Eating For Free

[bendy]

Just reading about if it's legal to dig up horseradish (as I'm going to regardless) and stumbled on dock leaves actually being edible.

Obviously there's a load more stuff out there that grows that we can eat, but my main thing would be how to get enough protein :S

I'm not botanically educated - anyone any idea if eating for free might've been easy in the days of lore (e.g. before supermarkets, ridiculous monetary systems and councils/governements supporting the aforementioned)?

[happy_renting]

Just reading about if it's legal to dig up horseradish (as I'm going to regardless) and stumbled on dock leaves actually being edible.

Obviously there's a load more stuff out there that grows that we can eat, but my main thing would be how to get enough protein :S

I'm not botanically educated - anyone any idea if eating for free might've been easy in the days of lore (e.g. before supermarkets, ridiculous monetary systems and councils/governements supporting the aforementioned)?

It's free if you own the land it grows on.

Some people get lots of free land because their g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g--granddad fought with William of Normandy.

That's where you might go wrong.

[MrPin]

Just reading about if it's legal to dig up horseradish (as I'm going to regardless) and stumbled on dock leaves actually being edible.

Obviously there's a load more stuff out there that grows that we can eat, but my main thing would be how to get enough protein :S

I'm not botanically educated - anyone any idea if eating for free might've been easy in the days of lore (e.g. before supermarkets, ridiculous monetary systems and councils/governements supporting the aforementioned)?

Be careful with "mushrooms"! There's a lot of "free food" out there! Seems to be a skill my "country bumpkin" dad still has!

[Frank Hovis]

I've also wondered how easy it is to even live on thsi stuff for a week in autmun when it's all around, I forage but really it's just garnishes and snacks. I sample a lot of greens but the only ones that grow with sufficient profusion to make it worthwhile, and taste fantastic, are sea beet (cook as spinach) and marsh samphire (quick microwave then eat like asparagus with butter).

I found some hottentot figs last month, picked ten or so but really struggled to get through them. One or two are lovely but after that you start getting a salt overload.

You need to keep chickens or go fishing to get your protein, I've been talking to somebody who fishes for sea bass at work and that seems to be something not requiring overmuch skill.

Richard Mabey's "Food for Free" is a permanent bedside book. One day I'll find wild angelica, I will.

[bendy]

do no nuts grow in this country then?

as in would they do if it wasn't for the councils getting the bulldozers/industrial hedge trimmers out.

[MrPin]

I've also wondered how easy it is to even live on thsi stuff for a week in autmun when it's all around,

Richard Mabey's "Food for Free" is a permanent bedside book. One day I'll find wild angelica, I will.

Is that CCC's ex mental burd?

[Frank Hovis]

do no nuts grow in this country then?

as in would they do if it wasn't for the councils getting the bulldozers/industrial hedge trimmers out.

I think it's only sweet chestnuts that really work as food but everybody else seems to know that as well! It's very rare that I get more than two or three decent ones.

[stormymonday_2011]

do no nuts grow in this country then?

as in would they do if it wasn't for the councils getting the bulldozers/industrial hedge trimmers out.

Plenty of hazelnuts but they require soaking and heating before you can eat them

The preparation time and energy used in the quite long cooking process means that they could not really be described as free food

[dances with sheeple]

Saw a documentary on a group of "liggers" who operated in London some years ago. They basically just turned up at art galleries, wine tastings, food tastings, any events that were free or they could blag their way into that had food and drink laid on. Obviously in London they could do this for years with a bit of organisation, but it did seem pretty sad and desperate, especially to be stuffing your face and running to the next event when there were people there who wanted to talk and socialise around the event that was going on. Knew a guy years ago that went on the run from a young offenders place, and survived quite a few weeks just shoplifting food and grabbing fruit off market stalls that kind of thing, can`t remember if they caught him or if he gave up because it was just easier and warmer back inside

[bendy]

If I wasn't such a foodhead I'd try and research a bit more and then try it for a month!

As it is, I'm making dumplings!

I think it would be an interesting experiment though, good for anyone wanting to diet surely lol.

[bendy]

Plenty of hazelnuts but they require soaking and heating before you can eat them

Oooo blimey - pressure cook/steam an option? Don't even know what they look like in the wild!

Our (my) relationship with food even though pretty comprehensive IMHO is still pretty embarasing

[MrPin]

Oooo blimey - pressure cook/steam an option? Don't even know what they look like in the wild!

Our (my) relationship with food even though pretty comprehensive IMHO is still pretty embarasing

They look like Hazelnuts Mr Bendy. Maybe the tube doesn't go far enough for you? I live beyond it's reach!

[winkie]

do no nuts grow in this country then?

as in would they do if it wasn't for the councils getting the bulldozers/industrial hedge trimmers out.

Yes, cob/hazelnuts and walnuts grow well......I have always thought instead of growing horse chestnut trees they should have planted chestnut trees....al least then the conkers would be edible.

[Frank Hovis]

Acorns are edible if you soak them for ages, bury them in sand etc. Native American tribes did this a lot when they were plentiful.

I haven't been tempted, especially after reading this story recently:

Scores of animals poisoned in the Forest

10:31am Friday 22nd November 2013

By Chris Yandell

A BUMPER crop of acorns has killed more than 60 animals in the New Forest – the worst figure for seven years.

A total of 47 ponies and 16 cattle have died after eating acorns, which are lethal to some species but not others.

Now animal owners are calling for pigs to be given more time to hoover up the deadly crop.

Acorns contain toxic tannins that are poisonous to horses, cows and sheep. But pigs, which can eat large numbers of acorns with no ill-effect, are released into the Forest for at least 60 days to eat fallen acorns, beech mast and chestnuts.

This year’s pannage season has already been extended by six weeks to December 15 because of the large number of acorns.

The Official Verderer, Dominic May, said: “There are still acorns which have not fallen and in some places there’s a carpet of uneaten acorns under oak trees.

“It may be that a further extension is appropriate but we feel it’s too early to decide now.”

The Agisters, who are employed by the Verderers to deal with animal welfare issues in the Forest, will review the situation on December 2.

Their views will be relayed to the Forestry Commission’s most senior officer in the area, deputy surveyor Mike Seddon.

Mr May said: “If the Agisters recommend an extension the deputy surveyor will be asked to agree it and pig keepers will be notified of the new end date.”

Acorns can cause colic in ponies and other species as well as kidney damage.

Sue Westwood, clerk to the Verderers, said this year’s animal toll was the highest since 2006, when 47 deaths were recorded. She added: “We might only get four to six deaths in an average year.

“But every few years we get a glut of acorns, especially when the weather conditions are right.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if there are hardly any acorns in 2014.”

http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/district/newforest/10828178.print/

[stormymonday_2011]

Saw a documentary on a group of "liggers" who operated in London some years ago. They basically just turned up at art galleries, wine tastings, food tastings, any events that were free or they could blag their way into that had food and drink laid on. Obviously in London they could do this for years with a bit of organisation, but it did seem pretty sad and desperate, especially to be stuffing your face and running to the next event when there were people there who wanted to talk and socialise around the event that was going on. Knew a guy years ago that went on the run from a young offenders place, and survived quite a few weeks just shoplifting food and grabbing fruit off market stalls that kind of thing, can`t remember if they caught him or if he gave up because it was just easier and warmer back inside

Ligging has been going on for decades in London.

The urban dictionary's claim that it was popularised by the NME in the 1990s is rubbish

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ligger

I can remember the term being used by music journalists in that paper during the mid 1970s and I am sure it was common practice going back to the 1960s

I suppose getting stuff free off the 'man' was the rationale for people blagging their way into events (ie the justification was that it was an alternative form of protest)

Anyway like all such gatecrashing it is much easier to do if you are good looking woman.

[LiveinHope]

Depends where you live and also if you can store food. I am sure it's doable and often think I would enjoy giving it a try, but foraging takes time.

Living by the coast is a plus for protein - Mussels, periwinkles, limpets, the snakelocks anemone (Anemonia sulcata), crabs, prawns, shrimps, and of course fish - mackerel give themselves up. You can also harvest Porphyra and sea kale.

Plenty of hedgerow food, garlic, nettles, crab apples, chestnuts, rose hips, hazel nuts, blackberries, sloes, rowan berries etc etc.

And there is always road kill, especially if you live near a shoot - pheasants, rabbits, hares.

Currently, I have about 20 pheasants (diced up) in the freezer (half a pheasant in a casserole will give 4 meals), 2 hares, and a lot of mackerel (enough for two a week until they are back in the sea next spring), 30lb mushrooms (best autumn for a while), 30lb blackberries (I have a load of stored Bramley apples because I know where there is a tree ), a few lb of chestnuts. In the cupboard there is about 30lb of crab apple jelly, 20lb blackberry jelly and 15 lb of sloe jelly (ok I had to buy the sugar), and about 5lb of wild garlic pesto (had to buy the parmesan and olive oil)

Growing veg can be free if you keep your own seeds.

Rear chickens and feed them on your scraps.

Bread would be tricky.

But beware of the law - for instance you can't legally pick up a road kill pheasant if you are the one who killed it; the next person to arrive on the scene can.

And then there are licences, that this chap is fighting against.

[MrPin]

Yes, cob/hazelnuts and walnuts grow well......I have always thought instead of growing horse chestnut trees they should have planted chestnut trees....al least then the conkers would be edible.

Ah it sounds like Christmas already! Roasting conkers around a disused boiler! At least they all end up in hospital!

[stormymonday_2011]

Oooo blimey - pressure cook/steam an option? Don't even know what they look like in the wild!

Our (my) relationship with food even though pretty comprehensive IMHO is still pretty embarasing

You can eat them raw but like many nuts they have an enzyme inhibitor in them that can make them hard to digest

On clay soils like the Surrey and Sussex Weald they grow profusely. In fact there is still a fair industry in coppicing and harvesting hazel to make hurdles and fencing since they are much nicer to look at than the larch lap crap so many people use to fence their gardens and which invariably blows over or disintegrates in the first strong gale

[Nuggets Mahoney]

Just reading about if it's legal to dig up horseradish (as I'm going to regardless) and stumbled on dock leaves actually being edible.

Obviously there's a load more stuff out there that grows that we can eat, but my main thing would be how to get enough protein :S

I'm not botanically educated - anyone any idea if eating for free might've been easy in the days of lore (e.g. before supermarkets, ridiculous monetary systems and councils/governements supporting the aforementioned)?

Before the development of agriculture, the carrying capacity of this planet was something in the order of a few tens of millions of people. Those were people who knew what they were doing, in a pristine environment and had spread out across the entire globe, with the exception of NZ and few other islands.

To get by as a hunter gatherer you'd be needing something (very roughly) in the order of a couple of square miles per person. If you start systematically growing and storing stuff, that'd drop down to (very roughly) the order of an acre.

Proteins wouldn't be much of a problem if you've got some pulses/ legumes on the go. Fats not so easy.

[Frank Hovis]

Before the development of agriculture, the carrying capacity of this planet was something in the order of a few tens of millions of people. Those were people who knew what they were doing, in a pristine environment and had spread out across the entire globe, with the exception of NZ and few other islands.

To get by as a hunter gatherer you'd be needing something (very roughly) in the order of a couple of square miles per person. If you start systematically growing and storing stuff, that'd drop down to (very roughly) the order of an acre.

Proteins wouldn't be much of problem if you've got some pulses/ legumes on the go. Fats not so easy.

A lovely example of early population was shown on the Alan Titchmarsh natural history of Britain series (surprisingly excellent, gets re-runs on Yesterday), he went to a football game (Yeovil I think) and said look around, this is about the population of the UK before farming, 15,000.

[Nuggets Mahoney]

... as for the horseradish, it's an invasive plant that will come on strong if you leave, as you invariably will, a few fragments of root in the ground. It can be difficult to wipe it out even if you're deliberately trying to.

[Rave]

I'm not particularly fussed about living for free, but I do fancy some fresh wild horseradish. Where does it grow?

[Nuggets Mahoney]

I'm not particularly fussed about living for free, but I do fancy some fresh wild horseradish. Where does it grow?

It's not a native plant and doesn't generally grow in the 'wild'. It's keen on marginal locations - waste ground, roadsides, the edges of open spaces. It's not rare. It's more about knowing what it looks like and being bothered to dig it up.

On the subject of protein and stuff that grows on waste ground which people walk by without bothering with...

wiki: Fat Hen

...comparable with spinach. It grows unprompted on the margins of an allotment I work. I eat it. Everyone else on the site, except a Bangladeshi couple, tears it up and chucks it.

[juvenal]

A lovely example of early population was shown on the Alan Titchmarsh natural history of Britain series (surprisingly excellent, gets re-runs on Yesterday), he went to a football game (Yeovil I think) and said look around, this is about the population of the UK before farming, 15,000.

Early Britain has been described as a vast game reserve, populated with a few thousand people moving in small family groups. Game migration patterns and the seasons determined where they were to be found.

[dances with sheeple]

Ligging has been going on for decades in London.

The urban dictionaries claim that it was popularised by the NME in the 1990s is rubbish

http://www.urbandict...php?term=ligger

I can remember the term being used by music journalists in that paper during the mid 1970s and I am sure it was common practice going back to the 1960s

I suppose getting stuff free of the 'man' was the rationale for people blagging their way into events (ie the justification was that it was an alternative form of protest)

Anyway like all such gatecrashing it is much easier to do if you are good looking woman.

Journalists being the biggest liggers of all? The group in the thing I saw just didn`t want to spend money on food, they were leaching off bands, artists, restaurants, museums, anything that had food and drink for the taking. Can`t remember if they all shared a house or just knew each other, but there was a scene where the word went out that there was a big spread somewhere other than the meagre buffet they were presently at, and they all ran out like Indians going after settlers in a B western. There was something just wrong and pointless about it, like thinking that spending all day in the library is worthwhile because you can keep warm for free.

I suppose this has taken off big time in London now that housing costs are so high? People must be dividing their time between the "ligging" ,the library and the food bank?

Reminds me of booking into one of those 10 beds to a room "hotels" in Earls Court years ago, there was an Aussie bloke in the room just lying there obviously hungry and broke, and I think just counting the days to his flight home, when I told him there was a party going on upstairs in a kitchen for some girls birthday he said "Any food up there?"

When I told him they were dishing out slices from a massive cake to anyone passing he nearly left a hole in the door getting up there! Sad but funny at the same time.