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Foraging - Natures Food

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  • ELIZA_D
    ELIZA_D Posts: 547 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    After spending weeks trying out recipies for plums with the amount we foraged from my local park (still leaving masses of fruit for others) i am hooked !
    Bought the bible "food for free" and take it everywhere.
    Went to a country park with the boys yeasterday and got a small amount of blackberries to make some jam and nettles which i am about to make nettle soup with...........love it !
  • tiff wrote: »
    If the blue ones have a stone in them then they are sloes. Not really edible as they are but used to make sloe gin and can be combined with other hedgerow fruit/berries to make hedgerow jam.

    They do indeed have stones - however for some reason I thought Sloes were bigger, having looked at the piccy on wikipedia it would tally though

    Thanks :T
  • ceridwen
    ceridwen Posts: 11,547 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thinking today about the concept of "cost per wear" as applied to clothing - ie the one that goes "a dress that costs £100 that one wears absolutely loads of times" is much better value for money than one costing £20 that is worn twice. You know the one - ie that £20 dress cost £10 per wear - whereas the £100 dress worn 100 times cost £1 per wear - and therefore turned out to be cheaper basically.....

    Anyways...I think this concept can be extrapolated to food - as in "food value per £". One could spend £10 for instance and get a load of junk food that provided neither nourishment (vitamins, minerals, etc) nor filled up the hungry gap in one's stomach. On the other hand one could spend that same £10 and get some food that was filling/healthy/etc and represented good value for money. I certainly think that the less money one has - then the more one has to make every £ count towards filling ones stomach AND providing the goodness one needs from food (the vitamins/minerals/etc).

    This has been running through my mind after another spell of foraging - one of the things I've been out getting is (I think) guelder rose. I've not come across that before - and I'm only 90% certain that it IS actually guelder rose berries I have been picking.

    So my queries are:

    1. How can I be sure I am correct in thinking that these red berries are definitely guelder rose - to describe them: they hang in clusters just like elderberries and I would think they were elderberries if they were black and the quantity of berries was greater per cluster - ie they are the same size/softness/etc. Does that sound like they ARE guelder rose? have I got that correct?

    2. Assuming I am correct here in thinking that - I have been looking up what I can do with them and the idea came straight up of making them into jam. Well - I havent got very many of them - AND I do have distinct reservations about putting any sugar in my food and boiling it for some time - as I well know that sugar is just plain unhealthy and that the less one cooks ones food the better from the POV of retaining the goodness in it. So - I could do with other ideas of how to best use them - ie with no sugar and with minimal cooking. All suggestions welcome purlease:D

    I admit - quite beyond the question of whether this is guelder rose berries I have just picked and what I can best do with them - I do have a major concern as to how one can best get adequate "nourishment" on a minimalist food budget. Its certainly one of my personal concerns - so all thoughts welcome....
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    ceridwen wrote: »
    guelder rose.

    I havent got very many of them - AND I do have distinct reservations about putting any sugar in my food and boiling it for some time

    "Although the berries are edible they MUST be cooked, and are a very good source of vitamin C. That said, they have a peculiar after-taste which needs masking with lots of sugar and/or honey (as one Russian recipe used), while the ripe berries smell rather foul."

    http://www.countrylovers.co.uk/wfs/wfsberries.htm
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    ceridwen wrote: »
    I do have a major concern as to how one can best get adequate "nourishment" on a minimalist food budget.
    Or you could get a part-time job at the local chinese and get paid minimum wage and all the chinese food you can eat. :)

    I know somebody who used to deliver them - and for each shift he got a full meal for 2, which would have done a single person for 4 meals at least.
  • oliveoyl
    oliveoyl Posts: 3,397 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Can you post a picture of them... and a leaf as well if you have one? My recollection of guelder rose berries is that they are bigger than elderberries.

    Don't eat until 100% sure... but you know that already.
    TOP MONEYSAVING TIP

    Make your own Pot Noodles using a flower pot, sawdust and some old shoe laces. Pour in boiling water, stir then allow to stand for two minutes before taking one mouthful, and throwing away. Just like the real thing!
  • Barneysmom
    Barneysmom Posts: 10,136 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Combo Breaker
    I wondr about a mixture of elder and guelder rose berries, it might be quite tasty?
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  • tandraig
    tandraig Posts: 2,260 Forumite
    if you are not sure about whether they are guelder rose berries or hips - can i suggest you post enquiry on 'green fingered money saving' bet someone there would know!!! and suggest recipes!!!!!!!!!!!
  • tandraig
    tandraig Posts: 2,260 Forumite
    as to the concept value per pound - i try to squeeze out as much as I can!! the butternut squash at 68 P well - a quarter of it went into my garlic roast veg - along with some remnants in fridge. half of it was baked - covered in black pepper and a little olive oil to accompany chops - the other quarter went in stew. not sure what i could have done with skins - but they went into composter!!!!
  • ceridwen
    ceridwen Posts: 11,547 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    oliveoyl wrote: »
    Can you post a picture of them... and a leaf as well if you have one? My recollection of guelder rose berries is that they are bigger than elderberries.

    Don't eat until 100% sure... but you know that already.

    ...well I dont have a camera to my name....either proper camera or cameraphone (as my mobile is very basic).....so 'fraid not...
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