Bristol Forage

Bristol Forage is a local-first web app for discovering wild edible plants around Bristol.

It combines a seasonal field guide, an interactive location map, safety guidance, and community sightings so beginners can learn what is in season, where plants are likely to appear, and what to double-check before collecting anything.

Live demo: bristol-forage.vercel.app

What It Includes

• Interactive Bristol map with foraging locations and plant availability
• Field guide for wild edible species with seasons, habitat, prep notes, and lookalike warnings
• Seasonal discovery surfaces for what is worth looking for right now
• Essentials guide covering safety, legality, gear, and beginner-friendly plants
• Community sightings and species suggestions stored locally in the browser
• Mobile-friendly Next.js app with static generation for plant guide pages

Why This Project Exists

Most local nature information is scattered across blogs, books, social posts, and personal knowledge. Bristol Forage turns that into a browsable local product: map first, season aware, and grounded in safe identification habits.

The app is deliberately not a replacement for expert identification. It is a learning and discovery tool that encourages cross-checking, caution, and responsible harvesting.

Tech Stack

• Next.js 14 App Router
• React
• TypeScript
• Tailwind CSS
• Leaflet and React Leaflet
• Static plant and location datasets
• Browser local storage for community-submitted sightings

Running Locally

Install dependencies:

npm install

Run the development server:

npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000.

Create a production build:

npm run build

Project Shape

• src/app/ - app routes for home, map, field guide, essentials, and community
• src/components/ - navigation, homepage sections, map UI, and community cards
• src/data/species.ts - plant species profiles
• src/data/locations.ts - Bristol foraging locations
• src/lib/ - seasons, local sightings, suggestions, and shared types
• public/images/ - homepage plant imagery

Status

Portfolio-ready local discovery app. The live demo is usable, the production build passes, and the repo now has a clear public README. Next polish would be dependency updates, richer map screenshots, and replacing local-storage community data with a small backend if the project becomes more than a demo.