It’s the first day of October, my birthday month. Having lived in Aberdeen for 13 years I know that October can bring snow, heat, storms and rain. Today it was warm sunshine and I cycled out to Slewdrum in shorts.

The forest is mostly a plantation, but around the edges there are some native trees. It was amazing, as soon as there was a clearing in the dense conifers and a deciduous tree had found some space to grow, the mushrooms were abundant. I found some wonderful Orange birch boletes:

Further along my walk I met a fellow forager, and we quickly bonded over a shared interest in the fungal world. We walked together for 2 miles, chatting freely.

What a beautiful day to be outside!

My panniers were full of food and I have enough to cook something tasty and seasonal for when John comes home tomorrow, after a long month apart. The way to a man’s heart is hopefully through some porcini 😁

Yesterday I went for a long bike ride in glorious autumn weather; the sun still had some power and the wind was alive. Mushrooms were absolutely everywhere.

In Torphins I found Sorbus aria (Whitebeam) trees with fully ripened fruit.

Very different from the ones in our street, which are still green! So i picked a small bag full… Nearer home I found lots of beautiful windfall apples in the grass at the side of the road, so they too went into my pannier. Back home I put the two together and made what I call ‘apple honey’. It’s got the texture of honey and the flavour of apple.

These jars (bar one!) are for the people who’ve given me eggs in August.

On my ride I also found the delightful Amethyst deceiver:

And a sunbathing porcini, which I have now eaten (sometimes it does feel wrong to pick them, when they’re so beautiful…)

Finally, on Friday I had an early morning run in Hazlehead (always carrying a knife and a bag), when I came across a Saffron milkcap! I must have screamed with joy. These are highly esteemed across Europe and I’ve never seen them here. They have a beautiful leopard print on their stipe. Cooked, they remain firm and slightly nutty.

Another working week ahead, but I’ve got the freezer stocked and my Kilner jars full of leaves. Beech tea has been fuelling my evening work sessions, it’s very thirst quenching. I’m looking forward to the proper arrival of Autumn!

Today I walked up Hill of Fare to listen to the Queen’s funeral, while looking at the landscape she loved. It has excellent views of the Cairngorms.

It was very powerful to hear the music and the words, set against this magnificent backdrop. To hear the piper’s sounds slowly fading away…. I mimed the words to God Save the King, as no sound would come out of my choked-up throat.

I didn’t intend to pick mushrooms today, but I was so utterly surrounded by them, in an Eden type of forest, that I just had to. Scarletinas, Porcini, Puffballs, Amanitas, Russula, Orange birch bolete…. So many species were there! As my time on the hill increased, gradually the sense of sadness for the Queen was replaced by a sense of gratitude; to be alive, to live in a beautiful part of the world, and to be greeted by such bounty in the forest.

In days prior, I had already picked many mushrooms, so our fridge and freezer are doing a juggling act! What to cook and how, what to freeze and preserve… At least I will not go hungry for quite some time to come.

Tomorrow the face to face teaching begins again, after 2 years. I am apprehensive about having to go back to work and not having anywhere to cook during the day. I had got used to foraging during the working day and making myself a healthy lunch. Now I need to think about what to take with me… At least it’s not all day every day, and I work at home on Friday. And who knows what might be growing around campus! I will keep you posted about what I will discover.

Today we have lost one of the most remarkable people in modern history, our Queen Elizabeth II. She died here in Scotland, at her beloved Balmoral Estate.

To come here every year must have been such a tonic to her, away from the urban cage in London, to a place of natural beauty and freedom. Where she could be herself, go into the hills in normal clothes, tend her vegetables and get mud under her nails. Eat the wild bounty from the surrounding forests. Sit by a log fire at the end of the day with her cheeks glowing from outdoor happiness.

May she rest in peace.

Oh my goodness. I’ve just gone through a flavour and texture sensation that was truly epic. I found Chicken of the Wood!

For several months now, I’ve been seeing my foraging friends in England post pictures of this lovely species on Facebook. Despite looking everywhere in Aberdeenshire, so far it had remained elusive. Until last night… I was just walking my ‘fake commute’, but a different route to normal, when I spotted this beautiful collection of yellow growing out of a cherry tree – in someone’s front garden… So I rang the doorbell… I was met by a genuinely friendly guy who offered me even a bag and a knife to get the mushrooms off.

I was walking home on a happy cloud, thinking what I might cook. Initially I just panfried some in strips to get an idea of the texture and flavour. Then today I added them to a stir fry with ginger, garlic, cucumber, onion, Shaoxing wine and soy sauce.

The texture is just so wonderful, like tender meat that has been cooked to perfection. It absorbs flavours well, so I’m going to experiment with perhaps some spices. The foraging continues!

The total amount raised for the River Dee Trust, as a result of my Wild for a Month challenge, now stands at £500. I thought I’d share with you the reponse I got from Sandy Bremner, chairperson of the trust:

Your amazing fundraising efforts will support our aim to plant a million native trees along the hundreds of kilometres of tributaries of the upper Dee, creating cooling shade to combat the rising water temperatures which are threatening our iconic wild salmon and other endangered species such as the freshwater pearl mussel. The money you have raised will support the planting of 250 native trees including willow, rowan. alder, aspen, birch and Scots pine. They will provide shade and nutrients for the river in the medium and long term. Thanks to your efforts and the support of others, we have now passed the 300,000-tree threshold  We are also doing work which will have immediate benefits for the river’s ecosystem. 

Here is just one example of our tree-panting work… Alders planted in the winter of 2019/20, already thriving as they push up through the heather. 

I met up with Sandy yesterday at the Hill of Fare and it made the consequences of my fundraising feel so much more tangible. I’ve made plans for another fundraiser next year – even though Sandy thinks my idea is bonkers! It’s not finalised yet, but I will give details in due course…

Meanwhile, the foraging and homegrowing continues. This weekend was an absolute bonanza of Shire fruit, mushrooms and red peppers. I think the pictures will speak for themselves:

Most of the mushrooms were found in the grounds of the James Hutton institute. It has several Giant sequoia trees and the ground largely is left undisturbed. It was amazing to see such fungal variety in a small space!

It has been raining most of the day and is likely to do so all week. Fantastic news for the mushrooms and the apples that are ripening. Not such good news for any remaining blackberries, as they spoil quickly in the rain. So I’m picking as many as I can – we currenly have two gallon of wine on the go. Cheers!

Well, I’ve done it! For 31 days I’ve lived on foraged and homegrown food to raise awareness of the importance of our natural world and our place within it, in aid of the River Dee Trust. I’ve raised 460 pounds (so far). For our final meal I’ve cooked a feast: chanterelle soup with ground elder, nettles, thyme, garlic and onion tops; pan-fried homegrown tatties; bartered egg with Giant polypore and porcini mushrooms, homegrown onion and courgette, and foraged herbs. Served with homemade Candyglirach blackberry wine.

Today I also checked on my favourite plum tree at Myrebird, which was absolutely loaded down with fruit. I picked about 3 kilograms and left the rest for other lucky foragers (but I will go back next week in case nobody is picking!).

The title of this post is ‘mission accomplished’. While this is true in the personal sense – I have succeeded in living off homegrown and foraged food for a month – it is not true in the wider sense of the word. Comparatively speaking, the fundraiser I did has attracted little attention, despite publishing on all my social media channels and having 4 columns in our regional newspaper. This just shows what we’re up against. The natural world is not on people’s agenda. They rather donate to a human cause charity. This is highly ironic, as without a healthy planet, none of those causes have any meaning. So my quest goes on, to raise awareness and promote green action plans where possible. If you read this and think ‘what can I do?’, I urge you to think about how you use your own garden space if you have one. Can you plant a fruit tree? Can you grow some of your own stuff? Can you plant things to attract pollinators? Can you live without a car? Can you live without going abroad for a holiday?

It may feel pointless to you if you look around and notice that everybody else is going about their lives as they always did. You may not feel like you are making a difference. But you do. At the individual level, you won’t see it, but at the collective level, you will. We can’t afford to mess it up – we only have one world.

Today I hit the absolute jackpot: field mushrooms as far as the eye could see! Being on a bike has distinct advantages, including being able to look over the stone walls that line many of Aberdeenshire’s roads. Of course I still had to climb over said wall and then over barbed wire, but the riches that lay before me were too awesome to consider than an incumbrance.

Back home I cooked some for John and me. We liked them a lot, so we cooked some more! I’ve frozen the rest for a meal later in the week.

I’ve never found a field like today, with such an abundance of fungi. It’s as if the mushroom world, on the penultimate day of my challenge, is trying to persuade me to keep going!

It’s two days to go until the end of the month, the end of my challenge. While I won’t deny looking forward to eating peanut butter and cheese, I feel a tinge of sadness that it will soon be over. I can hear you say ‘why don’t you carry on?’ The answer to that is in order to be impactful, fundraising wise, there has to be a clear beginning and end. Another, practical consideration is that I will go back to face-to-face teaching again and my time roaming the forest will be limited enough to warrant supplementing my foraged diet with shop-bought food.

That said, the title of this blog is ‘the happy forager’, so let me tell you the reason for my sunny state of mind: the past few days have seen an abundance of new food that has ripened. Plums, pears and peppers!

When you live off the land and by corollary the seasons, you have to wait for things to be ripe. You can’t have pears in June. So when they do arrive, it’s a feast!

John worked his magic on the peppers: they went into a Spanish omelette with bartered egg, homegrown tatties and onion.

The Giant polypores also seem to enjoy a second lease of life; the patch I’ve been keeping an eye on ALL YEAR has started fruiting by the bucketload.

I’ve taken a (comparatively) small amount from this, which was enough to feed both of us with leftovers for two more meals.

Outside in the front garden, the turnips I sowed 3 days ago are already germinating. Round the back, I’ve harvested the first of the Yellow Frisian Forestbeans:

All in all, we have food aplenty and feel very fortunate to live in the right place at the right time, with enough knowledge to get the most out of it. Thougths are now turning to the final special meal for two on Wednesday – watch this space!

(this is the text from my article as it appeared in the Evening Express, which sadly wasn’t available to everyone for some reason. All my previous blog entries are below this one)

After four weeks of thriving on foraged and homegrown food, it’s time to look back and reflect. What have I learnt?

August has taught me some personal lessons, and I’ve reflected on the broader themes highlighted by this project.

Personally, I have thoroughly enjoyed this month. I’ve been well fed each day, with tasty food that was easy to prepare. I’ve been amazed at how quickly I have grown accustomed to a new way of life, planning my walks and bike rides around places where I could pick up some leaves, fruit or mushrooms. I’ve learnt about several new plants that have become firm favourites: I now use sorrel in most of my meals, and I start every morning with meadowsweet tea. I will definitely not be going back to drinking coffee.

I have also learnt the importance of planning. Since the beginning of the month, my collection of storage jars has gradually increased. In the natural world, each particular food has a time of abundance. Harvesting it at this peak time and preserving it, is key to successful supermarket-free living. If I am to live off foraged and homegrown food all year round (which I’m tempted to do), I will have to be even more savvy to get me through the so-called ‘hungry gap’ of late winter.

Beyond the personal, my experiences have also highlighted two broader themes. First of all, the importance of community. During the past few weeks, I have been able to barter with various people. I’ve traded homemade wine for eggs, and seaweed for courgettes. Somebody offered me a round of picking on their allotment in exchange for jam I haven’t even made yet. Our communities are teeming with fresh food, goods, skills, friendship and honesty – just imagine what our lives would look like if we harnessed all that potential and shared what we had.    

Secondly, my experience has brought home the importance of sustainability. Knowing the riches of the land, I feel intense sadness at seeing yet another tightly packed housing development going up, or an urban desert of grass that gets cut within an inch of its life. Front gardens that have been turned to concrete. Just imagine a housing development with smaller houses and larger green spaces, with fruit trees provided for every garden. Imagine a neighbourhood where the knowledge of wild food is common, and people go out to pick, no more than they need.

Looking ahead to winter, I’m aiming to live off the land for as long as I can. The coldest months of the year harbour a surprising variety of mushrooms (Blewits, Oysters, Velvet Shanks and more), and there are nuts and apples. In the garden I have leeks, neeps and hopefully tatties for Christmas. My chest freezers are still full of fruit. The blackberry wine is brewing.

I started this project as an ‘awareness raiser’ of our place within the natural world. To do that, I have shown how much food our beautiful Shire can provide for us, all for free. All it requires in return, is to be treated with respect. We need the plants, we need the sun and the rain. We need the bees. Our place is amongst other species, not above them.

I hope I have convinced people of the importance of protecting our wild spaces, our hedgerows, our verges, our rivers and coastal areas. I hope I have inspired people to engage with the land more. So, go and grow some tatties, plant a fruit tree, sow herbs on your windowsill, go out there and learn about the bounty that awaits.