MOST of us are wondering when summer 2024 is going to get started.

Despite the wet, the wild foods are ripening and are ready to find and harvest in August.

Blackberries (Rubus fruticosus) in south-facing places are ripe already.

Their north-facing companions will follow soon. Easily identified with their prickles, slightly rough saw edges and ovate leaves, they sprawl over hedges in many lanes and along footpaths.

Oftentimes I've picked a wasp by mistake as these and other insects also enjoy the fruit. Make blackberry and apple pies and crumbles. Bung in vodka or gin with half the weight of the fruit of sugar for a lovely tipple for Christmas time.

Nettle seeds (Urtica dioica) are a super food, stuffed with vitamin C, essential fatty acids. Low mood and recovery from viruses are much improved by a sprinkle of nettle seeds on breakfasts or added to a smoothie. The seeds are found on the female nettle: long and dangling. Eat them green as well as drying some future use.

One of the foraging benefits we have in North Somerset is Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides). Sticking out of the dune tops and along the grassy margins of the coast, it's easily identified by the livid orange berries, like natural sanatogen pills, and wicked thorns.

Eating raw isn't recommended because the berries are so tart your mouth will turn inside out. Instead make a cordial or sweeten, cook and freeze to add to other foods.

The white puffs of the elder flowers have become elderberries (Sambucus Nigra). Small, purple berries in clusters, hanging in the void the flowers once occupied. Look at the elongated oval leaves with slightly serated edges  and the rough, ridged ale brown- grey bark to be sure you have the right plant.

There are other berries the same colour that you definitely shouldn't eat! Elderberries are poisonous raw so take them home to make elderberry cordial or ‘rob’; lovely drinks which aid recovery from colds and flu. They also make a lovely jelly.

I'm Helen Shalders of Wayfarers Outdoors. Find more at www.facebook.com/wayfarersforestschool  and @wayfarers_outdoors