Page Text: Urban wild food – Free food in any city (or town)
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Urban wild food – Free food in any city (or town)
Elderflower an urban delight
Foraging in a city may seem like an impossible task, looking for life among all of that concrete and glass; and yet it can be the most rewarding of places to find food. The variety of plants can be far greater than when you look around a forest or on a farm and finding new food always means finding a new wild space.
Foraging in any city – a few hazards
Collecting wild food in Bristol city itself we are faced with the same hazards as any city or urban forager faces – dog mess, pollution and plants treated with roundup being top of this list.
Did a dog wee on that wild garlic?
Dog wee
I love John Renston’s approach on the subject of dog wee and poo – picking above the dog wee zone, avoiding plants that looked scorched, avoiding plants growing around the base of city trees and I’d also add avoiding plants near any post be it gate or lamp.
Avoiding pollution
Leave the sides of busy roads and areas where there is excessive idling such as near junctions and traffic lights. Be wary about picking in industrial and post-industrial areas due to heavy metals that could be present in the soil. If you are going to be frequently picking from an area then please do your homework checking the local history is a must.
Graveyards are a funny one too as coffins were once lined with lead – mushroom picking in a graveyard might then be hazardous but according to this study fruits and even leafy greens could be ok. But please do you own further research.
Avoiding weed killer
Avoiding weed killers like Monsanto’s cancer causing round up and other harmful chemicals can be a bit more difficult, you do after time learn what round up smells like. I find it sweet and sickly with a hint of abrasive. I’ve also learned that most will use around April-May time, just as everything is growing, and so this is a time to be extra cautious.
Incorporating foraging in the city to day to day life
I now rent an office and I have tailored a walk there that involves as much green space as possible. I walk past elder , wild garlic , spruce , hogweed and hawthorn . Instead of continuing to learn about new plants my focus is on finding new uses for this handful of plants. It can be more of a challenge and just as rewarding as trying to ID and collect as many different plants as possible. A trait I know many foragers share. It also means that I am constantly working with the freshest ingredients possible and trying to find ways of extending the season of each plant.
I’d highly recommend this approach to anyone who is just learning how to forage. It makes sense to have the landscape working for you, to find your food, medicine and drink ingredient on routes that you frequent daily..
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