Free wild food ideas?

Jammygal

Kale grows naturally in beach areas and is an excellent green veggie.....lots available in winter

http://www.eattheseasons.co.uk/Archive/kale.htm

lindseykim13

JoJoB wrote: »

If you have a rocky beach near you there will probably be mussel beds around. Winkles and cockles too. And there is an r in the month so ok to eat them.

so i can collect the closed muscles that i see hanging off the pier? i was always worried that you couldn't eat them i have never heard of the r thing before, also not eaten winkles or prepared cockles myself but will deff have a go now. thanks very much

will also have a look into the seaweed sounds interesting and i am glad that i'm not the only food hunter!

What would you guys do if your dog brought you a rabbit that it had just killed?
I wonder as my beloved springer is a rescue dog and she has obvously been taught to some degree to hunt and she did this a long while back before i was a money saving convert, would it be a good idea to have eaten it and where would i have stood with getting in trouble for it? (this is the new forest, hants) that she did it in!

Penelope_Penguin

lindseykim13 wrote: »

What would you guys do if your dog brought you a rabbit that it had just killed?

If it looked healthy I'd eat it Freshly killed, it's no different from having been shot and then collected by the dog.

Penny. x

JoeyEmma

I think you only need a fishing licence for freshwater fish ie fishing in rivers and streams. I think fishing in the sea is legal without a licence. That opens the door to having things such as mackerel etc
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/fish/399730/

JoJoB

lindseykim13 wrote: »

so i can collect the closed muscles that i see hanging off the pier? i was always worried that you couldn't eat them i have never heard of the r thing before, also not eaten winkles or prepared cockles myself but will deff have a go now. thanks very much

I don't see why you can't eat mussels hanging off the pier, unless anyone knows different! Only eat the ones that open up during cooking, otherwise they are bad. The r in the month thing is to prevent you eating mussels in the summer months when the water is warmer and bacterial levels higher.

Pink.

Hi lindseykim,

It's worth having a look at the Foraging forum on www.downsizer.net for ideas of things that you can find in the wild at the moment.

Pink

windowshopper100

Take care with the mussels thing. I think I heard on a programme (Two Fat Ladies) that you shouldn't really eat them unless you know the beach they've come off to be very clean and they're not lurking around a waste pipe. They are filter feeders... with all that entails, and who know whats on their shells.

When they're sold in a supermarket they've been either farmed or cleaned, using ultraviolet light... or something...... need to research more.

WS100

apple_mint

OH loves Hugh FW's Nettle Soup from Cook on the Wild Side. I prefer his recipe for Sloe Gin

Over the last couple of years we have made wines from wild foods (bramble tip, elderberry, blackberry (all these are lovely) and last year we made dandelion wine but we haven't tried it yet). I've also made blackberry jelly, elderberry jelly and elderberry and apple jelly.

Rosehips make a lovely syrup for pouring over home made ice cream (again using Hugh FW's recipe (you should be able to find a recipe on his web site or the forums).

I already knew most of these fruits and berries as I grew up in the country (and we were taught wild flower recognition in our school in the 60s) but I do find it more difficult to identify other things. I have a pocket book version of food for free and also use the net to look at pictures, but to be honest haven't tried anything I didn't already know apart from the sloes.

HariboJunkie

JoJoB wrote: »

I don't see why you can't eat mussels hanging off the pier, unless anyone knows different! Only eat the ones that open up during cooking, otherwise they are bad. The r in the month thing is to prevent you eating mussels in the summer months when the water is warmer and bacterial levels higher.

As long as they have recently been submerged in water they should be fine and as windowshopper says, they should come from a clean loch. Don't pick them near a centre of population as they may be getting fat from the town's sewage pipe. :eek:
Avoid the ones on the beach as they tend to be very gritty.

Lord_Lardington

JoeyEmma wrote: »

I think you only need a fishing licence for freshwater fish ie fishing in rivers and streams. I think fishing in the sea is legal without a licence. That opens the door to having things such as mackerel etc

Totally right. Seafishing is absolutely free (apart from the gear of course).

A cheap rod and reel can be had for about £20 (Do you have a "Decathlon" nearby? They always have good value stuff). As you live near the sea there's also bound to be a tackle shop not too far away that will sell you the stuff you need and also will usually offer invaluable advice about where the best fishing is at any given time.

Good luck if you decide to give it a go.