Garden Foraging: A Year of Free Food at Home

Garden foraging means picking the wild food that already grows around you. The nettles in the back corner, the dandelions in the lawn and the bramble on the fence are all free food. You aren’t growing anything, just noticing what’s there and knowing when it’s at its best.

This guide works through the year, season by season, with how to pick and use each plant. To put names to the plants in your borders first, the common garden weeds ID guide is a good place to start.

Why forage in your own garden?

You know the ground. You know whether anything has been sprayed, and you can wash what you pick. Plants regrow after picking, so a patch of nettles or dandelions gives several harvests a year.

You can also encourage edible plants. Plant wild garlic under a hedge or let nettles have a back corner. The line between foraging and gardening soon blurs.

Safety first: Only eat a plant you can identify with complete certainty. Several poisonous plants look like edible ones. If in doubt, leave it out. A good field guide is worth having.

Spring foraging: March to May

Spring is the season for fresh greens. Pick young leaves before the plants flower, when they’re tender and mild.

Nettles

Pick the top four to six leaves of young nettles in spring. Wear gloves. Cooking takes the sting away completely, so never eat them raw. Use nettles in soup (nettle, potato and onion is the classic), or wilt them like spinach. Cut a patch back in early summer for a second crop of fresh tips.

Gloves on and just the top few leaves. Cooking takes the sting out, so they’re ready for soup.

Dandelions

Young dandelion leaves are pleasantly bitter, a bit like rocket. Pick them before the plant flowers, as older leaves get much more bitter. Use them in salads or wilt them as greens. The flowers can be dipped in batter and fried.

Hairy bittercress

This tiny weed has a peppery, cress-like taste. It pops up in pots, borders and paving cracks from late winter. Pull whole plants before they flick their seeds everywhere, then use the leaves raw in salads and sandwiches. The guide to hairy bittercress helps you identify it.

Wild garlic

Wild garlic has broad, soft leaves that smell strongly of garlic when crushed. It carpets shady ground from March to May, with starry white flowers. Leaves and flowers are both edible. Use them raw in salads, blended into pesto or wilted into risotto.

Check each leaf carefully. Wild garlic can be mistaken for lily of the valley, and young leaves can be confused with lords-and-ladies. Both are poisonous. The garlic smell is the best check, but once your hands smell of garlic, every leaf will seem to. Wild garlic is also toxic to dogs and cats, so keep it away from pets that graze.

Wild garlic loves damp shade under trees and hedges. Crush a leaf: no garlic smell means leave it alone.

Summer foraging: June to August

Elderflowers

Elderflowers are ready in June. Pick creamy, fully open heads on a dry, sunny morning, when they smell sweetest. Avoid heads that are browning. Give each one a gentle shake to dislodge insects.

Elderflower cordial is the classic use. Steep the flowers in sugar syrup with sliced lemon for a day, then strain and bottle. Keep it in the fridge, or freeze some for later. Elderflower fritters in light batter are a lovely seasonal treat. Only use the flowers and cooked ripe berries. Elder leaves, stems and raw berries can make you ill.

Pick fully open heads on a dry, sunny morning. That’s when they smell sweetest and make the best cordial.

Edible flowers

Plenty of garden flowers are edible. They add colour and flavour to summer dishes.

Only eat flowers you’ve grown without sprays. The guide to growing and using edible flowers has more ideas.

Fat hen and chickweed

Fat hen tastes like spinach and turns up on dug ground in summer. Pick young leaves and cook them. Chickweed is a soft, mild green that’s best raw in salads. The guide to chickweed shows how to spot it. Good King Henry is a perennial cousin of fat hen you can plant for a reliable supply.

Autumn foraging: September to November

Blackberries

Blackberries ripen from August into autumn. Ripe berries are deep black and come away from the stalk easily. Eat them fresh, freeze them, or turn them into jam, crumbles and pies. Old folklore says not to pick after late September, and late berries do tend to be watery and past their best.

Ripe blackberries come away easily in your fingers. Red ones need a few more days of sun.

If you’d rather grow tidy, thornless plants than tame a wild bramble, see the guide to growing blackberries.

Rosehips

Rosehips are ready from September, when they are bright red and slightly soft. Rosa rugosa gives big, generous hips. Rosehip syrup is the classic. Simmer chopped hips in water, then strain through muslin twice to remove the irritating hairs inside. Boil the liquid with sugar and bottle it. The guide to picking and using rose hips covers more uses.

Sloes

Sloes are the small, dark blue fruit of blackthorn. They ripen in October and November and are very sour raw. Pick them after the first frost, or freeze them overnight at home to soften the skins. Prick each one, half-fill a bottle, add sugar and top up with gin. Shake it every few days and leave it for a few months.

Sloes and rosehips often share a hedge. Freeze sloes overnight if a frost hasn’t softened them yet.

Encouraging edible plants in your garden

Leave a patch to go a little wild. A small unmown corner soon fills with nettles, dandelions and chickweed. Nettles also feed the caterpillars of several butterflies, so it helps wildlife too.

• Plant wild garlic in damp shade under trees or a hedge. It spreads, so give it room
• Keep elder, blackthorn and wild roses if you have them. Each gives two seasons of interest
• Stop spraying anywhere you plan to pick
• Plant an edible hedge. The guide to edible hedgerows suggests mixes that give fruit, flowers and nuts

Garden foraging calendar

Common mistakes when foraging in the garden

• Guessing. If you can’t identify a plant for certain, don’t eat it
• Picking from sprayed ground. Avoid any patch treated with weedkiller or pesticide
• Picking old leaves. Young spring leaves taste best. Older ones get tough and bitter
• Eating raw elderberries. Always cook them, and never eat the leaves or stems
• Forgetting pets. Wild garlic is toxic to dogs and cats

There are more ideas on the growing hub. Now you know what’s out there, read the guide to edible garden weeds to identify ten more plants you can eat.

Frequently asked questions

What common weeds can you eat?

Dandelions, nettles, chickweed, hairy bittercress and fat hen are all edible. Young ground elder leaves are too. Pick young leaves before the plants flower for the mildest flavour, and cook nettles and fat hen rather than eating them raw.

Is it safe to eat plants from my garden?

Yes, if you are certain what the plant is. Several poisonous plants look like edible ones. Skip anything that has been sprayed, wash everything well, and start with easy plants such as dandelions, nettles and blackberries.

What garden flowers are edible?

Nasturtiums, violas, calendula, primroses and roses are all edible. Use them in salads, as garnishes or on cakes. Only eat flowers you have grown yourself without sprays, not ones from a florist.

When can I forage in my garden?

From late winter to late autumn. Spring brings young nettles, dandelion leaves and wild garlic. Elderflowers arrive in June, then blackberries from August, rosehips from September and sloes in October and November.

How do I encourage edible wild plants in my garden?

Leave a patch to grow a little wild. Nettles, dandelions and chickweed soon move in. Plant wild garlic in a shady corner, keep any elder or blackthorn, and avoid sprays where you plan to pick.

Is wild garlic safe for dogs?

No, wild garlic is toxic to dogs and cats. Like onions and garlic, it can harm their red blood cells. If your pets dig or graze, grow it somewhere they can’t reach.