Free wild food ideas?

oystercatcher

Addicted_to_bargains wrote: »

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Elderberry's must be cooked though, they have traces of cyanide in them and will make you sick if you eat them raw.

I still have vivid memories of being horribly ill after eating raw elderberries as a child, we always thought it was because they weren't washed properly !!!


My mum used to make elderberry syrup with them.
Also remember being fed vile nettle soup, horseradish dug up from near the river. Loads of wild blackeberries and in scotland wild raspberries, they were yummy!
Winkles from the sea (couldn't face them now I'm afraid) seaweed (not sure what sort) we only had that once so don't think anyone liked it.
Oh and dandelion leaves were regularly put in salad.
I'm pretty sure Mum made wine from dandelions as well, and from elderberries.
I remember one time they found mushrooms and ate them but I refused and everyone except me was ill in the night !!
Being brought up in the war my mum was always on the lookout for something that could be used as food.
I always remember when Lemon washing up liquid came out she thought it was a terrible waste of food and shouldn't be allowed !!:rotfl:

Oystercatcher

bertiebots

I have been looking at recipes for elderberries and discovered that it is supposed to be a good cough/cold remedy when made into a syrup. I am wondering if there are some around and might have a go! So far this weekend I have collected (well ok the kids and dh!) 4lb blackberrys and 11lbs of apples and my sil is giving me 3lb of pears tomorrow! I now need to collect more jars!!
I have stewed half the apples already and put that into sterilized jars...does anyone know how long they will keep. I would normaly freeze it but my freezer is full of other OS delights!!

tiff

I made elderberry cordial last year, apparenly it will keep for a while in a bottle, I froze mine in ice cubes last year.

SavvyStudent_2

By the sea...? Fish! I always remember my grandad fishing off the beach when I was a kid and bringing home loads of fish xx

Pooky

So far this year our free food has given us....

Elderflower champagne - very fizzy - you do need decent strong plastic bottles for this but it's fab. (Elderflowers picked locally)

Strawberry Wine - Looks fab - needs to sit a while longer tho. (strawberries donated by a friend)

Elderberry Wine - Gorgeous colour and smell - will be bottled tonight. (Elderberries picked locally)

Blackberry and Apple Wine - It needs to sit for longer but already tastes gorgeous (blackberries picked on a day out at a country park - found an apple tree on the side of a quiet road on the way home and picked 4 carrier bags full)

Stewed Apple (6 large portions in the freezer)

3.5k of blackberries picked yesterday too - Have just made 2 pots of Jam, one lot to mix with stewed apple for a pud tonight and the rest DH has earmarked for wine.

Will be apple hunting again this week as I've seen another couple of trees that look promising....also going to go and ask the couple over the road if we can pick their crab apples that they're ignoring.

Will have to look into the Samphire ....we've got tons of it near here so will be worth a go.

Off to google some of the other berries I saw yesterday too.

ChrisSamsDad

Hi, can anyone help? There are tonnes of very inviting ripe elderberries near where I work, but they're along the side of a very busy A-Road at a junction with the M6. I've read that elders are pollution resistant, but would that mean that the berries are safe from the effects of traffic pollution?