How to improve physical wellbeing in Winter by Wild Food Foraging in Autumn

Free Food

If you go down to the woods today, or even just out into the fields, or into a hedgerow or two, just not beside a busy road please!, what you will find is an abundance of wild, FREE food to forage. This blog will enlighten you as to why you want to forage for your physical wellbeing.

Wasted Food

Though hurry because the weather is doing a great job of obliterating the berries! It actually makes me weep a little inside when I see windfall apples lying wasted in their dozens by the sides of roads. And it’s not just apples, so many people can’t even recognise wild food when they see it, so lost if this knowledge. And yet the world is full of starving people, Britain is full of starving people?! WTF!

Prevalent digestive disorders 

And, not only that, what about all these digestive disorders we're all riddled with because we're not eating indigenously or in season? Happier chowing down on mass produced, artificially inseminated and flavoured, toxin heavy, nutritionally light crap, mistakenly perceived as a quicker fix?! How can that be good for physical wellbeing???

Not really fixing anything tho is it? And, don't get me started on Brexit, I've Bryon Katie'd that one! But seriously, if it leads to a food shortage wouldn't it be wise to learn how to eat what's around you and free? That’s taking care of your all round wellbeing.

Accessorising for foraging

So, what can you find in nature's larder this autumn? And why it's totally worth getting your butt outside, you can even accessorise with a fancy woven basket to complete your 'forager' look! 

Autumns wild food offer

Apple wellness

Let's start our wild food for physical wellbeing journey with magic apples. Did you know that if you slice an apple in two, the five-pointed star made by the pips represent the forty-year path Venus traces through our sky? A nice bit of trivia for one of those online quizzes!

The wild apples we can scrump these days are unlikely to be truly wild, but more of a hybrid species, but still they're growing naturally, which means you’re getting the health advantages of the survival of the fittest.

For physical wellbeing, apples are perfect for those struggling to 'go', a very natural laxative courtesy of their fibrous pectin. They are also ideal for stabilising blood sugar, protection against colon cancer, and lowering cholesterol.

Crab apples high pectin content means they are great for helping jellies or jams to set or making crab apple cheese. And, you can make them into toffee apples, how scrumptious does that sound, almost sin free! 

Hawthorn Berries

Hawthorn Berries, these gloriously bright red little globes of loveliness, grow on hawthorn bushes and trees.

They have been used in traditional medicine for eons, and are a firm favourite in Chinese Medicine because they pack a big medicinal punch.

In terms of physical wellbeing, they are a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, used to treat digestive issues, reduce blood fats, lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety, prevent hairless and heart failure.

A great way to use hawthorn berries is to make fruit leathers to nosh first thing as a healthy pick me up or for those sluggish moments during the day. They lasts up to 6 months and make a great alternative gift idea.

Sloes

Sloes, aka blackthorn, and take note because you can use their thorns to tell them apart from damsons. Tho, the latter are larger and more plum like.

Pick sloes after the first frosts, they're ripe when they go pop in between your digits.

These little purple beings are astringent, thus providing physical wellbring by sorting out diarrhoea, coughs and colds.

A lot of folk like to make sloe gin, which is a delightful digestive on a winter's eve. Me, I favour making them into jam, to which I add rose hips and crab apples. The former being excellent for arthritis in the knees.

Damsons/Wild Plums/Bullate

We're now in the season for wild plums, aka damsons or bullate. These guys range in colour from white, yellow, green and purple and taste sweet only upon ripening, which is when they are soft not squishy.

For physical wellbeing, you want plums in your life if you're looking to stock up on minerals and potassium or satisfy a sweet tooth without increasing your blood sugar levels.

Damsons are another natural heart medicine, it's all in the colour and shape people, rich in antioxidants.

They keep you regular, lower your cholesterol and are made for skin problems like scarring, hair loss. And finally, good for bone health, so us menopausal ladies better get plum’ing!

Elderberries

Elderberries, another of nature's heart medicines, are a powerful "anti" wonder. These little dark purple beauties are physical wellbeing treasure, they are anti- inflammatory, oxidant, diabetes and cancer.

They're also another excellent vitamin C source. It's best to remove the pips because they contain cyanide, which can be irritating to some digestive systems.

Elderberry recipes

I drop a handful into my gluten free banana bread mix when they are in season. You can add them to crumbles, pies, jams and liquors,

Wild nettle seeds

Wild nettle seeds, another physical wellbeing superfood, you'll need to rush out to get these little nutritional bullets, and make sure you only collect from the female common nettle.

You want wild nettle seeds in your life as a free, un-compromised - if you collect away from animal piss - source of Omega 3 oils. They are a native adaptogen, which makes them perfect for adrenal support.

You can identify the lady by the weight of her flowering bounty, the male flower clusters don't hang so droopily and they're more stringy. The female's seeds look wispy and like they are wearing little bishops hats.

You want the nettle seeds when they are fresh and green, which you can then store in an airtight container for up to 3 months, freeze or dry them for a year. To gather snip them off their strings, put them in a paper or linen back and shake.

I'd recommend selecting someone afflicted with osteoporosis in their hands to collect them, this way they're getting free urtication therapy. Nettle stings relieve the associated joint pain!

WIld nettle seeds taste nutty and can be added to your morning cereal, soups, smoothies, homemade bread... Just imagine, homemade nettle seed bread topped with sloe, elderberry and crab apple jam....how amazing is breakfast suddenly...and mainly free of charge?!!!!

Himalayan balsam

Himalayan balsam seeds, another forgotten physical wellbeing wonder you can snaffle on your country walks.

Given that this is an invasive species, you'd be helping out by consuming the seeds, but please make sure they haven't been sprayed by the council because of their naughty status. 

You want these seeds when they are pale, not hard and black, and they literally explode out of their pods and thus are easy to get at. They can help with mental wellbeing by treating anxiety, another natural alternative to pharma drugs.

Curry recipe

You can eat them right then and there or dry and grind them for flour to add into cakes, bread. They also make a wonderful addition to homemade curries and, if you happen to be allergic to hazelnuts like me, this are a great alternative.

Hazelnuts/Cobnuts

Moving smoothly onto Hazelnuts for physical wellbeing, or cobnuts if you prefer. You want them when they are mature and a little dried out, when the leaves on their trees are starting to turn and the seed pods fuzzy outer husk splits and exposes their hard shell.

If you want to eat hazelnuts on the go, you need to be tooled up or else you will never get them open, please don't be tempted to try your teeth!

Ideal for enhancing physical wellbeing, rich in unsaturated fats (mostly oleic acid), high in magnesium, calcium and vitamins B and E, they're also good for your heart.

Similarly to everything else I'm asking you to get out and forage, they decrease blood fat levels, regulate blood pressure, reduce inflammation and improve blood sugar levels.

Hazelnut recipes

You can make them into butter, or simply roast them if you want them quick and simple.

Sweet chestnuts

Sweet chestnuts, now until November, are ripe when they've fallen from the tree and their seed burrs are open. Have to admit having done this once when every single one had already been devoured by worms...most disappointing! 

So what are they good for in terms of physical wellbeing, sweet chestnuts are an excellent source of manganese, molybdenum, and copper and a good source of magnesium. In addition, they are a good source of vitamin C as well as vitamins B1, B2, and B6 and folic acid. 

Additionally, they're like everything else I've covered, good for reducing cholesterol, stabilising blood sugar levels, constipation, diverticulosis, energy levels, brain function, bone health, immune system, heart health. But most importantly, and personal to moi, their gluten free so celiacs can eat them!

Chestnut soup recipe

These guys are perfect for roasting - I love roast chestnuts, or making into flour for bread, pasta, cakes, or smashed for pesto or soups.

Natural winter wellness

I hope you've noticed that all these glorious natural delicacies are so beneficial for our health, they're preparing us for winter wellness. You can either DIY or pay a fancy chef a fortune to do it for you... I know which I'd prefer, it's very meditative picking your own food and making nourishment with it. So good for spiritual, mental and physical wellbeing.

Next steps

If you are attracted to natural ways to improve your physical wellbeing, take one of my Self-Health Workshops, or have a Bespoke Consultation with me so I can guide you towards eating what’s best for you.

Useful links

For more on the wonders that are Crab Apples, please visit https://happydiyhome.com/crabapple-tree/

Wiki do a fabulous chart, to help you determine the different apple varieties https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malus

Fruit cheese recipe https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/anyone-for-fruit-cheese-give-damsons-rosehips-and-medlars-a-new/ 

Toffee apple recipe https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2018/10/crab-apple-recipes/

A great recipe for fruit leathers - it takes a few hours but is totally simple, just make sure you don't forget they're in the oven drying! https://www.wildwalks-southwest.co.uk/blog/hawthorn-berry-fruit-leather/

A delicious nutritious Sloe jam recipe  https://www.eatweeds.co.uk/country-hedgerow-jam

Damson chutney recipe http://www.hedgerowharvest.org.uk/Recipes/Wild-Plum-Chutney

Balsam seed curry recipe https://www.eatweeds.co.uk/himalayan-balsam-seed-curry-recipe 

Foraging hazelnuts https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/08/hazelnuts-where-and-when-to-forage/

Here's a lovely link to a sweet chestnut soup recipe  https://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/woodland-activities/foraging-for-sweet-chestnuts/