HEDGEWITCH ADVENTURES Blog

H.A. Field Courses 2026 About Hedgewitch Kat

Tag: foraging

  • FEBRUARY HAZEL POLLEN: Sweet or Savoury?

    Identifying Hazel Over the last few weeks, male catkins of Common Hazel (Coryllus avellana) have been draping the bronzy twigs of our native small tree. They’re a welcome addition ot the otherwise muted colours of February. Hazel is monoecious, which means it’s a hermaphrodite. It has both male and female flower parts on one tree.…

  • Making Bramble Baskets For Bushcraft Magazine

    Making Bramble Baskets For Bushcraft Magazine

    My latest article for Bushcraft magazine – how to make baskets from brambles. Great fun, also there’s always a prickle that gets ye! It’s out in Issue 117. Apologies for the coal-stained fingernails…the result of shovelling smokeless coal and wood into a boat stove all winter. xx Hedgewitch Kat xx

  • H.A. Foraging Journal – February Week 1

    H.A. Foraging Journal – February Week 1

    Buds are slowly revealing their silken insides on willow. Sycamore buds glow green, Blackthorn is dressed in hints of bridal white. Sloes are still out though, and they’ve been nicely bletted by the cold. I can even eat a few raw without wincing. Sloe Recipes A Sloe Ice Lolly could be a good bet, but…

  • Can We Eat ARUM LILIES?

    Can We Eat ARUM LILIES?

    This is one of those posts where I hope to ghod people read the WHOLE post. Like the one I wrote years back about Yew berries being edible. Read on to discover why the answer is both YES and NO! The answer to this very much depends on what type of Arum you are talking…

  • Track & Sign Pt 2: Plantation Wood & Rushmere

    Track & Sign Pt 2: Plantation Wood & Rushmere

    Part 2 of my explorations of Animal Tracks and Signs. It wa a beautiful out, and I was lucky enough to stay out in the woods for a whole (school) day! I went to see the Ravens that nest in the top of a Redwood tree. Below is their grand home of last year –…

  • 6 Roots You Can Eat In Winter (If Trump Destroys the World…)

    If the world system fails, which looks increasingly likely with the behaviour of certain grown-up toddlers… be apocalypse-ready. Winter food Winter is traditionally the time to harvest roots. Plants store energy in the form of carbohydrates by stocking it up in their roots, bulbs, corms, tubers or rhizomes. Don’t worry about the terminology, unless you…

  • My Foraging Journal: January

    YES, you can still find wild fodder in the coldest and cruellest of months. Though it’s not the easiest time to survive, granted. Here’s what I’ve been up to. Why not try some of this out for yourself? What foraging and bushcraft ideas have you come up with with in winter? Let me know in…

  • ROWAN…Fire Engine Red Witchbane & What You Can Do With It.

    Rowan trees are aglow with fire engine red berries in council car parks and waysides everywhere. They’re a popular landscaping tree, so chances are there’ll be one near you. They love growing high up, so check hills too. Rowan, or Mountain Ash, is known as Sorbus aucuparia in the botanical community. It’s a member of…

  • My Foraging Journal:November

    A bit belated this one. October is a busy month for foragers in temperate zones. I’ve been testing out brambles for various types of basketry for 2 bushcraft/homesteading magazines. Brambles are hard-wearing if you can evade and conquer the thorns! The best time to harvest bramble for this is actually summer, as they are more…

  • How Can We GIVE BACK to Nature?

    It’s ever more important to realise that as foragers we are part of the cycle of life, not looking down on it, not the broken end of a chain of energy. When you first start foraging, you may not feel this way. However, as time goes on and you become more attuned to the plants,…