Free Food in September

griff127

Had some lovely parasol mushrooms with dinner today that we picked yesterday, unfortunately we aren't doing too well as far as boletus' are concerned but the ones in the garden are doing nicely, should be ready in a couple of days.
The sloes have now been added to the sloe gin from last year too as it was a bit sweet for our taste.

loopstar

The Hawthorns are plentiful this year! I made hawthorn Jelly taken from the River Cottage Preserves book... which is an excellent book expecially if you haven't really done any jam making before it really goes into detail. And making hawthorn schnapps. WE've been making stuff since Spring and wine has only started to finish off... brilliant!

I highly recommend getting you hands on the following:

Food For Free - Richard Mabey

River Cottage series (especially useful for foraging and what to do with what you have gathered):
Hedgerow (teamed with food for free its excellent also it has the bad berries... and it doesn't just say don't eat them they will kill you it gives levels of nastiness like, this will make you sick etc which is what I think is important in a book like this as with the one about mushrooms).
Mushrooms - Like the hedgerow book it tells you which mushrooms are bad for you and to what level. And the pictures are brilliant.
Preserves - will give you many recipes in an easy to follows step by step guide. brilliant and especially good if you're just starting out.

Good luck!

mfgx9bah

For those of you in the Manchester area that aren't already up to speed with which type of mushrooms are edible, a week on Saturday there's an edible mushroom hunt as part of the Manchester Food and Drink Festival http://www.foodanddrinkfestival.com/event/mfdfs-edible-mushroom-hunt/

As to whether it's very MSE, the cost to take part is £10, but all edible finds will be cooked and shared according to the blurb

Enterprise_1701C

Our local early chestnut tree is now giving us loads of chestnuts, any normal time ones will probably be ready in a week or two. Far better than the Italian ones and all you can gather for free, fresh, and you actually know where they come from!

happy_winner

Does anybody know an erea around London for rosehip pick-up?
Many thanks,

neverdespairgirl

There's an article on the BBC website this morning about foraging:

Who, what, why: Is foraging for fruit legal?



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11584156

crazyterrier2000

Wee bit on foraging in here, have to register though.

BTCV's Grow Your Own Food Guide

A FREE, downloadable guide to help you get the best from food and reduce the impact on our environment. This colourful, handy booklet is crammed with tips and advice on:

• Growing your own tasty fruit and vegetables
• Eating with the seasons
• Reducing waste
• Buying locally produced food
• Foraging for wild food in the hedgerows and woods
• Joining local community food growing projects.

http://www2.btcv.org.uk/display/freefoodguide