Fruit Shoot has partnered with foraging expert, Fergus Drennan, to create a range of hints and tips about foraging for fruit in your local area. We were given a really cool foraging kit to help us prepare for our adventure.
We were really excited to explore our local area and forage for fruit, the countryside defiantly offers more of a variety, but it's good to know that the inner-city also has a range of parks and public spaces where you can forage. We like foraging in an East Londons Cemetery Park which allows you to forage and explore responsibly.
We had an amazing afternoon exploring and came across some familiar as well as unfamiliar berries, so we ensured we followed Fergus Drennan top tips and safety advice to guide us!
Fergus Forging Tips
1. Safety First - Before setting out on a foraging expedition remember to make sure you know the fruits that you will be looking for! NEVER pick and eat anything if you're not sure what it is as some plants are poisonous and can make you ill.
2. What To Wear - There is no dress code for foraging, if its cold wrap up in thermals or wear practical clothes like waterproofs or wellies. Don't let the rain and wind put you off, it's all part of the elemental experience. Forging can get messy, so don't wear your best shoes.
3. Don't Be Greedy - Avoid collecting all the fruit that you can see as other creatures rely on them for food, blackbirds and pigeons love ripe berries, and young foxes will eat fruits like cherries and plums.
4. Grow Your Own - Collect seeds and plant them, you could even create a dedicated wild food plant area in your garden, or pots indoors if you don't have any outside space.
5. Brush Up On Your Knowledge - It's also worth on checking which plants are rare, threatened or protected by the law (even if edible) in the wildlife countryside act. The woodland trust also has great tips for foraging.
Inspired by our afternoon foraging and looking for summer fruits, the boys thought of a cool new Fruit Shoot flavour called Bannaberry, a concoction of their favourite summer fruits with a banana flavour twist.
With the few Blackberries we did manage to collect, we decided to make some Fruit Shoot Ice pops, we thoroughly washed a sliced the Blackberries and added some Strawberries and Raspberry, we then filled up our ice pops with a favourite Fruit Shoot soft drink Summer Fruits and waited for the ice pops to set! They tasted absolutely delicious!
