Can You Forage in Winter? A Practical Guide to Seasonal Foraging

With winter running from December to February, it's one of the hardest seasons for foraging as we experience the shortest days, coldest temperatures, harshest weather and vegetation is scarce with many plants dying back, being dormant, trees bare and tender plants being damaged by frost. 

However, as long as you dress well for the weather, with waterproof shoes, warm waterproof gloves for handling prickly plants, together with long sleeves to protect from both the weather and potential scratches, then you can enjoy foraging and be rewarded by finding greens, fruits, nuts and mushrooms which thrive in the colder, wetter winter weather.

Foraging for Winter Mushrooms

Winter is a great time for foraging for mushrooms as many types thrive in cold, damp conditions, like the Velvet Shank. Research which species to look for before setting off and make sure you are warmly dressed in waterproof clothing, so you can comfortably search in woodlands, near streams and where there is dense tree cover.

Here are some of the wild mushrooms which you should come across when foraging in the winter months:

Herald Of Winter

Normally found at the beginning of winter in coniferous and mixed woodlands where they are normally growing in small groups or single mushrooms amongst the leaf litter and pine needles. With a brown cap which flattens as they mature, sometimes becoming depressed in the centre or even funnel shaped up to 5cm wide and with stems of white to pale yellow up to 7cm tall. 

Oyster Mushrooms

Extremely popular due to their mild, nutty flavour and soft, meaty texture, oyster mushrooms are used in many different dishes. When foraging you are best to select the younger mushrooms as these will be fresher and less damaged by insects. You’ll find them growing in tiered clusters on dead or dying deciduous trees, with fan-shaped caps and white gills running down into the stem.  

Scarlet Elf Cups

Appearing from late winter into early spring, these bright red mushrooms have a ‘cup’ or ‘saucer’ shaped top with a smooth inner surface and slightly-fuzzy outer surface covered in minuscule white hairs. They are usually found in damp, shady woodlands on decaying, mossy branches and twigs and are often partially buried in moss which helps create the ideal moist environment for them.

When out and about foraging for mushrooms it’s helpful to take a mushroom knife with you as this enables you to easily cut through the base of the mushroom whilst leaving the mycelium intact for future growth. The brush on the end of the knife helps you to clean off dirt on insects before adding them to your basket to carry them home.

Turkey Tail

Although these can be found all year round, these mushrooms start growing in Autumn so by the time December arrives they are at their best. Usually found growing on dead wood, these small fan-shaped fungi have a tough, leathery texture, with the tops featuring concentric circles of various colours including yellow, brown, green, grey and black. 

Velvet Shank

Also known as ‘winter mushrooms’ velvet shanks are definitely a winter delicacy, often appearing after cold weather growing in clusters on dead or dying deciduous wood. With caps from 2 to 6cm wide, with a smooth surface in shades from bright orange through to caramel coloured tones. Feeling sticky or slimy when wet they thrive in cold, wet weather and withstand frost.

Winter Chanterelles

Considered extremely tasty with an earthy, strong and sometimes peppery flavor, winter chanteralles have a high water content and slippery texture that means they are best cooked and used in sauces, soups and stews. Smaller than their cousins, the golden chanterelles, they range in size from 3 to 5cm wide and come in shades of yellowy-brown to orangery-yellow. The caps have a depression in the centre whilst their tall hollow yellow stems can be up to 6cm in height . 

Wood Ears

Also called ‘jelly ears’ due to their ear-like appearance and gelatinous, jelly-like texture, although these grow all year round they are easier to forage in winter when there is less foliage and trees are bare. Wood ears are easiest found a couple of days after heavy rain which rehydrates and enlarges them. Look for them on dead or rotting wood from deciduous trees, especially elder. 

The most important thing when foraging for mushrooms is to correctly identify the mushrooms you pick and ensure you are 100% certain before taking them home to eat. With many highly toxic look-alikes it’s recommended you check at least two different sources, such as a reliable app and a field guide,  so you don’t make any mistakes.

Foraging For Winter Nuts

If you enjoy a challenge then foraging for nuts in winter will provide this as many of the tasty morsels will have already been eaten by the local wildlife or have simply fallen to the ground in autumn and are no longer fit to eat. 

However, the reward of finding still edible, nutrient-rich nuts due to your patience and careful observation as you forage makes this a relaxing way to enjoy a fresh, winter day outdoors. 

Here are a few of the nuts which you might be lucky enough to locate as you forage in winter: 

Beechnuts

Not widely sold in the UK, to enjoy their delicious flavour when lightly roasted you are best to forage beechnuts. Peak collecting time is October so although they will be scarce it’s worth checking the leaf littler below beech trees - these are a prized morsel for birds and squirrels so you will need luck on your side to be the first to find them,

Pine Nuts

The best time for foraging pine nuts is between September to December. When searching for pine nuts in early winter look for mature, open cones on the ground under pine trees. Hopefully you will still find a few seeds left in the pine cones which haven’t been eaten by squirrels.

Foraging Foresight

When foraging for pine nuts, the pine cones they are tucked inside can be sticky with sap, so wearing gloves is the best way to handle them. Sap can be very difficult to remove so if you do get it on your gloves the best way to remove it is to put your gloves in the freezer. The aim is to leave the gloves long enough so the sap goes brittle and you can then use a dull knife to scrape the sap away.

Sweet Chestnuts

Encased in spiky husks you are best to wear gloves to pry out the shiny, firm nuts ready to take home. Always discard any that are soft or wrinkled or have holes which normally indicates insects are inside. As with any foraging, only take what you need and will get used, leaving some on the ground for wildlife or other foragers.

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

Jack Frost nipping at your nose”

Although the Romans originally roasted chestnuts it was during the Victorian era that it became popular and associated with Christmas.  Although we still roast the sweet chestnuts we forage you don’t have to have an open fire as they are easy to roast in an oven. Once cleaned and an ‘X’ cut into their shells they can be roasted in a 220 degree C oven for 25 to 30 minutes before peeling and enjoying their buttery, soft texture and earthy, nutty flavour. 

Walnuts

Although the peak time for foraging for walnuts you may still find some walnuts that have fallen to the ground in early December. Falling from walnut trees which are often located at the edges of woodlands, hedgerows and waste areas. Always wear gloves as you forage as the green casing of walnuts can stain your skin so it’s easier to remove this casing with gloves on.

Foraging For Winter Fruits

With a limited selection of fruits to find compared to the warmer months of the year, you will find some gorgeous late-season fruits such as bullace, crab apples and sloes. Many of the fruits found in winter will be too tart to eat raw and need to be cooked or used to flavour spirits to release their flavours.

When foraging for fruits avoid areas where there could be heavy pollution, such as roadsides, and always wash foraged fruits to remove bacteria, dirt and and possible pesticides.

Here are some of the fruits you are likely to find ripe and ready to pick when you harvest during winter:

Bullace

Related to damsons and sloes, bullances are small, round, wild plums usually purple or dark blue or can be yellow or green.  With peak picking in October and November, in early winter you are likely to find fruits to pick, with the cold weather softening their skins and sweetening their flavour. You’ll find bullace on small trees or shrubs, usually thornless and growing in wild hedgerows, woods and thickets.

Crab Apples

Hardy fruits which don’t rot on the tree you will find crab apples ready to pick in the winter months. Ready to pick when they are easily removed from the stem by twisting, you can check they are ripe by cutting one open to check the pipes which will be dark brown when ready. Crab apples are very small, less than 3.5cm in diameter and tend to look more like cherries than apples.

Hawthorn Berries

Also known as ‘haws’ these crimson red fruits start to appear in early autumn, ripening through September to October yet can still remain on the trees through winter into early spring. With hawthorn being very common you will find them in hedgerows, parklands and woodlands, but be careful when pulling the berries from the stems to avoid the thorns. With an apple like texture the haws can be eaten raw but are incredibly sour so are usually foraged to use to make jellies, wines or to infuse liqueurs.

Rose Hips

Best to pick after frost which softens the hips and makes them juicier, if the birds and squirrels have beaten you to these plumb, red hips you should still find some in early December. Usually found in hedgerows and the edges of woodlands gloves and long sleeves - or gauntlet gloves - are the best way to pick them safely and avoid the thorns.

Sloes

Found on the dense, thorny branches of blackthorn bushes and small trees, sloes are small, round, deepblue-black or purple colour. Each sloe berry contains a large stone and if you bite into them raw they are very bitter and intensely tart. Their taste becomes sweeter if picked after frost or after being frozen when they taste more ‘plum’ or ‘cherry’ like. Sloes are usually used to flavour spirits, such as making sloe gin where they are steeped for months in gin and sugar resulting in a sweet, fruity liquor.

Foraging For Winter Herbs

With some hardy herbs continuing to thrive in the colder weather of winter, focusing on these can make foraging rewarding, even when the ground is covered in snow. At this time of year it’s really important that you forage responsibly, taking only what you need and leaving behind some that can be enjoyed by wildlife and other foragers.

Here are some of the resilient herbs you will find foraging over the winter months:

Chickweed

Often dismissed as a weed, chickweed is a herb with edible leaves that can be added to salads and eaten raw or cooked in soups, stir-fries and other dishes. Although it grows all year round, it's a great herb to forage for in the winter as it thrives in cool, damp conditions and is most tender in later winter, early spring.

Common Sorrel

Sometimes known as ‘Sour Dogs’ or ‘Poor Man’s Herb’ common sorrel is a perennial herb that thrives in our cool climate and you can forage for it between March to December. Its distinctive arrow-shaped leaves are glossy and smooth and have a sharp, lemony flavour. A very cold-hardy herb you can harvest it as long as the ground isn’t frozen, picking individual leaves, not the whole plant.

Garlic Mustard

With its prevalence for growing along hedgerows, garlic mustard is sometimes referred to as ‘Jack-by-the-hedge’ or ‘Hedge Garlic’ due to its garlicky scent when you crush the leaves. When foraging for garlic mustard during winter search amongst shady, damp areas of hedgerows or at the edges of woodlands. Look for its distinctive rosette of green leaves with a smooth texture, prominent veins and growing close to the ground. Pick the youngest, lowest leaves for the most tender, flavoursome leaves.

Hairy Bittercress

A very common, fast-growing weed which you will see almost everywhere, from growing in neglected flower pots to the edges of woodlands or even between paving slabs, when foraging be careful to pick bittercress where it will have been in contact with as few contaminants as possible. Also, ensure you thoroughly wash your harvest before enjoying the peppery, cress-like flavour when added to salads or used as a garnish.

Pine Needles

Winter is the peak season for foraging pine needles which can then be used to infuse oils and vinegars as well as adding them to soup, stews and other dishes. With a tangy, citrusy, slightly acidic flavour they can be finely chopped and added to soups, stews or doughs  or kept whole when infusing oils or vinegars. Correct identification of pine needles is critical when foraging as some conifer needles, such as those from yew trees, are poisonous.

Sweet Violets

With both the flowers and leaves suitable to eat sweet violets are popular when foraging and as a result of this plus the fact that their traditional habitats are declining means that when you come across sweet violets you need to forage sustainably, only taking a few leaves from a single plant and never taking more than a fifth of the blooms. Although you will find the leaves all year round, they usually flower from March to May so you will only find the blooms in winter if there has been very mild weather,

If you are inspired to grow your own herbs when foraging then this ‘Kitchen Gardener Gift Hamper’ is packed with everything you need to get started. It also includes a lovely pocket-sized pair of snips, perfect for when you are foraging or harvesting your own home-grown herbs.

Foraging For Winter Roots

If you decide to forage for roots it is really important that you get explicit permission from the landowner in order to legally uproot plants on their land. 

Without this permission it would be illegal to forage for roots under the Theft Act 1968 making the digging up and removing roots seeing you facing legal problems. In fact some plants are protected by law which means they should never be picked or removed at all. This means you must always do your research and gain permission before setting off foraging plant roots. 

With this in mind, here are some of the roots which you might be able to forage for in winter:

Burdock Roots

With a flavour compared to a cross between a carrot and a potato, burdock roots have a slightly sweet, slightly nutty taste which can be accentuated when roasted. They can also be used in stir-fries or incorporated into soups and stews. Burdock root can also be eaten raw, so added to salads or slaws similar to how you might use celeriac.

Foraging Foresight

When foraging for roots a hori hori knife will prove extremely practical as it can be used for digging, sawing through roots with its serrated edge and cleanly cutting through stems and smaller roots with its sharp edge

Dandelion Roots

Tasting similar to carrots or parsnip, with an earthly, slightly bitter taste, dandelion roots are actually sweeter when harvested in the winter as the plant converts starches into sugars as it prepares for dormancy. This also makes the roots easier to pull from the ground without breaking.

Horseradish Root

With a stronger flavour after frost harvesting horseradish is best done during autumn and early winter. Many foragers say that wild horseradish is more pungent and has a more intense flavor than cultivated plants. It’s tricky to forage for roots in winter as the leaves will have died back so you will need to remember where you saw it when it was in leaf.

Before You Set Off To Forage

It’s really important when foraging that you do so safely and legally so do your research before setting off.

For expert guidance on what you can forage safely, visit the Food Standards Agency by clicking here.

You can also check the laws covering foraging by looking at the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 by clicking here.

Together with the Theft Act 1968 by clicking here.

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.