A chickychickychick-ENN!! Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Does anyone on here forage headgerows for wild salad, mushrooms and the like? Anna x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 I'm not brave enough yet to forage for mushrooms but I do pick berries such as blackberries, rowan, elderberries, rosehips, sloes etc plus elderflowers in the summer and hazelnuts and crab apples in the autumn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 we've picked blackberries for years, started with elderflowers/berries this year, also found wild apple trees and (if you can call this foraging) requested surplus fruit on freecycle and got 2 crates full of pears! I wanted to go on this on saturday but Ian is working but others in cheshire might be interested, if you go, let me know how you got on Saturday 11th October Fungal Foray An all day event with Cheshire & Flintshire Fungal Group in Mersey Basin Campaign Weekend. Meets: Anytime between 10.30am - 2.30pm, Marbury Country Park Contact: Frances Findlay Phone: 01606 44727 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 We went for a walk in the woods behind Chedworth Roman villa the weekend before last and there were tons of fungi, we picked some common puffballs, but after carrying them around on the walk and then in the car on the way home the smell was too much and we couldn't eat them We scattered them amongst the bark chipping in the front garden in a hope that the spores might some out and they might grow. We are going for a walk with my Auntie in a couple of weeks who has been on a couple of Ray Mears survival courses and varios mushroom identification course and she knows the common edible ones, so she is going to show us where to look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagazer Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 I used to go foraging with a friend of mine. She had a book so we didn't pick anything dodgy. It used to be great fun and the kids enjoyed it. Sadly she died a few years back and at her funeral the vicar was joking that in the old days she would have probably been known as a witch for all the things she gathered and made - it bought a smile to everyones lips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 I'd love to, but wouldn't know where to start, I wonder if there are any course/groups near me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenanne Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Berries, rosehips and the like - yes I do, but I do worry a bit about the apprant growth in popularity: less left for birds etc....mushrooms etc- just don't have the nerve! Or the knowledge for that matter.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 I've never been brave enough to do more than blackberry picking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Berries and the like most definitely! But wish I knew more about fungi! Found loads of wonderful looking, huge 'shrooms under a group of horse chestnuts the other week. OH desperatley wanted to take them home but I was too wary. They looked like 'normal' ones but I wasn't confident enough to risk it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tessa the Duchess Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Not too many hedgerows down here in 'the smoke' We do go blackberrying on Hamstead Heath every year. In my wine making days I used to pick Elderflowers too. I have been on a couple of mushroom identification rambles with an 'expert' and while I trusted his judgement, I don't trust my own. There are actually very few really deadly mushrooms, most of them are just tasteless and not worth eating. However the deadly ones are really deadly the author of 'The Horse Whisperer', can't remember his name, was in hospital recently, very ill after foraging and eating wild mushrooms Tessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 I'm not brave enough yet to forage for mushrooms but I do pick berries such as blackberries, rowan, elderberries, rosehips, sloes etc plus elderflowers in the summer and hazelnuts and crab apples in the autumn. I am the same - we womble for berries, wild apples, nuts and herbs but I'm not happy to pick any funghi. My grandmother did though and knew all the plant names and uses in both English and Italian. How to kill, prepare and cook any edible wild animal, and where to dig for truffles. A friend of mine is a herbalist (and Druid) and Rosie always refers to her as a 'white witch' ...another Italian! http://www.justuk.net/just/pages/just_gabriella_this_month.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 LSH calls me th "Hedge Witch" because I make concoctions out of hederow things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A chickychickychick-ENN!! Posted October 7, 2008 Author Share Posted October 7, 2008 There was a professional forager at the Whitstable Oyster Fair last year and he made a salad out of stuff he found round the harbour. It was amazing - just some balsamic, olive oil and sea salt and pepper as dressing. I hate packet salad and want to try to find basic leafy things for salads year round. Mushrooms - I went on a fungal foray in a cemetery with an expert. There was so much! But I wouldn't do it on my own - the innocent ones can look too similar to the bad ones to my feeble eyes. It took us about half an hour last night to debate whether the OH's catch from sea fishing was poor cod or pouting. It was pouting. I thought it was, but he did a lot of internet trundling to be sure. I suppose fishing counts as sea foraging, so we're on the way! And we have a bumper bag of hazelnuts and walnuts. We were watching What To Eat Now last night, full of fresh, local autumny goodness foods, and the OH announced 'I like eating acorns.' He meant hazelnuts. He's bad on identification. Anna x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Wow, she is gorgeous Claret I have collected berries for many years,& have this year looked for elderberries which I had to ask for on Freecycle, & plums too I love it - there is nothing like the sense of achievement after making something from the bushes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-s Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 I pick Blackberries and Raspberries, but wouldn't have the confidence to look for edible Fungi. I remember my Uncle taking me out to pick Bluebuttons when I was a child, they were big flat mushrooms and very tasty. We have a big elderberry tree at the bottom of the garden, the berries are not ripe yet. I have never pick Elderberries before so not sure what to do with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 I love going down the lane with a large tub trug and seeing what I can 'womble' - thanks Claret. I always get blackberries, rosehips (usually for decoration) elderflowers/berries and wild apples. Sloes, if they are around and anything else I can find. I have never pick Elderberries before so not sure what to do with them. Use a fork to get them off the stalks Ali and then boil them up with a little water until they burst. You can then strain them through a jelly bag and make elderberry jelly or mix with apple and make a lovely jam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Christian,I made a fab Hedgerow jelly with crabs,Elderberries & blackberries - I think it was from the RC preserves book. The children & Brian adore it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 So does Ollie ! I made that as well after a hedgerow forage and it's delicious. I made a garden version with apples, blackberries and plums and it wasn't nearly as nice as the hedgerow one with elderberries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-s Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 I have never pick Elderberries before so not sure what to do with them. Use a fork to get them off the stalks Ali and then boil them up with a little water until they burst. You can then strain them through a jelly bag and make elderberry jelly or mix with apple and make a lovely jam. Thanks I'll give the jam a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Absolutely! As well as the usual nuts and berries:- Ceps (Porcini) are particularly wonderful and there has been a glut of them this year thanks to the rain. They make wonderful omelettes and risottos and you can dry them to add to stews. Field mushrooms and parasols grow happily in city parks as well as the countryside.You can even eat fairy ring mushrooms if you pick them young before they get stringy. Shaggy ink caps like mowed lawns and often pop up in gardens but beware they contain a fungal form of Antabuse so will make you vomit if you have alcohol with them My mother in law found a giant puffball in her garden a few weeks ago so we ate it fried in thick slices with some bacon and our eggs. It was a feast! We find blewits and chanterelles here as well. I have never found a morel which is a spring mushroom and a delicacy and I would love to find a truffle ... they go so well with scrambled eggs!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Christian,I made a fab Hedgerow jelly with crabs,Elderberries & blackberries - I think it was from the RC preserves book.The children & Brian adore it Forgot to post that Sarah. It is one of the first jellies I made. The elderberries add something to it don't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 I made elderberry cordial once.. didn't bother again Not particularly nice and no-one drank it... what a waste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackrocksrock Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 This happened near Ali S and I up in Scotland in September and so would be scared to forage for mushrooms myself now http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/poisonous-mushrooms-put-horse-whisperer-author-in-hospital-917198.html They are still on dialysis to this day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 This happened near Ali S and I up in Scotland in September and so would be scared to forage for mushrooms myself nowhttp://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/poisonous-mushrooms-put-horse-whisperer-author-in-hospital-917198.html They are still on dialysis to this day. I would never be brave enough to eat a mushroom that wasn't completely identifiable. If it could be mistaken for something else, I'd leave well alone. For example, DA's puffball feast sounds really scrummy Puffballs can't be mistaken for anything else can they? This is why I would have loved to go on that course. One of these days we will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassett Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 We go mushroom picking a few times every autumn. My mum is a mushroom 'expert' so I'll normally persuade her to come with us, to keep us from poisoning ourselves. The children love it as it's a great excuse for them to run around the woods, with the added excitement of finding mushrooms. They also love blackberrying, although most get eaten before we get home! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
