Foraging in '23 and beyond...

thriftwizard

I've "harvested" some lavender from our local supermarket's surrounding "garden" too, @Rosa_Damascena - they've given me blanket permission for that, and also to "crop" their dandelions for greens for my chickens!  I wouldn't use the lavender in cooking as it's too close to a busy road, but it's fine for stuffing lavender sachets.

Anyone in south-west Wales? I'm off tomorrow for a week's house & pet sitting for DS1 and I'm wondering whether there'd be anything left in the magnificent hedgerows around them, which were filled with all sorts of blossom back in May. To be fair, their garden is surrounded by old hedgerow so I shall have a snoop around that before mounting any actual foraging expeditions, but of course it's a couple of degrees cooler than where we live, close to the middle of the south coast of England. I don't know of any good spots up there despite many years of happy family holidays spent there, but of course that was in high summer, or midwinter dashes up to see family for a couple of days - there was never time to stop & look. 

kayannie

Out for a walk this afternoon & came across some wonderful parasol mushrooms! Couldn't believe my eyes, as after moving to north Wales a few years ago, I had not found any edible fungi at all. When I lived on the English side of the Welsh border, I found parasols every year & often giant puffballs too, which are delicious. One of the parasols is 9" across! KA

kayannie

Noticed some chestnut trees where we were parked yesterday. Most of the chestnuts were on the ground as it has been exceptionally windy here. Lots of the prickly cases had split open but some hadn't so we got sore fingers. Worth it though as we came home with a bagful! KA

thriftwizard

Found & ate a few blackberries in their hedge! And there are sloes a-plenty too, so I may invest in some sugar & gin & leave them a little home-grown  surprise. I'm not seeing much else - loads of rosehips, but I'm running out of steam to do wine or jam now. And to be fair, the weather's closed in on us now...

kayannie

Another lucky find today - I had an early hospital appointment & it was a beautiful day so we decided to visit one of our favourite areas for a walk before heading home. We passed an enormous old walnut tree & the ground underneath was covered in the nuts. Luckily I always carry a plastic bag 'just in case'! KA

thriftwizard

Well, thanks to one thing and another - principally OH's sudden health issues - today has been my first opportunity in 2024 to get out foraging! DD2 accompanied me up to the big crab apple trees in the woods beyond our local Iron Age fort; she was after rose-hips to make tea. What a disappointment! There were hardly any crab apples; I may well have been beaten to it by others, but the fact that they are bigger than usual leads me to believe there simply weren't as many this year. I got just enough to cover the bottom of a carrier bag. The blackberries were far from prolific, but there's a lot of blossom still and lots yet to ripen up, weather permitting. We didn't see a single sloe - and the hedges are mostly blackthorn - or hazelnut, and our hazels here & up the road have hardly any nuts on either. There's no sign of our annual visit from the squirrels either. 

It was a cool, wet, and above all interminably grey spring down here. Just wondering if it's the same where the rest of you are? And whether there's anything that actually has done well this year? Our little pot-grown Golden Hornet crab apple has more fruit on than ever before - at least enough to fill a small sieve! - and I noticed the pleached crab apple walk at the local National Trust stately home had lots of wind-fallen fruit just lying on the grass. There will also be some at the attached mill, crab apple wood being essential for mill machinery; I might ask whether they'd be happy to part with some. They do sell the kitchen garden apples; I'd be happy to pay a bit to get my fix of pectin!

Katiehound

The blackberries have been prolific round here but I was away when they were at their peak so only got a chinese takeaway box full for the freezer (sadly) Ate some more otherwise. I have an Oregon thornless in the garden but all the fat berries shrivelled in the drought in July when I was awol.

One day recently I managed to get a decent handful of damsons and also a few bullaces, so with them & some blackberries & 3 windfall apples made a 'hedgerow' crumble. the damsons gave it a real kick.

In May /June I made x 3 batches of elderflower cordial . I also made 1/2 batch of meadowsweet cordial but I didn't have any citric acid so it wasn't citrussy enough. It also took a huge amount of flowers.

There are quite a lot of elderberries, some hips and a very few sloes now.

My friend has a few apples trees but they never get around to boltac grease banding them so loads of windfalls but she says they are just rotting. I haven't been allowed to go to pick up- but she gave me some hand picked ones.

Pears seem to have done well- a house nearby has had Conference pears free to take- great poached or with ginger in crumble. Not enough for freezing....

The cold wet spring has affected everything. Very few insects, and now very few birds

Nelliegrace

We had one afternoon foraging apples by the canal and got four shopping bags of apples. The telescopic apple picker is a useful tool. 
The best of the apples are stored in plastic mushroom trays in the garage, most years they will last all winter. They need checking through every week, they are definitely wonky apples with blemishes and grubs. We have a sliced apple every day, and lot of stewed apple, and apple crumble, to use the best bits. The chickens have a lot, and anything too bad gets composted. 


The sweet chestnuts are just starting to fall. 

thriftwizard

I haven't been out for chestnuts yet; they do grow fairly well around here & may well have outdone the hazels this year. 6 jars of two-quince marmalade made today, and our neighbour's Japonica quinces are exceptionally plump this year so I've been able to save a lot of the pulp to go into quince & crab apple chutney tomorrow. DD2 has scraped & dehydrated her rose-hips too. 

Slightly alarmingly, I walked my usual 3-mile riverbank route today; I'm "training" to walk 100 miles in October to raise funds for the Air Ambulance, without whom OH would no longer be with us. The route is lined with blackthorns. Not one single sloe did I see. Add that to yesterday's hunt round the Iron Age fort and it's beginning to look like we won't have any sloe gin this Christmas! More alarmingly, what will there be for the wild birds?

Nelliegrace

We cooked the quince from our tree until they were very soft, then put them through a sieve. The pulp and juice went into a jelly bag to make small jars of red quince jelly. The remaining pulp was cooked gently until it made a thick paste, membrillo, firm enough to cut into slices. 

I added thin slices of quince to an apple crumble.