In the UK the harvest festival has traditionally taken place on the Sunday nearest to the harvest moon, that is the full moon closest to the autumn equinox which is 22 September this year. It is celebrated in churches and schools by displaying freshly grown produce and other food with singing and prayers of thanks. Later the food is distributed to the local community. Festivals giving thanks for the main yearly harvest such as corn and wheat, are an ancient ritual and are often celebrated, usually including drinking and feasting, throughout the world. The wild food calendar also comes into its own during the autumn months, a time when berries and nuts are ripening and there are mushrooms a plenty for picking.
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| Rosehips |
The dog rose (Rosa canina) from the Rosaceae family produce a lovely fruit called rosehips. They are much easier to process after the first few frosts which soften the outer red skins. The petals, fruit
(rosehips) and tiny seed (but not the hairs on the seed) are all edible
raw. An oil can be made from the seed and is used in skin care products.
Rosehips can be made into a fruit tea and the leaves can be fermented,
dried and made into a rather reasonable black tea
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| Hawthorn fruit known as haws |
The fruit of the hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) is also ripening now. The deep red fruit, containing one large seed, are called haws and are pomes rather than berries. They can hang on the tree until the following spring when they tend to go dull or black. However, they are better picked in autumn when bright red in colour. Hawthorn is a long-lived deciduous shrub or small tree from the rose (Rosaceae) family. The hawthorn has raw edible flowers, flower buds, leaves, young shoots and fruit. Wildlife love it.
Blackberries (Rubus fruticosus) are a firm favourite of ours during this month although we haven't seen as much fruit this year as usual. It was the same for our wild raspberries (Rubus idaeus) and is probably due to the lack of rainfall. Elderberries (Sambucus nigra), rowanberries (Sorbus aucuparia) and bilberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) are also available. Please remember ripening times vary from earlier in the south to later in the north although the variable weather plays its part in this process too! All are edible raw but make sure they are nice and ripe before picking.
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| Hazelnuts |
If you are looking for nuts, then hazelnuts (Coryllus avellana) and beech nuts (Fagus sylvatica) will be ready for picking around now. Hazelnuts are bigger, easier to handle, and produce more nuts for your money. Both nuts are edible raw in quantity.
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| Hazelnuts without the shell |
Beech nuts are very small and fiddly to process. However, they are tasty and worth processing even if you only do it once for the experience! They are good as a trail nut. If it is any help, the brown leathery skins are much easier to peel than chestnuts!
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| Beech nuts |
Don't forget sweet chestnuts (Castanea sativa), one of our favourites. The greeny-brown spiky burrs can usually be found under the tree after really blustery weather. After removing the burr, the chestnuts in the glossy brown leathery shells that feel heavy to hold are the best. Sweet chestnuts are edible raw but scrape off the pellicle (downy layer) first. Don't mistake a horse chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum), which
produces 'conkers' which are not edible, for a sweet chestnut tree
(Castanea sativa) which produces 'chestnuts'!
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| Sweet chestnut |
We recently picked the last of the stinging nettles (Urtica dioica) for drying. We cut the tops of the plants at about 20 - 30 cm high, snip off anything that isn't clean and green, and leave them in a colander on a kitchen work surface to dry naturally. Depending on the warmth in the kitchen they usually dry within a few weeks. We then place them in an airtight bag or container for use during the winter months.
There are still some daisy (Bellis perennis) flowers and leaves around for salads. There are one or two dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) flowers and some leaves still available, but they have almost all disappeared. Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is flowering and plenty of feathery leaves are still around. We cut up small quantities to add to green salads. It is a bitter plant, much like dandelion, but very beneficial. We are finding quite a few shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) leaves and flowers, a peppery plant to give a meal a bit of a kick.
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| Common sorrel |
Common sorrel (Rumex acetosa) continues to flourish and have produced a bumper crops for us this year with large succulent leaves. This is one of the few plants that produce green leaves all year round. The flowers, leaves, roots and seed are all edible raw. This plant is very acidic and contains high levels of oxalic acid so if you have arthritis, for example, use it in moderation.
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| Yarrow |
A variety of different wild plants (often called 'weeds'), including dandelions (T. officinale), bistort (Polygonum bistorta) and self heal (Prunella vulgaris), continue to emerge in the polytunnel and we use them in salads instead of composting them. Chickweed (Stellaria media), our favourite lettuce substitute, continues to emerge after self-seeding and is being used on a daily basis. This plant is highly recommended for those new to foraging. Some wild plants can be very strong in flavour but this is mild in taste and a perfect first food! Strip off the leaves but avoid the long stems which can be a bit stringy. We often still use the stems but cut them into very short pieces with a pair of scissors. Chickweed is susceptible to frost damage although ours seem to have developed a resistance to the cold as the years go by, and last year they survived in the polytunnel throughout the winter which was a real bonus.
