Does anyone go foraging?

[Hopefully]

I've bought a couple of books on food in the wild, and I'm enjoying my first, very tentative, forays into foraging. By which I mean, I went walking and picked some elderflowers for cordial! Cordial is infusing nicely, and smells divine.

Today I went out and got comfrey for making healing salve, and what I think is a type of mint, but I'm going to google it in a minute to be on the safe side.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how much we can get from foraging (while obviously not taking too much and ruining the countryside!) - green and low cost!

Anyone else?

Nettles, blackberries, raspberries, apples.

Have absolutely loads of apples (no-one else picks them!) that we will spend all weekend turning into chutneys, apple butter and cakes!

When we get a car I hope to get further afield for different stuff!

We do blackberries and elderflowers but keen to do more. Just need to get a book so I know what is edible and what will kill us What can you with elderberries other than make wine, which always sounds a bit old lady-ish to me ?

I used to go foraging in bins and skips for reusable stuff and also routinely go picking stuff off hedgerows but DW stopped me. She said it is demeaning, sets a bad example to the chldren and would be so embarrased if any of our friends saw me doing it she would never leave the house again.

I have to do it in secret now. Got some lovely damsons the other day. Years since I had a damson.

ABD- I started a thread a bit ago asking if anyone was a freegan

By ABetaDad on Fri 18-Sep-09 14:00:25
I used to go foraging in bins and skips for reusable stuff

I used to do that when we lived EC1 in London. Lots of skips down towards Farringdon. I furnished most of my studio with stuff from skips, spraypainted, of course, in silver, to match with some aluminum piping for table legs, etc... .

Surely you are setting a good example to your children betadad (speaking as someone who recently took their dog for a walk en famille with a 3m ladder in order to better harvest wild damsons down on the estuary). Whatever happened to 'waste not, want not'???

Mind you, the hedgerows are good round here, but the skips are rubbish (so to speak), no-one has the cash to chuck good stuff out.
Though having said that I know a lot of people (including me) with very nice giant planters that started out life as containers for cattle mineral licks

Takver - now that does sound fun going with a ladder. Growing up as a child in the countryside on a farm it was natural not to waste food. Everything was a potential harvest at this time of year.

Most people are far too far removed from the natual world now to appreciate that. I live in a nice middle class area on the edge of a city and fruit of all kinds just lays rotting on paths all around us as people take delivery of the very same fruits from Waitrose.

DW feels it will make people thnk we are too poor to buy food or bits of wood and stuff.

Quint - I used to work round Farringdon. You and me diving in the same skips - well what a small world.

bronze - never really thought of myself as a freegan. Not really a lifestyle choice as such but more like just a sort of common sense recycler of useful free stuff going to waste.

There was a time when I did not buy newspapers - just got new ones straight out of waste bins at rail/tube stations.

"I've used garden plants for dye. It's great fun."

I keep meaning to plant the woad seeds I got at Hampton Court Flower show.

Blue dye!

I am a star forager. But then my neighbours chuck out the most insane things - DH and I hefted home a large teak garden table in perfect condition last week.

But for food it's only rosemary and mint from the local park. There was a courgette vine growing in the park that went nuts and took over everything so unfortunately the council ripped it out.

We have got loads of blackberries, raspberries and bilberries this year. Also made nettle soup in the spring - very good and full of iron. We usually make elderflower cordial and I'd like to try elderflower wine one year. Wild garlic is fantastic, I used it in soups and added it to mash to make it super delicious. I also fried up some seaweed on hols this year and it tasted really great, but try as I might I couldn't rid it of all the sand - if anyone has a tip for this, please pass it on.

Also, where do broad beans and rhubarb grow in the wild? ;-) If we all get ourselves motivated perhaps we could be picking a lot more in the "wild" - check out www.incredible-edible-todmorden.co.uk/

The kids and I forage for apples and blackberries and make lovely pies with them.

Beta, that's a bummer. Your dw needs educating.

We collect mussels, cockles, samphire, laverbread, berries, mushrooms, nettles.
I love it, the kids love it, we all lov, mushroomse it.
I've just cooked about 6 kg of plums and damsons from my own trees and frozen.

SkaterGrrrrl, you have to ferment it...iirc with urine! (I think that's one method There are others thank goodness)

Woad???
Brilliant.
Is it, like, 1534 or summat?

oooh am loving this thread.
I am a bit of a novice in comparison to many of you.

I have apples, pears and plums in the garden.
I made chutney with the plums.
We make damson gin ready for christmas and I normally freeze all the blackberries to throw in crumbles over the winter. But none of that is particularly novel.

I have a friend who makes nettle soup. I would always be nervous to try that !

Ooh, i was just discussing this on facebook! We are currently using blackberries in nearly every meal, and freezing them in great quantities as well. Apparently nettles have a second "season" around now, so I'm going to attempt some cordial in the next few days.

I really fancy getting some seafood, we live in the north east, so plenty of coastline within a metro ride. Bit worried by being pregnant though, I'm usually pretty brave food wise, but don't want to somehow harm the baby.

My Uncle used to make bizarre wild wines and bring them out on Boxing day for all to try.
I remember Beech wine was nice.

Does anyone know how to make rosehip wine? Or shall I make it a syrup and add vodka to it upon serving

I've got rosehip syrup in my cupboard. I don't actually have to eat it-knowing it is there is good enough for me!

I used to love nettle soup. Haven't made it for years thoug. I may be inspired to have another go.

I could do with a new recipe book, something simple. I don't like recipes that need 24 different ingredients, and don't want one where the 'nettle recipe' only uses nettles as a token gesture. If I'm going to go to the trouble of finding something, it has to be worth it!

I saw a huge mushroom growing on a London pavement while walking to work yesterday! Will post a pic when I get it off my phone...

"Is it, like, 1534 or summat?"

You know I'm gonna garden like it's 1534!

DH forages for wild mushrooms, and this year we found a Sloe bush so decided to make some gin. It was bottled yesterday and it tastes fab!