Foraging Pocket Guide: Food for all seasons from Britain’s woods, meadows and riversides

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Knight recommends nettles, which “are obviously amazing and everywhere”; garlic mustard, which grows in parks and on verges and can be put into salads; and three-cornered leek, an “invasive but delicious cross between a leek and a garlic”.

Where once British cuisine was synonymous with stodgy suet and overcooked veg, Knight believes that television programmes such as Great British Menu have, in the past few years, helped to increase appreciation for what can be done with ingredients available locally. “It’s very difficult to find a restaurant [offering British cuisine] that doesn’t do wild food, because it’s intrinsic to seasoning and locality,” she says. It is important for a forager to know that some plants and fungi are deadly poisonous and that no risks should be taken with them.Foraging has the very real benefits of exercise and fresh air and reducing your food bills, but most importantly it’s a fun way to learn about nature and introduce new flavours to your diet. This knowledge will make you an important person on any camping trip or walk through the woods. Of course, you can’t eat everything you find growing outside - some poisonous plants can make you very ill. But there’s something exciting about setting off on a culinary treasure hunt to find new edible plants for dinner. Once you select your mushroom, use the curved pruning blade to cut the mushroom as close to the ground as possible. Use the brush on the other end of the knife to briefly clean the mushroom before placing it in your mesh foraging bag. Remember that you’re not the only one who needs free food. There will be wildlife living in around your foraging spot, which need to eat the plants and fruits more than you do.

Fruit, berries and nuts are also great food for nature attracting animals from far around to the feast. This is not only good for the birds though as the plants and trees want them to eat their fruits so that they can then spread their seeds.The best mushroom knives have a sharp pruning blade, are easy to use, and are smaller in size. Combined, these qualities create an effective and efficient knife for mushroom foraging.