Just found this - chutneys and jams made from hedgerows of britain!

[TelephoneTree]

All made by someone who lives on a boat on the british canals! Such a good idea I thought and the flavours look really unusual! e.g. pear& walnut, mulled plum, wild pear & chocolate, fennel flower & chilli plus others

I've just placed an order for christmas pressies, so I'll report back!

www.wildsidepreserves.co.uk/

I don't think I've ever seen a more middle class thread.

Ah god I read it as hedgehogs!

LOL @ hedgehogs. That might be a bit too unusual for me!
JJJ

Oh! I read it as middle aged!!

And of course illegal. Foraging in England/Wales is illegal and someone doing it commercially is going to make it harder for those of us who do it reasonably to continue.

I thought this was about making your own jam.

[suspicious face]

I've got a bit of a suspicious face to Cheddars but then that could just be my face .

I don't understand the illegal bit? Aren't you allowed to pick blackberries etc?

Cheddars. I've never made my own jam. I've been frightened off by all the sterilising and tops etc plus we don't really eat it enough to warrant me pushing through and learning how to do it.

No you aren't allowed to pick blackberries on other people's land. As long as its the occasional local who picks at most enough to make one batch of jam/pie then no-one cares, but the farmer could complain about theft/sue you for lost fruit.

The law is a different in Scotland (as are their access laws).

Actually it seems I'm (half) wrong, you can forage for person use BBC link. But you still can't do so for commercial purposes.

I'm intrigued now. I might contact them and see what they say.

Just seen this on the website, so not everything is foraged. I'll still email them though.

?Keeping our ingredients locally sourced is one of our main aims so when it has not been foraged, much of it comes from local gardens, farm shops and markets.

As some of their profit goes to the Canals and Rivers Trust it would seem that their "foraging" along waterways may be under some kind of reciprocal agreement? Before folk go off half cocked about what is and is not legal?

Well, I emailed them and this is what they replied:

To sell or make a profit in any way from foraged goods you must have the landowners permission. We have written permission from each landowner to forage on their land (hence the 25% on some lines). They were actually delighted to have been asked and very keen to accommodate us as it grieves them that so much fruit is wasted every year. Not to mention that it messes up the towpaths for other uses. If more people used it then it wouldn't go to waste. There is more than enough for everyone. Even so, I am very careful to forage responsible and I stick to the foraging code of never stripping a plant bare but always leaving some for wildlife, some for propagation and some for other foragers.

I'm impressed by them. And that's me told for being all grumpy and cynical

I'll let you know how my order goes though I forgot to order anything for myself so you will have to wait until after Christmas!

just been on website, all looks wonderful, going to order