Wild Foods

I get really excited when I see lovely fruit growing over the fences of public spaces. In Perth Western Australia I can get lemons almost all year round, oranges in July-August and perhaps most addictively mulberries in October.

I'm so pleased that last year I took the time to make a few notes to remember where and when... most importantly... to go foraging!

You can see the map of one of my 'stomping grounds' (the places I often visit or spend time in) above. I created this very quickly and easily using Google maps. I made a point of listing the name of the food plant and time of year to visit. In the map above you can see the Lillypilly... an unusual fruit to keep it interesting, although for people who have grown up in Perth they will most likely recognise it. You might know the fruit as 'Chinese Apples'.


At the moment I am very much looking forward to making batches of mulberry jam. Last year we had recently returned from our holiday in Europe and I was very happy spending my spare time gardening and walking in the sunshine. I picked a lot of mulberries when I came across them!

I turned this windfall into jam, jelly or syrup - reserving small quantities of the best perfect fruit to freeze whole for fruit smoothies. Ripe mulberries may need a lot of lemon or store bought pectin (jam setter) to help make a jam, but who wants jam all the time when you can have syrup poured over your yoghurt? Lemon juice and sugar come highly recommended in all cases.

In creating your own wild food map, Google is a great tool to start with and bear in mind that you may be able to build a map with your local community (UK example).