Amy Rankine Forager

Amy Rankine Forager Find, forage, ferment. Wild food & foraging courses; brewery collaboration and consultancy

S e c u r i t y Money doesn't grow on trees. But food does! Leaves, flowers, seeds... Food even grows on the ground. All...
30/04/2026

S e c u r i t y

Money doesn't grow on trees.

But food does! Leaves, flowers, seeds... Food even grows on the ground. All over the ground. Last week I saw a council employee working really hard to kill the ground food. Alternatively, we could just eat it 🤷‍♀️

Some of the best tasting ingredients are quite literally under your feet. Take common hogweed. The minute those fuzzy shoots start to appear I am in food heaven. It's super high in vitamin C, I mean like 6x that of broccoli, as well as a bunch of other goodies. It's super high in fiber, which we used to call eating your greens but apparently is now fibremaxxing. It's super high in flavour, and tastes like nothing else in this world.

Why is it called hogweed? Well probably cause pigs used to eat it. What else do pigs like to eat? Truffles. See. Pigs have TASTE. Trust the pigs, eat hogweed.

But don't eat giant hogweed. The sap of that big guy is going to HURT you, and doesn't pull its punches. Apparently it doesn't taste very nice, although I do have one tale of it being fermented and eaten in Russia. More on that another day.

With food prices increasing and no sign of global security coming, there isn't a better time to arm yourself with the knowledge of wild food. Empower yourself, and your plate. Fibremaxx, or maybe fibermaxx, depending where you are and how you spell fibre. Most importantly, trust the pigs.

Do you love the hogweed? How do you prep yours?

Note: hogweed is in the carrot family and may trigger a celery allergy. Eat with caution. As always, correct identification is essential.

29/04/2026

D i s c o v e r

What do children see? Wonder!

Introducing kids to plants is a pure joy, where they can look with fresh eyes. Darwin's Barberry is an ornamental beloved by councils for its hardiness, affordability and coverage. Foragers think of it differently - it's striking yellow flowers which resemble tiny daffodils are delicious. They bring a rare citrus zing that is uncommon in the Scottish wild foodscape. I love to sprinkle them on salads, a garnish that really packs a punch. Or use in gin (it's absolutely gin weather).

But to Quinn? They are covered in so many bright flowers, there are loads and loads of them! It tastes of harribo (a bonus as she isn't allowed harribo). When looking at the bush, it makes the shape of a pawprint (apparently). It is a pawprint flower.

Foraging is a great way to spend time in nature with your wean. We stopped at this bush for about ten minutes while at the zoo - and the girl was entranced. It's not only connecting Quinn with nature - but deepens our bond as well.

Children are welcome on all my workshops - come walk with me 🌿🌸

22/04/2026

C a l m

Sometimes, the most important thing you can find in the woods is a moment of quiet. 🌸

We constantly rush from one task to the next, are glued to screens (caught you looking!) or stuck in our heads, worrying at the world. But right now, the cherry is putting on the most spectacular show of the year.

Cherry blossom season is famously fleeting . The Japanese concept of mono no aware - the gentle sadness at the transience of things - is perfectly captured in these falling petals, cascading like a gentle snow.

You do not always need to bring a basket into the woods. Nor do you always need to take things home. Sometimes, foraging is just the act of stepping outside, grounding, and letting the natural world reset your nervous system.

Take five minutes today - find a cherry. Lie down. Look up. Feel the earth under your back, grounding you, and the tree above, lifting you up 🌿

H o r s e t a i l Meet a true living fossil: Common Horsetail (Equisetum arvense)These strange, rattling asparagus-like...
21/04/2026

H o r s e t a i l

Meet a true living fossil: Common Horsetail (Equisetum arvense)

These strange, rattling asparagus-like shoots popping up right now are the fertile, reproductive stage of the plant. They look almost alien, and are completely different from all other plants. Not only are they only plant to reproduce by spore (as well as rhyzomes), but they are incredibly high in silica. So old the family existed prior to the dinosaurs, some species would grow as tall as trees. The idea of a forrest of these tall alien-like plants, with that ethereal rattling during their spore producing phase, is the perfect setting for a horror film.

While they are fascinating to look at, they are also a brilliant example of why understanding plant chemistry is so important in foraging. Because of their high silica content, and the presence of an enzyme called thiaminase (which can deplete vitamin B1), this is not a plant you want to be eating raw or in large quantities. However, when prepared correctly (often dried and used as a tea), it has a long history in traditional herbalism for supporting collagen production and hair, skin, and nail health.

Foraging is not just about foods, it is understanding the complex, ancient chemistry of our ecosystem

M a g n o l i a Magnolia in flower is breathtaking, a focal point in the garden, delicate and serene. It's also an incre...
19/04/2026

M a g n o l i a

Magnolia in flower is breathtaking, a focal point in the garden, delicate and serene. It's also an incredible edible that tastes like ginger or galangal, with floral notes

If you look closely at the centre of a magnolia flower, you will see striking centres, akin to tiny pineapples. Magnolias are an ancient genus, going back 95 million years. Their botanical structure is unique, and because they evolved before bees, are pollinated by beetles. They have many stamen and stigma, closing in the centre to trap pollinating beetles overnight, and produce a rather alien-like fruit later in the year. How cool?

For the kitchen, the flavour is in the flower. With such short season, preservation is key. Here are three ways I am capturing that incredible ginger-spice flavour this week:

1️⃣ Magnolia Sugar: Layering the 'pineapples' in caster sugar. The sugar draws out the moisture and the essential oils, creating a deeply fragrant sugar perfect for baking or cocktails. Make sure to shake the jar regularly!
2️⃣ Magnolia Salt: Flower petals layered in salt. This makes an incredible finishing salt for fish, curries or roasted vegetables
3️⃣ Dehydrating: Drying the petals to use later as a spice rub, tea blends or to infuse into vinegars and syrups

Have you ever tasted magnolia? There is nothing like it! 🌿

04/04/2026

D o g F o o d

Have you ever noticed your pup foraging?

For food and for medicine, dogs will forage too. I suspected Topsy might have UTI - low and behold she then started foraging cleavers! It's one of a number of reasons they can decide to eat them. Lovely to see the pup instinctively know what to eat, as she can be a bit of a dafty in other ways.

V a r i e g a t e d I love to stumble across variegated wild garlic, it's beautiful to see these different patterns on ...
25/03/2026

V a r i e g a t e d

I love to stumble across variegated wild garlic, it's beautiful to see these different patterns on the leaves. Although this is sometimes said to be rare, in my experience it is really unusual as opposed to rare. This particular patch is new to me, although there is another about 50 yards down river. I have also seen patches further afield, and tend to find it only in a few plants within a larger patch, and will return year on year. This is a sign of true variegation as opposed to plant damage caused by pesticides or fungicides, which may cause leaf discolouration. I never pick the variegated leaves however, I like to leave them be for others to admire.

S p i n e sMushrooms are dangerous. Mushroom foraging is irresponsible.Mushroom foraging is harmful to the environment.F...
28/10/2025

S p i n e s

Mushrooms are dangerous.

Mushroom foraging is irresponsible.

Mushroom foraging is harmful to the environment.

Foraging in particularly is high risk for middle class people.

Some of these are common sentiments, particularly in media discourse, and the latter, of course, references THAT article. But are they true?

Sure, there are some mushrooms that are fatally poisonous when ingested. These are a relatively small proportion, and many of them are quite rare. Some good edibles, such as morels, have the potential to be deadly when eaten raw. However, just touching a wild mushroom, any mushroom in the UK, will not harm you.

Discourses of mushroom foraging are often framed as irresponsible, reckless, particularly when done by novices. I agree that you should always know what you are putting in your mouth. There are no easy cheats, rules, or fast ways to gain knowledge. That does not mean you have to spend years learning how to identify mushrooms, or become a mycologist, to forage. Take the hedgehog above - it's distinctive spines make it a very easy mushroom for beginners. It is common and hyper abundant. Also, delicious.

Similarly, harvesting mushrooms is not necessarily damaging to the land. Media framings of gangs of foreign foragers ravaging the British countryside are not unusual. Apparently stripping the woodlands bare of fungi regardless of species, and eating some swans while they are at it. I'd challenge this assumption, and cast it back as a mixture of misunderstanding of families collecting for their own consumption, and casual xenophobia. People honestly aren't eating swans, they are (apparently) not pleasant to eat, like tough goose. Of course, while mushrooms may be the fruiting body, removing every single one will remove a food source from the woodlands. Don't do that. Leave the wee babies, and the old smooshy ones. Be gentle. There is no better way in understanding and reconnecting our natural ecosystems is to forage - becoming a part of it. Spread those spores.

This, to me, is the modern tragedy of the commons. These discourses work to justify exclusion from the land.

F o r a g eMumma, can we go foraging? It's always lovely when Quinn asks if we can go foraging. Seeing everything she ha...
22/10/2025

F o r a g e

Mumma, can we go foraging?

It's always lovely when Quinn asks if we can go foraging. Seeing everything she has learnt, her continued curiosity and enthusiasm. When on Colonsay we went most days... Here she collects leaves to make me a salad (admittedly not an edible salad but it is completely the thought that counts), she carefully inspects a puffball, and carries our harvest of hedgehogs, winter chants and turkey tail. The number of mushrooms she knows is growing steadily, and she is begining to learn the scientific names as well. Almost 3, she is a great example of never being to young to start.

I'm sure eventually she will need some more cajoling, but until that day, I'm hoping the time spent together and a childhood in nature will set her up well for life. Emotional regulation in childhood is essential for resilience in adulthood, and time spent in nature is really helpful for this.

Only problem is she doesn't really ever want to go home, and you must ensure you bring plenty of snack apples.

F a l lAutumn leaves seem to fall gradually, slowly carpeting the ground until the trees seem suddenly barren. Standing ...
20/10/2025

F a l l

Autumn leaves seem to fall gradually, slowly carpeting the ground until the trees seem suddenly barren. Standing outside with Ru the dog though, we heard thumping rain, yet it wasn't raining. Took me a few minutes to realise the leaves were falling from the trees so quickly and so many at once, it sounded like rain.

Unbelievable.

Address

Edinburgh
SCOTLAND

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+447572082759

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Amy Rankine Forager posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Amy Rankine Forager:

Shortcuts

Share

Category