Autumn Foraging Guide
Warming teas and syrups for the colder months ahead
In place of this week’s regular Digest and in honour of the changing of the seasons - welcome to our autumn foraging guide! This guide was originally created for our paid subscribers but is now available for all our readers and has been updated to include a new recipe for Hawthorn Hot Sauce. We hope it will inspire you to get out and forage some wild ingredients and make something delicious!
Autumn is the time of nuts, berries and seeds. A time to collect and preserve ahead of the coming cold weather, when few things grow and Nature takes a rest in preparation for the next growing season.
It’s a time of abundance in hedgerows and woodlands with haws, elderberries, rosehips, guelder rose, sloes, hazelnuts, acorns and more, all ready to be gathered by foraging creatures, including us humans.
There’s something so comforting about the deep red and purple colours of the berries and the sweet smell of them bubbling on a stove top to be turned into jams, syrups and shrubs, like a warm hug from a friend who you’ve not seen in a while.
Packed full of goodness the berries are a great source of nutrients to help nourish us through the winter. Rosehips in particular contain high levels of vitamin C, and elderberries contain antioxidants and can help keep colds at bay if taken regularly. Both make delicious syrups, which I’ve included the recipes for here. Along with the syrups, I’ve given some suggested tea combinations for autumnal brewing.
Remember - before taking anything from Nature, be sure to ask permission from, and give thanks to the plant, you can do this in your head, or say it out loud, but it’s an important reciprocal act of the foraging process. Have fun gathering and making!
Emma x
Rosehip Syrup: a delicate and delicious syrup packed full of vitamin C.
ID Tips: The best rosehips for syrup are that of the ‘wild’ rose or dog rose, Rosa canina. In flower, these roses have five delicate white or pink petals. They grow in hedgerows and on woodland edges as well as in cities and parks. The rosehips form after the flower has bloomed and appear as red, oval berries. They can be picked when still hard.
Rosehip syrup was one of the first things I made from foraged food, back when we lived in the woods. We would make it on the fire outdoors and the smell always takes me back to those days, pots bubbling away, birds coming and going, Benji playing in the background, trees swaying, and a crispness in the woodland air. It’s these seasonal rhythms and traditions that make foraging such a special thing to do; connecting us to what’s growing and when, providing us with the opportunity to slow down and notice - and make delicious things!
You will need:
Rosehips (about a pint)
Sugar
Water
A muslin cloth or jelly bag
Sterilised glass jars or bottles
Prepare the jars or bottles by washing in hot soapy water and dry them in a warm oven (about 130 degrees for 10 minutes). Roughly chop the hips (they can be tough so a food processor is useful, if you don’t have one a sharp knife (or in our case, an axe) will do). Put them in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for around 15 minutes. Strain the liquid through the muslin into a bowl or jug and leave for 30 minutes to make sure all the juice is extracted (give it a little extra squeeze with a wooden spoon every now and then). Clean the cloth and strain the liquid through again - this gets rid of all the tiny hairs that are inside the rose hips which cause irritation (they are famously used to make itching powder, so you definitely don’t want them in your syrup!).
Measure the juice and pour back into a clean saucepan. Add 325g of sugar for every 500ml of juice. Heat slowly on the hob, allowing the sugar to dissolve then bring to the boil and let it bubble away for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and, whilst it’s still hot, decant into the prepared jars or bottles.
As a medicinal remedy, take Rosehip syrup by the spoonful when you feel a cold coming on, or add to hot water with lemon and ginger for a soothing tea. It’s also delicious on pancakes in place of maple syrup and it makes a great addition to cocktails!
Elderberry Syrup: a dark, deep and velvety syrup full of immune boosting properties
ID Tips: Elderberries grow in drooping clusters of dark purple, almost black, small round berries. The dark green pinate leaves of elder grow in opposite pairs, and are made up of 5-9 toothed leaflets. Often found in hedgerows along with blackthorn and hawthorn.
Elderberry syrup is Benji’s favourite, he has been excited about me making it since the last batch ran out in March! Foraging and making is a wonderful thing to do with children from a really young age, it feels like actual magic, making potions from wild ingredients and drinking them together.
Interesting fact: The edible jelly ear fungus, grows almost exclusively on elder.
You will need:
Elderberries (about 10 heads)
Sugar
Water
Fresh ginger root or star anise
Lemon
A muslin cloth or jelly bag
Sterilised glass jars or bottles
Prepare the jars or bottles as for the rosehip syrup. Remove the berries form the stalks, this is easiest with a fork, or the helpful tiny fingers of a willing child! Discard any unripe (green) berries. Once removed, add the berries to a pan along with a couple of slices of ginger or a crushed piece of star anise. Cover with water and bring to the boil, then simmer for half an hour or so, crushing the berries from time to time. Remove from the heat and strain the liquid. Return the elderberry juice to the pan and add 325g of sugar for every 500ml of juice. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar and then bring to the boil and let it thicken a little (keep an eye on it at this point so it doesn’t bubble over, I learned that the hard way!) after about 10 minutes, remove from the heat and bottle. It will keep for months in a dark cupboard unopened and then in the fridge for a few weeks once opened.
Take a spoonful each morning during the winter months to help build up a strong immune system. You can also make a lovely warm drink from it (add whisky or brandy if you like) the perfect tonic when you are feeling under the weather.
Hawthorn Hot Sauce
Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna) is known for being a potent heart medicine as it can help regulate blood pressure. I also make a tincture from the flowers and later, the berries which I take when I’m feeling stressed or anxious, and find it really helps.
Haws taste a little like apples and contain anti-oxidants and vitamin C. Often growing in hedgerows but also in woodlands as mature trees, hawthorn is quite easy to identify (a good guide to ID can be found here).
Making hawthorn ketchup is a popular way to use the berries but we decided to spice things up and make a hawthorn hot sauce instead. We’re pretty pleased with the results, so do let us know if you give it a go!
You will need:
400g haws
250ml apple cider vinegar
250ml water
170g sugar
A selection of spices, we used:
1tsp nutmeg
1tsp chilli powder
2tsp Paprika
Pinch of chilli flakes
Plenty of black pepper
Sterilised glass jars to store the sauce
Method:
In a pan, simmer the berries in the cider vinegar and water for around 35mins until soft.
Using a metal sieve, strain into a bowl and continue to press the pulp through the sieve until you are left with only the haw stones.
Return the pulp to the heat and add the sugar and spices. Bubble away until it is the thickness of ketchup (this can take a while). Once you are happy with the taste and consistency, pour into your jars and seal whilst still hot.
Will last if kept in the fridge for about a month.
Autumnal Teas: a comforting, warming way to connect to Nature
Making tea from wild growing herbs is a favourite thing of mine to do. Going on a walk and gathering a few plants to bring back and brew up, is a lovely way to connect with Nature and to learn more about what’s growing around us. In autumn, many plants are done flowering and busy setting seed, but there are still plants out there that can be gathered to make warming teas. These are a few favourites*.
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) - Gather the leaves of plants in their first year (those that have not flowered) the leaves will be low to the ground, rather than on tall stems. Resembling feathers, the leaves of yarrow are beautiful things to admire, soft to the touch and full of magical properties. A bitter herb, making a tea from the leaves can aid digestion and ease menstrual cramps.
Nettle (Urtica dioica) - nettles put out fresh growth in autumn, a second flush of fresh leaves that can be gathered and used in food and medicine. Look for low growing plants, and take the top four youngest leaves (either pinch them hard when picking or use gloves to avoid getting stung). Nettle tea is full of goodness, rich in many vitamins and contains anti-fungal, anti-inflamatory and anti-viral properties, it’s a perfect autumn drink.
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) - mugwort is a tall, bushy herb that grows in many places but tends to like roadsides and acidic, dry soils. The deeply lobed leaves are dark green on top with a silvery white underside. The stems are tinged purple and the tiny flowers grow in spikes and are a redish purple colour. At this time of year, mugwort can still be gathered to make tea; pick the flowering tops and leaves for a calming tea that can bring on lucid dreaming if taken before bed. During the day, it can be taken to help relieve the stresses of a busy day.
All these teas can be made using fresh herbs, but if you would like to dry them, simply lay them out in a basket, on a cloth or in a paper bag and leave somewhere dry and airy for a few days. Once fully dry, they can be stored in jars and used throughout the year.
To make a tea with any of the above (and do experiment by mixing up herbs to find new flavours) add a hand full of fresh herb, or a teaspoon each of dried to a teapot or cafetière. Pour just boiled water (not boiling) over and leave to steep for 5 to 10 minutes depending on how strong you like your flavours (again, experiment). Add honey if the taste is a little bitter.
* A note on safety. Please be 100% sure that you have correctly identified the plant you are gathering, if you have any doubts, then either check with someone who knows, or leave it where it grows. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, it is best to avoid yarrow and mugwort. Always try a small sip a wait a few moments before going all in with a new plant. This will give you time to savour that first taste, but also check for any reactions.
Do let us know if you give any of these recipes a try, we’d love to hear of the results!
With warm wishes,
Emma, Andrew and Benji
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Very cool! I don't have many of these, but it's fascinating to read about.
I love this. Thank you!