Free food

Angelraesunshine

We have both apples and pear trees, neighbour has a plum tree she never picks so we pick out side of it. do have raspberries but this year have not seen much of it think our building work has affected it. would love a blackberry bush though. No tomatoes this year as forgot to plant while busy with building work.

willow_girl

I'm usually inundated with apples from my DM trees. Usually cook them down and freeze for the winter (love stewed apple in my porridge ). She also has pears. Not always sure what to do with them other then eat them as they are. Could do with a few suggestions.

Will be going blackberry picking next week with DH as we're on holiday. Found some really good places last year.

Have used alot of homegrown tomatoes to make pasta sauces this year. Got to say I think I prefer it now to jars! Very MS too :T

Kimberley

Talking about free food, did anyone see that programme (forgot what it was called now)

A couple of blokes sit near supermarket bins at closing time and grab the free food that supermarkets waste each day which is totally edible?

They get bread, frozen food and most of the time the food is fresh :eek: They said all they needed to buy really was milk each day and the non perishables.

If only i had the nerve to do it

Bobbykins

Runner beans, runner beans, runner beans and runner beans!!!!:rotfl: :rotfl: - bumper crop!

Also have LOADS of damsons this year and they are big fat juicy ones too - must have been all that rain.

We've also had blackcurrants, rhubarb, strawberries, a few potatoes, onions, lettuce from the garden and tomatoes and cucumbers from the greenhouse.

Went foraging the other day for blackberries but ended up getting rose hips instead as in all my usual places there are hardly any blackberries at all -what few there are are nothing like ripe yet - don't know what part of the country you folks are in where they're ripe but its cold here "oop north!" I'm going to give it a couple more weeks and try again.

I saw quite a few elderberries that are almost ripe but have never tried them before.....might have to get a bit more adventurous this year!

pigpen

We had strawberries earlier in the year, I have loads of herbs and my sunflowers are just seeding so they'll be dried and used in bread or cakes or for next years crop! Oh.. and one apple lol.. but our trees are only 3.5 feet high so that was great.. they were planted this spring. We get a fabulous crop of cooking apples from next years ancient and overgrown tree.. they are no good for eating but make fab pies/jams/chutneys.

I want rhubarb for next year and am looking into tiered pots for the patio.. we hardly have any slugs and snails due to next door being a salt merchant.. it means I forgive him for starting work at 6am 7 days a week!!!!!

This is our first year with a garden in this house.. in our old one we had alsorts.. plums, apples, tomatoes, blackcurrants, strawberries, raspberries, pears... yum yum yum!!! .. I do miss our established food supplies.

Boatie_Bird

I'm eating some yummy blueberries at the moment.
And they count as free as the plant was given to me as a gift a couple of years ago.
I nearly threw it out last year as I hadn't had any fruit from it, but decided to give it another year.
I'm so pleased that I did because it's got loads of fruit this year.
A really easy one to grow and it seems to do well in our climate.

lots of blackberries about at the moment (blackberry vodka I think!), and the sloes for the gin seem to be coming along nicely.

I've seen loads of rosehips and I'm wanting to make some rosehip wine but the recipe I've got says to wait until the first frost - but surely they won't still be around in a few months time?

I know that there is a chesnut tree near us someone, but the person in the know won't tell me!

Debt_Free_Chick

Boatie_Bird wrote: »

I've seen loads of rosehips and I'm wanting to make some rosehip wine but the recipe I've got says to wait until the first frost - but surely they won't still be around in a few months time?

If they're ripe, pick them now and put them in the freezer for a week.

I know that there is a chesnut tree near us someone, but the person in the know won't tell me!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

They can be scarce and, if you're a lover of sweet chestnuts, you don't dare reveal the location!!!

Look for them now, though - bright green, elongated leaves with prickly seed cases

Not ready for another 3 or 4 weeks though, IMHO

DebtphobicDeirdre

There are some examples of raiding supermarket skips on youtube -they call it freeganism and many do it because they are so sick of all the waste that goes on.

soappie

I have to admit that, as I was driving home from work this evening, along country roads, and stuck behind a slow moving vehicle, my eyes wandered off the road to the vegetation on the edges. I spotted several apple trees, clearly on the highway verge and in full fruit.

Methinks I'll perhaps find a suitable stopping place in the next couple of days and do a bit of my own harvesting....

sillyvixen

we are eating greengagers at the moment ( a friend has moved to a new house with 3 bushes/trees and cant keep up with them). have also got free plums and pears from church friends. also got free plants several months ago that have given me free tomatoes, sweet corn, butternut squash and small yellow globe courgettes (all from friends who had too many seedlings - all grown in pots on patio.I have also bought pepper and chilli plants which have performed beyond expectations.