Foraging

Doingmybest2bgoodhurrah

PeteW wrote: »

You might be thinking of 'wild garlic', which isn't actually garlic at all, but a small plant that tastes/smells garlicky. I wouldn't have thought proper garlic grows wild but I'd love to be proved wrong!

Thank you so much for this information. I hope to find some growing in the wild now that I know what to look out for but if not I shall try to grow some of my own. Not so MS as foraging, but still fun.

ceridwen

radiohelen wrote: »

I've got elderberry, blackberry, rosehip and crab apple near me. I went to my usual spot for the Mirabelles and there were hardly any there. I suspect someone got there first and left nothing behind them :mad: I always try not to be greedy and make sure there is some left for others. The apple trees around are not looking too promising either. Very little fruit. Evil weather.

We've been having this discussion over on the Old Style Board on a foraging thread - ie the one about how much people are entitled to take from "free food". I think it has been pretty much established that sometimes it really is a case of some Greedy Guts got in and "nicked the lot" - rather than it being a case of "a lot of people took a little each". People have sometimes been seen "stripping trees" and I've certainly seen evidence of people doing so in my locality. I know someone pointed out that maybe someone had seen loads and thought "All for me" and not realised other people would come along to get some afterwards or the amount of time it would take to prep. what they gathered. I think that was a bit over-optimistic - as I've now seen the exact same trees "stripped" several years in a row now and all the evidence is that it was one person that did it.

So - there ARE Greedy Grabbers out there and one just has to hope that most people will be Fair Sharers (ie recognising that they can only have a "reasonable" amount - when its a case that others are likely to come later for some too)....and hope the Greedy Grabbers get acute stomach ache:rotfl:

galadrielfay

Hello I just discovered this brilliant thread after searching I retired recently and do a deal of walking with my three little dogs on the local fields and golf course. Had no idea it was all there when I was working (too busy). I've discovered an apple tree, lots of blackberries (I think) and many other things I don't have a clue what they are eg tree with prickly green things on, another with small green plum sized things on. Sorry I am new at this . Can anyone recommend a book or even a web page where I can learn about wild fruit and veg, and then I can follow your thread properly please? Eg No idea what sloes, and practically all the other things are. Thank you very much. I do grow some veg and keep a nice garden with apples, cherry and a peach tree which is laden with fruit every year, even after bitter winters.

Valli

sloes are a hedgerow tree/shrub and are the fruit of the BLACKTHORN - they look like little tiny plums and have a bluish tinge.

Click on the link!

jackyann

My great-grandmother - who had never quite got over the Enclosure Acts - taught me that we (the common people) have the right to forage on common land, and in the hedgerows that used to be ours. In the days of medieval strip-farming, the hedgerows were for foraging by all.
The apple trees from those days are mostly crab-apples, which are wonderful for making herb jellies, or adding to any other fruit to help set as a jam or jelly.

Pazu

Ceridwen
If you are going to quote me, quote me don't paraphrase what I have said to suit your own arguement. If anyone is sufficiently interested; the only person on the thread who thought people were maliciously taking fruit was Ceridwen. Read the thread yourselves and make your own minds up.

ginamccon

From memory the legality is all to do with wild growing fruit, foliage, fungi and flowers and what you intend to do with it. The theft act 1968 says 'any person who picks mushrooms growing wild on any land or fruit, flowers or foliage growing wild on any land does not (although not in posession of the land) steal what he/she picks unless he/she does it for reward, sale or other commercial purpose.

So as long as it's growing wild and not cultivated by a farmer, and your not going to make money from it e.g sell bramble jam at a car boot your acting within the law.

Although I do remember an attempted prosecution for a renowned wild fungi picker who sold what she gathered to restaurants which was thrown out of magistrates court as not in the publics interest.

It's also worth remembering that some places have local bylaws to stop the picking of wild flowers for example but these places should be well signed to this effect.

annie-c

ceridwen wrote: »

We've been having this discussion over on the Old Style Board on a foraging thread - ie the one about how much people are entitled to take from "free food". I think it has been pretty much established that sometimes it really is a case of some Greedy Guts got in and "nicked the lot"

The Old Style thread is actually dedicated to sharing information about forgaging and all are welcome to join us!

The consensus on the thread seems to be that there is plenty to go round, and most of us are happy to share local information.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/46245913#Comment_46245913

splodger_seedswapper

i am quite fortunate to be friendly with a local farmer - so i can walk his hedgerows and take a bit from here and a bit from there when it's time to pick - which is great - because no bush / plant is ever stripped bare (which i would never do myself anyway - as i like to leave plenty for the wildlife)

it also helps that my father has a lovely patch of woodland for me to forage in - especially good for chestnutting :T

ceridwen

..and it would be just as well for peeps to check out the other thread and make up their own mind

...and having thought "Oh for goodness sake....." about Pazu's post - I dont intend to get into an argument to rebut it...so ..yep..judge for yourselves...