionary but it was an absolute revelation. Totally delicious, the best soup I've had in ages. The big advantage with nettles is that they're are more or less unmistakeable for anything else. I also made some really lovely pesto from wild garlic I picked when out for a walk with my sister in law the other day... didn't really have foraging in mind but I think once you start to identify things they become almost too good to miss. Didn't have anything to carry them in apart from the nappy bags I use for dog poo!! I think next time I will try and be a bit more organised...

[markpeace]

Loads of good stuff you could hunt for and remain safe. I'd second wild garlic as good right now, though give it a couple of weeks and the flowers are unmistakable (look near bluebells in woods). You might also look out for st George's mushrooms over the next couple of months, they're the only white mushrooms about at this time of year (and I've often found them not far from my wild garlic finds), though I'd maybe find, identify and not eat the first year round. I also reckon a nettle soup (or nettle beer) should be a rite of passage for new Foragers. I like making elderflower champagne in May, and then as we get into berry season, elderberries are pretty unmistakable. As a novice mushroomer, this year I've found puffballs fairly safe as a find, and also shaggy inkcaps.

You might want to have a look at my website (see signature), I'm trying to put together a way of supporting novice foragers (of which i am definitely one!) in identifying finds and expanding their repertoire. You're very welcome to join in!

[jesssarahmurray]

Hi There, thanks for both your replies...but where abouts would be a good spot to start me off foraging? Plymbridge Woods? I really have no idea where to start!

[Chants Cottage]

I don't know the Plymouth area but woods are certainly good for wild garlic, and nettles grow just anywhere as far as I can see!! (Just avoid anything at the side of the road). Have you got a foraging book? (I've got John Wright's River Cottage one and it's very informative, as well as being a good read - he's a really funny and engaging writer. He also details the things to avoid as well, along with the legal issues regarding foraging.)