With people trying to save money on shopping, the prospect of ‘food for free’ is more tempting than ever. I have enjoyed meals of lobsters and oysters, ceps and chanterelle, sea beet and samphire; all of which I have collected myself. But foraging can seldom be more than an occasional excursion into the wild – it is just too time consuming.

Conservation considerations can also present problems with some species and there is always the thought of ‘what if everyone did it?’ Well, I never worry about the last one – the simple fact is that everyone won’t; it is too much like hard work!

All of the ingredients in our stir-fry were extremely common, although the invasive greater reedmace is too attractive to pick more than occasionally. They were also all well suited to a Chinese meal, because of their low carbohydrate content.

I did worry a little about the taste, as everything is very mild in flavour – texture being their primary attribute. But I need not have worried. The dish was subtle in flavour but quite delicious, with the bonus of feeling that it was actually good for you – not something you often get with a Chinese take-away.

Hugh loved it – especially the pepper dulse which is something of a favourite of his. I was a little disappointed at losing at my own game. I was tired from the day’s foraging and just lost focus. Next time…

Try John’s Chinese takeaway yourself

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Gorseflower wine is a country classic which can be made almost all year round. Nothing grows better than gorse at Park Farm so Hugh and I thought it was time we made use of this ‘bounty’.

There is no doubt that I was better than Hugh at picking gorse – he just kept making a fuss about how sharp the prickles were. Apart from the pain the most memorable thing about the day was the smell – an overpowering hit of coconut that arrived in warm waves.

The finished wine was sharp and very dry and retained a hint of that coconut aroma. And it was very strong, which brings me to the common problem of trying out a drink on camera. Few things are ever done in one take and I haven’t perfected Hugh’s ability to take small sips. By the end I am usually slightly tired – sometimes emotional as well – and have to rest for a bit.

Everyone at the sheep shearing party enjoyed, or at least said they enjoyed, the wine – except the sound-engineer who didn’t like it at all. Sound-engineers are all charming people but something of a race apart.

Next time I want us to try a wine based on wormwood – the plant that absinthe is made from. Wormwood is toxic but, frankly, so is much of the booze Hugh and I make.

Try the gorseflower brew for yourself

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Two things people often ask me about the River Cottage programmes are ‘Is it fun?’ and ‘Is it real?’. I always assure them that it is certainly real and most definitely fun. Two of the major sequences I am in for this series were a little more real and perhaps a little less fun than usual.

The crab potting expedition (episode 1) was a bit too authentic for my liking. Hugh and I were wading about, waist deep, in treacherous and very cold waters wearing only shorts and t-shirts. Anything that needs to be done in the sea or in front of a camera is always more complicated and time consuming than normal – that day we had both complications and I got my first ever taste of hypothermia. Travelling back in Hugh’s Landrover with its blast furnace of a heater I was burning on the outside and shivering inside. I want a stunt double next time…

The foraging competition was the most tiring piece I have ever filmed. My hairdresser’s car (as my ‘friends’ call it) is not the most comfortable vehicle and driving all the way too and from Cornwall with a camera crew in the back was a bit more energetic than I like. We genuinely got hopelessly lost in Exeter and genuinely got stuck in a traffic jam in Plymouth. The director seemed to take it as all part of the fun but Steve and I were distraught. In the end we ran out of time and missed out on two things I was desperate to find – seaweed and mushrooms. We were so keen to win and I knew that a good collection of these would have clinched it for us. I got home exhausted after 14 hours of hard foraging. Who won? We did!

Catch up on all the goings-on at River Cottage.

Try all the River Cottage Autumn recipes from the show.