Seasonality, the buzz word in the food industry. With food being imported from all over the world the value of seasonality over availability will always be a battle. Ever tasted a strawberry out of season? Not really worth talking about, is it? But yet there is sadly the demand to have everything accessible at all times these days.
Foraging, by its very nature is seasonal - you thankfully never have that insipid strawberry sensation when harvesting wild foods. Wild foods aren't forced, they're not transported from far off countries, they're not plied with chemicals to ensure attractiveness, size, longevity. They're none of these things, they're purely fabulous! And, as for convenience and accessibilty, Mother Nature doesn't care if you have a whim for strawberries in Winter, you'll just have to blooming well wait until the strawberries, or anything else for that matter, are ready. If your wild food of choice disappears before you've had a chance to gather it, you'll often have to wait another year for that foraging opportunity to present itself once more. No supermarket convenience (forsaking taste) in the wild. But, honestly, that is one of the things I genuinely love about wild foods. I relish the wait and the anticipation of each new flavour as it comes into season. I enjoy watching it develop and ripen. I make the most of each food and eek as much pleasure as I can from it before it goes again for another year. Give me Mother Nature's seasonality over supermarket's availabilty any day of the week.
Anyhoo, I intend to use this section of the blog to list wild foods that should be available in any given month. It always helps to plan ahead when the window of opportunity can be so short.
