to wonder why there are blackberries going bad whilst people complain that they don't have enough money to feed their family healthy food.

[froken]

We went blackberry picking today, I was expecting a couple of manky blackberries to be left because I hear so often in the media and on mumsnet people saying how they struggle to feed their dc healthy food and sometimes people saying they have a hard time finding enough money to feed their dc at all.

There was a huge amount of blackberries, we were a 20 min walk outside a major city so an easily accessible place for 1000s of families.

We picked 9 pounds of blackberries.

Aibu to think that it would be a good idea for those struggling to feed their family a healthy diet (and those struggling to feed their family at all) should be out picking the free fruit that grows all over England's public spaces?

Seriously ROFL. Are you serious?!

Arbitrary I like your style you just need a pair of scissors in ur handbag!
Have been bb picking all week with ds we both eat them straight from the bush although I do taste his first. He's 12 months and loves it! Just how I was brought up

Arbitrary Whatevs, I'm giving you the credit here. You used it in an appropriate context and all that.

The sod will never get on my nerves again now!

holidaybug Fri 06-Sep-13 21:57:16
Why is the OP being given such a hard time? Surely it makes sense for all of us to pick free fruit rather than buy it at inflated prices at the supermarket

Lots of us have agreed with that sentiment. But that's not what the OP is saying, is it

Does anyone actually BUY blackberries from the supermarket though??

Stinging nettle soup is fine, but you have to make it from young nettles early in the season. It's not a practical year-round option.

They taste shit, why would you eat them if they're not free?

I took the kids out yesterday licking chewing gum stuck to the pavement- do you know how many other families we saw doing this? None

plentyofpubes

ha ha ha ha ha

My dad used to know someone that made his girlfriend underwear out of roadkill. Squirrel i think...

It fucking disgusts me that poor people might make weekly payments to a club book for clothes. FFS. It's all out there, lazy feckless

Does anyone actually BUY blackberries from the supermarket though??

Nope, we have bushes at the bottom of the garden. And a rota, for beating off the benefits claimants.

I guess OP's thread is biased towards poorer families but I mean it does make sense doesn't it?

LEMis

I think I bought a pack from the reduced counter last year. I have to say, they were nicer than wild blackberries any year, and particularly last year, which was crap for blackberries, as discussed earlier in the thread.

pachacuti - nettles are really good in juice. if you have a good masticating juicer they are free, full of goodness and taste pretty nice in juice.

what do they taste like swallowed? in comparison?

I've bought them before when they've been reduced and before they are ripe in the outdoors. I like to cook blackberries with other things such as apples for crumbles, pies etc.

I'm thinking it'll really have to be a school forage and run before they catch you.

I like Netto's idea of foraging in the supermarket.

Which brand of fish finger would be easier to conceal, do you think - Captain Birdseye or Jamie Olivers?

Arf at "No room in my freezers, it's full of ready meals"

like fresh herbs in juice which are lovely but extortionate price wise in relation to how much juice you get. nettles and believe it or not dandelion leaves (both need to be fresh young growth btw) make for super food goodness but in the kind of bulk that even those of us not on the breadline could not afford to buy from the supermarkets in herbs.

Makes sense how? Family can have free pudding! How the hell does that help maintain a balanced healthy diet?

holidaybug - you have rather contradicted yourself there! i hope they were grown in the uk - think of the air miles!!!

LEMis - like any 'green' juice you need to balance it with other stuff - so carrots because they're sweet and cheap and an apple or two. if you google nettles and dandelion you'll see they're full of good stuff.

Some lovely blackberrys near me, absolutely masses.

But they are 6ft away from a very busy London rd and on a patch of land that is riddled with rats.

I don't fancy them.

We used to go down to Farnborough common to pick them when I was little.

I've always wondered how people pick the nettles to make the tea without getting stung.

Do you wear special nettle picking outfits, like bee-keeper ones?

I have loads of blackberry bushes in my garden. Am going to poison them all once I've harvested the blackberries because guess what? I'd rather have flowers and veg, than fucking brambles.

The bugs and spiders in the wild blackberries are what make them a healthy snack - all that extra protein!

I have picked enough blackberries to put down a deposit on a house. my children's purple lips make me feel complete.