Fresh tomatoes, courgettes and radishes from your own garden: the number of new hobby gardeners has rarely increased as rapidly as in recent weeks. But you can also find delicious food in the wild - and for free.
Fresh tomatoes, courgettes and radishes from your own garden: the number of new hobby gardeners has rarely increased as rapidly as in recent weeks. But you can also find delicious food in the wild - and for free.
Gathering edible plants, leaves, berries and fruits in nature - foraging in the forest and in natural landscapes is finding more and more friends. People from the big city in particular are drawn back to the great outdoors. And of course, food can be discovered here that has not been fertilised or polluted with pesticides. Many wild plants also have beneficial or even healing properties.
What we find on the doorstep
If you leave the concreted surroundings of the cities, you will often find areas in the immediate vicinity where humans have not interfered with nature much or at all. But you can also discover wild plants along well-trodden paths. From March to October, nature brings an abundance of produce to the table - you just have to look closely.
Fruits and berries
Well known are blackberries and raspberries, which only need loose soil and a sunny spot. Elderberry grows along streams - gourmets already dip the white flower umbels in dough and bake them, others wait for the berries, which are very tasty and also suitable for fruit brandy. Elderflowers can also be used to make excellent syrup. Nature also provides wild strawberries and blueberries. Not at all uncommon are wild cherry trees, whose fruits are considerably smaller and a little more sour than "domesticated" sour cherries. Feral fruit trees can also be found near farms. If they are not looked after for many years, they can still bear fruit, albeit smaller and slightly woody fruit. However, they can always be preserved.
Nuts and chestnuts
Nut trees, especially walnut, are found in mixed forests, as is the chestnut, whose fuzzy seed pods do not resemble the horse chestnut at all. Hazelnuts are also common plants, but they rarely grow larger than shrubs.
Pick mushrooms yourself
Mushroom picking - a science in itself. Be brave, it's not that difficult. Anyone who has ever held a tuberous-leaved mushroom next to a mushroom can see the differences at first glance. In addition, many municipalities have a mushroom testing centre where the yield can be presented to an expert. This is definitely advisable in order to exclude the health risks of eating highly poisonous mushrooms due to confusion.
Blossoms, leaves, herbs
What our grandparents used to put in soup in bad times still tastes quite good today. Among the edible plants that can be found on the doorstep are rocket, purslane and dandelion, but also watercress and nettles. A delicacy is wild garlic, the wild relative of garlic. Here it is not the bulbs but the leaves that are collected, which sprout in March and April. Wild garlic looks similar to the wild lily of the valley and prefers the same locations, but the leaves smell distinctly of garlic when rubbed. Wild asparagus, which can also be collected in the forest in spring, is also delicious.
A lavish pantry
In fact, nature has a lot to offer. Even vegetables such as carrots or parsnips are available in a wild form, albeit not very tasty. Much of what you collect in spring, summer or autumn can also be boiled down or frozen and thus freshen up the menu in winter.
Presumably, even the most nature-loving chefs will not want to live exclusively on dandelions and wild chestnuts - but the inclusion of these treasures of nature is gradually finding its way into the menus even of well-known chefs.
In our consumer society, we are used to all the food waiting for us in the supermarket. But nature around us offers so much - including food that can be collected for free with the right know-how.
