In the early autumn, when the leaves are just beginning to turn ochre, the hedgerows are full of edible treasure; jewel-bright scarlet rosehips, dusky purple sloes, sharp green crabapples, and clusters of deep red haws.

When we head out on walks, we always take a bag or a basket, in readiness for foraging. A favourite ramble meanders through the fields just below Uley Millennium Green, in the Uley valley. The children splash along in the shallow stream, lined with blackthorn bushes. Here we picked this year’s sloes, now marinating as a batch of sloe gin.

In the hedgerow is a gnarled, ancient crabapple tree groaning with small, hard fruits, which are perfect as a natural source of pectin for Bramble Jam or Hedgerow Jelly. On this occasion, we brave the thorns and fill a basket with handfuls of cheerful, plump rosehips, picked from the bushes above the stile.

Upon returning home, the rosehips are stripped of their seeds and boiled up with sugar, to make bottles of luminous Rosehip Syrup, or jars of sticky Rosehip Jam. A sweet reminder of an autumnal Sunday, to be spooned over our breakfast porridge in the dark mornings ahead.

Images by Laura Pashby: Laura has a regular blog series called Grow, Forage, Cook, in which she posts seasonal recipes, foraging adventures, and ideas for bringing the outside into the kitchen. You can get involved by sharing your own foraging finds using #growforagecook on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.