really old style living?

ceridwen

ginnyknit wrote: »

Dh has just been to watch his old team play cricket and got well fed and also came home clutching a tub of the sweetest blackberries I have ever tasted, shame it was too far away to go back as I think theres an unwritten law that you cannot forage by car:rotfl:

Personally - I would say that those living nearby (ie very easy walking distance - like round the corner or across the road or similar) have first dibs and then the "territory expands out" if theres any left...

Hence my getting annoyed at finding every last bit gone of several things recently - as I must come "pretty high up the list" on one of the things (as I'm just a couple of streets away) and I knew I definitely had first dibs on something else over the group of people that I was told had come and stripped the lot (and had gone along for the damsons I have just taken some of thinking "And if I find thats been stripped bare too - then I'm not going to pick up any rubbish I find this time as usual - I'll just leave it to make the place look untidy for the culprits..". I did get my damsons - so I did tidy the place up..:D - and left plenty for others to pick too. I think some foragers do appoint themselves stewards for "their area" and one sign that someone has taken stewardship of an area is that the place is clean and tidy (ie rubbish has been picked up and taken away).

I know one of my foraging books I was reading recently made specific mention of "seeing the same set of upturned bottoms each year" at a particular gathering place for some wild food or other and how they'd been coming for generations I seem to remember too - but he thought that group of people no longer "harvest" that area.

Also - local people in the areas of the country where this applies get annoyed when "chaingangs" of immigrant workers come and harvest their cockle sands. (There is very sound reasoning behind that - as the local cocklers know the sands and know when and where its not safe to go - the outsiders don't and end up having tragic accidents because of that.). The locals also know how much of the "stock" to leave to ensure that it "regenerates" - rather than grabbing the lot and it doesnt have a chance to do so.

It depends to some extent on how much is available - ie is there plenty and to spare for everyone wanting some or is the supply limited.

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

So - to verbalise this out - as no-one in my area has ever put it in words - I guess that "foraging rights" (leastways in my area - and I suspect the rest of Britain would be the same) come out as:
- regular "locals"
- other "locals"
- people from outside the County (i won't give the name used - as that would indicate my part of the country...)
- "furriners"

unmmmm...that doesnt sound very "politically correct" - but I am just reporting what the unspoken agreement is in my area......(and I personally operate on a slightly different basis to that....).

ceridwen

mardatha wrote: »

This is the REALLY old style thread. For real tough hard-core old stylers! For pioneer wimmen who go to the store once a YEAR!
who build log cabins, chop trees, and kill BEARS!
:rotfl:

...and the "Times are tough" thread is for those of us who think that sounds a lot like hard work - but are:
- preparing for "tough times"
- having "tough times"
- got a bit of welcome news that eases the "tough times" (eg a job after months of unemployment)

"A burden shared..." in other words...:)

missychrissy

I think that one of the crucial elements of 'Old Style Living' is OPTIMISM. Most of us suffer tough times in one way or another: deaths in the family; redundancy; broken relationships/divorce; disabled/sick children; disabled/sick parents and Alzeimers;physical injury etc.

OPTIMISM helps recovery from illness and any adversity. Optimism is that which marks out the survivors from those that decide to be victims. Optimism is crucial for a happy life.

ginnyknit

I think its our optimism that gets us up and doing stuff everyday - we have to be 'glass half full' people or we would cave in after a week and buy ready meals, ignore red letters and use the credit card with gay abandon. It is hard somedays but its the sight of other peoples signatures on their posts - 'Debt free' - that spurs me on. I am chuffed to bits when someone on O/S has a triumph and know how they feel on the days when it comes a bit unravelled.

annie123

I agree, I think optimism is one of the keys to a happy life, without seeing a brighter outcome than some of the situations I've been through I would have laid down and given up years ago.
I'm a glass 1/2 full person, DH is a glass 1/2 empty on a good day!
but as he says we balance each other out.
I like a challenge and little victories make me feel good, like fixing something, making something out of stuff I already have, or finding a bar of chocolate that I'd forgotten about

Winged_one

Oops, I am probably on your nasty list so Ceridwen - I do get a few things locally, regularly. But I also raid both my mum's and MIL's local ditches (where I and DH grew up). Mum is only good for blackberries (and a crab apple tree if I get there), and wild strawberries (but we are NEVER there at the right time for those), and a few elderberries. MIL has blackberries, crab apples, damsons, sloes (loads of!!!), elderberries, and the orchard in the next door castle is full of apples (which the caretaker lets us take a few of). And we just realised she has a hazel tree in her garden too.

I don't go mad, I take some damsons, a good few balckberries (but leave lots too) and sloes (again there's loads for sharing). I don't have a use for elderberries yet (I could find things but I don't want to overburden myself when I don't have heaps of time and would end up wasting them). What I take, I use.

But I DO travel 160 miles to get them,,,is that very bold?! (Although, we live in the city, so can't get a lot near us, and we don't travel "just" to forage).

annie123

I'm gutted I lost my butternut squash plant during the night, winds weren't strong enough I dont think so I'm guessing foxes:mad: as if my sandels weren't enough for them!!
Main stem snapped so no chance of recovery and it had little baby squashes on them

Pleased the rain storm didn't hit us as hard as they warned though could have been worse.
Right off to MrS to do 2 weeks worth of shopping, so I only have to get fresh milk/bread/fruit. I'm working to wards going once a month, but have major storage problems so each time I buy a bit more I find new storage solutions.
The less visits to a big supermarket the less I spend I've worked out.

D&DD

I'm sure I had a recipe somewhere for Bear Jerky :rotfl:

Seasalt thanks hun I think I missed the boat on 'pick them small' its like attack of the killer patty pans out there :eek:
I just scoop out any tough seeds but they are surprisingly tender still even at that size.Well pleased with the crop this year,last year they just never got going..

re foraging,I just like to see stuff used..Where I live the area is surprisingly bountiful despite being very built up..Most of it is never picked and just rots off and even this year when you would think more people would be looking the area is still loaded.

notjustlaura

D&DD wrote: »

re foraging,I just like to see stuff used..Where I live the area is surprisingly bountiful despite being very built up..Most of it is never picked and just rots off and even this year when you would think more people would be looking the area is still loaded.

I think people aren't foraging (even though they're skint) because they don't know how (ie what's safe to eat, what's legal) or that they can. It would just never occur to most people these days which is a shame.

annie123

D&DD wrote: »

re foraging,I just like to see stuff used..Where I live the area is surprisingly bountiful despite being very built up..Most of it is never picked and just rots off and even this year when you would think more people would be looking the area is still loaded.

Sush! I haven't gone back there again yet