Foraging - Natures Food

adelight

butterfly72 wrote: »

I have a chestnut tree in the garden. thanks

:eek: So jealous, you lucky thing!!!!

butterfly72

Thanks great thanks... I have the sweet chesnut... 2 of them infact!!:T

Mazzarati2000

Hi All,

Normally just a lurker here but had a great result last night, so thought I'd share :-) - went out for blackberries ( in the usual spot) & noticed an apple tree that had never registered with me before, so got quite a few apples too... Luckily there are plenty of both still left to ripen. Nipped round to the usual Chestnut tree & the sensible sized ones aren't ready yet ( but something to look forward to, with some more BB & apples!), however a tree just round the corner provided an armful of fallen chestnuts too. Can't tell you how much that little haul ( just enough for the two of us to use for the moment) cheered me up, have been feeling a bit below par recently & it was just the lift I needed.

Can any of you recommend a way of storing Chestnuts as they'll dry out before Christmas & FIL has often mentioned about it being a shame not being able to have local ones in the festive season ( he's a keen forager too & is a great source of info for local foraging spots having lived in the same place all of his life.

pammer

Afternoon everyone!

I picked some sloes a week ago with the intention of making them into sloe gin but I've only just been able to get to the shops to buy the gin. So the sloes have been in the fridge for a week now, they seem ok, none have gone mouldy although a few feel a bit squidgy. Do you think they will be ok to use?

(Sorry if this has been discussed in another post but I couldn't find reference to it by searching)

P x

adelight

OH went bonkers collecting chestnuts yesterday and we got 2.5kg but a lot of them are turning out to be bad (maggots) which is odd as there wasn't a single bad one in the last lot we got. We think it might be due to where we found them, these were from big trees in a fairly dense wooded area near a pond. The last were young trees in open grass land. Any ideas??

Anyway, we've decided to eat all of these ones peeled so we can check they are okay. Recipes to do are:
nettle & chestnut risotto
chicken & chestnut soup
chestnut spread/"jam" - this one sounds delicious, i'm going to try http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/sweet-chestnut-jam-recipe-97 recipe with a small batch. Has anyone tried something like this before? Seems labour intensive but maybe worth it!

I finally did rowan jelly today, with crab apple, filled a big jar roughly 400ml. I was worried it wouldn't set but it's set really well and I think it's quite tasty.

miffyhugmuffin

Hi,

Don't know if you've seen this? It's an article that was in the Guardian about foraging in your own back garden. Didn't realise that hostas and Solomon's seal were edible!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/sep/16/alys-fowler-foraging

dogstarheaven

i picked about 3lb of rose hips (dog rose with the small hips?) today and got pricked quite a few times too (most vicious, aren't they?!!) as the w/e ends tonight, i shan't have time to make use of them till next w/e so i've put them in the fridge to prolong them a bit longer. for making syrup (medicinal purposes only) do i have them soft or will it be ok to leave them hard?

is there a recipe that i can use where i can keep the syrup for longer as some of them i've researched stated a week or so...?


i

SusanC_2

dogstarheaven wrote: »

is there a recipe that i can use where i can keep the syrup for longer as some of them i've researched stated a week or so...?

I believe (or at least the recipes I've read seemed to imply) that it is a short shelf life from when you open the bottle so it's best to put it in lots of small bottles rather than one big one.

jennyo

butterfly72 wrote: »

I have a chestnut tree in the garden. The squirrals are busy throwing them to the ground so I'm guessing they are ready/ripe. I think they are the edible type but not 100% sure! Does anyone know of any good links so I can identifying the chestnuts and info on storage, prep, recipes etc. (sorry, haven't read through the whole thread - this may have already been posted!)

thanks

How lucky are you, hope you enjoy them.

M.E. wrote: »

The lavender is a very strong flavouring, so I only used two stem heads, for 4 jars worth. The cinnamon was three sticks for the same amount. I left the cinnamon in the jelly but removed the lavender.
I boiled them in the mixture when I added the sugar.

My brother-in-law loved both.
For his birthday recently, I gave him small pots of each flavour as he regularly has cheese on toast with apple jelly.

I'm going to have a go at this as I am about jam and chutneyed out, but this is something different.

suziewuzie

dogstarheaven wrote: »

i picked about 3lb of rose hips (dog rose with the small hips?) today and got pricked quite a few times too (most vicious, aren't they?!!) as the w/e ends tonight, i shan't have time to make use of them till next w/e so i've put them in the fridge to prolong them a bit longer. for making syrup (medicinal purposes only) do i have them soft or will it be ok to leave them hard?

is there a recipe that i can use where i can keep the syrup for longer as some of them i've researched stated a week or so...?


i

Hi - I used this recipe - can't find the link, so I'll just have to print the whole thing! I think it will keep for a reasonable length of time - I've stored mine in the fridge and itis still fine 2 weeks after making it. I've used it to sweeten yogurt and over pancakes - an unusual flavour at first, but I'm getting quite addicted to it. Anyway, here it is:
Katey’s Rosehip Syrup recipe
Ingredients:
· 4.5 pts of water
· 2 lbs of rosehips
· 1lb of white granulated sugar
Method:
1. Top and tail the rosehips.
2. Bring 3 pts of water to the boil.
3. Mince the rosehips through a course profile mincer (or food processor).
4. Transfer the fruit into fast boiling water and bring to the boil again. Remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes.
5. Pour through a sterilised jelly bag/or muslin square (how do I sterilise a jelly bag or muslin square? See Tips and tricks below) and allow the majority of the liquid to drip through.
6. Return the pulp to the pan and add 1.5 pts of fresh boiling water and bring to the boil. Remove from heat and leave for 15 minutes.
7. Strain through the jelly bag again.
8. Pour extracted liquid into a clean saucepan and boil to reduce the liquid to 1.5 pts.
9. Add the sugar and boil rapidly for another 5 minutes. Pour into hot sterile bottles and seal immediately.
10. Use small bottles (we use recycled vinegar bottles) as it only keeps for a week or so once opened. If you don’t want to use bottles the syrup can be frozen in cubes.