Autumn Foraging
Having enjoyed bountiful harvests of fruit and vegetables throughout the summer one could be forgiven for thinking "thats it for another year". However, a feast of Autumnal pleasures await and here we feature a few of our favourites along with some interesting recipes. Whats more you just do the harvesting letting nature take care of the husbandry!
I find the spotting of Boletus edulis (the very fine Penny Bun/Cep/Porcini) one of my most exciting foraging finds. As well as being an excellent edible mushroom they have a majestical presence and are distinctive enough to provide a reliable identification. As always if thinking about consuming wild fungus/mushrooms you must be 100% sure of your identification. There are of course many more poisonous specimens than those which are edible - some fatally so. Cross referencing a number of good guide books and gaining experience over a number of seasons before attempting to eat is good practice. Some excellent books and useful guides are listed at the end of this previous post on a Fungi Foray.
We will collect some if we find enough (and if you find one others are often close by) but leave plenty from a sustainability perspective. After checking for damage caused by slugs and insects there is nothing better than cooking with garlic in a little olive oil and butter. Sizzle in a frying pan well until the edges are almost starting to crisp and take on some colour and enjoy on a slice of good sour dough toast.
Alternatively they can be readily dried for use later in soups or to add punchy flavours to winter casseroles. In fact its really worth buying a dehydrator to help with the preservation of a wide range of foods.
We recently bought an excalibur dryer which has been in daily use. Wind fall apples into apple chips, bananas beyond their aesthetic use into a wonderful caramel tasting banana chips and fruit and savoury leathers. We love the fruit leathers as they make a really nutritious snack and are great for garnishing. There is some very useful information on the "National Centre for Home Food Preservation" web site an American resource with a rather cold war austerity feel to it!
Numerous wild apple trees occur through out the greener spaces in Sheffield and although their use for eating is limited cider making is an excellent alternative. We have given some ideas from our experience here and below is some of the fruits of our 2013 labour.
Hazelnuts are another excellent and commonly occurring tree on local common land. Get there before the squirrels and a great harvest awaits. Sometimes smaller than commercially available nuts they make up for this with great taste.
We have used local hazelnuts to make Hazelnut and Florentine Lollipops and lovely Plum and Hazelnut Frangipan tarts.
The great thing about getting out to do some Autumn foraging is that you never quite know what you will find. Be adventurous and plan how you are going to procerss and preserve your bounty so that nothing is wasted and always be sensible to leave plenty to help regenerate for future years.
If you are interested in more on Autumn foraging we have previous posts here:
Some Autumn foraging and growing