What I foraged today!

[the big lebowski]

i picked half a 7.5 liter buckets worth of blackberrys to make into wine p.s. your first name isnt jack is it ? (sorry)

[sparrow100]

no, sorry - that would have been good.

Found some elderberries!

[Mikey]

Have had blackberries down here for the last 3 weeks *smugface*.

What I want to find are some elder bushes that haven't been stripped by s*dding pigeons!

Are you sure its the pigeons Sparrow?

When the elderflower was in full bloom we had a series of very wet and windy days, many of the more exposed elder near me suffered as a consequence and only have minimal fruit. Those more sheltered and in shady spots bloomed later and are still heavily laden. The exposed trees look like they have been stripped but, in fact never set fruit in the first place.

The elder in my area is still a couple of weeks off ripening, I'm already gearing up for making syrup though. Best cold/flu prevention out there in my honest opinion.

[Mikey]

Out last night picking blackberries for a pie, the wet weather has produced some very heavy fruit this year. The Damsons are looking good too, I tasted one and they are almost there. Its always a battle for those mind, there is someone else in the village that thinks they are sloes and strips them bare before they ripen fully. Its so annoying...

[mothhawk]

Picked a couple of pounds of damsons (or could be bullace, a lot are more rounded than oval). Stoned them with the cherry stoner, and made damson and apple pie for tea. With local organic double cream. Absolutely delicious!

[Scarlet]

Sounds delicious MothHawk!

Does filling my car boot with someone's generous offering of their windfall cooking apples count? I foraged them from their wheelbarrow that they leave outside their gate every year.
My large Apple tree uprooted itself last year so Ive none of my own I'm going to make chutney and will return the favour by leaving them a few jars when I pass by again next week.

[bramble]

You can pass my way anytime Scarlet.

[Plot10]

Yay, Foraging Friday is here. Every Friday when the weather is fine, I take the long way home through the park and along the river to see what I can forage. Should be a bumper crop of brambles, hoping to get some rosehips to make cordial too. I think I've spotted some Hazel trees too but can't get to them because of the bladdy new bridge works, half the river path's closed off with Herris Fencing.

[burnie]

Foraging

Not sure if this is in the right thread, so mods please feel free to move it if needed. Does anyone supplement their garden produce with wild crops? I make my hedgerow wines and berries are eaten raw and cooked. I'm lucky to have high moorland not too far away, so blae berries and lingon as well as things like blackberries. Today I found some great Hazel/Cob nuts, tried some raw green which were a little disappointing. I'll let the rest mature, one of my favourite wild foods.

[happyhumph]

Just the usual - brambles, sloes, elderflower /elderberry. Whinberries (the small blueberries - I know they have various local names). Crab apples & wild garlic. Also samphire in season, usually collected by canoe!

Where we used to live there were a couple of parks with cherry trees in. No one seemed to pick them except us - used to pick a bag in the morning walking the dog & take them to eat in work

[burnie]

Foraging seems to be a lost art up here apart from a few brambles, no one seems to bother, I did find some Ransomes and tried a few of the flowers with a cheese sandwich, not over impressed. I also tried a little of the Birch sap from our tree in the garden, not overly keen on that either.

[Root66]

I would like to forage wild mushrooms but worried about consuming a wrong'n. I need to find a local expert.

[Mr Bones]

I would like to forage wild mushrooms but worried about consuming a wrong'n. I need to find a local expert.

Get yourself a few decent books (sorry can't recommend the ones I use because they're quite old now, don't even know if they're still available). When I started I read the books over and over for almost a year before I even picked a mushroom and then started on easy to identify species only. Although a fascinating passtime it's one that can't be dabbled with and is unfortunately one of those subjects that seems to attract lots of well intentioned but sometimes incorrect advice.

[sparrow100]

Not sure if this is in the right thread, so mods please feel free to move it if needed. Does anyone supplement their garden produce with wild crops? I make my hedgerow wines and berries are eaten raw and cooked. I'm lucky to have high moorland not too far away, so blae berries and lingon as well as things like blackberries. Today I found some great Hazel/Cob nuts, tried some raw green which were a little disappointing. I'll let the rest mature, one of my favourite wild foods.

Similar to happyhumph I go out for sloes, elderberries/flowers, brambles, apples, crab apples, hips, wild garlic (though now I'm growing my own), japonica quinces, figs and horseradish. There's also a massive comfrey plantation I stumbled into on common land so I'll be back there later next year with some binbags. I am planning some stealth-planting on the common, to add to the available edibles, but that's only if my cuttings take. I'd like to go on a mushroom course too, but OH is allergic to them, which takes out some of the joy in bringing them back.

[vixylix]

I'd love to do more foraging, but apart from blackberry bushes on the roadside I would have no idea where to go!