What to forage in the garden

By Abigail Whyte

Published: Tuesday, 10 May 2022 at 12:00 am

For many of us taking part in No Mow May – a national campaign encouraging people to leave their lawns uncut throughout May to benefit wildlife – there are a whole host of edible plants in our gardens just waiting to be picked for dinner.

Beth Al Rikabi, a free range chef creating seasonal, foraged vegetarian food for retreats and supper clubs, shares the joy of finding wild food in your garden, what edible plants you can find, plus four recipes for you to try.

Beth, how did you start foraging?

In the first lockdown, as with lots of other people, I was gifted a lot of time because all of my work was cancelled. I explored my local area and went on lots of walks. That’s really when I started looking around me and seeing what was in the surrounding fields and hedgerows, and in my own garden. I got very excited!

Tell us more about foraging in your garden – how did that come about?

I wasn’t really going to supermarkets during lockdown. I remember I wanted to make a pesto, so I just wondered into the garden and picked dandelions, primrose leaves, cleavers and some sage, and blitzed all that up with some nuts, garlic and oil. The best thing of all was that my daughter Esme ate it. It made me very happy to know that I could just grab a handful of stuff from the garden, blitz it and say “Here you go, dear.”