Preparedness for when

AnimalTribe

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

J One very do-able option I found online is to use the case for an aluminium outside light and set a candle holder into it rather than a light bulb. .

A stripped down car headlight might work, and they seem to be cheap enough on fleabay. There are a fair few designs too, so you would have a bit of choice.

[Deleted User]

BRILLIANT!!! Thank you!

AnimalTribe

I love the thrill of foraging, and take a bag with me when I’m out travelling. My favourite plant identification book is the Hamlyn Guide to Edible and Medicinal Plants.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0600352811/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1429783546&sr=1-2&keywords=hamlyn+guide+to+edible+and+medicinal+plants

(I don't know how to do proper links - so it will have to be cut and paste).

I can’t forage much close to home (other than nettles, and autumn berries), as the moorland is not very diverse. Thanks to all the discussion on bitter cress a while back I now have lots of packs of ‘weed’ seeds that I’m trying to establish in my inhospitable patch of ground. Bitter cress, Good King Henry plus a load more. I’m hoping since they are weeds they are determined little growers and will at least provide some home grown stuff. With foraging there’s always something new to learn. It was only a couple of weeks ago that I learned that Berberis darwinii (sp?) berries are edible, so they’ll be the preserve project this autumn.

It really is very tough to grow anything here. Even the kale is struggling. I buy a lot of my fresh stuff from a fruit and vegetable wholesaler. You have to watch the prices (as they aren’t always cheaper than the supermarkets) but I’ve gotten some amazing bargains. The only trouble is they sell in large quantities so you either have to share, freeze or dry, and carry heavy boxes, sacks to your car. Fruit & vegetable wholesalers are easy to find in Yell, and if you’ve got one close you might find a visit interesting.

Karmacat

AnimalTribe, thats a great tactic to use the weed species! It was me that posted about finally identifying hairy bittercress and GreyQueen was saying about pulling it up - I'm letting some grow, but its suddenly self seeded all over the garden, I didn't have any at all last year, and now I've got loads of it - so the ones that are in the main growing area, I'm taking out. The ones that have managed to establish on a patch thats shaded by the neighbour 24/7, I'm letting them stay, at least that patch will now produce *something*.

nuatha

Doveling wrote: »

Real life has been too busy with Easter hols.
Everything's weird - I appear to have broken the site:rotfl:
All good in Doveling world, brother back home - he just sounds a bit drunk and memory is not quite back yet but getting there.:j:D


Still trying to work out what would be the best thing to do with Mr.D's redundancy money. A while to think about our options yet.
Also, I have been offered an interview for a job I wouldn't have thought of doing in a million years. Will see what happens before I spill the beans.;)

Nuatha - how is MIL?

Good to read your brother is back home. Fingers crossed his speech and memory continue to improve.
Good luck with the interview.

MiL is doing well, though the long hard slog of rebuilding physical activity has just started. Herself and I are starting to look at housing options, its too early in the process to tell, but we may well have to consolidate living arrangements, neither residence being ideal for the current situation. Thank you for asking.

Finances, at least two of the private email lists are advising getting out of shares at the moment. One is dump all shares ahead of the election and cites Greece being about to collapse the Euro and Germany having increased its reserves of printed Deutschmarks. The other is advocating a few shares which are worth holding or investing in, but suggests improving liquidity/portability. (I don't subscribe to any of them, but have clients who like to bounce ideas off me, I am not an IFA nor would I wish to play one)

[Deleted User]

Also MAHONIA BERRIES and FUCHSIA BERRIES are edible,as are PYRACANTHAand HIMALAYAN HONEYSUCKLE. Most have to be sieved to remove seeds after cooking. My favourite foraging book is WILD FOOD by ROGER PHILLIPS I also have his mushroom identifier book and both have actual photographs which I find more helpful when identifying plants than line drawings. My latest aquisition is a wonderful book called The Garden Forager by Adele Nozedar which contains all sorts of edibles I'd never have considered, most of which are common border plants or shrubs. Never too old to learn new things are we?

I think I've found something that will act as the candle reflector too, I put a Fleabay search in for ALUMINIUM SHIELD and it's thrown up several sizes of aluminium folding camping stove windshields which I think will be perfect for the job, they form a circular screen and look to have a good reflective sirface but I can always use reflective foil to cover each plate if I need to. Will order one today and see if it works, they are reasonably priced, under £10!!!

nuatha

AnimalTribe wrote: »

I can’t forage much close to home (other than nettles, and autumn berries), as the moorland is not very diverse.

Depends how high up you are, its worth keeping an eye out for Cloudberries, however the limit is one fresh berry. Do not be tempted by a second - just don't, I did and paid a heavy price. They have a remarkably effective purgative effect, however they make a beautiful jam or pie filling with all of the flavour and non of the side effects. If you've heather moors, look out for blaeberries (bilberry or winberry in other pats of the UK) But generally I'd agree that moorland is not a foragers paradise.

RAS

Was just going to add fuchsia to the list of edibles. I have a large inherited hardy one ing hte garden that produces fruit the size of small grapes. Grapish taste with a slight dry back taste. Might be nicer lightly cooked but I enjoy as it is.

AnimalTribe, have you read Hovel in the Hills by Elizabeth West? Or maybe it is Garden in the Hills. A little dated but she describes how they eventually got a garden going a 1000 foot up a mountain. The key was shelter and drainage and ruthlessly using what grew there (laburnum for example) rather than what was supposed to grow there (conifers). There was a single chapter that would be worth reading.

[Deleted User]

ANIMALTRIBE there is a book called THE WILD LIFE by JOHN LEWIS STEMPLE where he lives for a whole year on just what he can forage/catch from the land he owns, I think he is in Herefordshire close to the marches. I read it a couple of years ago and it might give you ideas as to what will grow? I know he harvested gone to seed fat hen to grind for flour and dried chestnuts also to grind up for flour to make a formn of bread. It might be useful?

Ryanna2599

Thank you all for the wonderful tips and recommended books about foraging... Lots of reading to be done...