It’s that time of the year again!  Autumn in our view is the most exciting season when it comes to wild foragables.  The berries are all on the go and the Fungi are popping up here and there, and as folk who spend the majority of the time outdoors, it’s this seasonal shift that is as noticeable as the change in temperature.

It’s these shifts that our ancestors would come to know and more importantly rely on, as they lived in a more symbiotic way with the land than us.  Spending a day out finding food for free and learning new species of fungi that can be eaten (and more importantly not eaten) definitely makes you think that you’re doing what people have done for millennia.

We are practioners of Survival, and as you may well know, the aim of the game in Survival is to get yourself rescued within the 72 hour window, which automatically negates the need for food.  However missing the 72 hour window of rescue will mean having to do your best to hunt and gather what can be found around you.  This ties in nicely with the Survival Pyramid, which states that in hierarchy “Will to live” is the most important, followed by “knowledge” and last of all “kit”.  It’s the Knowledge part of the triangle that is important when foraging.

With plants, fungi, berries, roots etc, there’s no tidy trick to remember what’s edible and what will kill you.  The emphasis is very much on you to get out there with a field guide and start the journey of collating a list of foods that you could live off should the worst happen……..and it’s not that difficult.  BCS have a number of courses running over the autumn that can help you if you get stuck, or can act as a basis to build from.

But if we’re honest (and it doesn’t make good business sense to say this)  There’s a huge amount of satisfaction attached to getting out there yourself, so that’s what we’d recommend to begin with.  But remember never eat something you’re not 110% sure you can identify as safe to eat, and if you get stuck…….give us a shout!