Blackberries and other hedgerow food.

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TheEnglishman

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Blackberries and other hedgerow food.
« on: August 16, 2010, 15:41 »
I got a carrier bag full of blackberries at the weekend  :D   All either from my father's garden or at the local seaside in the dunes (Formby, if you must know) 

But could I get people interested in trying one at a BBQ later that evening?  I made a blackberry and apple crumble (Dad's got an old cooking apple tree that's older than me) and when I told people where the fruit was from no-one would touch it.

Do people really think food *has* to come from Sainsbury's to be edible???



Anyway, more for me - it was delicious!   

Anyway, I've only ever really harvested blackberries and sloes 'in the wild' - mainly 'cos I'm a town boy and have no idea what I'm looking for.

So what's out there that you get that's worth it and easy?
I am quite possibly the antithesis of green fingered

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Mosslane

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Re: Blackberries and other hedgerow food.
« Reply #1 on: August 16, 2010, 15:55 »
This is the best time of the year for free food.
Blackberries - Elderberies - Rosehips - Hawthorn berries - Rowan berries - Sloes to name a few
I have started picking the blackberries that grow in our lane. The elderberries will be a while yet but they make beautiful pies and excelent jam. Rosehips are a good source of vitamins if made into syrup. The hawthorn and rowan berries I boil up and strain the juice and then mix this to blackberries to make hedgrow jam or you can mix the juice with crab apples and make a lovely jelly that is great with cold meats etc.

If you search on the forum or the net there are loads of sites about foraging for free food.

Enjoy
The reward of a thing well done is to have done it....

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kevinp

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Re: Blackberries and other hedgerow food.
« Reply #2 on: August 16, 2010, 16:55 »
Made blackbery and apple jam last friday from blackberrys picked on the way to work, and plum jam, from, well believe it or not plums  :wacko:  picked from a wild plum tree at work. Plenty of sloes around not sure what I can do with them, I don't drink, I am also looking for hazel trees as well.

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Mosslane

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Re: Blackberries and other hedgerow food.
« Reply #3 on: August 16, 2010, 17:21 »
Sloes can be used for Sloe Jelly or if you boil with a small amount of water and strain the juice you can then add other fruit to the juice to make jams.

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Trillium

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Re: Blackberries and other hedgerow food.
« Reply #4 on: August 16, 2010, 18:51 »
I just discovered 2 ripe pear trees on the lot below ours, and pears dropping everywhere. Am watching for the owner so I can ask permission to gather them.

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Jamie Butterworth

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Re: Blackberries and other hedgerow food.
« Reply #5 on: August 16, 2010, 19:40 »
Just made a crumble using forgaed blackberries and apples :)
If you want to be happy for a short time - get drunk.

If you want to be happy for a long time - fall in love.

If you want to be happy forever - take up gardening!

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DensHens

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Re: Blackberries and other hedgerow food.
« Reply #6 on: August 16, 2010, 20:07 »
Last week made wild yellow plum jam, from plums collected from the hedgrows, some frozen for later use and at the weekend made Plum Crumble from the wild red ones.
    My local blackberrys wil be ready this week, yummm...

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pigeonpie

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Re: Blackberries and other hedgerow food.
« Reply #7 on: August 16, 2010, 20:15 »
Don't forget the joys of sloe gin!!! 
There are plenty of things you can make from rowan berry jelly to rose hip syrup.
The new river cottage book has just been released which is all about hedgerow produce

http://www.rivercottage.net/ShopProduct637/HedgerowRiverCottageHandbookNo7.aspx

I always find their books very good reading and with some fantastic recipes.  I ordered my copy the other day but as I'm working away at the moment I haven't seen it yet!  I can't wait to get my hungry paws on it and head out to scavenge!

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Plot18

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Re: Blackberries and other hedgerow food.
« Reply #8 on: August 16, 2010, 20:16 »
Not got any fruit on my plot this year, but there are huge blackberry brambles all around the perimeter fence.  Made jam last week & just had some fresh ones with ice cream tonight!  Going to make a pie next week, can't wait...

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digalotty

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Re: Blackberries and other hedgerow food.
« Reply #9 on: August 16, 2010, 21:27 »
at the end of my road there is a graveyard and all along the hedges it is rammed with blackberry's and rasberry's , guess where im going the weekend :)
when im with my 9yr old she's the sensible one

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2peasinapod

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Re: Blackberries and other hedgerow food.
« Reply #10 on: August 16, 2010, 21:32 »
Just polished orf a plum and Bberry crumble that tracy made yesterday.we also picked loads more plums some pears and apples.
i think there are also yellow plums or apricots on the site as well. the committe planted loads of various fruit trees duling the lull in allotment usage a few years ago, most look between 5-10 years old but there are some a lot older.
damsons should be ready soon as well.
going tuesday as well if weather holds.
dont permissum dandelions frendo vos down.

If it cant be pulled by hand,
1; its not ready
2; use a landrover...

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mumofstig

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Re: Blackberries and other hedgerow food.
« Reply #11 on: August 16, 2010, 22:11 »
at the end of my road there is a graveyard and all along the hedges it is rammed with blackberry's and rasberry's , guess where im going the weekend :)

I hope it's just for the fruit picking :blink:  :D

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willowman

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Re: Blackberries and other hedgerow food.
« Reply #12 on: August 17, 2010, 08:08 »
My friend and I went sort of scrumping last week.
A neighbours plum tree overhangs our garden and the plums were dropping, I was afraid they would damage my outbuildings so decided to remove as many plums as possible.

I know, officially, I should have offered them back to the neighbour, but there is an 8ft Leylandii hedge between us and from my house to his is a 20 minute round trip (just the way the roads are built).

So I decided he wouldn't object to me "liberating" the plums.

We collected 5 carrier bags, one for the helper, one for a jam-making friend and 3 for me, which converted into 10 kilos of stoned, halved plums.

Mind you, I got neck ache, back ache, and cramp in my hands from preparing them all.
I started out with nothing.....and I've still got most of it.

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arugula

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Re: Blackberries and other hedgerow food.
« Reply #13 on: August 17, 2010, 09:20 »
Mushrooms! I so wish I was brave enough to try harvesting some of these beauties. :)
"They say a snow year's a good year" -- Rutherford.

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JaK

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Re: Blackberries and other hedgerow food.
« Reply #14 on: August 17, 2010, 10:07 »
Mushrooms! I so wish I was brave enough to try harvesting some of these beauties. :)

I'm with on this but would not be sure enough what was what to know I wouldn't poison the family!!



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