Part 0800.0005

[jennydavies]

You're all more than welcome, a walk in the pine forest this time of year yields lovely little super sweet strawberries and lemons are ready for picking now bring the trailer

[Daphne]

Only just caught up with this thread - wild apricots and lemons, drool

 

My foraging encompasses mushrooms (lots of different types in our lovely local ancient woodlands), blackberries, sloes, elderflower, wild strawbs, ransomes (wild garlic), chestnuts, hazels and thats about it. I love food for free. I know in SW France in Spring people would also find some sort of wild sprue (ie very very very thin asparagus-type thing) in ditches.

 

Maybe see if you can get on a foraging walk OP? (sorry I can't seem to scroll right back and find your name.)

[stehaggan]

I was just wondering what people are foraging this time of the year then?

 

I have some elderflower champagne on the go - it looks a lot clearer than last year and a lot more fizz so im keeping an eye on it and making sure I open the caps.

 

I'm off for a walk in the country park this evening so any ideas what i should be looking out for at the moment?

 

thanks

[The Dogmother]

Wild raspberries and strawberries

[stehaggan]

I've changed the name of this to see if we can get some foraging info to each other with pictures so we know what to look for. I have tried to take a picture of the berry as it is with the leaf so if anyone knows what it would grow into that would be great. They may not be edible - i don't know

 

I am really new to it, i've just been out walking the dog for 2 hours and well I don't know what I have found - (even though I had my book with me). I have seen lots of brambles but no actual fruit.

 

1) I saw little pods a month or so ago and hoped they would be cherries - i'm pretty convinced now as they have stained my hand - i really want to make my fave - cherry brandy but think i will wait a few weeks for most of the fruit to ripen.

 

So wild cherrys do we think?

 

 

2) This was off a short bush growing at the side of a path, it was about chest height. The berry is about the height of about a 10p piece.

 

 

3) These are smaller than the last one - on a bigger tree, this one has some brown bits on but the others didnt.

 

 

4) I just spotted these on my way out in a hedgerow in with a lot of brambles and what i think is rosebuds.

 

 

5) These berrys a small and seem to be turning an orangy/brown colour.

 

 

Any ideas would be great so i can keep any eye on them if they are something good.

[stehaggan]

i took the plunge - the first one is definitely cherry mmmmmm

[Couperwife]

I was going to say 1 i definitely Cherry

 

2. i think is plum, or a cherry plum sort. we have them round here, i think they are ready mid to late august (i remember being off school when i collected them )

 

of I live in Teesside by the way, near the coast, if you live further south then your will be ready before ours

 

3. - no idea

 

4. rosehips

 

5. no idea

 

i found a wild gooseberry bush when I was D of E walking the other day, but there was only one tiny gooseberry on it i guess everyone else found it before me

 

cathy

x

[The Dogmother]

1 = bird cherry

 

2 = not sure

 

3 = looks like an unripe sloe

 

4 = Rose hip

 

5 = looks like Rowan to me - great for making apple and Rowan jelly when they are ripe.

 

Good haul, make a note of what you found and where so that you can go hedge-witching when they are ripe.

[Lesley]

I think 5 are Wild Service Tree berries - edible.

 

Not sure about 1 being Bird Cherry as the cherries look too big - bird cherries are only just larger than the stone....very little flesh on them. We had a bird cherry tree here and we cut it down and planted a Medlar and an apple tree instead as the berries were only fit for the birds....and they ignored them!

[Patricia W]

I've just picked 6kg of red wild plums. Four are for jam and 2 for making plum vodka! The yellow ones are just about ready too!

[stehaggan]

Oooh that is something i do want to find - plums!