July is an interesting month; a lot of the greens of spring struggle around this time, but you’ve not yet reached the harvest. It’s almost like an empty period. Everything’s hot, people are sleepy, and you’re just enjoying the lazy summer days…or trying to survive the sun!

One of the epic things it does have? Cherry Plums!

I bloody love Cherry Plums. I use them in making a lovely liqueur, and then use the alcohol soaked fruit to make posh jam for winter. But you can use the fruit for all sorts: crumbles, pies, a nice snack…it’s brilliant. Similarly, actual Cherries are ready around this time too!

You’ll see them in the hedgerows, either yellow or red but delicious either way.

As well as the Cherry Plums, you might find the Raspberries starting to come through in your garden! They’re incredibly resilient, and if you’re both smart and lucky you might be able to get two lots of crops out of them. If you pick the harvest at the beginning of July, and then give the plants a trim, you may get fresh growth – and fresh fruit! – around September-October time.

On the theme of fruit, Redcurrants are ready around this time too! This is the perfect moment to stock up and make plenty of Redcurrant jelly. Lovely!

Veggies-wise, this is the time of year the Wild Radishes and Sea Radishes will be ready. The Radishes you grow in the garden can sprout up throughout most of the year, but this is when you’ll find the wild ones.

Now, if you were to ever find yourself desperate for protein, the next one will either make you squeamish or curious 😈 the ants will be out in their millions around July, especially the new queens – they’re bigger, juicier, and crunchier than the regular ones! It’s meant to have a somewhat fruity flavour, but I’ve never tried it myself. Just remember: you’ve got to bite them before they bite you!

On a much more pleasant note… Meadowsweet is ready around this time! It’s a brilliant plant, and one that’s high on my to-study list, as it’s known for being a useful painkiller and antipyretic. You can cook it, make it into a cordial, make it into a lovely sorbet, make it into alcohol… it’s beautiful stuff!

Meanwhile, a friend of mine obsesses over Mugwort at this time of year. The plant is fascinating, helping people with seizures, inducing lucid dreams, helping with all things related to women’s health, treating stomach complaints, and even keeping the elves out of your house! Every year I look forward to hearing about the folklore and uses of it – this year he’s looking to make alcohol!

There are some plants that will be ready, but I won’t recommend for a variety of reasons. The first is Annual Sea-Blite. It’s a succulent that grows at the seaside, and is used similarly to Marsh Samphire, but less bitter. Given the state of our waterways, I will not encourage foraging, as I don’t want anyone to get sick. The next is Poppy – while it is ready to pick the seeds at this time, and I do love Poppy seed cakes, I appreciate there are some potentially dodgy aspects to the plant that may make it worth avoiding. Best avoid it to avoid problems with the law. Horse Mushrooms and Macro Mushrooms are also ready around this time, but I don’t recommend people to go for mushrooms unless they’re 100% certain on how to identify them.

So, the essential list for July:

• Cherry Plums
• Cherries
• Raspberries
• Redcurrants
• Wild Radishes
• Sea Radishes
• Ants
• Meadowsweet
• Mugwort

Happy foraging, everyone!