There are plenty of tasty wild secrets to discover this winter, says Sarah Watson. It’s a little known fact that edible wild plants can be found all year round in the UK.

It’s possible to rustle up a fresh salad from wild greens in the depths of winter, which makes me marvel at nature’s ability to provide us with nutrient-rich sustenance on our doorsteps.

Perhaps we don’t need to rely on greenhouses, freezers and exotic imports as much as we think we do!

In Sussex you might find chickweed with its mild raw sweetcorn flavour; sharp lemony sorrel; aromatic, earthy ground ivy from the mint family; and ‘weeds’ from the cabbage family like peppery bittercress and hot, spicy wintercress.

These winter leaves have health benefits too, chickweed contains significant amounts of fibre, magnesium, and vitamins A and C, as well as B vitamins. Bittercress and wintercress are both rich in vitamins C and A.

Sorrel and bittercress salad with pickled, aromatic ox-eye daisy bud ‘capers’ (pictured) – a fresh, zesty winter salad.

Last Christmas I made Dan Lepard’s mont blanc layer cake, a lavish confection of meringue layers sandwiched together with whipped cream, ricotta and my wild chestnut puree, and drizzled with chocolate.

Making your own chestnut puree is time consuming, especially if you use local wild ones as they’re never as big as the imported ones in the shops, but it does taste better than the ready-made puree you can buy. I didn’t manage to get out and gather wild chestnuts this year though, so I might cheat and buy some at the greengrocers...shhh!!

Get wild food tips and details of my foraging and cookery courses on www.facebook.com/wildfeast or contact sarah@wildfeast.co.uk