Edible wild foods.

HwH

Does anybody have knowledge of edible wilds foods, i am situated in meath but can travel, looking for a course, guide etc for an afternoon / day of foraging. Maybe get a few likeminded folk together.

Cheers

H

meathstevie

Woodpigeon, rabbit, grey squirrel, hare, deer, pheasant, mallard, teal, snipe, woodcock all in their respective seasons with the right licence and permissions. Blackberries, raspberries, elderberries, nettles, chestnuts, beechnuts, mushrooms..... the list is endless.

fergalr

This is something I'd love to know more about too.

I'm under the impression that itd be very hard to forage enough to survive (without hunting) in somewhere like upland wicklow.
The only things I've ever made a good meal of in the past has been mushrooms, fraughans, and blackberries and thats only at a certain time of year.

Are there any good, for example, carbohydrate roots out there that you'd just never find unless you were shown?

I'd also be curious if there were courses specifically on this (as opposed to the more general bushcraft courses).

Carawaystick

I remember passing a load of sugar beet on the Wicklow way from the pier gates down to Lough Dan years ago. I doubt there's much beet being grown now the factories are closed.
I assume it was grown on cultivated land that was right beside the Way.

il gatto

The problem is that most "wild" areas of Irelnad tend to be infertile mountainsides, and as a result, vegetation is pretty limited to scrubby grasses, gorse and heather. You'll more on lower ground generally due to shelter and fertility. I'd stay away from mushrooms unless you really know your stuff. Potentially lethal. Not worth it imo.

fireflame

i live in north meath i do a bit . id be interested

Hadto

This book is still available from Amazon: Richard Mabey, Food for Free. - A guide to edible wild plants of Britain.- Gives you an idea.

irishlostboy

http://www.youtube.com/user/EatTheWeeds
there is endless food everywhere when you learn where to look. i have recently been accused of trying to eat an entire woodland. lol. trick with foraging is to take it one food at a time. learn all you can about it, then add one more. foraging is not meant to replace a diet. it is suplimentery sustinance. add seashore foraging, trapping/hunting and fishing, then you can survive.