Allotments 4 All

There are a lot of Haws in the hedgerows this year.  Does anyone have any experience of using them in any way?

As part of Hedgerow Jelly with rosehips, blackberries, sloes, elderberries, crab apples and whatever else you find along those lines.   You can google for recipes.

Otherwise, just leave them for the birds as they're a main food crop for some species.

There are plenty of them this year so still plenty for the birds.

I think James Wong used them in grow your own drugs.

Hawthorn Ketchup
500g haws
300ml white wine or cider vinegar
170g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
pepper

Snip the haws from the stalks and rinse in cold water. Place in a pan with the vinegar and 300ml water, simmer until the skins have turned brown and split to reveal the flesh inside. Remove from the heat and rub through a sieve or pass through a moulis.

Return the puree to the pan with the sugar,simmer gently until it dissolves then bring to the boil and cook for 5 mins. Season with salt and pepper, pour into sterilised bottle and seal with a vinegar proof lid.

I haven't made it myself but I have tasted it. It has an almost smoky flavour to it.

Duke

I think Hugh F W used them to make wine, I'll have a look  :)

I was always told that these berries were poisonous and only birds could eat them so would not touch them. 

There are so many berries in hedgerows (a bit like fungi varieties) Is it hard to tell for some novices what is safe?

heaven forfend.  next you'll be telling us we can't eat rosehips or elderberries or wild crab apples.   There are many recipes which use these haws and they are not poisonous. 

I just think they've been forgotten in the millenia that have passed between us being nomadic hunters and gatherers and sedentary growers of food, with the added and more recent concentration of humanity in towns and cities, a long way from nature and hedgerows, pastures, woodland and food grown in fields - just as city kids don't know milk comes from a cow or bread from a plant.

As allotmenteers and growers of our own produce it makes sense to make use of nature's bounty but also to be safe and keep away from dodgy mushrooms and berries and to be sure to leave enough for wildlife and to ensure the continuity of the plants we harvest.