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With the effects of the credit crunch still hitting our pockets
the popularity of bargain food has gone through the roof. But what
if you could forage food for free?

Well that’s exactly what wild food expert Ross Evans is showing
people how to do.

Mr Evans used to work for high-class restaurants in London,
supplying them with crops of wild food.

Now he has come up with a scheme to grow entire landscapes of
edible plants.

But he took time out from his new project to show visitors to
the Singleton Environment Centre, Singleton, just what can be
harvested from the hedgerows.

And the first-time foragers certainly weren’t
disappointed. Autumn is the perfect time to hunt for wild
grub, with an abundance of ruby red rose hips, perfect for making
Turkish-delight-like jellies and blackthorn branches laden with
sloes, ready to lend their distinctive flavour to sloe gin.

Mr Evans is passionate about passing on his knowledge.

He said: “My view is that foraging for food could cut down on
the amount we need to import into the country. I don’t think
it would be practical for wild food to sustain people’s entire
diets, but it could definitely help supplement them.”

For information on future wild food walks and for other courses
at the Singletone Environment Centre visit www.btcv.org/kent