Food For Free by Richard Mabey

A 'life-enhancing classic' in search of adventure and the benefits of gathering and eating nutritious wild food

Hi, I’m Sue and I write about the beauty and ingenuity of Nature, and how we can deepen our connection for our optimum health and wellbeing. Discover more Nature-inspired content on Spiral Leaf, Twitter and my video Nature Channel.

In 1972, concerned about the natural environment and the quality of our food, Richard Mabey wrote the first edition of Food For Free as a cheeky, challenging, a snub to domesticity as much as domestication. This remarkable book, was born of an increasing belief that foraging might be an excellent way to reconnect with the wild.

As foraging has become common currency on TV food programmes and restaurants with courses and guided walks available to search for and collect all manner of wild foods, some varieties have become saught after as rare and exquisite treats.

As I mentioned in a recent post The Joy of Foraging for Wild Food, there is much to gain from foods found in the wild as well as a feeling of wellbeing and fulfilment from the process of foraging itself. It does help us to reconnect with the wild, it is beneficial for our health and it’s a whole new world open to us to explore.

Wild food for free

I love reference books that have an interesting and informative introduction that shares the thinking behind the collection and where the information is coming from.

In this new edition of Food For Free published in 1989, Richard shares his interest in foraging, the history of foraging, some anechdotes and stories about foaging, his nostalgia for a simple life, and why foaraging makes him feel more intimately connected to Nature (shared by many of his readers)

It is true that concerns over modern methods of food production have led to something of a backlash. We have become conditioned by the shrink-wrapped, perfectly shaped produce we find in our supermarkets, and we are reluctant to venture into woods, pastures, cliff-tops and marshlands in search of food.

Richard goes on to tell us that: Those who are prepared to venture out will find substantial rewards. It is the flavours and textures that will surprise the most, I think, and the realisation of to just what extent the cultivation and mass production of food have muted our taste experiences.

Wild food through history

Wild food was once the only food available to mankind as we took our first steps on this Earth and had to learn everything from scratch.

Wild food seeds from some of our most common wild foods found today have been discovered in Neolithic settlements. Plants gathered from the wild grew near their pickers’ dwellings providing a readily available source of food and medicine

Such old skills and customs were eroded by industrialisation and the drift to the towns but the process has continued and the plants themselves continue to thrive.

The two World Wars provided one of the most striking examples of the usefulness of wild foods which provided vital sustenance and medicinal remedy in times of need.

Wild foods were invaluable during times of famine or crisis - quickly available, tough, resilient, resistant to disease, adapted to the climate and soil conditions. They were there, waiting for their moment, thriving under conditions that our pampered cultivated plants would find intolerable.

Wild food to eat

Apart from omissions noted as grasses and cereals, herbal usage of plants, fish and wildfowl, Food For Free is a treasure trove of edible foods indexed under:

• trees

• herbaceous plants,

• fungi

• lichens

• seaweed

• shellfish

Poisonous and Deadly Poisonous varieties are also included for ideitification purposes together with what they might do if injested. Thankfully, there are only a fraction of dangerous varieties compared to edible ones.

Other types of wild food that don’t fall into the edible or poisonous categories are inedible wild foods. Many of these may have medicinal qualities (some of which are included in my herbal tea remedies) or cosmetic qualities which are worth looking into - that’s for another post.

Wild food fundamentals

Food For Free is a superb index with an illustration for each item and a variety of recipes scattered throughout including oils, puddings, jams, fellies, soup, chower, salads, fritters, sauces, pickles, preserves, bread,scones, chutney, pate, omelettes and more.

There is information about how to gather wild food and things like pickling with some general rules that apply to all wild foods, and making a jelly the traditional way with muslin to ensure the clearest results.

There is a month-by-month calendar to check the availability of wild foods through the seasons.

General information about each type of edible plant is explained including roots, green vegetables, herbs, spices, flowers, fruits and nuts.

Wild food recipes

Here are some of the recipes I have noted, some of which to try and to share here with you over the coming months:

Spring - Nettle Soup, Wild Garlic Pesto, Lemon Balm Tea, Herb Scones, Hop Fritatata

Summer - Elderflower Fritters, Elderflower Cordial, Elderflower & Goosberry Preserve, Summer Pudding, Rose Petal Jelly, Mint Chutney, Gooseberry Fool

Autumn - Wild Fruit Jam, Lemon & Mustardseed Chutney, Bilberry Pudding, Autumn Pudding, Rose Hip Syrup, Sloe Gin, Mushroom Pate

Winter - Dock Pudding,Oyster Mushroom Omelette, Nut Cutlets, Chestnut Puree, Thyme Soup

This post completes my foray into foraging for the time being with links to related articles below. I will continue to post wild food and organic cookery books and recipes to add to my collection of Nature in Books and Healthy Recipes and hope you enjoy exploring further.

Thank you for reading, I hope this was helpful and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Further Reading

The Joy of Foraging for Wild Food by Sue Cartwright

The Hedgerow Cookbook by Caro Willson & Ginny Knox

Going Organic is a Journey by Sue Cartwright

Cleanse to Heal by Anthony William

Buy the book!

Buy a book by clicking on the link to my affiliate bookshop below in support of independent book sellers. Spiral Leaf may earn a small commission on books sold at no extra cost to you!

Food For Free by Richard Mabey