J'AIME NOVEMBER 2020

know what you’re looking at.”
He stresses that he and his fellow instructors are very
ecologically minded, and says that when he takes a
group out they pick things purely to make a meal at
the end of the session. He teaches strict guidelines
and sticks to them himself.
“It isn’t a case of coming home with enough to stock
up the fridge. That said, one of our venues has so
much wild garlic they consider it a weed and almost
ask us to take it away.”
Marlow asks his pupils to use their new found skills
wisely and to perhaps put their knowledge to use in
their own garden.
“At the beginning of lockdown I did a series of four
back to basics videos showing people what they could
find during their daily exercise. I had lots of people
saying it had helped them to start a new life.”
When it comes to mushrooms he says there is more
to choose from in autumn, but also more varieties to
make mistakes with.
For Marlow the first rule of foraging is to not pick
anything unless you know exactly what it is.
“You can find out from photos, books, the internet
and from asking knowledgeable people like ourselves.
We get emails every day from people asking us to
help them identify things they’ve found and asking
whether they’re edible and common.
“It’s important that people know not to just pick
things willy nilly because some things are rare.
“I always advise people to go on a course to learn
how to forage respectfully. We also always teach
people to follow the Countryside Act. As long as they
follow that and don’t pick things unless they know
what they are then they’ll stay safe.”
* To find out more about Wild Food UK and
Marlow’s book visit www.wildfooduk.com
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