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Foraging is the act of looking for and gathering wild food – you don’t need expensive equipment, you don’t need to be fit. What you do need though is a little knowledge.

To test the idea that any fool can pick up foraging in a couple of hours I arranged to meet Neil Taylor, the Forest Ranger at Hamsterley Forest.

Food in the forest

I met Neil in the forest where the appetiser was brambles, followed by rosehips, greater plantains and dandelion leaves.

He says, "When you think about hunter-gathering, hunting is a very active, energy-consuming activity that you do once in a while. Gathering is something you do all day.

"Quite often groups would have just sat and gathered hundreds of little fruits and that's worth it because you're not expending very much energy, but at the end of the day you've got a reasonable quantity of food."

Food safety

Foraging is relatively safe but as with all new hobbies you should take some precautions.

Neil told me that only three people have died in the last 100 years from eating foraged food. However, when it comes to wild mushrooms, seek expert guidance.

The Forestry Commission run foraging courses throughout the year.

Some of the fruits on offer in Hamsterley Forest.