Living off the land

For many of us, putting food on the table now means a trip to the supermarket. But just what is available to the modern hunter-gatherer?

- ADRIAN DANGAR

Two inspirational books stand out from my childhood: Ian Niall’s classic The Poachers Handbook and Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald’s It’s My Delight. Both offer valuable and timeless advice on how to live off the land, albeit not always on the right side of the law. The modern take on foraging, or hunter-gathering from the wild (call it what you will, but let’s avoid ‘poaching’ in a magazine of this calibre), is sometimes a bit heavy on edible flowers and common weeds and rather light on feather, fur and fin. My personal preamble through the seasons is chiefly concerned with food that is the main event rather than extraneous ingredients that merely add flavour to established dishes.

TV presenter Ben Fogle has revealed a few rugged individuals living the hunter-gatherer’s dream in wild and glorious isolation; however, the modern exponent tends to enjoy a level of comfort that often includes keeping a few hens and growing vegetables – both enterprises can benefit hugely from spoils gathered beyond the garden gate. He or she will also usually have a dog, for most country people have owned, for at least part of their lives, a working dog of some description.

Although nearly all of what nature provides can now be deep-frozen for consumption later, that is a poor and shallow substitute for enjoying food in season. The key factors to living successfully off the land are knowing where, when and how to reap the natural harvest month by month.

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