foraging feast 07

[dandelion]

I haven't seen a foraging thread yet this season so thought I'd start one myself. I've never seen so many wild berries and apples! So far I've collected:

Blackberries, damsons, apples (mainly cookers but a few Discovery and Russet apples in the park too!), Rosa Rugusa rosehips, elderberries and haws. I've got my eye on a tree with purple plums, which should be ready next week, and some sloe bushes too. I've frozen lots of fruit for pie fillings and made damson and cinnamon jam. I'm planning to make lots of colourful jellies including a Hedgerow jelly with EVERYTHING in it. I've also been experimenting with juices: apple (Discovery) with pear and victoria plum from the garden and rosehip. The rosehip gives the juice an amazing orange colour!

Here is a picture of some of today's pickings. And no, I don't live in the country, but in a London suburb!



So, who else has been out foraging???

[dandelion]

[Mrs Ava]

Only in the inlaws orchard.  Mine all starts once the kids go back to school, however, I think I might drag them over to the common at the weekend and see what we can find.  There is a smashing Rowan tree over there and it is smothered in berries.  Our allotment hedge is thick with different fruits and nobody uses them but the birds and me. 



Great haul!!

[SueSteve]

Wow, that looks good.
I picked some apples and pears earlier, the apples are currently on the cooker turning into chutney!!
I know where there are some damsons, I picked some last year, so I might pop over there tomorrow.
I have seen lots of Hawthorn berries and elderberries, but I would need to know what I am doing with them before I get them! I think there are also some Rowan berries around, but I cant remember where I saw them!

[kitten]

Wow  :o what a great haul!  We've spotted some blackberries along the road to our lottie, we're planning on going this weekend to pick a few (punnets full) ;)

[greenfingered fiend]

Don't talk to me about blackberries - I picked a massive amount of the most enormous berries I've seen about two weeks ago (but still left loads for the birds), before we went on holiday, and put them in the freezer.

When we got back I thought I'd make a B&A crumble. Only to find they weren't in the freezer at all but on the worktop in the garage. The wife removed them before the holiday so we had 2 weeks of mould - nice! Such a waste!

[tricia]

Not having access to any damsons I asked on Freecycle if anyone had an excess this year. Got two replies and today went to pick 5 kg of ripe fruit. There are apples at the same place and will be going to harvest them next week. The lady who takes care of the holiday let says it is a shame to see most of the fruit in the garden go to waste and was happy to see me taking at least some of the damsons from a fruit laden tree.

I now have my contact for next year. I shall be making damson chutney tomorrow and will take a jar to this kind lady. Freecycle is great  8).

Tricia

[tim]

Just waiting & hoping for my gin Sloes!

[deboydoyd]

I agree with the Freecycle comment Tricia. Someone asked for spare plums on our Freecycle site, so I replied offering my greengages because I don't like them. She was more than keen so I went to pick them today, and after I'd waded through the jungle I am laughingly calling a plot at the moment, I realised that the yield is so much less this year. I only got 2lb off the tree, with probably the same amount on the ground rotten. Luckily my plot-neighbour invited me to help myself to plums, so I picked 10lb (he might not ask me again!). I've saved  4lb for the Freecycle woman & just made loads of beautiful jewel-like jam.

[cherry]

I've just  found some hazel bushes nearby with  a good crop.   How do I know when they are ready to be picked?   

[dandelion]

Been out foraging again! More blackberries and damsons (or bullace?), wild grapes and medlars. I've also discovered a quince tree, but sadly no fruit (still a young tree).

[Pepino]

Wow, what a fantastic haul.  I got some blackberries yesterday and made some jam which I discovered this morning had set like concrete!  No idea what went wrong!  Will be out for more tomorrow but you have really inspired me to look for other fruits too. 

[sweet-pea]

I've only picked blackberries this year, 3kg last weekend, and I'm out picking again tomorrow.

Greenfingered fiend I know exactly how you feel, I put asside 11/2kg of blackberries to make some cordial.  My recipe said to mash them well, cover with a tea towel and leave for 2-3 days. I checked them yesterday and they'd gone all mouldy... so irritated!

Last year I made elderberry cordial, but as I'm still using last years I thought I'd leave the berries for the birds this year, although I like the sound of making some hedgerow jam.  We also have what I think is either a damson or plum tree in the garden.  Someone told me that damsons are more oval in shape whereas these fruit are round so I thought it might be a wild plum, but from looking at your photos of damsons, they look exactly the same so maybe they are wild damsons.  Anyhow I've tried one and they are edible so I'm going to make some chutney with them.

Also hoping to pick some rosehips at some point to make rosehip syrup.

SP x

[lidd63]

I went out yesterday and picked 5lb of blackberries which I will use along with the apples from my garden to make jam.  I'll be back next week to the same spot for more. I love foraging but I am really not sure what can be used.  What does one do with haws, Rowan berries etc?  I did find a Mirabelle plum tree and made some deliciously sharp jam.  Rose hip syrup?  How do you make that and what do you do with it?

[dandelion]

Someone told me that damsons are more oval in shape whereas these fruit are round so I thought it might be a wild plum, but from looking at your photos of damsons, they look exactly the same so maybe they are wild damsons.  SP x

I suspect that the ones in the 2nd picture are wild plums or bullace because they are much rounder than the ones I picked on Horsenden hill (top picture), which are most likely damsons.

[muddynose]

I've got a really nice recipe for hedgerow jam which needs blackberries, damsons, elderberries, sloes, rosehips, haws and um, other hedgy things. How do you know when rosehips are ready? I've found LOADS of sloes when out walking, they're lovely looking, there's a damson tree near our house which doesn't seem to belong to anyone and rosehips are everywhere. What do haws look like though? Don't want to poison anyone!

[antipodes]

not being a real european i don't really know how to identify all these things  ???
I would be a bit afraid of poisoning myself. I haven't even been blackberrying this year as the weather has been so rotten....
I would love to make sloe gin but don't know where to get any sloes???