Prepping is all about making preparations now for events that might take you unawares or by surprise sometime in the future.
Since access to regular supplies of nourishing food is likely to be something anyone will need during an emergency situation or crisis, a supply of long-life and non-perishable food plays a vital role in practically every prepper’s arsenal.
There may come a time when your stocks of food run perilously close to inadequate or when you can simply not reach your cache of supplies. It is then that you might rely on foraging by searching for, identifying, and gathering food in the wild – be that plants, fruit, herbs, or mushrooms that you find growing in any wild and uncultivated ground.
What toolkit do you need to forage?
The toolkit you need is neither extensive nor sophisticated:
- a stout pair of gloves might be handy when picking your way through brambles;
- some foragers will swear by their harvest bag or apron while others might favour a traditional trug or basket;
- a pocket knife and a pair of secateurs are always going to prove useful, too; but
- fancy devices – such as the berry pickers described by The Wild Foodie, for example – are probably unnecessary and over the top.
What to look for
It’s all very well setting out to forage for food in the wild but what exactly are you looking for?
All kinds of nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, fungi and more can be foraged – but you’ll still need to know what to select and, of course, you’ll need the permission of any landowners who might be involved.
The Countryfile has a very helpful list of suggestions as to what is likely to be available for foraging each month throughout the year – so if you can’t tell your wild chervil from your sorrel and chickweed, now’s the time to indulge in a spot of self-education.
What to do with it once you have it
One of the wonderful things about foraged food is how versatile and adaptable it is. When you’re just starting out on your foraging adventures, you can keep things quite simple and straightforward by just making teas from nettles and sorrels or adding wild mushrooms or berries to the meals you’re cooking.
But there’s really no limit to the degrees of sophistication you can achieve with foraged ingredients – it’ll just take some practice, some learning, and a dab hand with the pots and pans.
Take a look at the Wild Food UK website, for example, and you could find yourself tucking into main courses such as a Blewit mushroom stroganoff or even a hedgehog pie with ham, cider, and tarragon (where the “hedgehog” comes in the shape of the fungi by that name and not the cute, prickly animals!).
Storing
Much of the food you are likely to forage is soft, green, and leafy plant life. You’ll need to eat it more or less as soon as you’ve picked it – the fresher, the better.
But longer-term storage is also possible with foraged food, provided you’re prepared to take a little time and effort preparing it properly. Pascal Baudar’s book, Wildcrafted Fermentation, for example, will guide you every step along the way to preserving many of the foods you’ve foraged in ways that lock in the rich flavours of this valuable source of nourishment.
Summary
Whether or not you have a fully-stocked supply of long-lasting food, foraging opportunities will give you access to still further sources of nourishment – and wild and uncultivated land can prove truly bountiful in that regard.
You’ll need to know what to forage, whether you have permission to collect it, what to do with it once you’ve harvested the food, and – to make the most of your goodies – a recipe or two for cooking or preserving it.
Further reading: Local Foraging – Pay Attention To What Wild Food You Find In Your Local Area
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