Foraging - Natures Food

ceridwen

Pleased to hear of the "Abundance" Project in Nottingham, etc, and I've now made contact myself with a similar local project in my area (ie one whereby peeps who have fruit trees in their garden that they just ignore get them harvested - and they get a share and the rest is distributed to "good causes").

A down side on reading previous posts is that I've come to the conclusion that if a tree/bush/etc is stripped bare it is almost certain that the reason is because a Greedy Grabber got there first and took the lot. Reason - because reasonable foragers know the general rule is take some for oneself/leave some for other people/leave some for the birds (squirrels, etc) - so if everything has gone then there is, unfortunately, a very good chance that its because a "(greedy type) human" took the lot

It is frustrating - and I dont know the answer as to how to deal with this personally....

*********************

Anyways - as of the last few days - I've "shared" info. on foraging with suitable people (ie not the Greedy Guts types:rotfl:) on the one hand and karma operated and I've had various different bits of free food back - so all is well/fair/delete as applicable in this instance...

tiff

I've been inundated with offers of fruit on freecycle but I forgot I cant collect till tomorrow evening and we're going away the next day untill Monday! Will be fine for apples but I really wanted to get damsons to make spiced damson chutney. Oh well, next year maybe.

chrissiethechippy

Mrs_Domino wrote: »

Try this:

http://etnet.org.uk/wordpress/groups_category/local-food/wild-food-foraging-map

Beware though the ones down Stoneham Lane are on a very busy road. I personally wouldn't touch them. Also try Lakeside if you are Eastleigh way or Southampton Common. I personally have't been to either of these yet but I am trying the common next. There has got to be some bounty there!

If you find a walnut tree that isn't in the middle of a major roundabout on main road please let me know!

Where exactly are you?

I'm in Woolston Are you local to Southampton?

Thank you for the link, it has got lots on I never knew about! Just got to get the mixture of nice weather and petrol in the tank and we can go for a look!

There are a few local woods that we go to, especially for chestnuts, there are lots of chestnut trees locally....

Is Southampton Common the one in town? I've only skimmed past it once, it was packed and I was petrified I was going to lose the kids and have never been again.

I'll let you know if I find a walnut tree I think we will have to make do with hazelnuts (assuming we can find one, apparently there are lots around here?!?!?)

Or elderberry jelly turned into elderberry toffee!!! I'm not sure what we did wrong. And it only amounted to 2 large baby food jars!! I think I must have done something wrong somewhere along the line!

rachbc

dogstarheaven wrote: »

there's a few chestnut and walnut trees near me towards the city centre, and there must be someone/ppl local who's always beaten us to them as the walnuts are always gone each morning.. the squirrels aren't that greedy surely??!! the larger chestnuts were never available and those last yr were tiny so hardly worth picking really.. i don't think the nuts are ready yet.. maybe towards the end of aug/sept time.. as the fruits are early this yr due to the harsh winter, i presume the nuts are out earlier too...

Could be a creature - the birds and squirrels got every single last cherry on our cherry tree every year

Gigervamp

We've got loads of hazelnut trees around here, but we're lucky if we get a handful. Those greedy guts squirrels always get there first!

ceridwen

With cherry trees - it seems to be the case that one knows all the food went in a "fair enough" type way (ie it was birds that took the lot - rather than the greedy type of humans) is that the leaves on the trees have got loads of holes in them.

If its birds that have got all the cherries - then they seem to "dive bomb" the trees with no regard for the leaves. If the leaves all seem pretty intact - then it would seem to be greedy humans. Thats the conclusion I came to personally anyways as to how to tell the difference.

The other way to tell - on some "foods" - seems to be if things vanish totally just before they get ripe (as that seems to be a sign that it was greedy type humans that got in there - rather than "wildlife").

I'm learning to tell the difference between "It was wildlife" on the one hand (ie "fair enough") and "Obviously a greedy type human got in there..." on the other hand gradually...:cool: - eg years of "it was all there", followed by the last 2/3 years of "it all just went literally overnight" tends to mean a greedy type human, rather than "wildlife" is the reason it went as far as I can see...

ceridwen

Gigervamp wrote: »

We've got loads of hazelnut trees around here, but we're lucky if we get a handful. Those greedy guts squirrels always get there first!

Hazelnut trees seem to vary round here. I've learnt that trees in a couple of locations have the nuts everywhere on the ground some while before they are ripe - and that seems to mean it was squirrels that have got in there first. I know the trees that arent touched - unless humans have done so - and, if they were cleared out overnight, then I would know its greedy humans (ie as they would have gone at about the time they were ripe - and I've not spotted any squirrels in the locality).

I think one does learn to tell which "direction" its gone in after a while...

dogstarheaven

ceridwen: don't be disheartned by these greedy types.. you never know, there maybe someone who's an old lady/man who's been doing this for yrs and they're just following their traditions that they've been doing over the yrs.. there's a lot of immigrant families here and in the area where these trees are, it's quite deprived and i think if the fruits/nuts weren't being picked then it'll just be wasted...i really can't imagine the council estate residents go in for preserving, do you?!! sometimes, i feel for the immigrants as they seem to buy a lot of their familar foodstuffs from specialist grocers at exhorbitant costs, so for them to see these trees, it must be a godsend for them to find food for free..

last yr when i got into preserving for the first time, my partner and i set out (on foot and by local bus) to some of the woods out of the city.. it only took a couple of walks towards the woods (you would inevitably find fruit/nut in the sun rather than a shaded wood) that we would come across plums, sloes (farmer's field in an untrimmed hedge) pears and apples. i think i made about 50 jars of chutneys, sauces and jams in the end and an awful lot of sugar was used too!!

for those of you with cars, this foray to alternative territories would be a lot easier as you can scoot around a lot quicker, jumping from one site to another. whereas, we did this all day at the w/e and usually we'd find a new spot. it's a real sight to behold to see a new tree laden with juicy gems to pick!!!

rachbc

ceridwen wrote: »

With cherry trees - it seems to be the case that one knows all the food went in a "fair enough" type way (ie it was birds that took the lot - rather than the greedy type of humans) is that the leaves on the trees have got loads of holes in them.

If its birds that have got all the cherries - then they seem to "dive bomb" the trees with no regard for the leaves. If the leaves all seem pretty intact - then it would seem to be greedy humans. Thats the conclusion I came to personally anyways as to how to tell the difference.

The other way to tell - on some "foods" - seems to be if things vanish totally just before they get ripe (as that seems to be a sign that it was greedy type humans that got in there - rather than "wildlife").

I'm learning to tell the difference between "It was wildlife" on the one hand (ie "fair enough") and "Obviously a greedy type human got in there..." on the other hand gradually...:cool: - eg years of "it was all there", followed by the last 2/3 years of "it all just went literally overnight" tends to mean a greedy type human, rather than "wildlife" is the reason it went as far as I can see...

No holes in the leaves and 100% certain its animal/ avian not human

ceridwen

I understand what you are saying DogStarHeaven - but a lot of people are in the position of all looking at the same small area for foraging type purposes (ie if its a built-up area - as mine is for instance) and one doesnt have a car and therefore HAS only got access to things within walking distance on the other hand. So - I know where I could get a lot of blackberries for instance - but its an area that cant be walked to. The areas I know of within walking distance of me are also within walking distance of a LOT of other people too - and thats where problems tend to arise...:(

*************

On another "way to tell" if its greedy type humans - ie rather than wildlife - that is the reason for all "food" in a location vanishing = if the surrounding area is heavily "trampled". Unless birds and squirrels have taken to wearing heavy lead-weighted boots - thats another way to tell if its been humans in taking the lot...

Another way I've found to tell the difference is if there was never a problem previously - ie loads to go round and plenty dropping on the ground and going to waste - but then a few "cheaper" price range houses got built on land nearby and suddenly theres a problem of everything vanishing...that very much coincides with when those houses were built.....and the people living in those houses are often seen walking round in the vicinity..