Within walking distance of where I live, there’s wild fruit, berries, nuts, and edible flowers growing in hedgerows, front gardens, woodland edges, and other forgotten corners of the countryside.
Most of it is easy to identify. I’d argue that none of it requires specialist knowledge or foraging courses (although, the majority are well worth your time and money). You just need to know where to look and when to pick.
Here’s a bunch of information on the fruit and other bits I forage for, what you can make with it, and when to find it.
Wild Apples and Pears
When: September – October
Where: Hedgerows, old orchards, woodland and field edges
ID: Small, often misshapen apples/pears on trees
Wild or feral apples (and to a lesser extent pears) are common. Most are too tart or hard to eat raw, but they can be brilliant for cooking or you can at least make use of them for their pectin content.
What to make:
- Apple sauce for roast pork
- Chutney
- Cider (you will need a LOT)
- Pies and crumbles
- Pectin source for other jams
Notes: Don’t expect supermarket quality. These are cooking apples, not eaters, unless you’re really hungry.
Sloes
When: September – November
Where: Hedgerows, scrubland, woodland edges
ID: Small dark blue berries with a dusty bloom, on thorny blackthorn bushes.
Sloes are astringent and pretty much inedible raw. But if you steep them in gin with sugar, they’re great.
What to pick: Ripe dark blue berries with a dusty, natural yeast coating.
What to make:
- Sloe gin (classic – steep in gin with sugar for 3+ months)
- Sloe vodka or whisky (same method)
- Sloe jelly (cook down with wild apples for pectin, strain, set with sugar)
Notes: Sloes are traditionally picked after the first frost (which softens the skins), but you can freeze them overnight to achieve the same effect. They were so abundant in 2025 that you missed out on a huge crop if you waited for frost.
Rosehips
When: September – November
Where: Hedgerows, woodland edges, gardens, waste ground
ID: Bright red oval berries on wild rose bushes.
Rosehips are fiddly – full of irritating seeds and hairs – but high in vitamin C and make beautiful syrup and jelly. They were collected en masse during WW2 and processed into syrups and jellies due to their high vitamin content.
What to pick: Ripe red/orange hips, firm to the touch.
What to make:
- Rosehip syrup
- Rosehip jelly
- Dry and use for tea
Notes: Processing is tedious (lots of straining), but the result is worth it. The syrup is excellent drizzled over desserts or mixed into drinks.
Haws
When: September – October
Where: Everywhere. They are abundant and always heavy cropping.
ID: Little red berries on bushes and trees in hedgerows, lining the edges of fields- they are EVERYWHERE.
They don’t pack a heap of flavour- a mild, apple-esque taste is all you get, but they are really good for you and contain a decent amount of pectin so are great in jams and jellies.
What to pick: Plump red berries all over bushes and trees.
What to make:
- Hawthorn jelly
- Hawthorn brandy or liqueur
- Mix with other finds to make hedgerow jam or jelly
- Fruit Leather
Notes: With most foraging, the saying goes to leave some for the birds, but honestly- the birds aren’t fussed about haws. Go wild- take as many as you want.
Cobnuts
When: September – October
Where: Woodland, old coppices, the edge of fields
ID: Clusters of green/brown woody shells surrounded by green, leafy husks on tall shrubs with leaves that are soft to the touch. Empty shells with likely litter the floor around them.
If you can get to them before the birds, squirrels and mice, they are a great find.
What to pick: The nuts in shell. Just take the whole cluster- half of the shells will be empty.
What to make:
- Eat them fresh
- Roast them and eat them
- Add to crumble topping for extra texture and flavour
Notes: There is a difference in flavour depending on the age of the nut. You can pick them green and keep them with a banana to get them to ripen.
What we are watching: Finally watching Dune pt 2
What we are listening to: Anything and everything that 2econd Class Citizen has made. He’s a talented chap. And Sussex-based!
