Foraging For Beginners

If you can’t tell the difference between a sorrel leaf and a red campion leaf, or are unsure what sorrel even is? Welcome to the wide and wonderful world of foraging for beginners.

Foraging evokes different feelings in everyone. Some launch in without a second thought, free as a breeze to pick as they like and munch away enjoying every minute. Others are more cautious, even reluctant to bring their fingers to the soil for fear of an upset stomach.

Foraging in Pembrokeshire, aka the art of picking wild food, really is a great activity for everyone – if you’re in the right hands! It’s a fun way to spend time in nature, get some fresh air and exercise and connect to the earth.

Learning about the food available to us on our doorstep is something of a wonder. The best bit is, you get to cook it and eat it (if it’s edible, of course!)

So how can a beginner start foraging? In this post, we’ll outline key tips for beginners who want to forage food safely and enjoyably. There’ll be no stopping you once you start!

1. Take a course.

Foraging is easy in principle – but you must know what to pick and how it’s best used. Whether it’s edible or not is the most important thing to learn and in the wilds of Pembrokeshire you can learn exactly that.

By joining a Beginners Foraging Walk through The Really Wild Emporium, you’ll enjoy beautiful beaches, sunshine, scenery and stunning hedgerows where you’ll be shown which plants are safe to eat and which you must avoid.

2. Pick only what you know (and leave what you don’t).

Blackberries in late summer are familiar to us all and a great fruit to forage for and stinging nettle leaves can be collected in the spring. You can make delicious, healthy teas or cordials with either of them (great for digestion and health), make a crumble or cook up a nettle soup. Just watch the stingers when you pick them!

3. Be 100% sure of what you’re picking. This returns to point one – take a course!

If there’s even the slightest doubt in your mind, leave it well alone. There are lots of ‘lookalike’ species which can fool you, so before you get too excited (which you will, naturally!) be certain that what you’re picking is the real deal.

Foraging truly is a wonderful activity and increasing in popularity. The Really Wild Emporium aims to deepen the connection we have to our natural roots through its Wild about Pembrokeshire foraging courses, taking us back to our ancestors who foraged out of necessity.

Sharing a passion for food, drink and skincare which heals the body and helps protect this precious planet of ours, the Really Wild Emporium invites you to book onto their upcoming Foraging For Beginners course and start enjoying the wonderful activity of foraging today.