I forage for my meals store and save £200 a month… however there’s a quite common plant that might KILL you
A resourceful father has saved £200 a month on his food shop by foraging in meadows, forests and along coastlines – but warns not everything is edible and one common plant is ‘irreversibly deadly’.
Joshua Lawrey, 36, previously worked in a high-end restaurant where the menu featured wild ingredients that had been foraged.
Curious to try it himself, Joshua did plenty of research and visited woodlands, meadows and coastlines around his hometown of St Austell, Cornwall, to see what he could find.
Inspired by his restaurant job, he began getting creative and has been integrating his foraged goods into his daily diet since he began the hobby 15 years ago.
He makes tzatziki dip out of nettles, ‘steak’ out of giant mushrooms and even espresso martinis by baking dandelion roots.
By foraging flowers, mushrooms, leafy greens, fruits and berries, he claims to ‘easily’ save £50 a week on his weekly grocery shops to feed himself, daughter Josephine, one, and wife Jennifer, 36.
Joshua, who is now a lead forager with a foraging excursion company, said: ‘Most people would walk past a field or grassy area and think it’s all grass.
‘But there are things to forage everywhere – probably even in people’s own back gardens – and they don’t even know it.
Joshua Lawrey, 36, has saved £200 a month on his food shop by foraging in meadows, forests and along coastlines
By foraging flowers, mushrooms, leafy greens, fruits and berries, Joshua claims to ‘easily’ save £50 a week on his weekly grocery shops
Joshua says his daughter Josephine, one, likes to eat the foods that he finds foraging
‘The more you learn about, the more you can sub out of your shopping list – I only really buy carbs, lentils and meat these days, everything else is foraged.
‘I think there’s satisfaction in having gained the knowledge to find something – and it saves a lot of money.
‘You have to make sure you know what you’re picking – don’t ‘munch on a hunch’, as us foragers say.
‘But it’s fine if you do your research – my one-year-old daughter eats everything I forage, and she’s still alive!’
Joshua’s knowledge of food from previously working at a high-end restaurant gave him the base understanding of flavours, so he knew how to put new ingredients together.
Alongside his job leading foraging expeditions, he ensures he goes out at least once a week to find food for his own fridge.
He knows what to look for based on what’s in season, and plans his meals around that.
He said: ‘It’s mostly self-taught, learning and watching others, and reading books. You learn what tastes good.’
Joshua previously worked in a high-end restaurant where the menu featured wild ingredients that had been foraged
When he first started foraging Joshua did plenty of research and visited woodlands, meadows and coastlines around his hometown of St Austell, Cornwall, to see what he could find
Joshua loves making fancy garlic bread using wild garlic to make his own garlic butter using a homemade olive oil garlic infusion
Joshua said: ‘Most people would walk past a field or grassy area and think it’s all grass.’ Pictured: The keen forager with his daily haul
Joshua with his wife Jen and their daughter Josephine take a foraging trip to the coastline
Alongside his job leading foraging expeditions, he ensures he goes out at least once a week to find food for his own fridge
The family plan their meals around what natural foods are available locally and in season
Joshua shows off Kelp seaweed that he found along his local shoreline in St Austel, Cornwall
Dulse seaweed, which is said to be a rich source of iodine, potassium and protein
A wild garlic sour cream dip prepared by Joshua following a foraging trip near his home
At this time of year, Joshua finds in-season three-cornered leeks which are a substitution for spring onion. Pictured: Wild garlic and three-cornered leek egg fried rice
Joshua rustles up a birch sap syrup sticky toffee pudding with forget me nots
The father-of-one has created a deep fried ‘chicken of the woods’ mushroom with homemade BBQ sauce
Joshua said the roots of dandelion can be chopped and roasted. He said: ‘It takes on the flavour of coffee and chocolate – you can mix in cream for a chocolatey coffee. You can even make an espresso martini with it!’
Joshua likes to experiment with the foods he finds. Pictured: Celeriac and wild garlic volute
But he explained it’s important to learn what poisonous varieties to avoid, including certain mushrooms and berries.
Joshua said there are specific features to look out for to help you know which to steer clear of.
He said: ‘Hemlock is very abundant in the UK, and it’s irreversibly deadly. To the untrained eye, it looks a lot like cow parsley.
‘You have to be very sure on the stem and leaf shape, because it’s a mistake you can only make once.’
Joshua loves making honey with dandelion and primrose, added to sugar and water.
At this time of year, he finds in-season three-cornered leeks which are a substitution for spring onion.
He loves making Greek-flavoured meals using stinging nettles, as the leaves taste like cucumber.
He said: ‘I recently did a nettle tzatziki with wild garlic, sorrel and yoghurt.’
The nature enthusiast explained it was important to learn what poisonous varieties to avoid. Pictured: Joshua picks Turkey Tail Mushroom
Joshua holds up brightly coloured scarlet elf cups that he has foraged, which are said to have a flavour similar to beetroot
On public land, the Countryside Act permits foraging for the ‘four Fs’ – fruit, foliage, flora and fungus – for personal consumption
Because of his foraging, Joshua said that he rarely needs to purchase any fruits, vegetables or leafy greens
Joshua holds up common hogweed, which he has found in the woodlands near to his home
Joshua said a quirky example is digging up the roots of dandelion and washing, chopping and roasting them.
He said: ‘It takes on the flavour of coffee and chocolate – you can mix in cream for a chocolatey coffee.
‘You can even make an espresso martini with it!’
He loves making fancy garlic bread using wild garlic to make his own garlic butter using a homemade olive oil garlic infusion.
And he explained he loves making fried ‘chicken’ and ‘chicken’ gyros out of a type of big orange mushroom that grows on decaying wood.
It is dubbed ‘chicken of the woods’ because it’s similar texture and flavour when blanched with chicken stock.
Joshua said: ‘I’m not vegan, but I’d eat that instead because it was so like chicken.’
Similarly, he said a ‘beef steak mushroom’ can be a great foraged alternative to a meaty dinner.
Joshua, showing the correct way to handle nettles, says he can make tzatziki dip out of nettles
Being able to find foods in his natural surroundings means he only has to buy carbs, lentils and meat at the supermarket
The family are happy to be out and about in nature while helping to keep their food costs lower
He said: ‘It’s like a giant slab of steak hanging off a tree – and when you cut it, it bleeds like steak too.
‘When dried, it has more protein in than steak too.
‘I also made beef jerky out of it once, and you would never have been able to tell it was a mushroom.’
He explained that foragers need to ensure they’re on public land before getting stuck in or getting permission – and can’t go digging things up without consent.
But on public land, the Countryside Act permits foraging for the ‘four Fs’ – fruit, foliage, flora and fungus – for personal consumption.
Because of his foraging, Joshua rarely needs to purchase any fruits, vegetables or leafy greens.
He said: ‘It’s halved my vegetable bill. I only really buy carbs, lentils and meat these days.
‘It saves me £50 a week on my food shops, easily.’
Joshua has been integrating his foraged goods into his daily diet since he began the hobby 15 years ago
The family believe they are saving at least £50 a week on their regular food shop from foraging
The keen father said the best part about foraging was turning a plant into a ‘culinary creation’
Joshua said alongside the money saved, and the ability to create unique-tasting meals and drinks, he loves the ‘satisfaction’ of the end product when he’s foraged everything from scratch.
He added: ‘You’ve picked something, you know exactly where it’s come from and how it’s been treated.
‘You get to turn a wild plant into a lovely culinary creation and know you’ve played every part in it.’
