Topic: Anyone foraging?

[Borderers1951]

Is anyone out there foraging the fields and hedgerows?  We moved to this village a little less than a year ago, just as the foraging season was starting.  We got some wild foods but this year looks like being a bumper one, although in some respects nature seems out of synch.  So far I have picked or seen:

Blackberries already ripe or ripening, I got about a pound on my morning walk to add to a couple of pounds already picked.  We have a cultivated bramble on the plot with huge numbers of berries for pies and crumbles but we also make bramble whisky.  We don't throw out the fruit afterwards - a boozy crumble or two is a warming treat in the winter unless you're TT.
Sloes already darkening and the bushes are covered with them - sloe vodka rather than gin.
Elderberries - hopefully a good year for wine making although one tree has darkening berries and also a couple of elderflowers still showing white.
Damsons darkening, as are bullaces for damson wine, damson gin, damson jam and bullace gin
No field mushrooms but a few edible tree-borne specimens,  However if you see any and are tempted  DO NOT PICK ANYTHING YOU'RE NOT ABSOLUTELY SURE OF.

Not strictly foraging but a house in a side lane of the village has so many plums that they give them away.  Nice for plum brandy and also boozy or alcohol-free plum crumbles.  I hope they have a good harvest this year.

As I say, things seem to be ripening early this year, although the locals say that the village has its own climate so that may account for it.

[Borlotti]

Mainly blackberries on the allotment which grow wild at the edges, have some on mine, but next door likes them so pick some for her. Also some spinach seems to self seeded.  I see you are in Shropshire, stayed in Church Stretton years ago (lovely walking holiday). We have a table at the allotment to put surplus produce that so far nothing on it but I will have too many cooking apples soon.  Not much foraging to do in Enfield, but do remember walks in the country with tables of fruit etc. (help yourself) and an honesty box next to it. Nature is wonderful all that free food.

[Digeroo]

I Freeze elderberries and blackberries, they make a nice compote with apple juice and go well with yoghurt.
There are several nice Mirabelle trees around the place. 
There are loads of sloes but I have never found much to do with them. 
There are lots of hawthorns around as well, have always been meaning to make some jelly.  They are supposed to be good for Haw Leathers.  There are hawthorn trees a little way away with huge berries.  I think I might try some of those.  I always feel as if I am stealing from the birds. 
http://justcookit.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/food-for-free-hawthorn-fruit-leathers.html
Our Discovery apple is early this year, we have photos of it last year and it was third week in August, though I think that was late.  It is just about ready.  They have been nice fried in a little butter for several weeks.
There are several apple trees in the hedge row, I have always avoided them but now we no longer have lead in the petrol, I suppose they are now ok to eat.

[Pescador]

Fantastic amount of big blackberries around here. Wife and I picked 3kg in 40 mins, and they are big juicy and sweet!
There'll also be plenty of sloes. When are they normally ready?

[BarriedaleNick]

We went to look for some sloes today but they are hard and a bit green so we left them alone - wouldn't normally pick them till late August/September and I am in the warmer bit of the UK.  If they come away easily then I figure they are ripe and ready to pick..

[Borderers1951]

Fantastic amount of big blackberries around here. Wife and I picked 3kg in 40 mins, and they are big juicy and sweet!
There'll also be plenty of sloes. When are they normally ready?

My mother used to say they should not be picked until after they'd had a good frost on them.  We lived in Yorkshire then and the frosts came a little earlier than in Shropshire.  Now I usually pick in October or even November but a day or so in the freezer helps them give up their juices.

[Borderers1951]

Mainly blackberries on the allotment which grow wild at the edges, have some on mine, but next door likes them so pick some for her. Also some spinach seems to self seeded.  I see you are in Shropshire, stayed in Church Stretton years ago (lovely walking holiday). We have a table at the allotment to put surplus produce that so far nothing on it but I will have too many cooking apples soon.  Not much foraging to do in Enfield, but do remember walks in the country with tables of fruit etc. (help yourself) and an honesty box next to it. Nature is wonderful all that free food.

Yes, we lived in Church Stretton at one time; I had a shop there.  Did you stay at the Long Mynd?  We have people in the village here who put out their surplus produce on tables.  That was partly the inspiration for a previous thread I started about the size of beans as most of those on one particular table are huge and (to me) off-putting.

[Borderers1951]

I Freeze elderberries and blackberries, they make a nice compote with apple juice and go well with yoghurt.
There are several nice Mirabelle trees around the place. 
There are loads of sloes but I have never found much to do with them. 
There are lots of hawthorns around as well, have always been meaning to make some jelly.  They are supposed to be good for Haw Leathers.  There are hawthorn trees a little way away with huge berries.  I think I might try some of those.  I always feel as if I am stealing from the birds. 
http://justcookit.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/food-for-free-hawthorn-fruit-leathers.html
Our Discovery apple is early this year, we have photos of it last year and it was third week in August, though I think that was late.  It is just about ready.  They have been nice fried in a little butter for several weeks.
There are several apple trees in the hedge row, I have always avoided them but now we no longer have lead in the petrol, I suppose they are now ok to eat.

Re your thoughts that you are stealing from the birds:  I once thought that way but noticed that, later in the autumn, there was always wild fruit rotting on the bushes or under the hedges around fields, so perhaps the birds and other wildlife were not that hungry.  That went for everywhere we have lived, from West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, Hampshire, Wiltshire the West Midlands and finally Shropshire.  I don't think the birds are starving for want of a few berries.

[Silverleaf]

I have loads of wild blackberries in my garden and they are just about ripening - not really ready but there will be millions of them.

The council's planted a few trees on the green near me including a few apples and a black mulberry. I've munched a few mulberries and I'm waiting for the apples.

But mostly I forage for food for my rabbits! They love willow, ash, hazel, bramble, wild rose, apple sticks/leaves and there's plenty of edible weeds for them too.

[BarriedaleNick]

My mother used to say they should not be picked until after they'd had a good frost on them.  We lived in Yorkshire then and the frosts came a little earlier than in Shropshire.  Now I usually pick in October or even November but a day or so in the freezer helps them give up their juices.

I have heard that too but the trouble is that by then most have been picked! 

[pumkinlover]

Not doing as much foraging recently but always do when I get a chance. Surprised that the sloes go BN there seems to be less people who take the trouble these days. Few people bother with bilberries any more though we have got Mr PKL grandson picking them 

[Jayb]

Not much happening at the moment but;

There looks to be a bumper harvest of sloes in the making here, love Making Sloe Gin to have at Christmas, makes a nice gift too.

Lots and lots of blackberries on the way, some on the lane by the house are really big too, with quite a few on a promise and blushing red. Love Apple and Blackberry crumble, yum! Jam or jelly too is a delight, though don't eat much of it any more.

A good crop of hazel nuts around too, but may not have the chance to have any as the squirrels seem to take them earlier and earlier each year! The nuts aren't very big, but I love them freshly shelled.

We usually get some field mushrooms around on the commons or marsh, though not until mid August to September, something to keep an eye out for when walking the dogs.

Several crabapple trees around too, which can be useful in jellies, not ready yet either.

This week I noticed some fruits turning plummy black just outside the gate, I think it's a wild damson, fruits are quite small but good when fully ripe, a bit of competition with the black birds for these, but as I put out lots of food for them year round, I don't feel too bad for having a few fruit if I have the chance!