[Ice]

I must admit I stay away from fungi, I just haven't got the knowledge. This week I've pickled dandelion buds, last week nettle haggis and dandelion pancakes. And I've finally got up the nerve to pick snails, remarkable harder than you'd think to find a meal full. 

Note to self.........Don't accept a dinner invitation from this member.

[tiasmum]

Its a really good time to collect elder flowers, both for cordial and champaign,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus

[sunshineband]

I must admit I stay away from fungi, I just haven't got the knowledge. This week I've pickled dandelion buds, last week nettle haggis and dandelion pancakes. And I've finally got up the nerve to pick snails, remarkable harder than you'd think to find a meal full. 

I hadn't realised until I saw aprogramme on TV this week that the large Roman snails (which do not inhabit gardens!) are in fact a protected species now 

[Raven50]

Hi Everyone,
We are great foragers for wild food, it's a great way to supplement the produce from your plot, and gives access to flavours and textures you won't find anywhere else  

At this time of year it's all about Elderflowers. These large shrubs/small trees grow everwhere, and are something whose smell you love, as I do, or think it smells like tomcats, as my daughter does  
Elderflower cordial is really easy to make, and is great for flavouring ice-cream (cheat and buy a good quality plain ice-cream, defrost a little and beat the cordial in to taste, then refreeze!) or for glugging into a cold glass of fizzy wine on a hot day. There's a couple of good recipes on the bbc.co.uk/food website, or at the same thing on the Channel 4 one.
Note - several recipes mention citric acid, which you can get from Boots and other chemists for a pound or two, and it lasts for ages.
Once you've made the cordial, there are loads of ways to use it in different recipes.  

Another way to use them is to make champagne, we have tried this ourselves once and it was lively, to say the least! There's a good recipe here -
 http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/elderflower-champagne-recipe.

But PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING WARNING taken from the webpage -

"Use STRONG bottles and strong seals. A really active mixture can produce a lot of gas if left for a long period, so do remember to let it off regularly to prevent explosions!"

It's a good job they were in the allotment shed, is all I can say  

I'll try and update the topic as the year progresses, and if anyone has any suggestions for other foraged favourites I'd love to hear about them!

A Note about the berries - I collect equal quantities of hawthorn hips, blackberries and elderberries from the playing field at the back of our house, cook and strain the juice through a muslin bag and use it to make jelly/jam. Delicious! But be warned, elderberries are a laxative if you use too many or try to eat them raw 

[arugula]

This post fits in fine with our free and wild food topic.

[allotmentann]

Elderflower cordial is good, I have just made 9 litres of it! I discovered recently that a lot of Indian grocers sell citric acid (in with the spices), it is far cheaper than buying from the chemist. I am hoping to find something nice to do with the berries.

[sunshineband]

Ann, elderberry wine is an excellent use for the berries 

They also go well in hedgerow jam, in smallish quantities 

[arugula]

Ann, elderberry wine is an excellent use for the berries 

They also go well in hedgerow jam, in smallish quantities 

I'll second both those statements sunny.

[ANHBUC]

This is a recipe for a cough syrup made with elderberries, it had an excellent review.  I haven't tried doing it yet as we didn't have any berries last year due to much needed pruning! 

www.greenmanherbalist.co.uk/elderberry_syrup.html

[Madame Cholet]

made some elderberry and apple jam last year I liked it!

[rhysdad]

Apart from blackberries, this year is going to be a bit thin on the ground for wild food. Even my local damson trees are nearly bare! No apples or pears on the trees I've found, no hawberries, zilch! I do worry for the wildlife if we have a cold Winter...

[mobilekat]

I have been feeding the birds all 'summer' and its been the busiest every- they have gone through more food this summer than they normally do in winter.
And like you said many trees are bare. Only think I have seen doing well is one local Rowan.

Hope for everyones sake that next year is better!

[arugula]

Apart from blackberries, this year is going to be a bit thin on the ground for wild food.

There are lots of brambles on the bushes, its just that they're tiny.

[grendel]

unfortunately near here is a nice patch of wild plums bullace and damson trees, they are totally not able to be picked as they are on the hard shoulder of a very major dual carriageway half way up a steep hill, you only see the top 10 foot ofr so of the trees as they are on a steep bank, and you cant get to the bottom of the bank, so every year I am foced to watch the plums fall and slowly rot as I drive past. stopping at that location would be suicide as there is only a few feet width of hard shoulder to the barrier, and huge lorries hug the edge of the white line going up the hill as all the cars pass them, the nrearest spot to pull over has to be a mile away, so its just sad.
Grendel

[Raven50]

I picked my first blackberries mid-week, from the alleyway behind my terrace that leads to a playing field. There were far more than I could pick in one session, so I just had a few to put in a crumble with some apples - lovely 
The last couple of years I have made a 'Hedgerow Jelly' from berries and haws I collect from the playing field. It's an easy recipe - collect equal quantities of blackberries, Hawthorn haws and elderberries, put in a large pan with about a pint of water (for approx 1 kilo of berries) and simmer gently to bring the juices out. Leave to drain in muslin or a jelly bag over a large bowl overnight, then measure the resulting juice and add an equal quantity of jam sugar (the sort with the pectin already added). Bring up to setting temperature and decant into sterilised jars. That's it! It goes equally well with meat as well as sweets - it makes a great filling for a victoria sponge - and tastes, oddly, a bit like blackcurrant jam...