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It's about this time of year I get over-excited because the wild blackberries and bilberries start to ripen. I've just finished last year's harvest from the freezer...

This year's crop seems a bit patchy: the bilberries are tiny and only a few blackberries so far...

Any other gatherers out there?

Loads of blackberries near us, the problem is just getting a party together to gather them.

Is your avatar a Wainwright sketch by any chance Terracemax?

if someone wants to tell me where the wild berries grow in the southwark area then i am in ;D

Quote from: Derekthefox on July 31, 2005, 18:49:01
Is your avatar a Wainwright sketch by any chance Terracemax?

The man himself...love his books.

Round near where I live there is LOTS of stuff...
Look out for
Trees in the street: Cherries some small, some large. Also rowan, crab apples, juneberry, walnuts
Elderberry, sloe and hazel in the hedgerows.
Horseradish growing by the side of the road.
Rosehips.
I have used all these for free, people look at you as if you're a bit mad when collecting them but I don't care.

I love it also!  In Great Baddow, Chelmsford on Friday I noticed a huge scrabble of blackberries all ripe, and wow they are big fruit, but I don't like to pick fruits that are growing close the traffic, so they will stay and feed the birdies.  However, all around my allotment the hedgerows are packed, and along the lanes where we live, so over the next month I shall always have a tuperware tub and carrier bag in the glove box of the motor in preperation for the pickings of.... rosehips, sloes, damsons, bullace, greengages, apples, pears, grapes (yes, grapes!) elderberries, blackberries/brambles and plums!  ;D

I'm in Camden - what's a hedgerow?

hahahahaha Amazin!  That thing that scrambles (or used to) along the lock side?

No, that's a drug dealer!

Think I'll take a trip to Hampstead Heath instead, see what I can find.
I've got rosehips in the garden from some sweet briars, though my sloe bushes are aptly named when it comes to fruiting.    ;D
Hey by the way, what do you use the bullaces for?

Jam, gin, jelly, crumble (with apple).  Anything I would use a plum/greengage/damson/sloe for.  ;D

EJ - What are bullaces?  And what are they like?

Isnt it too early to pick the blackberries? I have seen a few out and about looking all ripe and  plump but I wonder would they be too sharp at the moment? I was thinking of leaving them for a few weeks they out n about with the carrier bags

EJ - where do you pick the rest of your fruit from- out of hedgerows too?

I found blackberries in my lotty hedge.  We trimmed the hedge this year as it was absolutely enormous and it probably did it good.  The berries are green at the mo but I have high hopes.  There are quite a few in there but some got cut right back when we cut the hedge but I think they'll be back next year.  I'll have to give them some food  :)     

Being as brambles grow in the hedge do you think I could use the hedge to plant new blackberries, tayberries etc as I have long hedge runs I could make use of.  Could I?  Anyone?

Pick blackberries when they're black and drop off easily. There are numerous variations - it's one of the groups where the classical definition of a species breaks down, and you get continuous variation rather than discrete species - some are veryt sweet and some are always a little sour.

Bullaces are small, sour plums which are picked in autumn and used for cooking.

Been meaning to ask a similar question - what is everyones opinion on overhanging fruit trees?

We have only been in our house for about 8 months. Our neighbours both sides have fruit trees which overhang our garden (by quite a lot - the trees are right on the boundary). Is it OK to pick the fruit from the overhanging branches or do we have to wait till it falls in our garden (when something else has normally beaten us to them)?

Not sure of the etiquette!

Hey daisymay

I think the rule is to talk to your neighbours first. They will probably have too much fruit on their trees to use personally. Plus, what would happen if you didnt pick the fruit? Chances are the fruit would only go bad and fall off anyway!

As I understand it the law says you can prune off any overhanging branches and collect any fruit, but you must return it all to your neighbour.
But what the eye doesn't see the heart doesn't grieve for...
As Cheddarpaul says, I'd ask them too, you never know, they might not want what's on their side too and invite you round to pick it off!

We have a Bramley that overhangs from the neighbours, I pick up any that fall off, which looks like it might be heaps this year! ;D

EJ get yourself over to Galleywood Common, used to live there, right in the middle. We had a tea/sweet shop.

There used to be loads of wild blackberries. Also Walton on the Naze, on the cliff tops, unless its fallen into the sea!

None of them are ripe round here, but I have a tree full of mini plums to pick. And its on the hedge bordering my lottie!!!

jennym is right, you have the right to cut off anything that overhangs your boudary but must return to your neighbour....however, any thing that falls into your garden is yours to keep and if you were to cut branches most of the fruit would fall off in the process!
these things can lead to all out war though so it's probably best to try asking first!
'common' ettiquette has always been that what overhangs is yours and all but the meanest people agree since harvesting for themselves would involve trespass anyway.

There are quite a few blackberries developing (and some which are ripe) near my riding school. Trouble is, they grow along the side of a road. It's not at all busy (just used for accessing the riding school). Would they be alright to eat or would they contain too much stuff from exhaust?

I'd just give 'em a good wash - then eat.

Quote from: terrace max on July 31, 2005, 20:13:21

Quote from: Derekthefox on July 31, 2005, 18:49:01
Is your avatar a Wainwright sketch by any chance Terracemax?

The man himself...love his books.

Love his books, and his routes, too.  Where are you from Max?

Aqui,I'm with Jennym on this one - just give 'em a rinse if you feel it necessary.

To be honest I'd be more inclined to wash supermarket-bought stuff!
I live right beside a road and I have the Euston to Glasgow railway line next to that, so exhaust and diesel dust get on my fruit & veg (and in my lungs) every day. I'd still back 'em for healthier eating any day. Now, if they start glowing in the dark...

;D ;D ;D

There is a book you can buy called Food for Free. I've got a really ancient edition (circa 1975) but I know it is still in print. The author is Richard Mabey.
I used to be one of these 'How would you survive after the nuclear holocaust' types and this was one of the recommended books.

QuoteLove his books, and his routes, too.  Where are you from Max?

Mainly Yorkshire, but went to school in Keswick. You?

QuoteThere is a book you can buy called Food for Free. I've got a really ancient edition (circa 1975) but I know it is still in print.

Yeah, I've got the glossy new version. Everything by Mabey is worth reading, I reckon...

I wish my neighbours would plant apples trees :P

I do cheddarpaul.  It is amazing how many people don't even see the fruits around them!  Around our kids school playing field is an incredibly high fence smothered in brambles, plums and rosehips.  Alsorts of different fruits growing in the hedges around our allotment and also in Danbury common.  We are in quite a green patch of Essex where the council seem a little slow at holding up the traffic and butchering the hedges, so I can normally fill me freezer and preserve cupboard with goodies, all for free!  Also, locals around our neighbourhood and around our allotment know I am a keen cook, so I tend to get given lots of surplus fruit from their fruit trees!  ;D  (Mind you, couldn't give away some surplus courgettes today!!!!)

From now till October I'll be having a handful of blackberries every time I walk down the lane to the site. Once I'm feeling up to it I'll nip down the canal on my bike and get enough for a crumble.

QuoteIt is amazing how many people don't even see the fruits around them!

With you on that one, EJ.
Where I was raised (Dumbarton in Scotland) us kids thought it was perfectly normal to stuff ourselves silly with hedgerow produce - brambles, elderberries, the lot. And we knew what to eat and what not to eat as well (e.g. toadstools).
We also collected wild rose petals to mix with water for 'perfume' and rosehips (or itchycoos, as we called them!) for fun and games! And we knew about using docken leaves to rub on nettle stings.
I guess we learned all this as a matter of course, whereas many people don't have that chance, so it doesn't come naturally to them.
If I had your hedgerows round my way I don't think I'd buy any food all summer! Go for it, girl!  ;D

PS -  what about slicing up your spare courgettes and pickling them?

Lol...I do all these things too!!
EJ I love that, "a scrabble of blackberries"  :) :)
Where I worked we had a contest for the most appropriate collective noun, my fave was the one for a group of louts......" a bruise of lads"  ;D ;D ;D

hgeheheheh katynewbie!

I used to love making rosepetal water when I was little Amazin!  Happy days!

Now, I try to educate the sproggles, as we walk to school, I am constantly pointing out plants, naming them, telling them the nicknames of them, showing them the flowers and fruits and it is amazing how quickly they pick it up, and makes me laugh how blase they become when other kids get all excited about the conkers, they are so cool....'oh, you mean horsechestnuts do you....similar to the sweet chestnut but not to be eaten.....'  ;D  At the moment they are admiring the baby acorns and number one daughter gets a real kick looking for the ones that have been deformed by the gall wasp.  She loves to brag about that one!

EJ - my youngest son is doing that too. He's taken to bringing the occasional friend over to the allotment (it's close to our house) and proceeding to quiz them on what the various plants are that are growing. Mind you, it shocked me when I realised that most of them don't know what a potato plant looks like, and the last one actually inspected the leaves and announced that he couldn't see any growing yet. (12 years old!)

It is a worry jennym.  I have always gardened and allotmented, so the kids are used to it and know what is what, but some of their chums, and frighteningly, some of their parents, have no idea!  I am frequently quizzed whilst on the school run by parents who have a fruit tree in their garden, or a mystery plant or are trying to grow pumpkins for halloween.  The great thing is, as Amazin said, mine know not to munch on anything, they touch, but wash their hands, or come and ask, and there is no feeling as fab as watching them scoffing fresh strawbs and rasps in the summer sun straight from the plants! ;D

Yes. I had 3 kids over the plot on Saturday while mine was elsewhere. These were only little, 7 or 8. I let them pick some runner beans and dig up some spuds. They live over the road to me.
Today, (Tuesday) the eldest girl came and knocked on the door and said 'Mum wants to know if the red potatoes are the same as ordinary ones' (red Duke of York, I suppose they are a bit bright) and when I told her they were, she said that her Mum was 'going to have a go at cooking them and also would try to do the beans but she'd never done beans like that before because they like baked beans best of all'.
I have yet to find out if Mum 'had a go'.

It is a worry isn't it!  My step daughter used to think spuds only came in plastic bags and from my allotment!

i hope you sent her off with a 'how to cook beans' receipe , jenny :)

 ;D

Jamie Oliver's School Dinners backed up what we've been saying. For many kids these days, the only fruit and vegetables they see are pre-packed in supermarkets. How many even have the chance to see loose veg at a greengrocers?
And even if they're shown fresh produce, many are appalled that the vegetables are 'dirty' - the result of another unnecessary obsession these days: the anti-bacterial generation.
In my day (oh blimey, I've turned into a codger!) we used to go digging in the dirt, making mud pies etc, and there's a certain age at which the temptation to try a spoonful of your own 'home-made' pie proves irresistable - and no-one I know died of it.
My brother's palate was even more advanced in his formative years and I believe he was the first (and only) member of our brood to eat 'live' spaghetti...

Svea,

There used to be so many derilict overgrown areas and gardens in Southwark that you could fill a stack of Ice cream tubs with the berries - as I used to!

With all the new development there is nothing here anymore - and the odd one you do see is low down so I dont risk it as its probably had a dog wee on it - normally a nice stained floor or fence surrounding it!

Quote from: Amazin on August 03, 2005, 00:40:21
My brother's palate was even more advanced in his formative years and I believe he was the first (and only) member of our brood to eat 'live' spaghetti...

One of my sisters used to eat ants. (crawly currants she said) Never fancied them myself, nor live spaghetti.

Its the same story here, lots of wild fruit trees, totally untouched because people just don't see it or know what it is. I was amazed at first that the local kids haven't twigged that the red berries on the trees all around are in fact cherries. Now I just ignore the puzzled looks of passersby & pick bags full to make cherry crumble or eat fresh. Wild plums & sloes & later in the year hazelnuts are good too. At the right time of year young shoots from bulrushes are an unusual vegetable - used to be eaten commonly in england & called cossack's asparagus.

I'd love to go and pick some bilberries/whinberries but have no idea whether there is anywhere they grow around here. Anyone know of somewhere within striking distance of Bedfordshire?

Maybe we should try scrumping Brussells Sprouts instead ;D

We've got wild blackberry bushes which dominate further end of our plot.We look forward to every Aug to pick some free fruit :).

I made this ↓ blackberry mousse the other day.It was divine!

(http://img320.imageshack.us/img320/6894/berry6gs.th.jpg) (http://img320.imageshack.us/my.php?image=berry6gs.jpg)

KT  that looks gorgeous! :D

Will you post the recipe please?  I wouldn't mind giving that a try........... ;D

KT    that looks lovely  :)  I'm hanging on to some wild brambles on my plot too and have dug some up from the middle of the plot and planted them in the hedge.  They seem to have rooted and there's some fruit - not ripe yet but they're getting there.


So peeps with brambly lotties don't get rid of all of them.  They're free food after all  :)

Hi,cyrilsquirrel

Got your message.I see you're dying to try this out. ;D

Forgot to mention but it's actually blackberry YOGURT mousse.

I haven't got a recipe for it as I made it up  :P so can't really tell you how much of what to add.Not much of a recipe but here's how.If you'd like it richer,you can add some more cream.This will give you not-so-rich mousse.   

Makes 2/3 servings - measured by the eye ;D

[Ingredients]

blackberries       300g(pureed by blender then sieved)
plain yogurt       150g
double cream    100g or less(whipped)
sugar                 ?(add some and taste to your liking)
gelatine             used a 11g sachet 
water                about 2 tablespoons

Mix together the blackberry puree and the yogurt+sugar,fold in the whipped cream.Dissolve the gelatine in the water then add it to the mixure.Chill in the fridge for about 2 hrs.

Good luck!

Blackberries are very good for us and contain more fibre than other fruits  :)

Quote from: 70fingers on August 05, 2005, 23:22:28
I'd love to go and pick some bilberries/whinberries but have no idea whether there is anywhere they grow around here. Anyone know of somewhere within striking distance of Bedfordshire?

Maybe we should try scrumping Brussells Sprouts instead ;D

Try Mowsbury Golf Course in Bedford - is covered apparently!

Quote from: KT on August 13, 2005, 18:31:27
Hi,cyrilsquirrel

Got your message.I see you're dying to try this out. ;D

Forgot to mention but it's actually blackberry YOGURT mousse.

I haven't got a recipe for it as I made it up  :P so can't really tell you how much of what to add.Not much of a recipe but here's how.If you'd like it richer,you can add some more cream.This will give you not-so-rich mousse.   

Makes 2/3 servings - measured by the eye ;D

[Ingredients]

blackberries       300g(pureed by blender then sieved)
plain yogurt       150g
double cream    100g or less(whipped)
sugar                 ?(add some and taste to your liking)
gelatine             used a 11g sachet 
water                about 2 tablespoons

Mix together the blackberry puree and the yogurt+sugar,fold in the whipped cream.Dissolve the gelatine in the water then add it to the mixure.Chill in the fridge for about 2 hrs.

Good luck!

That is brilliant....thanks KT. 

Yum, I can't wait to get some more blackberries picked now!!! ;D

We finally went picking on Saturday. Went up to Epping Forest and got thoroughly lost looking for berries. It was almost like the plants were leading us to the best ones. There'd be lines of them and we'd wonder along picking the few that were there and then we'd find the mother load! (where's that Redclanger to accuse me of being a hippy!)

Managed to fill a 2litre ice cream tub.

Put most in the freezer and also made a purple cake (blackberry and apple). yum!

best to try to use blackberries which are only just ripe for jamming - they lose pectin as they get really ripe. I love the fruits at this time of year and make some delish autumn jellies using rosehips, rowan berries, crab-apples, blackberries and plums. And when it is free! bargain.

Just been picking some brambles from my lottie and am bearing the battlescars  :(. If I can stop the kids eating them when I'm out at work tomorrow having my first go at jamming.

The kids and I picked 4lbs of blackberries yesterday.

3lbs have gone into the freezer , and a 1lb into a blackberry mousse , courtesy of KT , and which is now setting in the fridge............yum  ;D

Picked about 4 or 5lbs of blackberries today with the kids in tow. They enjoyed it, apart from the nettles!

As I type, I'm drinking juice made from a handful of berries and an apple. But I'll freeze the rest tomorrow. You can't beat the taste of blackberry juice on a rainy, cold February day...