Free food from hedgerows & countryside

[Zetetic]

I'd like to start preserving local blackberries in kilner jars for myself and for presents.

What other free food is easy to preserve?

[lighteningirl]

I have elderflower wine on my to do wish list I can see that needs upgrading to champagne.

[AnotherStitchInTime]

I have a book called Food For Free, which is a nice little guide to hedgerow dining.

My mum makes hip and haw jelly.

I want to get making nettle beer and elderflower champagne next year.

[Stratter5]

Damson is my favourite jam of all. Does anyone else haunt the reduced fruit and veg bit for potential jams victims?

Blackberry jelly is divine with a few star anise bunged in

[Zetetic]

Aha - found this and it says don't leave any longer than one year. Apparently it is a bad sign if it explodes.

momprepares.com/jars-of-canned-food-how-long-do-they-last/

[Zetetic]

One question. I need to write a use by date on my creations. How long does food last in kilner jars?

Your jam sounds lovely. Plentiful blackberry fields round here so I need to track down elderberries.

[cozietoesie]

The thought of that is actually making my mouth water. My most favourite jam of all time was some damson my mother made - now she did have the jam knack - and damsons are a fruit that could be well represented I think.

[lighteningirl]

I made BlackBerry and elderberry jam this year it is gorgeous much nicer than straight BlackBerry and good for arthritis

[cozietoesie]

The cloudberry and lingonberry liquors arrived yesterday. I haven't tried them yet, though.

[Stratter5]

Same here, I don't produce enough to warrant getting one, can't wait to move.

Ben Fogle programme is fascinating btw. Goals.

[Zetetic]

Those Amazon wish lists are lethal. I keep putting things in there and then taking them out again when I see what I have 'spent'.

I've only just bought a Dutch Oven. Musn't get tempted by a dehydrator when I don't even have anything to dehydrate as yet!

[Stratter5]

I have a dehydrator in my Amazon Wish List.

I could live on pickled herring, tony, love the stuff

[atticusclaw2]

I have this one.

dehydrator

[cozietoesie]

Is it an electric device, atticus?

[atticusclaw2]

Its very easy. Its not quick but you literally just chop most things, put them on the racks and turn it on. Most things take about 8 hours but it depends on how small you chop things.

I have jars of the following:

mushrooms (various types)
onions
peppers
tomatoes
aubergines
courgettes
butternut squash
potatoes
carrots
strawberries
raspberries
pineapple
mango
apples (various types)
banana

They will last for years if the jar is clean and properly sealed (although the pineapple never lasts since I eat it all).

[cozietoesie]

*Produce

Sorry

[cozietoesie]

I hope you live near a shop that has lots of 'Wholesome Prouce Eat Today' before closing. (Or some fruit trees in a nearby garden or orchard.) You could have a field day.

I don't know much about dehydrating, I'm afraid. I come from a tradition where you pretty well ate what was fresh - apart from jams and jellies. (Not even enough apples for a storage barrel I'm afraid.)

[Zetetic]

That is the stockpile.

I've wondered about a dehydrater. Is it a quick easy process to dehydrate fruit?

[atticusclaw2]

Oo that's very fancy. Does your entire stockpile have lovely bows on it?

Has anyone else got a dehydrater? I use mine a lot, particularly when I go to the supermarket and fruit is being sold off cheaply. Wild raspberries and blackberries from the woods work well and are good for eating with cereal.

[cozietoesie]

Hey - that's no problem. It's just that if you only made the one, it won't last until the festive season because you'll be too anxious to try it. Once you're an old hand at these, you'll knock them out like shelling peas.

Besides which, I'm full of awe at it - I'm a soup maker of some repute but I have no instinct or skill for preserves.

PS - of course you could pickle herring, tony - it's a traditional way of preserving it.

[Zetetic]

Only had enough pears left for one. Told you it was a small start!

[swisscheesetony]

LOVE TEOTWAWKI jaunty bow!

I have about 30 jars in my pantry which need filling...

Could I pickle herring?

[cozietoesie]

Well done you! How many jars did you manage?

[Zetetic]

Pears in brandy, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves. A first effort.

[cozietoesie]

I recall raising the topic of plentiful berry crops as a foretaste of winter weather with an insurance company executive once. (Our corporate cover was being re-negotiated.)

He thought I was joking. Big mistake.

[BorderTerrierControl]

It was a good year for bilberries/blaeberries in the peaks too There's a few acres of moor around 20 mins on foot from where I live that's usually pretty good, but this year was completely packed. I'm not much of a pudding person so I usually make them into mucky mouth jam.

Not found cloudberries around here yet, but have stumbled upon crowberries a few times. They're a bit shit to be honest- there's only a few per patch and they're nothing special taste or nutrient wise so I leave them for the birds.

Herbs is an area I would like to learn more about as well. I have a copy of Bartram's Encyclopedia but I've never made much use of it, or read more widely on the subject.