Free wild food ideas?

Lord_Lardington

By the way, what coast are you on? I can't speak for the whole country but on the South coast, after a big storm you can often find loads of oysters washed up on the beach. Free bait (or food if you dare).

lindseykim13

Thanks yes south coast (gosport) will deff look for the free bait! Really going to have a go at catching some mackrel after reading through all the links i was given, some great sites have spent all night reading them and learning new things.

Seakay

foraging info for the New Forest:

http://www.wildmushroomsonline.co.uk/

This forum may give you some useful tips on the ins and outs of getting meat or fish:

http://www.itsnoteasybeinggreen.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=59&sid=b9e2f3f513d8eeb5462a527779f980ce

Horace

If you live in the countryside try looking out for dead pheasants - sometimes found at the side of the road. Not tried them myself but have heard that people do eat roadkill from time to time.

This year, I aim to make some elderflower lemonade - my mum made some for me as a kid, it was fab so fab in fact that everytime I had some I got drunk because it had fermented. Funniest thing though is Dad found an old bottle of it lurking at the back of the garage the other day - do you think it would be safe to drink after 25 years in a cold, dark place?

thriftlady_2

Two very useful websites for you

River cottage forums

Downsizer

HTH:)

balmaiden

I love wild food gathering.

Obviously blackberries are a number one. I also gather wild mushrooms although I only pick three varieties, horse, parasoll and puffballs. I just don't trust myself with identifying any others as some edible are so similar to nasty ones!! Nettle soup is a family favourite in the springtime. Living where we do mussells feature often and my D/H informs me that he is going to resume fishing this coming year so hopefully plenty of mackerel and maybe a pollock or two. Yum.
We will also get back to our winemaking, favourites being dandelion,elderberry and blackberry.
I found some wild kale last week but as yet have not picked any. used to find watercress many moons ago but have have not found any for many years now.

Austin_Allegro

I would second the Free Food book (pocket edition) and also Self Reliance by John Yeoman. Mr Yeoman goes a bit further than Mr Mabey and includes some interesting recipes for things like grass! (yes, grass from your lawn...).

Probably the simplest types of free food are:

1. Nettles. The b*ggers grow like wildfire at the bottom of my garden. You're only supposed to eat the young ones though.

2. Blackberries and elderberries. Get a bicycle with a large basket or paniers and tour the minor roads of the English countryside in autumn. You will be amazed at how much goes to waste - mile up on mile of hedgerows groaning with free food.

Shooting rabbits sounds potentially worthwhile, but I gather there is an awful lot of sitting around and waiting for them to pop out. (Plus if you're a fan of Watership Down you might find it impossible to pull the trigger). Then there's all the skinning and gutting required, and the cost of buying/maintaining a rifle...vegetarian options seem a lot easier to me!

count_rostov

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.

I often pick mussels, cockles and razorfish. But, you must be very careful that they aren't near any houses (septic tank outlets) piers (oil, diesel) or fishfarms (all manner of pesticides, antibiotics, fish waste). Molluscs have to eat what comes past them and if you eat ones from dirty water you can get very sick.
However, if you find ones in clean water then they're super-delicious and absolutely free!
(I pick them all summer too, the sea temperature doesn't change that much, I think this rule comes from the pre-refrigeration days when it was difficult to keep fish cool on the way to market)

celyn90

We go hunting for mushrooms in the woods during the autumn, you have to be careful but we've found some lovely ones. I've not tried OH on nettles yet, but we have a fair few near the house, so I might give this one a go. He's eaten dandelions (but you're not allowed to tell him).

I've also found hazelnuts, cobnuts, chestnuts, wild strawberries, elderberries, blackberries, sloes, apples and crab apples growing nearby too. I have eaten roadkill a couple of times, but only when I've actually seen it bounce off the bonnet of the car in front

anniemf2508

We pick mushrooms in the autumn (bought a nice pocket guide), berries too.
Plus we've just started crayfishing....caught our first ones yesterday