Do you think growing your own or forraging will become more popular now energy prices have risen so much?

[kirstyalslap]

It seems like the natural next step to me but want others thoughts on it? Forraging is completely free and things like nettles, dandelions, cleavers (sticky weed) and obviously blackberries, apples, plums, damsons, elderflower, elder Berry are all edible and easily identifiable.
Not to mention salad leaves can be grown all year round on a windowsill or kitchen side.
What does everyone think?

Only posting as several people (not connected) have spoken about being interested in it.

yabu - you personally are not interested in either
Yanbu - you personally are interested

‘ perhaps save a seed and grow something?’
Lots of supermarket fruit and veg are F1 hybrids and the seed is sterile or produces a poor crop. That’s not how growing fruit and veg works. You can’t just save seed from any old fruit.

Backyard food growing is a hobby, you need about an acre to feed yourself. Loads of people don’t even have a garden never mind an acre!

Exactly this.

I grow fruit and veg in my garden. I grow it because pottering around the garden is relaxing but it definitely costs more in time and materials than it produces and no way is it enough to feed us all. Pea plants because the DC pick the pods directly off the plants and eat them, same for the raspberries and strawberries. A couple of crops of runner beans, maybe enough for one meal/side dish at a time and then wait for them to regrow before we can pick them again. The blueberry bush and blackcurrant bush don't produce anything at all but they're nice and green to look at. The apple tree that produced a whopping six apples last year. Thr rhubarb does well but I'm the only one who likes it so it rarely gets eaten. I don't bother with lettuce as the slugs get too much. Radishes did well but again, once they're harvested they're done.

We live in London but DH and his mum do forage. Garlic leaves, berries (in season) etc. We live near a lot of green spaces.

‘ no its for everyone. especially picking apples and stuff. That's free if you can find a tree.’
But again, it’s not your tree. You can’t just ‘find’ a tree and help yourself. You are stealing. A few years ago my neighbour got shot by a farmer for helping himself to stuff living wild on land the farmer owned.

I absolutely do not believe you can ‘feed your kids all summer for free’ from this fabled fruit and nut laden park, unless your children are squirrels.

We enjoy it but we don't get much. It makes a walk more fun looking out for things. No, not everyone can or will do it, but given that most of MN seems to live rurally (see virtually any thread for reference), it might help someone.

OP I did wild garlic pesto and wild garlic salt last year and they are some of the best things I've ever tasted. The salt will last until the next wild garlic season!

Sorry OP, if you find this a good use of time and effort then by all means have at it. I could come out ahead by working those same hours you are foraging and canning at the most underpaid position available.

Unless you’ve actually worked out the cost benefit analysis on your plan, it seems a bit over the top to think mushrooms and berries will solve everyone’s money problems.

Look around, do the well off get that way by growing tomatoes? No, they understand there time is better spent earning. Then the next step is to invest, even at small paltry “this is never going to make a difference” amounts. Spoiler alert… those small amounts do add up over time, Much more than the cost of a tomato.

@WheelieBinPrincess

I absolutely do not believe you can ‘feed your kids all summer for free’ from this fabled fruit and nut laden park, unless your children are squirrels.

Well in fairness if you use them to lure the squirrels and then… we’ll you know.

Wasn’t there a badger roadkill thread a long time ago? Maybe the OP should find that one for inspiration 🤣

@MaggieMooh my MIL's street has apple trees.Trees are owned by the council, I guess. no one wanted them, my MIL picked them up and made a pie. I really don't think she is going to get shot at for picking up a few apples.

We used to go to Epping forest to pick berries. There is a green walk near us with wild garlic.i am no good at foraging but I do like saving money!

If you have neither patience or green fingers, we plant some dried marrowfat peas from the supermarket in a cup or yogurt pot and pop it on the windowsill and after about 4 days you get salad shoots. Entertaining enough for the kids to do and you get quick results so they don't get bored of it. We do it in the half term holidays usually as by the end of it you've been able to see results.

@saltinesandcoffeecups I think a lot of the poorest people in the UK are single mums who can't afford childcare and hence can't earn..I guess this is a free activity that can be done with children and you get some wild garlic or berries out of it...one thing that struck me when reading an article about a family trying to survive on a part time hairdresser and oven cleaner's wages (3 kids so hard to work around that) was that it wasn't just they couldn't afford to heat and relied on the food bank. The kids had nothing to do other than walks. I guess foraging is another free thing to do- walking with an activity!

FYI, no one who doesn’t know exactly what they’re doing should be foraging for mushrooms ☠️

I have an allotment, its a hobby. It costs money - annual rent for a start. I’ve spent a small fortune getting mine set up. Yes seeds are cheap but you need tools, compost, meshs and net to protect crops etc. Yes I can freeze excess crops, because I could afford to buy and run a second freezer.
It also takes time - I’ve only had good yields the last couple of years as my commute time became my allotment time.
Apart from brambles, a bit of wild garlic and a few nut trees, there isnt an abundance of wild apple or other fruit trees where I live. Foraging can be dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing - berries and funghi spring to mind.
You need more than fruit to make jam, sugar and lemons etc, a big emough pan, to be able to afford the fuel.
I love my allotment, its very satisfying growing my own stuff, it shaves a bit off my food shopping, but not as much as I spend keeping it running

Growing your own and foraging isnt a practical option for most people

[quote onlychildhamster]@saltinesandcoffeecups I think a lot of the poorest people in the UK are single mums who can't afford childcare and hence can't earn..I guess this is a free activity that can be done with children and you get some wild garlic or berries out of it...one thing that struck me when reading an article about a family trying to survive on a part time hairdresser and oven cleaner's wages (3 kids so hard to work around that) was that it wasn't just they couldn't afford to heat and relied on the food bank. The kids had nothing to do other than walks. I guess foraging is another free thing to do- walking with an activity![/quote]
So that makes sense. Is it a no cost recreation activity with something to show for it after… great!

Is it something that will eliminate the need for a weekly food shop. Not for all but the smallest percentage of people.

In the long run your hairdresser and oven cleaner would be better served to train and or work more.

MaggieMooh my MIL's street has apple trees.Trees are owned by the council

Did your mum never teach you “I can not pick the public flowers, they are not mine, they are Ours”. Things owned by the council aren’t yours. I bet you pick the council flowers too instead of leaving them for everybody to enjoy.

@whatthefuckisgoingon2022

To suggest it as a fix for the cost of living crisis though is a bit much.

This.

It is incredible that things have got to the point where we are having this conversation, though.

Both points. Can't see it becoming the way to feed your family though.

You've really just been lucky so far op that you haven't accidentally poisoned yourself and your kids. As others say, you don't know what's happened to the stuff you're foraging. You might not always be lucky.

@MaggieMooh they were on the floor. Can you not pick leaves then as they fall from the trees belonging to the council?

Also, The countryside act says that foraging the 4 F's from common land is acceptable so long as it is for personal consumption only. The 4 F's are fruit, foliage, flora and fungus, This means moderate amounts for you and your family only, and most obviously not for Commercial Foraging purposes.

@MaggieMooh “subsection (3) A person who picks mushrooms growing wild on any land, or who picks flowers, fruit or foliage from a plant growing wild on any land, does not (although not in possession of the land) steal what he picks, unless he does it for reward or for sale or other commercial purpose.”

I’m disabled. I’m going to be crippled by the prices everything going up. I can’t work because I can’t hold down a proper job as I’m in and out of hospital all the time. I certainly don’t have the ability to forage.

I’d probably be able to grow something like cress that I don’t have to pay attention to but on a bad day I can’t even lift my own arms up to brush my hair. I live in the city anyway and don’t even know where my nearest park is. It’s people like me who will suffer the most and this really isn’t the answer.

Whatever. It’s still annoying to the rest of us when you take the lot and leave none for others. Especially when we were all enjoying the flowers and you take armfuls home for your selfish self.

@MaggieMooh I have never picked flowers in my life. You are imagining it my darling. Are you 5? Poor sweetums, don't worry, mummy will bring you to a forest to see lots and lots of flowers, stop crying and take your fist out of your mouth *kisses

My friend has an allotment and she grows lovely stuff but she ends up eating the same one veg or fruit for ages. It's tedious to be honest. The hours she spends on the allotment, I'd rather get a second job and buy some variety. And I looked into growing some tomatoes. They cost a fortune and bring with them constant worry of looking after them. As for foraging, I'd picking things that animals had wee'ed on. I'd rather switch off the central heating and go watch telly in bed with the electric blanket on.

I enjoy growing things from seed, and usually get a decent crop of tomatoes and cucumbers, which more than covers the cost of the seeds and compost. I dabble a bit with other things, but some things are just not cost effective to grow, although it can be fun to grow things which are a challenge in our climate. For instance, the melons plants I grew only produced 1 melon between them (they are very needy plants), and although it was delicious, the seeds cost £4!

I am excited about this season, as I finally have an allotment, after FOUR years on the list! The rent is less than £1 a week, and it is completely unshaded, so could be quite productive, compared to our part shaded garden. I find gardening is very therapeutic, good exercise and much nicer than being in a gym.

This sounds all so depressing hunting for food whilst freezing in our homes. Who has the brain space for this type of adventure? I understand it maybe for a hobby but with everything else going on, It sounds dire.

PS: Home grown tomatoes are often much tastier than shop bought ones. So, it's not just about cost.