[sunshineband]

Nice one cc, hazel nuts are going mad near me, will be harvesting soon.
Cheers
Aled

Ooh I wish! Squirrels always eat them before we get to them.

Blackberries are plentiful though, and elderberries beginning to ripen. Considering hedgerow preserves .....

[cc]

Nice one cc, hazel nuts are going mad near me, will be harvesting soon.
Cheers
Aled

Walked a couple hedges which are regularly trimmed but not relaid. No point as they don't keep cattle. All of them have been taken over by other plants/trees.
BlackBerry, field Maple, blackthorn elder and hazel.
4 of the above are forageable. I am not going to try it but all maple trees produce maple syrup..supposedly!
Blackberry bushs absolutely hammered elderberry look the same.

[cc]

Nice one cc, hazel nuts are going mad near me, will be harvesting soon.
Cheers
Aled

Did a bit of opening my eyes the other day. A hawthorn hedge had been taken over by blackthorn (sloes), Hazel (nuts) elderberry (elderberry wine), blackberry...blackberry! And field maple, the latter would be pushing it!!

[lillyjane]

  A sunny good morning to everyone. As a newbie I'd thought I'd share with you my free and wild food attempts this year. From my two Elder tree/shrubs in my backyard I made 12 gallons of Elderflower champagne which then became wine as there was not enough fizz to call it champagne, and yesterday I made a gallon of Elderberry wine which is nicely fermenting. I'm now on the lookout for more Elderberries to make more wine. Also made a pot and a half of greengage jam which has set really well - maybe a little too much, but I'm not complaining.
  Today I'm thinking about making Plum Jam, Plum Sauce, Plum Pickle, Spiced Roasted Plums as we were given a lot of Victoria plums the other day.
  I've also noticed some gorgeous looking blackberries not far from our house, so they are next on the list for converting into wine perhaps, or maybe jam, or use in a blackberry and apple crumble.
  Later on when the sloes are ready, it's Sloe Gin making time. At the moment our sloes are very small and not in abundance for the second year running. Prior to that we had a very good harvest, so I was able to make Sloe Gin, Sloe wine from the left-over pulp (very dry and an acquired taste as it's not what we call a glug-able wine) and lastly Elderberry cheese. I like to try and make the most out of the left-overs!
  What's next I wonder?

[New shoot]

Morning lillyjane and welcome to the site 

There is a brewing bit of the forum, where you will find some ideas.

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?board=8.0

Also a group who like preserving - this is 1 thread, but there are lots more around.

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=124043.0

There are also loads of recipes in the main site.

http://www.allotment-garden.org/recipe/category/chutney-jam-val/

That should give you lots of ideas 

[lillyjane]

Thanks New Shoot...I'll be taking a look shortly as there's so much going on on this website.

[New shoot]

We do have a lot of interests on here as well as gardening 

Foraging, cooking, preserving and brewing/wine making seem to go hand in hand with the growing side of things though.

[Growster...]

Elder Daught gave me a trio of sloe bushes for my birthday, Lillyjane, and they're safely potted up to get going before we find a permanent home for them!

Several chums in the village have told me where to get some free, and I suppose I should really go and find them, as sloe gin is just fabulous!

BTW, if you're anywhere near Marden, try their Anno gin, it's fabulous and also, if your pocket's deep enough, let me know what the elderflower vodkas is like...

And also, welcome to the site, we are all good chums here!

[cc]

Anyone noticed near them that some Sloesare a early this year? Not all trees just a few and not the normal amount. This maybe normal not sure anyone?

[cc]

Trying to work out how to destone fruit. Found 5 damson (I think) trees. Want to use them in my blender? Also want to freeze a lot again for the blender. Any ideas for an easy method?

[lillyjane]

Hi Growster and many thanks for the welcome. 
We have tried the Anno Gin as MOH had a gift pack given to him earlier on in the year. Very very nice! I tried making the elderflower vodka earlier this year but it didn't turn out well, so I'll give it another try next year.
Looking forward to making the sloe gin later on this year though. Hope you find a good place to plant your sloe bushes. How long will it be before you can start picking the berries?

[lillyjane]

Hi CC... our sloes are small but they are not ready for picking yet and there are not as many in previous years. Guess I'll have to wait until later on this year.

[lillyjane]

Luck to have found the damson trees CC.... the only method I know of to remove the stones is to cut the fruit in half longways and then twist the two halves. Most of the time one half will come away clean leaving the stone in the other . You can then pull or gently remove the stone using the point of a knife. It's very labour intensive though. Good luck.

[Growster...]

Hi Growster and many thanks for the welcome. 
We have tried the Anno Gin as MOH had a gift pack given to him earlier on in the year. Very very nice! I tried making the elderflower vodka earlier this year but it didn't turn out well, so I'll give it another try next year.
Looking forward to making the sloe gin later on this year though. Hope you find a good place to plant your sloe bushes. How long will it be before you can start picking the berries?

You're very welcome, Lillyjane!

I need to sort out a bed for them as they turn into a big bush (apparently), and at the moment, there really isn't room... I'm a true novice on sloes, but have just this hour been offered a load of damsons by a chum in the High Street, so life is just great!

Glad you liked the Anno gin, we'll be over there in Marden in The West End Tavern again soon, and no doubt the optic will be lowered by several centimetres after elder daught gets going...

Must try the elderflower though...

[cc]

Luck to have found the damson trees CC.... the only method I know of to remove the stones is to cut the fruit in half longways and then twist the two halves. Most of the time one half will come away clean leaving the stone in the other . You can then pull or gently remove the stone using the point of a knife. It's very labour intensive though. Good luck.

Turned out to be 8 trees Damson.  Neighbour said I owe her a favour so I cycled over for some. All the trees are far to tall to get at most of the damsons but easily filled 2 shopping bags for neighbour. Away from home till Tuesday so will go back and hammer it when I get back. Fruit always left to rot so don't feel the urge to ask permission!!  Neighbour gave me apples will freeze for my nutribullet device. I would guess I have about 4 probably more kilos of blackberrys . will also hammer the field and wood blewits as they have turned out to freeze really well. Glad I bought the spare freezer!!