Foraging - Natures Food

ceridwen

D&DD wrote: »

On the subject of nuts...I was walking doglet yesterday and came upon a little old lady she must have been around 80 who was harvesting all the hazelnuts and I mean ALL she had her own bodyweight contained in two large sacks next to her..I checked them the other day and they looked nowhere near ready is there something you can do with under ripe cobnuts I'm not aware of??
Not that there is one single one left this year there anyway now :rotfl:

The one walnut tree has also been stripped already and to top it all off we found 4 new apple trees but have had the travellers arrive again and set up home right next to them..

<brief pause to put crash helmet on in case of detractors> - but I DID say this sort of thing is happening...:( - and this is a case in point...

There are basically two likely reasons why this "little old lady" took the lot:
1. That the owner of the land had specifically given her permission to do so - in which case they are all hers.

2. She cannot possibly have taken that many for herself personally and I have to say that if someone takes that much of something then chances are that they are selling it. In which case - she's just broken the law - ie the Theft Act. This Act states that people can take enough for their OWN "personal use" - but if they sell some on then that has gone from being possible trespass on someone's property and a low-level offence - to being a criminal act and they have quite definitely broken the law.

I had read about this and then, quite soon after, had the chance to ask a professional forager about this. He confirmed that it is indeed "against the law" and constitutes a crime for someone to sell on anything they have foraged.

There may be other possible explanations as to why that "old lady" was taking so much - but I would have to say that the most likely explanation is she was taking it for onward sale and hadnt got permission from the landowner (ie you caught her in the act of breaking the law and she was due for "big time trouble" about it).

I suspect most people dont realise they arent allowed to sell on results of foraging (unless they have had permission from the landowner in advance to forage the "goods") - but it IS the case. So - if someone takes some huge amount of wild food - eg the 20kg of damsons I've seen various peeps mention recently - then one does have to question whether its being used to make wine with and that wine is subsequently sold - in which case they HAVE broken the law.

So - yep - even if someone has taken huge amounts of wild food and made it into ANYTHING they subsequently sell (even jars of chutney at W.I. events) then they have indeed broken the law if they've not had specific permission from the landowner.

rosie383

Gigervamp wrote: »

When I make blackberry and elderberry jelly, I cook the fruit, strain overnight, then add the sugar and cook until setting point is reached.

I'm not quite sure how you've managed to get cordial?

The recipe I used said to cook the fruit for so long, (can't remember off hand now), then add the sugar and cook to a certain temp, which I did.
Result after straining was a quite thick cordial. Actually, exactly the consistency of Ribena. Just doesn't taste as nice.

Because I'm not keen on the taste, I don't think I will be picking any more elderberries, just more blackberries tomorrow.

Gigervamp

Did you strain it after you cooked it with the sugar? If that's the case, then it would make it runny. I you don't want pips and seeds in your jam, you'll need to cook the fruit first (without the sugar) and strain it overnight. Then measure out the resulting juice and add 450g of sugar per 600ml of juice, stir until dissolved then boil until setting point is reached and jar up.

I've not made jam with just elderberries, but have used it with apples and blackberries to make a mixed fruit jelly and that was nice.

FoxFace

Hi, I have a quick question about rosehips please

I live in a coastal area, and have just come across a mass of plants which I presume are beach plum rosehips



I just wondered if they can be used in the same way as smaller rosehips please? I walk past them every day and never realised the "fruits" were edible

D&DD

Annie did you get there Sunday,any luck?

FoxFace yes just use as normal Rosehips and strain well for the little hairs,what lovely fat ones!!

Dusty if the cobs are on common land its fine to pick if you can beat the squirrels..and in my case little old ladies :rotfl:

Ceridwen the area is common land so anyone can walk there and forage no restrictions as far as I am aware but I did think of you when I saw her with her sacks :rotfl:I think I was just too shocked to say much..which rarely happens to me..

I am trying to get people to use the pears ATM no-one else is picking them and its so sad to see them rotting on the tree,I can't pick them all there's tons!
They bottle so easily too.

Travellers are still with us *unless they got blown away in the wind today* so no luck getting any Galas or the other apples just yet but they'll wait anyway as they're smaller than the ones in the copse atm.

ceridwen

Ultimately - I would imagine that even "common land" has an owner - ie in this case I am guessing it would be the local Council. Therefore - in that case - it would be the Council that needed to give specific permission for her to take an amount that was meant for selling and I very much doubt she had asked them if she could do so.

I estimated it would be "common land" and therefore probably property of the Council - and that she would therefore, in all probability, be commiting a crime by taking an amount so large that it must be meant for sale in some form or another.

Must admit I would have gone up and asked her what she was doing in the circumstances (in a pleasant "enquiry" sorta way initially - in case of innocent explanation). After all - people often ask a forager what they are doing when all they are doing is just taking a small amount just for themselves personally - and I have had that happen to me more than once when my back was turned to the enquirer even and I hadnt even spotted them.....

Mind you - I'm also quite capable of doing whatever-it-was I had decided to even if there is a group of travellers in the vicinity. I would be nervous about it - but just tell myself "A local resident is entitled to go about their business here as normal - and I AM a local resident and they arent..." and proceed as per plan. But thats me....

D&DD

:think:Wilding thats weird about your brambles as you've had so much rain up there,we've had a bumper crop down south and its been really dry.

Ceridwen in my defence I was so busy looking at her with my chin on the ground I trod in a steaming pile of erm pooh (foxes) so was a tad preoccupied :rotfl:

Thats the one thing I'm dreading once the travellers go as theres already no-go areas covered in toilet roll _pale__pale_

annie123

D&DD, yes but we couldn't find the pear tree, found it last year but I doubt its moved:rotfl:

we park in plough lane and enter via the bottom of it should you wish to provide me with directions again for this weekend

chinagirl

We have had a poor blackberry harvest in East Northamptonshire, too. Not sure why, but my plum trees are brimming with plums

*Chattie*

ceridwen wrote: »

<brief pause to put crash helmet on in case of detractors> - but I DID say this sort of thing is happening...:( - and this is a case in point...

There are basically two likely reasons why this "little old lady" took the lot:
1. That the owner of the land had specifically given her permission to do so - in which case they are all hers.

2. She cannot possibly have taken that many for herself personally and I have to say that if someone takes that much of something then chances are that they are selling it. In which case - she's just broken the law - ie the Theft Act. This Act states that people can take enough for their OWN "personal use" - but if they sell some on then that has gone from being possible trespass on someone's property and a low-level offence - to being a criminal act and they have quite definitely broken the law.

I had read about this and then, quite soon after, had the chance to ask a professional forager about this. He confirmed that it is indeed "against the law" and constitutes a crime for someone to sell on anything they have foraged.

There may be other possible explanations as to why that "old lady" was taking so much - but I would have to say that the most likely explanation is she was taking it for onward sale and hadnt got permission from the landowner (ie you caught her in the act of breaking the law and she was due for "big time trouble" about it).

I suspect most people dont realise they arent allowed to sell on results of foraging (unless they have had permission from the landowner in advance to forage the "goods") - but it IS the case. So - if someone takes some huge amount of wild food - eg the 20kg of damsons I've seen various peeps mention recently - then one does have to question whether its being used to make wine with and that wine is subsequently sold - in which case they HAVE broken the law.

So - yep - even if someone has taken huge amounts of wild food and made it into ANYTHING they subsequently sell (even jars of chutney at W.I. events) then they have indeed broken the law if they've not had specific permission from the landowner.

goodness I better let our local Michelin star restaurant owner know that he can expect the police at his restaurant any day now for serving up mushrooms he and his head chef foraged recently :eek: Very nice they looked too, he posted pictures on Twitter.

As a matter of interest what is a professional forager as the word professional implies paid whereas as amateur is unpaid? perhaps your professional friend is breaking the law too?