Wild Food UK Foraging Rules

[@gabrielgalarza1916]

Very useful video for people from abroad like me living in the UK, who love responsible foraging. Thanks for your video 👍🏻

[@WildFoodUK1]

Glad it was helpful :)

[@janosszentpeteri1922]

@@WildFoodUK1 Hi, do you have a book on lichens and mosses? Or do you know in the UK a great book about this subject? Thanks in advance for the answers. Have a harmonious day!

[@salardis8804]

You make a lot of sense Marlow.

[@concretetoy54]

thanks for explanation, very interesting! in my country, private land usually means ban on all activity, even entering the area. therefore locals hate when some forest no longer communal property and becomes private regarding commercialization, I don't sell what I forage, but I love seasonal mushrooms, like honey fungus. if I there is any, I could collect several buckets at once, and then cleaned&boiled they stay in a freezer and consumed for half a year after nice harvest season. I guess I would be suspicious if I did the same in the UK:) btw, "commercial" foragers in my area are easy to identify because they usually collect 1 or 2 species of mushrooms (e.g. penny bun, chanterelles), and ignore others, like delicious suilluses.

[@AdamsWorlds]

Good advice, i live near yourself (the malverns) the hills are a SSS it infuriates me when i see people taking rocks for ponds and stuff. Plenty of land as you say around nothing wrong with leaving a small bit for nature!

[@theexplorechanneluk7934]

Just talking about the foraging rules with someone on the way home from work today. This video makes good timing and given how foraging interest has spiked in recent years this video is convenient and necessary.

[@steammachine3061]

Great set of rules and mosty common sense. I'll get back to my 1.5 kilos of psilocybin per "trip" 😁.......hey no rules about that lol. On a more serious note iv on a few occasions tried to beat the local lawnmower to a patch or 2. Ran downstairs in my pyjamas one morning when I heard the Gardner fiiring up old Betsy in our communal garden lol. I dont know where that stands on landowners permission but i realy cant be arsed to knock on every single door. I would give myself permission obviously but i cant vouch for the 100 or so other properties

[@keilz4288]

Thank you

[@WildFoodUK1]

You're welcome

[@dontnoable]

Also said pesticides and so on which farmers spray on land has unfortunately been very effective at damaging the diversity of fungi. There is a recent video with Merlin Sheldrake called eat mushrooms every day where it's discussed

[@harvestmoon-k1446]

Thank you for this. I have signed onto one of your courses in April and looking forward to it.

[@WildFoodUK1]

Hope you enjoy it :)

[@WildwoodTV]

Lol! - how does 'the wife' feel about lying down in front of a lawn mower! Also you may have permission to pick but others seem to think they can too. By the side of a busy road isn't a good idea either - dangerous & possibly toxic. Good video Marlon as foraging has become so popular nowadays. A few years ago I asked which 'wild mushrooms' on a London menu - 'chestnut and portabello' 🤣🤣

[@kipstrange1973]

In Scotland we have the right to roam act which was passed by the Scottish government twenty years ago. There are a few restrictions but it's totally different from England.

[@fattihattener]

Are the strange smelly small black bags i find hanging literally everywhere on bushes, gateways and tree branches in most woodland, bridleways, green lanes and common land areas edible ?

[@patriotnick2801]

Disgusting people probably cant look after themself let alone do the right thing for the public where dog mess is concerned. One of my pet hates.

[@WildFoodUK1]

truly one of the most annoying things I ever see!

[@austinbux]

Doesn't your guidance mainly apply to England and Wales? For example, the rules on land access are entirely different in Scotland.

[@WildFoodUK1]

Hi Austin. The rules on land access are different with the fabulous right to roam in Scotland but the rules on foraging are still the same with regards to what you shouldn't pick and commercial foraging. Plus we still follow our general guidance when foraging there.

[@marklindsey4099]

Advice re coastal foraging??? Eg seaweeds, molluscs etc- might be worth a supplementary video on this

[@WildFoodUK1]

Hi Mark. With the coastal plants its the same rules. We don't run anything coastal at the moment though so will do a video about the shellfish and seaweeds when we do. It's always worth looking at the signs though as much of the coast is protected, particularly the muddy estuaries where lots of the good stuff can be found.

[@guitarnotator]

What about if a farmers wheat had escaped out of his boundry line and what about public garden foraging? someone did a video of some corn growing in a public garden could you pick that?

[@davids9549]

As the ages-old proverb has it: Rules are for the guidance of wise men, and the blind compliance of fools.

[@ChubbyReviewss]

that wife joke got me laughing out loud XD

[@Roamor1]

Thank you, but why would they put those important rules on the back of the sign?

[@WildFoodUK1]

I don't know. I think the one on the back is a standard plaquefor all SSSI's whereas the front is unique to the site.

[@MuzikBike]

Does 4:51 still apply to invasive non-native species such as Allium triquetrum?

[@WildFoodUK1]

great question, from what I have read it is simply stated that uprooting any plant in the wild is illegal. I cant find any mention of uprooting invasive species. All that it says on the .gov website is that ' All wild plants cannot be uprooted under section 13 of the wildlife and countryside act 1981, unless this is carried out by the owner or occupier of the land on which the plant is growing, or by someone having their permission to do so, or unless the action is authorised in writing by the appropriate local authority' So as the letter of the law goes, as far as I can tell the answer is still no.. Just like it's illegal to catch signal crayfish without a licence I suppose the worry is that if it's not done properly then you could spread them..

[@billyclegg3084]

Coastal foraging...?

[@WildFoodUK1]

Hi Billy. At the moment we don't run any coastal courses, When we do I'll do a specific video for those including shellfish etc. The same general rules from the Countryside act apply to coastal plants though.

[@Mark1gig564]

Thanks I will not move to Wales lol 😅

[@WildFoodUK1]

lol

[@Debbie-henri]

One of my friends says there's commercial foraging going on in Epping Forest. Certain peoples are scouring the forest, picking every type of fungus, this being sorted by those with better knowledge, and the edibles being sent to London restaurants. He's not a forager himself, but he said he used to see lots of fungi when taking his dog for walks. Now he says that the place is regularly stripped clean by mushroom picking gangs. Maybe the rules should be nailed up at the start of forest footpaths in multiple languages. I never take everything when I go foraging, always leave some behind to spore. Indeed, I know of a Lion's Mane locally, but have never touched it (it would take a ladder anyway, but I still wouldn't). As soon as certain types of fungi are well into sporing, I dab a couple of caps on my wellies and camos to spread the spores about as I walk. It is effective, eventually (works faster for the likes of Oysters and Stump Puffballs - obviously, and I have managed to get it to work with Boletes on occasion). I'm lucky in that I am the only local I know of who's daring enough to forage for fungi, but as the pandemic drew a lot of new people into the woods for illegal parties, picnics and barbeques (Johnson wasn't the only one to party, not by a very long shot), so a lot more once pristine fungi patches are being damaged and polluted by more traffic, litter and flytipping in the woods.

[@benleydon]

UK foraging is ok for making Sloe Gin and the occasional mushroom or herb, but if SHTF there's just not enough around to sustain life and we are all going to resort to cannibalism after a week of eating Wood Sorrel ;)

[@7VSF-SR72-OA-X33]

Hence why you should guerilla grow all sorts, anywhere and everywhere. The average person cannot recognize more than a couple of plant/food species. Everywhere you can you should plant, will go unnoticed to 99%+ of people. Parks, paths, woodland, fields, riversides.. The only limitation is your imagination, and the British weather haha. Go forth, take care, prosper.

[@affalaffaa]

On the plus side, a week of Wood Sorrel could give a nice citrusy kick to the flesh

[@georgethomas4889]

I think the rabbits and deer night be a target before people haha

[@Vassle]

Why would they put the SSSI rules on the back of the sign? Makes no sense

[@WildFoodUK1]

I think that's a standard sign they've printed a lot of whereas the front is unique to the site.

[@Vassle]

@@WildFoodUK1 that explains a lot, although they probably could have bolted it to the bottom as a separate sign. Love your videos and I bought your book 😻

[@crashjanglechime]

Commercial foraging is going on everywhere. Greedy people are spoiling it for everyone. Just pick what you need, leave enough behind for other people, and leave enough for nature.

[@nickhaswell6011]

Sooooo agreed

[@AllanGraham-g5r]

Found a area last year, if there was 1 there was over 50 porcini mushrooms, I didn't take 1 two days later 99% had been taken.!!!

[@WildFoodUK1]

Hopefully the people who did it will watch this vid then..

[@GreytOutdoorsMedic]

St David’s day is just around the corner, I’ll get my crossbow!

[@modestadventurers]

If you’re unsure leave a site alone. Just use your common sense. Be respectful.

[@tbynaturalhealth]

We don't have the need to forage....yet! Farmers are raising their views, Wars, and the next pandemic already announced....so not yet!

[@Mark1gig564]

The buggers that over pike damage the country side and are reputation 😢 as foraging, heart braking selfish and irreplaceable gluttony. The Victorians did it and we see the consequences. should I say we don’t see them through extinction 😢

[@chrisstokie2361]

Educate yourself. Take what you need. Respect the land and nature. 👍. If you ain't gonna eat it, leave it.

[@waydegreen224]

British people will do anything but eat normal food