Harvesting the country for free food — Wild food foraging by bike
Mountain Biking Collection by Katherine Moore
7
Tours
31:26 h
251 mi
14,525 ft
The hedgerows, woodlands, shorelines and grasslands of Great Britain yield hundreds of edible delights that are all too easy to pass by. Foraging wild foods like mushrooms, berries, herbs and vegetables can make for wonderful additions to you everyday cooking, and they’re free! Armed with a little information including what to look for and when, you can easily find some tasty treats to help liven up your meals and snacks.
The Tours suggested here take you to some areas that are well-known to yield these wild foods, but of course you’ll find many of these all over the UK. I hope these provide some inspiration for your foraging rides, wherever you’re based! You’ll need a gravel, mountain, or sturdy hybrid bike for these Tours, as they often use off-road tracks such as forest roads and bridleways.
From the forest floor covering of wild garlic to rampant stinging nettles, autumn’s sweet blackberries to coastal marsh samphire and festive sweet chestnuts, there’s a real variety of rich pickings to be had, and nutritious foods to be enjoyed.
There are a few things to remember when it comes to foraging. It’s a wonderfully sustainable way to acquire food, but to keep it that way it’s important that you only take what you need, and are careful not to cause any damage to the plant or surrounding area that you are foraging in. Make sure that you do not harvest from private property unless you have prior permission from the landowner, and never pick from a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). A full guide to the foraging code can be found here: wildfooduk.com/foraging-code.
Unless you’ll be feasting in situ, it’s worth remembering to pack a reusable container on your bike for harvesting your goodies.
I’d strongly suggest investing in a pocket identification book (such as Food for Free), or using an app (such as Wild Edibles Forage) or online resources (like wildfooduk) to help give more in-depth information about these wonderful wild foods.
On The Map
Tours & Highlights
- Expert04:3941.6 mi8.9 mph1,350 ft1,350 ftExpert gravel ride. Good fitness required. Some portions of the Tour may require you to push your bike.
When it comes to fungi, you can’t be too careful. There are 3,000 species in the UK, and although only a small fraction of these are seriously poisonous, it’s a risk you can avoid by taking the advice of a real expert.
In this circular Tour you’ll head into the heart of the New Forest on the South Coast…
- Expert04:0631.8 mi7.8 mph2,050 ft2,050 ftExpert gravel ride. Very good fitness required. Some portions of the Tour may require you to push your bike.
Ramsons, or wild garlic as they’re more commonly known, are one of the easiest to find wild foods in British woodlands. Why? Well, you’ll usually smell them even before you see them, with pungent garlicky wafts overpowering the shaded undergrowth like a bowl full of French escargots.
Plentiful, common…
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- Expert03:5827.9 mi7.0 mph1,950 ft1,925 ftExpert gravel ride. Very good fitness required. Some portions of the Tour may require you to push your bike.
Not to be confused with it’s conker-bearing cousin the horse chestnut, the sweet chestnut tree is the source of a well loved christmas treat. ‘Chestnuts roasting on an open fire’ as the tune goes, comes from this species, thought to be introduced to the UK by the Romans.
As a non-native, you won’t find…
- Expert05:3049.9 mi9.1 mph1,275 ft1,275 ftFerryExpert gravel ride. Very good fitness required. Some portions of the Tour may require you to push your bike. The Tour includes a crossing by ferry.
Often the reserve of fine restaurants, Marsh Samphire is a delicious green that grows, as the name would suggest, in coastal salt marshes throughout Europe. They love tidal mudflats, so you’ll need to get a little mucky to forage this one! Perhaps best to kick off your cycling shoes and socks as you…
- Expert04:1331.9 mi7.6 mph2,775 ft2,775 ftExpert gravel ride. Very good fitness required. Some portions of the Tour may require you to push your bike.
To the trained nose, you’ll probably smell elder trees or shrubs before you see the ample white blooms in May and June. These clusters of tiny white flowers are sweet-smelling, and most commonly used to make delicious Elderfolwer cordial. A fresh and sweet soft drink diluted with water, or if you’re…
- Expert03:1526.4 mi8.1 mph825 ft825 ftExpert gravel ride. Good fitness required. Some portions of the Tour may require you to push your bike.
Come springtime, stinging nettles are usually the off-road rider’s worst enemy. It’s just about warm enough to break out the shorts, but you end up with prickly rash from the trail invaders instead! They’re very abundant, which although not so helpful for the skin, makes foraging for wild nettles very…
- Expert05:4641.9 mi7.3 mph4,325 ft4,325 ftExpert gravel ride. Very good fitness required. Some portions of the Tour may require you to push your bike.
If there’s any one wild food that most people know about, it’s blackberries. From the hedgerow on the way back from school or plucking a little hit of sugar from the side of the road on a bike ride, these abundant little gems are a well-loved free food each August to October in the UK.
Mind the spiky…
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Collection Stats
- Tours7
- Distance251 mi
- Duration31:26 h
- Elevation14,525 ft
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