Why Coastal Paths Are Worth a Slow Walk

There is a particular kind of satisfaction in returning from a clifftop walk with a bag of something that grew wild within earshot of the waves. The British coastline is one of the best-stocked larders in the country, and the plants that thrive on salt spray and thin soil are among the most rewarding to cook with. Sea beet, rock samphire and wild fennel are three of the classics, and all three can be found along public footpaths from Cornwall to Caithness.

The rules are simple but they matter. Take a little, leave plenty, know exactly what you are picking, and stay safe on the cliffs. If you can manage that, the coastal path becomes a different sort of walk entirely.

Sea Beet: The Grandmother of Spinach

Sea beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. maritima) is the wild ancestor of beetroot, sugar beet and chard, and it grows almost everywhere the sea meets the land. Look for it at the base of cliffs, along shingle banks, on sea walls and in the scruffy hedgerows that line coastal lanes.

Identification is straightforward once you have seen it a few times. The leaves are glossy and dark green, often with a leathery texture and a wavy or slightly crinkled edge. The stems and leaf bases are frequently flushed with red or deep pink. Older leaves near the base of the plant are large and spoon-shaped; newer growth at the tips is smaller and more tender. If you are unsure, break a stem — it will be faintly earthy rather than milky or aromatic.

The young leaves are the ones worth taking. They can be cooked exactly as you would spinach: wilted in a pan with a knob of butter, stirred through soup, or layered into a tart. The flavour is sweet and slightly earthy, with a whisper of salt. Late spring and early summer give the tenderest growth, though the plant stays pickable for much of the year.

Rock Samphire: Fleshy, Fragrant, Fiddly to Reach

Rock samphire (Crithmum maritimum) is a genuine coastal specialist and far less common than sea beet. It grows in crevices in cliffs, on sea walls and in the gaps between rocks above the tide line, clinging on where little else will.

• Leaves: grey-green, fleshy and divided, with a slightly rubbery feel.
• Scent: strong and distinctive — somewhere between parsley, celery and a citrus peel.
• Flowers: umbels of tiny yellow-green flowers in late summer.

Pick only the young tips, no more than a few from each plant, and never pull at the roots — the plant may be decades old and takes years to re-establish. Rock samphire is superb blanched for a minute and tossed with butter, or pickled in spiced vinegar as a substitute for the marsh samphire many people know from fishmongers. Its flavour is bracing and slightly medicinal, so a little goes a long way.

Wild Fennel: Follow Your Nose

Wild fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) loves the rough ground behind sea walls, roadside verges on coastal lanes, and disturbed soil near harbours. It is a tall, feathery, grey-green plant that can reach two metres, topped with flat umbels of tiny yellow flowers in late summer.

You will almost certainly smell it before you see it. Crush a frond and you get a clean, sweet aniseed aroma. That scent is your most reliable identification tool, and it is also your safety net: the umbellifer family contains some seriously toxic relatives.

Please be careful here. Hemlock water dropwort grows in wet ground nearby and has similar umbrella-shaped flower heads, while hemlock has purple-spotted stems and a distinctly unpleasant, mousy smell. Wild fennel always smells of aniseed and has fine, thread-like leaf segments. If the smell is wrong, walk away. If in doubt, leave it.

The fronds are lovely chopped into fish dishes, salads and dressings, and the seeds can be dried for baking. Take a few fronds from each plant and leave the rest.

Pick Sparingly, and Know Where You May Not Pick

Foraging on the coast is subject to real legal and ethical limits, and it pays to know them before you set out.

• Protected sites: Sites of Special Scientific Interest, National Nature Reserves, Marine Conservation Zones and most nature reserves do not permit foraging. Check before you go.
• Land ownership: you need permission on private land, and some conservation charities prohibit picking on land they manage.
• Uprooting: it is an offence to uproot any wild plant without the landowner's permission. Leaves and seeds only.
• Commercial picking: never take more than you need for personal use, and avoid plants that are scarce locally.

A good rule is to take no more than a handful from any one plant, and never to strip a patch bare. Use scissors rather than tugging, so the plant is not damaged, and avoid places where dogs are walked heavily.

Washing and Preparing Your Harvest

Coastal greens arrive home gritty, salty and often inhabited. Give them a proper wash before anything else.

• Fill a large bowl with cold water and dunk the leaves, swishing gently to release sand and grit.
• Lift the leaves out rather than pouring the whole bowl through a colander, so the grit stays at the bottom.
• Repeat two or three times until the water runs clear. Check the bowl for tiny shrimp, sand hoppers and lugworm — all harmless, all best removed.
• Dry in a clean tea towel or salad spinner, then use within two or three days.

Sea beet and fennel both freeze well once blanched, so a surplus need never go to waste. Check tide tables before you go, wear shoes with grip, keep away from crumbling cliff edges, and let someone know where you are heading. The coast gives generously to those who treat it with a bit of respect — and a slow walk home with a bag of wild greens is one of the small pleasures of living near the sea.