Could someone advise me on berries, please :)

JCD_Capulet

Hi everyone I'm looking for a little bit of help.
I was on my way home today whilst planning my next jaunt out to collect blackberries/brambles. What I was wondering is this, there seem to be LOADS of trees aroun dmy way with berries of one sort or another hanging from them. Some of the trees have dark purple small berries, some have small red berries that look a little see though, others are solid red.

Is there anywhere I can look online (I've been trying for an hour so far) to get a reference of what is/isn't pickable? I'd hate to be walking past potential money saving gifts from nature.
thanks in advance,
Joanne x

kittenpea

Hi my advice to you is to wait until next year now as I went to pick some and they are all dying off so a lot will have moulds growing on them just put in blackberries on google and do a search or wikipedia lots of info but believe me probably about june/july/aug time would have been better

JCD_Capulet

Och, seems like such a waste because there's so much everywhere. Well, there's always next year. Still trying to identify the tree berries though, just out of curiosity. Thanks

JCD_Capulet

Oh! I found out what the dark berries on the trees are, Elderberries! Curiosity satisfied

Pink.

Hi JCD,

I've had a look for sites that identify berries for you but haven't come up with much. Apart from loads of warnings about being careful this was the best I could find:

bushtruck

If you have a digital camera, could you take some pics and then type the names like sloe, damson, wild plum, wild gooseberry, elderberry, rosehip, rowan berries, crab apple etc into google images to see if you can find any matches? When doing this it's important to look at the leaves of the plant/tree too as some fruits look quite similar.

It's also worth checking out the Foraging forum on www.downsizer.net

Pink

tiff

These could be the berries you mean, they are very common in hedgerows. They are Hawthorn, otherwise known as haws. There are also rosehips, guelder rose and rowan that all have red or orange/red berries.

thriftlady_2

You can make jelly with hawthorn berries (haws) -never tried it but I believe it's good with game. I think the berries are pretty unpalatable raw though. Same goes for elderberries -they will give you a tumy upset if you eat them raw but can be added to other hedgerow fruits and apples to make jellies.
The red berries may also be rowan berries which are again good made into jelly for eating with game.

jennybb

I went to a "food for free" walk and tasting a few weeks ago and they had made a jelly out of haw berries - it was like turkish delight - apparently needed a lot of sugar. Not great for those of us trying to shift some weight :rolleyes:

JCD_Capulet

Pink-winged wrote: »

Hi JCD,

I've had a look for sites that identify berries for you but haven't come up with much. Apart from loads of warnings about being careful this was the best I could find:

bushtruck

If you have a digital camera, could you take some pics and then type the names like sloe, damson, wild plum, wild gooseberry, elderberry, rosehip, rowan berries, crab apple etc into google images to see if you can find any matches? When doing this it's important to look at the leaves of the plant/tree too as some fruits look quite similar.

It's also worth checking out the Foraging forum on www.downsizer.net

Pink

Thanks alot pink winged, It's a better I idea that I photograph then Identify rather than go picking on a whim, I hand't thought of that :rolleyes:. thans again x

tiff wrote: »

These could be the berries you mean, they are very common in hedgerows. They are Hawthorn, otherwise known as haws. There are also rosehips, guelder rose and rowan that all have red or orange/red berries.

Hi tiff. The red berries I saw are in trees, they sit in clusters just like elderberries. I think I found out it's name last night, but it was quite late and I've forgotten now. But now I know what haws are Thanks hon x

thriftlady wrote: »

You can make jelly with hawthorn berries (haws) -never tried it but I believe it's good with game. I think the berries are pretty unpalatable raw though. Same goes for elderberries -they will give you a tumy upset if you eat them raw but can be added to other hedgerow fruits and apples to make jellies.
The red berries may also be rowan berries which are again good made into jelly for eating with game.

I'm jotting all of theese comments down in a notebook. Thanks thriftylady x

jennybb wrote: »

I went to a "food for free" walk and tasting a few weeks ago and they had made a jelly out of haw berries - it was like turkish delight - apparently needed a lot of sugar. Not great for those of us trying to shift some weight :rolleyes:

Hmm, that's put me off hawjam then, I'm not the worlds biggest fan of turkish delight. eeugh *scores out haws on notebook* Thanks for letting me know, and the food for free walk sounds fab! Thanks again jennybb x

jennybb

I don't like turkish delight much - but could be a good present (to someone who does, of course;) )

The walk was great - we knew there was going to be a tasting afterwards - but they had tables set up with jugs of wild flowers and then served courses - watercress soup, rabbit stew (couldn't bribe daughter to try that, unfortunately) pidgeon, summer puddings made from foraged berries, mint tea and the haw jelly - also pressed apple juice, cider damson gin and a selection of jams, jellies and chutneys. It was excellent - will definitely go next year.

I love this time of year because I really enjoy making stuff with what's available - I wish I had more time. It's so satisfying looking at my jars - I also have a losd of flavoured gins and vodkas for christmas presents. I made a hamper for a wedding present last week, and it went down really well.

culpepper

I have a handy little book which tells about wild berries etc. Its 'food for free' I think(cant find it now ofcourse!) and I think the author is richard mabey. There is a large version and a pocket version. The library may have it.
The reddish berries could be rowan berries. They can be made into rowan jelly but are bitter if eaten raw.