Foraging in the UK: What to Collect This Autumn

A great definition of foraging is ‘to go from place to place searching for things that you can eat or use,’ and this definition perfectly matches people's increased interest in sustainability, reduced carbon footprint, and concerns over food sources and costs. So, it is no wonder that foraging has become so popular in recent years, offering both social, ecological, and economic benefits for those taking it up.

The History of Foraging

Foraging in the UK actually dates back to the first hunter-gatherers who relied entirely on foraging for their survival, from gathering edible plants, catching fish or wild animals such as elk and red deer.

It wasn’t until farming was introduced to Britain in the Neolithic period that the reliance on a hunter-gatherer lifestyle changed. Now we could farm, and foraging took second place as a source of finding food. Foraging was still carried out, but now it concentrated on sourcing ‘wild’ foods, such as nettles, berries and nuts.

As we moved through the Middle Ages and into the Industrial Revolution, foraging remained an activity carried out for seeking our wild produce and was more popular in rural communities. In fact, it was the 1217 Charter of the Forest which established our legal rights to gather wild plants and mushrooms which were said to belong to no one.

After the industrial revolution foraging was less popular and was often associated with poverty and it wasn’t until World War II that forced people to turn to foraging to supplement their diets and nettles, rose hips etc were used as alternatives as other foods were scarce.

A renewed interest in self-sufficiency and reconnecting with nature in the 1970s saw a resurgence in foraging. This was reflected in the popularity of the BBC sitcom ‘The Good Life’ which focused on self-sufficiency and who can forget the episode where nettles were collected and used to make dye successfully and soup, not as successfully!

Foraging saw another boost in popularity in the 1990s with celebrity chefs such as Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall and Antonio Carluccio using wild, foraged foods in their recipes. The television series Cook on the Wild Side, in 1995 and 1997, again brought foraged food into the public eye.

This interest in foraging has started to peak again in the 2020s, with daily walks during the COVID-19 pandemic helping people to reconnect with nature and gardening. People also see foraging as a way of reducing their food costs and view it as a sustainable way to reduce our reliance on intensive farming practices.

Foraging in Autumn

With autumn stretching from the 1st September through to the 30th November, there are lots of things which you can be foraging for in this colourful season of vibrant yellows, oranges and reds as nature changes and prepares for winter.

From edible fruits through to herbs, nuts and mushrooms, you can find lots of enticing morsels at your fingertips for collecting as long as you forage with caution and a knowledge to carefully identify what you have found and that it's edible rather than poisonous. With this need to be 100% certain as to what you have located and with the increased interest in foraging you are likely to find local experts offering courses so you can learn proper identification and you will also find some excellent guide books which will make the perfect accompaniment when you are out and about foraging.

Foraging for Autumn Fruits

"Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth," courtesy of Henry David Thoreau.

Let’s take a look at some of the fabulous fruits which you may find when going out to forage in autumn - but before setting out make sure you are dressed for the weather and have the tools you need for successfully collecting the wild fruits so you can take them home to enjoy.

First and foremost you need something to carry what you forage - although it might be tempting to eat berries as you pick them it’s always best to take them home to wash away any dirt, bacteria and insects before you indulge - so a basket or bag which you can fill as you walk around collecting your finds which will hold them securely so they don’t get spoiled is vital.

With changeable weather in the autumn months, also make sure you're wearing sturdy, waterproof shoes or boots, long trousers and long sleeves to protect yourself from nettles or brambles. It’s also best to take a good pair of comfortable gloves, together with either a pruning knife or a pair of snips - and if you are thinking of foraging for roots, then a narrow trowel would come in helpful.

Now you’re all set to get foraging! In autumn, you are likely to find the following fruits ready to harvest:

Apples

Wild apples ‘Malus sylvestris’ are in season and ready to pick from late September through October and into November. These wild apples are small - about the size of a golf ball - and usually green in colour, although you may find them ripening to yellow, pink or red. When they are mature and ready to pick they will be easy to twist off the tree branches.

Blackberries

The prime time for picking blackberries is from late August through to late October, and you should pick them when they are a deep purple-black glossy appearance. Very common in hedgerows, heaths, wastelands, and woodlands, blackberries are best not picked near busy roads as these could be contaminated with pesticides. Also, avoid those areas where dogs are frequently walked.

Crab Apples

Typically ripening from late September to November crab apples are best picked late in the season as they will become softer and sweeter over time and after a first frost. Even with crab apples, you need to be careful to identify varieties which are edible, such as ‘Centennial’, ‘Dolgo’, ‘Royal Raindrops’, ‘Transcendant’, ‘Wickson’ or ‘Whitney’. However, you need to be really careful to avoid the ‘Manchineel’ Tree, which produces fruit which looks like crab apples but is actually highly poisonous.

Damsons

You should find damsons suitable for picking from late August through to October and when ready to harvest will simply drop from the branches if given a gentle shake. Shaped like small, blue-purple plums, they are virtually identical to sloes except that damson trees have no thorns and the fruits are softer and have longer stems than sloes.

Elderberries

Elderberries are dark, purple-black berries that are available from late August to October. You need to do some research before foraging for elderberries. The green berries and leaves are toxic, and you need to cook ripe elderberries before eating them to neutralise their natural toxins.

Raspberries

Wild, autumn-fruiting varieties of raspberries should be ready to pick from August through to October or into November depending on the weather. Wild raspberries are smaller than those we cultivate and tend to have a more concentrated flavour and tartness than the sweet cultivated varieties.

Rose Hips

Although all roses produce hips, wild roses produce the most prominent hips in abundance, and you can start looking for them from late September through to early December. Hips are ready to harvest when they have turned a deep orange or red and are easily twisted from the stem.

Sloes

You need to wait until late autumn to start foraging for sloes which are found on blackthorn trees. Usually found in traditional hedgerows and woodland edges, blackthorn trees are extremely thorny so you will need to be careful when foraging. Ideally wait until there has been a frost as this sweetens the sloes and softens the skins of these waxy, dark-purple fruits.

There are simply so many things that you can do with freshly picked fruit, from making cordials and syrups to enhancing spirits, making jams and jellies, that foraging for berries will result in you having a busy time in the kitchen to make the best of your finds.

Foraging For Autumn Herbs

Foraging for herbs in the autumn not only will expand your range of edible plants compared to those found in your supermarket, you will also find them packed full of nutrients, antioxidants and unique flavours which will enhance your meals.

As you are picking wild herbs, you need to use a reliable guidebook or app to make sure you identify the correct plants by looking at where they are growing and their leaf shapes to positively identify edible herbs.

Here are a number of autumnal herbs which you should come across when out and about foraging:

Mugwort

A relative of sage, mugwort can be foraged for in late summer through to early autumn (July to September) and is very sage like with a strong, bitter, aromatic scent. Mugwort can be used to infuse salts, teas and vermouth and incorporated into your baking when making scones, crackers or shortbread.

Nettles

Both the leaves and the seeds of nettles can be harvested, but for the best leaves you would forage in spring and for the best seeds collect during autumn. You can actually start foraging for nettle seeds from mid-July through to September / October but the best time to collect the seeds is when they are plump, green and appear in long clusters near the top of the nettle plants.

Wild Thyme

Although the best time to forage for wild thyme is late spring, early summer, it is possible to do some collecting in autumn as it is an evergreen perennial. The disadvantage with foraging for this herb during autumn is that the flavour of the leaves won’t be as strong as the most flavoursome ones are from new growth. 

When you’re foraging for roots make sure you have a sturdy trowel, I’d recommend using one with a narrow head so you reach into the smallest of spaces and make as little disturbance to the surrounding foliage as possible.

Make sure you are 100% sure that you have identified the right plants to harvest before you get started - remember mother nature is very clever and there are many similar looking plants and you want the ones which will be yummy to eat, not their poisonous look-alikes.

Here are some of the common roots which you could uproot in the autumn, ready for eating:

Alexanders

There are so many different parts of alexanders that you can eat you can be foraging different pieces of it all year round. In the autumn and winter it’s the roots that can be used as a vegetable, which makes sense as it’s part of the carrot family (Apiaceae). However, as with any roots you must have the landowners permission to dig them up.

Dandelions

Foraging for dandelion roots is best done during the colder autumn months as the taproot will be at its most nutritious at this time of year, as well as being less bitter. You can enjoy dandelion roots raw, boiled or roasted although you need to be careful when foraging to be 100% certain that you have identified the right plant as there are some non-edible plants like groundsel which it could be confused with.

Meadowsweet

Another herb which can be foraged throughout the year for either flowers, leaves or roots, its roots are traditionally collected in autumn when the plant is dormant. You will find meadowsweet by riverbanks, marshes, ditches etc as it thrives in damp, moist environments.

Foraging for roots can be fraught with problems, from being able to identify roots in the autumn when there may be less foliage to help you make a correct identification through to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 which makes it illegal to uproot any wild plant without the landowner’s or occupier’s consent (even though you can pick above-ground foliage for personal use on public land).

Foraging For Autumn Nuts

Hedgerows, parks and woodlands are the perfect places when you are foraging for nuts in autumn and early to mid-autumn is the time when you’ll find a number of nutritious nuts including beech nuts, hazelnuts and sweet chestnuts. Ideally avoid foraging near busy roads as the nuts you find could well have been contaminated with pesticides.

There are a number of edible nuts which you can enjoy finding in autumn, including the following: 

Acorns

Although you see green acorns covering the ground in late summer, it’s the ripe brown acorns which can be found from late September through to late November which are the ones to forage. Keep your eyes on the ground when foraging for ripe acorns as they are fully mature when they fall from the tree. You need to be careful when collecting acorns as not all species are edible and should never be eaten raw and need to be ‘leached’ to remove the tannins which can cause digestive problems and liver or kidney damage. Do your research before using acorns.

Beechnuts

You can start collecting beechnuts from the beech tree ‘Fagus sylvatica’ from mid-September through to November when they will fall from the trees as the triangular, spiky burs turn brown and split open. Only collect the mature brown nuts and being high in tannins roast them first to make them safe to eat. 

Hazelnuts

Most varieties of hazelnuts will be ready to harvest from late September into October and signs that they are ready to collect is when the husks turn brown or yellow-brown and the nuts easily move within the protective husk. When foraging these nuts you will need to pull them from the tree within their husk which you should then remove and leave the nuts to dry before storing or eating.

Sweet Chestnuts

By foraging from mid-October to early November you will find ripe sweet chestnuts which fall from the trees in their green spiky husks when they are ready to collect. Do some research before you go foraging for sweet chestnuts as they are easily confused with horse chestnuts (conkers) which are poisonous and you need to know how to tell them apart to be confident that you have the edible versions.

Walnuts

The best time to forage for walnuts is from mid-September through to November or later depending on the weather. You need to look for English walnut trees when foraging and collect them when the green husk splits open and they fall from the tree to reveal the hard-shelled nut.

As with any foraging activities, always make sure that you are certain of what you have identified as even with nuts there are poisonous look-alikes. Also, remember that wildlife will be foraging for food too so please don’t collect everything you can see, take just what you can eat whilst they are fresh and leave lots behind for wildlife, other foragers and for future growth.

Foraging For Autumn Mushrooms

Autumn is the peak season for mushrooms, especially from late September into November when the cooler temperature and increased rain provides the ideal environment for fungi to flourish.

This means that when foraging for mushrooms in the autumn, you should find many delicious varieties in abundance, including the following:

Bay Bolete

Excellent edibles, bay boletes are known for their pleasant smell and resistance to insect damage. With a chestnut-brown cap and yellow pores you will find them in woodlands, typically under pine trees and spruces. The season for these runs from July to November. 

Beefsteak Fungus

A safe choice for beginner foragers, the Beefsteak Fungus has no toxic look-alikes and is easy to recognise with its reddish-brown colour, fleshy tongue or liver shape, and interior of marbled reddish-pink, similar to beefsteak. You’ll find these growing on oak and sweet chestnut trees from summer into late autumn. 

Giant Puffbell

You can forage for these mushrooms from late summer into early Autumn in grasslands, meadows and the edges of woodlands. These are large, smooth, white mushrooms with a pure white interior. It’s crucial you only eat these when they have a solid, firm pure white interior as any colour inside makes them inedible and possibly poisonous. Please do some research with this one! 

Wood Blewit

Common in woodlands in the UK look to the ground for these mushrooms when walking through woodlands as they will often be in leaf litter from August through to December. Do your research before foraging for this fungi as it can be confused with poisonous Cortinarius species.

Foraging for mushrooms is one of the most popular types of foraging in the UK, even though it really does need good knowledge of what you are looking for to be able to distinguish between edible and poisonous mushrooms - which is why we would always recommend using a comprehensive guide book or app when mushroom foraging.

Is Foraging Legal In The UK?

It’s really important that when you are foraging that you are doing so legally so we have taken a quick look at what the rules are for foraging in the UK although we would always recommend doing your own online research on the rules of foraging before you set out to enjoy this popular pastime.

Foraging in England and Wales (Scottish law is slightly different) is covered by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Theft Act 1968 (note - the Theft Act 1978 did NOT replace the foraging rules of the 1968 act).

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

This act states that it is illegal to uproot any wild plant without permission from the landowner. However, it is generally not an offence to collect fruit, flowers, foliage, and fungi for personal consumption on land where you have permission. However, picking protected species, selling foraged items or foraging on protected sites like National Nature Reserves, etc., is illegal without proper authorisation.

The Theft Act 1968

Within this act you will find that it is not an offence to collect wild plants or fungi for personal use - however if you are technically trespassing then all the landowner can do is ask you to leave by the quickest and safest route. 

‘A person who picks mushrooms growing wild on any land, or who picks flowers, fruit or foliage from a plant growing wild on any land, does not (although not in possession of the land) steal what he picks, unless he does it for reward or for sale or other commercial purpose.’

For purposes of this subsection, “mushroom” includes any fungus, and “plant” includes any shrub or tree.’

You will also read about something called the UK Foraging ‘Code’ and the ‘4 Fs’ rule which are designed to help you legally and ethically forage.

UK Foraging Code

To be a responsible forager, you should follow certain guidelines, which you will often hear referred to as the ‘Foraging Code’ which is aimed at helping us to respect the environment, safeguard wildlife and preserve the landscapes whilst at the same time follow the laws referring to foraging (described above) and ensure we forage safely.

UK 4 Fs For Foraging

The 4 Fs is a mnemonic developed to help foragers remember what they are allowed to collect for personal use on common or public land, as long as you don’t uproot the plants or collect rare species. The 4 Fs refer to:

Fruit - foraging for wild berries, wild apples and rosehips.

Fungi - foraging for mushrooms and other forms of fungi.

Foliage: Foraging for the leaves and other green parts of plants, including alexanders, ground elder, nettles, sorrel, wild garlic, and wild thyme.

Flora - foraging for edible flowers such as dandelion, elderflower, pansies, viola, wild rose, etc.

Final Thoughts On Foraging

Foraging is a lovely, healthy and productive hobby which we can all partake in no matter our age or location. But you do need to be cautious as you need to forage safely and legally - permission is key - so do your research before setting out. You also need to be 100% certain with identification with foraging so that’s all about using reliable books or guides or even consider taking a foraging course or joining a local foraging group where you can be guided by experienced foragers.

Please remember, this blog post has been created using personal knowledge, insights from conversations with other gardeners and foragers, and by drawing on information from gardening magazines, books, and online resources. We aim to be as informative and accurate as possible—but if you spot a mistake, please remember we’re only human!

We’d also love to hear your thoughts on this topic. We’re continually learning about plants and gardens, and we believe the best way to grow is by sharing each other’s expertise and know-how.