Foraging for free food in the city is not about rummaging in bins but something much more rewarding, as Sarah Probert discovers.

The last time I met celebrity gardener Alys Fowler she was extolling the virtues of being a thrifty gardener, scouring skips for bits of wood or old drawers to make plant containers.

Now the former BBC TV’s Gardeners’ World presenter has gone one step further and is keen to share her passion for foraging, where weeds, seeds and berries can be transformed into supper.

The idea of foraging for food in a city conjures up images of sifting through large bins to find the discards of supermarkets – a pastime known as freeganism.

“There is a difference between freeganism and foraging – although both can be seen as political gestures,” explains Alys.

She has a much more appealing approach – wandering around local parks to pluck ripened fruit off branches, clambering over brambles for the tastiest raspberries and blackberries or shinning up trees for nuts.

When I arrive at Alys’s Kings Heath home, she is surrounded by fruit and several jam pans and is busy pouring a sweet blackberry preserve into jars.

Piles of damsons are lined up for the next batch and she is excited by the results of her recent experimental roasted plum jam recipe.

At this time of year Alys is either whipping up chutneys, jams, juices and dressings in her kitchen or out foraging in Birmingham’s many parks and green spaces.

“Foraging is more about making the most of the natural environment and exploring what is in your local park,” says Alys, grabbing a handful of plastic bags for our bounty in as we head off to Kings Heath Park.

August and September are boon times for pickers and Alys has found the most hearty of fare in the most unlikely places.

“There are some wonderful walnut trees in the city centre, just off Hurst Street,” she explains.

“At this time of year I spend half my time foraging and half my time in the kitchen. My supermarket is the park.”

We are only in the park for five minutes, when Alys quickens her pace towards a fruit tree.

“These are cherry plums,” she explains as she strains to reach one of the branches. Giving it a little shake, a few of the yellow fruits fall onto the ground.

“You have to be careful of the windfalls,” she says, avoiding the fruit that is already lying on the ground.

“Because you can never know if a dog has weed on them.”

“These are perfect in a French tart, taste perfect with a little creme anglaise,” she adds as she passes me one to taste. The plums are exquisite, sweet, juicy and delicious.

But before we have chance to indulge further, Alys is off again. Every step we tread she can point out free food – elderberries, sweet chestnuts, crab apples, wild raspberries and blackberries and a rather unusual fruit called a medlar.

“Medlars were popular in the medieval period. They were a really good source of vitamin C and have a rich custardy flavour.

“These aren’t quite ready yet, they will be ready in October/November time.”

The medlar tree is relatively unknown to the foragers who frequent this park, unlike the famous mulberry tree, which is a popular spot for those in the know.

Most of the fruit trees have been planted over the years to offer ornamental value, although park rangers are recognising that there is a desire amongst some visitors to harvest fruit.

At Kings Heath park, a small area has been planted specifically for this purpose, a tiny garden dominated by blackberry and raspberry bushes.

However, beyond the obvious abundance of berries, there are some more unusual finds Alys is keen to reveal.

In neighbouring Highbury Park we come across Himalayan balsam – a plant dreaded by all park rangers as it is incredibly invasive as well as expensive and time-consuming to eradicate.

For Alys, the seeds of this plant offer a delightful addition to her home-baked bread and she is busy pulling off the heads, which shoot off with great vigour into her plastic bag.

The seeds are beautifully nutty, a little like caraway seeds but with a hint of hazelnut.

“There is enough here to feed most of Birmingham,” she says.

“Japanese knotweed is another invasive plant, but you can eat it at the beginning of the year. It tastes like asparagus. In Japan they are considered a delicacy. There is a group of people who think why spend a fortune on chemicals trying to get rid of these plants when you can pick it and eat it and manage it that way – but that is radical horticulturalism.”

However, as Japanese knotweed is considered to be such a problem, it is currently illegal to move it, and therefore you can’t pick it – so the city will not find such a simple solution to eradicating this plant.

As we move around the wilder landscape of Highbury, we discover plenty of young tender nettles to pick, along with wild mustard and non-prickly thistles, which Alys insists are a good substitute for spinach.

There is also an abundance of chestnuts.

“I got so many in Highbury one year I had enough to grind up and make chestnut flour. It made wonderful biscuits,” says Alys.

She learned her foraging skills from her mother while growing up in the countryside, but now believes her knowledge far extends what she learned as a child. “It doesn’t really make economic sense but if you have got time on your hands it is a lovely thing to do,” she says. “I can spend hours doing it, it is just a fun, leisure activity. I like picking and eating as I walk.”

Alys is now hoping to pass on her passion for picking with her new book, The Thrifty Forager, which gives details on plants, the best times to pick and the rules of etiquette one should follow.

“People kept asking me to take them foraging and they said ‘why don’t you write a book about it’.

“I was really interested in this idea that through foraging, people in cities can have a much more meaningful relationship with green spaces around them.”

Alys fears the skill and knowledge of foraging has been lost by many, with few people realising the rich pickings to be had, settling instead for plastic wrapped fruit and veg in the supermarkets.

“For most people food is just carrots, tomatoes and broccoli – not nuts and berries,” she explains.

“It is a long time since people foraged. People in the countryside continue to do it but I think a lot of people are terrified of it. People have lost something which we did 50 or 60 years ago.”

As well as offering an abundance of wild foods, Alys believes Birmingham could also grow produce on a commercial scale, while going some way to tackling unemployment by offering horticultural training.

“Birmingham has got so many green spaces which are underused and a huge amount of land that is not developed. Birmingham could have a real potential to produce its own food.

“It would be good to get a lot of people who are unemployed to get trained in growing food for profit.”

It may seem like a wild idea, but she gives examples of Detroit in America, which she explains is already growing food as a commercial enterprise, raising $100,000 in profits.

She hopes if the city votes for an elected mayor for Birmingham, the mayor could instigate change and make more of the green spaces available.

One idea is to help push through the use of Meanwhile Leases, where groups could temporarily lease undeveloped land to grow food on until it is needed by developers.

“There is huge potential that devolution in this city could be really interesting for local people. We could elect a progressive mayor who can have more control of the city but people have got to be interested in it.”

Alys, who parted company with BBC2’s Gardeners’ World last year after the show was revamped, is filming a BBC series on British food.

She is now planning a third book combining cooking and gardening, looking at preserves, storage of food and urban gardens.

* Highbury Park will be holding an apple pressing day on September 25. Bring apples and pears from local trees for pressing. 1pm-4pm.

The Thrifty Forager, by Alys Fowler is published by Kyle Books, priced £16.99.