Wild Berry Gathering

Wild berry foraging can be a relaxing pastime and doesn’t come with as much risk of gathering other wild foods like mushrooms. There aren’t many types of edible wild berries out there that are actually worth eating, but it’s still a good idea to know what’s edible, especially if there’s ever the chance you may get “stuck” in the wilderness.

This is merely a guide and as with mushrooms, you should never eat something that you aren’t 100% sure is safe, fortunately, though berries are much easier to identify as the tree or bush they are attached to are harder to confuse with something dangerous.

Hawthorn

Season – March to November

Other Names – Whitethorn, Maythorn

Scientific name – Crataegus

Plant Family – Rosaceae

Edible parts – Primarily the berries, but the leaves and flowers can be made into tea.

Habitat:

Hedgerows and round the edges of woodland are the best places to look. They like to get more sunlight than other trees and aren’t normally found right in the middle of thick trees.

Identification:

The red berries are small and shiny and about the same size as a cranberry. The leaves have deep lobes and are quite small. When in flower the tree will produce small five-petalled flowers that have a slightly sweet nutty smell.

Warnings:

With its distinctive leaves, it’s hard to confuse this with any other plants. Just look for the correct leaf shape and red berries.

Gathering and cooking:

Very easy to gather with no tool needed, the berries aren’t fixed on well and are easy to pull off. As for what to do with them the berries taste a bit like an apple that’s been left for too long before being eaten, so whatever you’d enjoy a “matured” apple taste in.

Crab Apple

Season – August to November

Other Names – Wild Apple, Bitter Apple

Scientific name – Malus sylvestris

Plant Family – Rosaceae

Edible parts – Fruit

Habitat:

Woodland and hedgerows. This plant is reasonably common across Europe and can be found in public parks and along canal paths.

Identification:

The branches and twigs can have small thorns on them, though this isn’t consistent with every species. The bark is often gnarled and quite weak, making them almost impossible to climb.
A pretty white flower with a hint of pink appears at the start of spring and ends at the beginning of summer, but the best identifier is the fruit which looks exactly like a normal apple, just much smaller.

Warnings:

Since the only edible part is the fruit and it’s quite difficult to confuse an apple with something else, you’re quite safe with this one.

Gathering and Cooking:

Bring a long stick to hit the one closer to the top of the tree off, depending on how many you want of course. They can be used in dishes as regular apples would but they are very bitter and don’t make for good eating. This is one of the wild foods you’d probably only eat if you’re really hungry and there are no better fruits nearby. 

Wild Raspberry

Season – June to September

Other Names – Hindberry

Scientific name – Rubus idaeus

Plant Family – Rubus

Edible parts – Fruit

Habitat:

Woodland and clearings. They grow in the same type of areas that brambles grow, just not in the same quantities.

Identification:

The main stem should be covered in tiny red thorns, and have many thinner twisting branches coming off it, growing in a similar manner to brambles. The best way to know it’s a wild raspberry will be the, well, raspberry.

Warnings:

The only thing you may mistake this one for is a blackberry that’s not quite ready yet. There aren’t any poisonous berries in the UK that are anything like a raspberry, so you’re pretty safe.

Gathering and Cooking:

The worst thing about this plant is the berries are very small and the plant only produces a few on each, making them almost not worth gathering. This is one of the wild foods its nice to eat if you’re passing one, as opposed to something you’d go out specifically to gather.

Wild Strawberry

Season – May to August

Other Names – Non

Scientific name – Fragaria vesca

Plant Family – Rosaceae

Edible parts – Fruit

Habitat:

Grass-covered areas with partial shade, such as hedges and round the outside of woodland.

Identification:

A pretty five petalled white flower forms in spring, and the stem will be between green and red and covered in tiny hairs. The best way to identify this one is by the fruit that looks the same a normally strawberry, just much smaller.

Warnings:

When the fruit forms its difficult to confuse it with anything poisonous.

Gathering and cooking:

The berries are easy enough to twist off, but these plants tend to grow on their own instead of in patches, so you probably wont find enough to actually do anything with.

BilBerry

Season – July to September

Other Names – Whin berry, Windberry, Myrtleberry,

Scientific name – Vaccinium myrtillus

Plant Family – Ericaceae

Edible parts – Berry

Habitat:

moorland is the best place by far, as this plant grows well in soil that has a lower-than-normal nutrient content and so often becomes the only plant in the area. They can sometimes be found in woodland though they will only appear in small patches. My personal Bilberry patch is on the Preseli Hills in South Wales where a huge Bilberry patch covers a large section of one of the hills.

Identification:

The plant grows quite low to the ground and has twisting bush-like branches. The leaves are small and oval-shaped and green in color, though they can develop a red hint to them when the berries are ripe. The number one thing is of course the berries which look very similar to blueberries. They are very dark blue in color and have a cog wheel-type shape at the open end.

Warnings:

Because of where it grows and the distinctive cog wheel on the berries, it’s hard to confuse this with anything dangerous.

Gathering and Cooking:

Bring a pair of waterproof gloves or you’ll end up catching the condition known as “purple finger”. The berries often burst when you pull them off and the dye within them is very strong, so unless you’re happy with having purple fingertips for a few days then wear some gloves.

The gathering part can also be quite awkward as the berries don’t grow in clumps or only on the top but tend to be spread across the whole plant. Unless you want to spend hours getting enough for a single pie you’re going to need some harvesting equipment, of which you have two options.

The first is the comb and catcher set-up, which would require a box or sheet to catch the falling berries and something to brush them off with like a fine garden rake or widely spaced comb. The second method is to lay a sheet on the ground around the main stem of the plant, and then shake the hell out of it. This only works when the berries are at their ripest, but whichever way you choose these are one of the nicest wild foods out there and well worth the effort.

Elder Tree

Season – June to September

Other Names – Elderflower Tree, Elderberry Tree

Scientific name – Sambucus nigra

Plant Family – Adoxaceae

Edible parts – Flowers and Berries

Habitat:

A very hardy tree that can grow pretty much anywhere. Birds eat the berries but can’t digest the seeds and so poop them out all over the place. You can find elder trees almost anywhere, especially in hedges and around the outside of woodland. Since it is a berry tree it grows best in areas that receive constant sunlight, and so a hedge-dwelling tree will produce better fruit than one in the middle of some woods.

Identification:

The Flowers are ready to pick in the first two weeks of June, which produce large clusters of small white flowers. After the flowers die and drop the clusters will turn into hundreds of tiny green berries which later develop into a very dark purple, almost black fruit.

Warnings:

Do not climb Elder trees as the wood is very weak and will break easily. The tree itself is hard to confuse with anything dangerous, but there is a risk of the raw berries making you sick if you eat too many. The flowers can be consumed raw or cooked, but the berries have to be cooked to neutralize the seeds.

Gathering and Cooking:

Both the flower and berry clusters are very easy to pinch off so no tool is needed, just remember one thing if you’re gathering the flowers, and that’s not to bring anyone with hay fever. Elderflowers produce a little cloud of pollen when you pull them off the tree, to the point where Ive ended up with a yellow fronted t-shirt after a days gathering.

The berries are quite safe to gather and don’t even require gloves as you can snap a bunch off higher up the stem. Whether it’s berries or flowers you’re gathering, the hard part is preparing them. You’ll need a dinner fork or a comb to brush off the heads, which can take a very long time to get a decent amount.

After you’ve gathered them the berries can be used in place of any other and work well, especially in jams. The flowers produce a nice sweet summer taste and can be put on top of salads or mixed into sweet things like icing and cakes.

Black Berry

Season – July to September

Other Names – Brambles

Scientific name – Rubus

Plant Family – Rosaceae

Edible parts – Berries

Habitat:

Brambles are often considered a pest plant as they can grow anywhere plants have space to do so. Waste ground and woodland are good choices, but you can find these spiky plants almost anywhere.

Identification:

The long stems of the plant are covered in sharp spikes to ward off predators. This berry is one of the most commonly recognized berries out there and it would be very difficult to confuse it with something dangerous.

Warnings:

Since they are so distinctive it’s hard to mistake them for anything else, never mind something dangerous. The only thing to watch out for with blackberries are the nasty little spikes that have stabbed many a jam maker.

Gathering and Cooking:

The berries are very easy to pull off but a pair of long gloves is recommended to avoid getting spiked. After getting them home soak them in cold water with a little salt in it to scare out all the bugs which will float to the surface. After a quick rinse in freshwater, they are ready to eat and work best in pies, jams, and wine.

Wild Cherry

Season – July to August

Other Names – Non

Scientific name – Prunus avium

Plant Family – Rosaceae

Edible parts – Berries

Habitat:

Mixed woodland in areas that receive a good amount of sunlight

Identification:

Cherries are hard to confuse as no other type of tree produces round red berries of this size. The leaves are long pointed oval shaped and wild cherry trees normally grow at least 10 feet tall before they produce a decent harvest.

Warnings:

There’s nothing close to a cherry tree to confuse anything harmful with.

Gathering and Cooking:

Gathering is easy as they aren’t difficult to pull off, the only problem is most of the cherries on a tree will be out of reach. Also, make sure to remove the stem attaching the cherry to the branch as when these rot they can start a disease on the tree bark.

Mountain Ash

Season – July to August

Other Names – Rowan tree, sorb apple tree, service tree

Scientific name – Sorbus

Plant Family – Rose family

Edible parts – Berries

Habitat:

Hedgerows and woodland. The plant is fairly common and appears everywhere from parks to waste ground.

Identification:

The berries will be colored orange to dark red and grow in hanging bunches. The leaves are small and oval-shaped ending in a point that grows in lines on either side of the stem.

Warnings:

The only thing you might confuse this one for is a hawthorn tree which produces another edible berry. There isn’t anything poisonous of this colour and leaf shape so they are a fairly safe bet.

Gathering and Cooking:

Gathering is easy as the bunches can grow quite big and come off together with a good pull. Soak in some cold water to get rid of the bugs and then you can eat them raw or cook them into a jam or pie. The berries can be a little bitter and aren’t really the first choice to make anything sweet with, more of a survival choice than anything else.

Sloe Berries

Season – July to August

Other Names – Blackthorn tree/shrub

Scientific name – Prunus spinosa

Plant Family – Rosaceae

Edible parts – Berries

Habitat:

They are much more common in hedgerows than within trees as they like a lot of sun. Blackthorns tend to grow in patches geographically speaking and finding a load in one area might see you travel to the exact same type of ground somewhere else only to find out there isn’t one for miles.

Identification:

The plant itself doesn’t grow very high and can start producing fruit from about 4 feet or taller. The sloe berries are egg-shaped with an indent running down one side of them. They are quite dark and have a strong purple colour the same as a ripe plum.

Warnings:

There are no poisonous berries in the UK with the same egg shape to them which are also colored purple, so they are quite a safe choice.

Gathering and Cooking:

Easy to gather with a quick twist and pull to remove the berries. As for what to do with them the main thing to consider is they are very very dry, with the only commercial use as a flavouring seems to be in gin to make it even drier. They can taste nice if you add a tremendous amount of jam, but even still aren’t the best choice for a sweet berry dish.