Foraging - Natures Food

Rainey_LB

We are very lucky to live not too far from a road lined with Cherry tree's, OH & kids went out yesterday and returned with a carrier bag full!!

They all have purple stained hands and the kids look like vampires with the juice running down their chins, am going to attempt some type of cherry pie tomorrow!!


.....I also do the salt water soaking of blackberries so the creepy crawlies float to the top, as did my mum when we were kids, always give them a good rinse after and have never had a problem with them tasting salty.

M.E.

Aside from that, I've found a bush that I am having trouble identifying. The leaves were a bit like small holly leaves and the berries were quite oval shaped, purple with a sort of powdery coating. I squished a couple and they seem to be mostly full of seeds rather than juice so am not hopeful. Anyone got any ideas what they might be?

The answer is Mahonia.
Yes they are edible. Quite nice as they are though as you say, mostly pip.

gailey_2

floyd wrote: »

A begging call if ever there was one

Is anyone willing to share locations for picking sloes anywhere across the North West and into North Wales? I've just found out my usual source in South Wales is disastrous and currant-like so I need to find another location. After last years success, I have orders for sloe gin for family that I need to fill

Which part of south wales. sister says the winberries are ready up sugar loaf mountain Abergavenny near brecon beacons.
My dad says no rasberries this year and hes not to confident about chesnuts as said its been a dry year.

The cherries here sadly all gone got lots in freezer but wish I had made more.

Right now its lots of greengage plum but think I have spotted some damsons which seem bigger and more purple but not entirly sure.

does anyone know if most trees look like apple then its ok.
Spotted a few aslo found pear trees but they all so small though.

blackberries starting to come out but not many.
whens elderberries ready.

Anyone tried rosehip syrup as dad says lot of work and not sure what I would use it for but all these free goodies so addictive.

Lusting after rc handbook hedgrows but 17.99 not brave enough and havent seen anything remotly mushroom like and did visit local wood last nite.

Got baby a 3wheeler so theres no stopping my foraging expeditions.

ceridwen

kymbogs wrote: »

Foraging around these parts is proving fruitless. OK sorry I couldn't resist the pun!!!

I've identified an abundance of rowan berries which I have found fairly limited information on but seeing as they are the only edible thing I can find a lot of, there shall be rowan jelly.

There's two large cherry trees very close by, can't reach anything on it and husband is taking some persuading to go back round there with a ladder....

Found a raspberry bush in someone's garden absolutely bursting with ripe fruit, knocked on door to ask politely if they used the berries and they said yes so we left it but I went back there at the end of the week and the berries were still there just going manky :-(

Aside from that, I've found a bush that I am having trouble identifying. The leaves were a bit like small holly leaves and the berries were quite oval shaped, purple with a sort of powdery coating. I squished a couple and they seem to be mostly full of seeds rather than juice so am not hopeful. Anyone got any ideas what they might be?

Many thanks

Kimberley

Re knocking on peoples doors - the "code of practice" is that one can knock and ask hopefully if its fruit trees - eg apple, pears, etc - as these produce a lot of fruit and people often cant be bothered to pick it (as it involves climbing on ladders/having special "equipment" for it/etc). I dont think it applies to any other fruit - of the "growing near the ground" type.....so I'm guessing thats why they refused.

The "deal" is that the picker then gives the fruit tree owner a couple of the "rewards" - eg a couple of jars of jam or couple of apple pies as a "thank you". Obviously - too - one would leave a generous amount of the "pickings" in a bag at the time for the owners of the tree/s.

<wishes I had a big food-producing garden - but I know personally that I would have stuck by the "code" as a home-owner and agreed to a request to pick my fruit trees - if asked politely and told they would pick a large bag at the same time for me. I would have refused a request to pick anything lower-lying from my garden - even if I didnt intend to pick it myself. The follow-on after the event would have been that they could come back again next year for another picking from the tree if I could see they had been "nice about it" - ie subsedquently given me a pie or couple of jars of jam from the pickings as a "thank you">

kymbogs

Oh I didn't realise it only applied to trees, I don't imagine the person I was asking did either. I was going to offer to pick fruit for them or jars of jam etc but she didn't let me get that far unfortunately, before shutting the door on me lol.

kymbogs

M.E. wrote: »

Aside from that, I've found a bush that I am having trouble identifying. The leaves were a bit like small holly leaves and the berries were quite oval shaped, purple with a sort of powdery coating. I squished a couple and they seem to be mostly full of seeds rather than juice so am not hopeful. Anyone got any ideas what they might be?

The answer is Mahonia.
Yes they are edible. Quite nice as they are though as you say, mostly pip.

Thanks for that

Gigervamp

gailey wrote: »

Lusting after rc handbook hedgrows but 17.99

The RRP is only £14.99, but Amazon have it on pre-order for £8.99.

The River Cottage handbooks are very good. I have the preserves and seashore books and I'm planning on getting the hedgerow one too.

According to the preserves book, rosehip syrup isn't difficult to make. You mince up 500g of rosehips in a food processor, put them into 800ml of boiling water, cover, bring it back to the boil then take off the heat and leave for 15 mins. After that, you put the mixture into a scalded jelly bag or muslin and leave to drip for an hour or so. Then you put the mush back into the pan with another 800ml of boiling water and do the same thing again, but this time when you strain it, you leave it overnight. Add the two lots of strained juice together and put in a pan with 650g sugar, heat until sugar is dissolved and boil for 2-3 minutes. Then you pour it into your sterilised warmed bottles and seal. It says it will keep for 4 months.

funkymonkey849

Oh lordy my friend introduced me to a wild raspberry bush on the weekend and they were delicious, never seen them growing wild before.

Had a rather poor crop of bilberries thanks to the sheep getting to them before I did (unfair advantage as they live on the top of the mountain next to the bilberries and I live at the bottom far away from the bilberries.) Made some delicious bilberry ice cream though.

Have kept my eyes peeled for blackberries getting ripe, another 2 or 3 weeks and they should be starting to ready! Am eating everything in the freezer to make room for them

Steve-o

JackieO wrote: »

Thank you Floyd I was begining to think I had imagined it as one of my neighbours had never heard of doing it.I always soak 'n'salt Broccolli as its suprising what wee beasties like to creep in and feed on the sprigs.

I just quickly swish my broccoli under the tap, steam it, and eat it. Anything living in there is just extra minerals.

ceridwen

kymbogs wrote: »

Oh I didn't realise it only applied to trees, I don't imagine the person I was asking did either. I was going to offer to pick fruit for them or jars of jam etc but she didn't let me get that far unfortunately, before shutting the door on me lol.

I was thinking about this today and thinking "Hope I didnt put this too abruptly...". I guess I/others would draw the distinction because fruit trees might be something we had "inherited" with the garden when we bought the house or planted on a whim and then realised it was all too much to try and pick the fruit from them or we simply werent healthy enough to do so (ie couldnt manage to clamber up ladders, etc). Trees tend to produce plenty of fruit too.

Food that was low-growing would be something we had bought and planted ourselves and intended to use to supplement the larder. We might actually be leaving some food (eg something like root vegetable crops) there in the soil for storage purposes until we got round to eating them (as we didnt have enough room for them in the freezer or something).

Maybe the raspberries went to ruin because the home-owner was expecting a friend/relation to come round and "harvest" them and they hadnt turned up after all....

Perhaps, too, the person lives in a neighbourhood where coldcallers regularly come round and is used to shutting the door rapidly - as soon as they see the person on the doorstep isnt someone they know and just says "No" automatically whenever they see a strange face on the doorstep....? I can sympathise, if so, as my area attracts quite a few coldcallers ("Do you want doubleglazing?" HAS got only one reply if they had troubled to take a look at my doubleglazed windows first......:cool:).

I guess it basically boils down to the feeling that any food one has specifically planted in the garden is an extension of the larder - but the feeling that fruit trees might be a "bit different" IYSWIM.

Sorrees...didnt mean to "go jumping down your throat"....