Old school money saving, forage for your food and eat for free!

lostinrates

skogar wrote: »

Hello,

Yes foragers exist on the forum but its a bit of a slack time of year for foraging at the moment.

The blackberry and elderberry wine is now bottled and the 2nd batch of elderberry is nearly ready for bottling. The elderberry havest was great last year. Waiting to try the blackberry and elderberry before the next foraging season, tasted promising at bottling so it may be a good one to make a large fermenter load of next year. We just made demisjohns this year to experiment. Also a redcurrant wine on the go but not really foraged made with fruit out the garden.

We've got some bilberry liquore left but the rest of the bilberries have been eaten. They take so long to pick though... We also made some rowan jelly.

And now I know where all the elderberries grow it won't be long before we'll be looking for elderflowers. I've never used elderflowers. Maybe I'll actually get round to it this year.

Young nettles are great here, dandelions are up, and first ground elder ( some one here told me that one....I'm happy to leave it for my hens to be honest). Nettle soup is fabulous though.


Re the asking point and traffic fumes, near in mind land owners will also be able to advise you where and when they have sprayed. Its not always obvious but you might still not want to ingest stuff. Though our hedgerows should be 'safe' there will be some risk from it carrying.

skogar

We've not got any dandelions yet although I'm sure they won't be long - we're usually overrun with them. Good instead of rocket in salads.

We don't seem to get nettles in our garden although my parent's garden has a lot. Keep meaning to scrounge some nettles from them and try some of the nettle based things.

seemasfriend

mrsdwhite wrote: »

Could someone please tell me what elderflower and wild garlic looks like?
We get a huge amount of flowers growing near us that I *think* might be elderflower and when left the flowers turn to little purple berries. I just don't know if they're elderflowers or not and don't want to poison myself!

You need to be careful picking wild garlic when in the woods as it looks very similar to lily of the valley leaves and they often grow together in similar conditions. Liliy of the valley is highly poisonous. Don't want to put you off, just make you aware.

seemasfriend

Desectrated - Landscape. Thanks for introducing this thread at this time of the year. I have access to what feels like acres of nettles and am looking for inspiration how to use more of them. You say they lose their sting in 30 seconds of cooking - how does this work with pesto? Can see nettles working in a sauce for pasta - great idea.

How about nettle roulade, or nettle souffl!. Anything that would use spinach as a main ingredient?

I have heard, although not tried, that they can relieve arthritis pain by stinging the affected site which then releases pain combating endorphins. Makes sense but not sure of the science. Anyone had experience of this?

TravellingAbuela

We are avid foragers in the summer months. Mostly fruit, which is all found in the wild - elderberries, gooseberries, bilberries, blackberries, pears and sloes. Used to make chutneys, jams, fruit pies, crumbles etc. I have a spare freezer in the garage and it's still well stocked with last year's offerings.

We were picking bilberries on the moors one year at a well known beauty spot around here and the number of people who asked what we were picking was unbelievable. One lady asked if she could video us!! I lived in fear of that video appearing on YouTube!

I got a handy little book off Amazon "Food for Free" by Collins. Described as "A fantastic feast of plants and folklore". Despite the number of edible mushrooms around, I am still not brave enough to pick any though!

skogar

Checked and the dandelions are just appearling in the garden, no flowers yet though.

We've also been asked many times what we're picking when picking bilberries. One of our favourite places to pick is a well known beauty spot in North Yorkshire. I also have a favourite place in West Yorkshire for bilberry picking (used to live there) I'm not telling you where it is but it's no great secret, the clue is in the name!!!!!! I wonder if you go there too TravellingAbuela?

Auntie_Sceb

seemasfriend wrote: »

I have heard, although not tried, that they can relieve arthritis pain by stinging the affected site which then releases pain combating endorphins. Makes sense but not sure of the science. Anyone had experience of this?

I'm not sure about nettles but as a nurse I have seen a strong chilli used in a cream topically (Capsaicin Cream) for nerve pain (licensed use). So I guess it would work in a similar way.

skogar

Just been having a quick look on the web at nettle recipes - it looks like you blanch the nettles before using them to make pesto. http://honest-food.net/foraging-recipes/greens-and-herbs/nettle-pesto/

A few other recipes that look interesting. Might have to have a go at the soup. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/mar/30/nettle-recipes-hugh-fearnley-whittingstall

One year we bought a friend who loves fancy cordials some nettle cordial as a joke. The joke was on us as it turned out to be delicious. Might have to try making some this year. http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/nettle-cordial-recipe

Gigervamp

Nettle beer is lovely. :beer:

Seakay

low (or no) alcohol nettle beer recipe:
http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/thirties-nettle-beer-recipe

Alcoholic nettle beer recipe:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/may/18/homebrew-from-the-hedgerow

Nettle Pesto:
http://honest-food.net/foraging-recipes/greens-and-herbs/nettle-pesto/

Nettle Pasta:
http://www.allotmentmum.co.uk/nettle-pasta/

Nettle filled Ravioli:
http://localfoods.about.com/od/stingingnettles/r/Stinging-Nettle-Ravioli.htm