spunko2010 Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 I've gradually started this over the last couple of years, ie taking food that's growing wild or sometimes basically pinching in small quanities. Does anyone here do it? Granted you'll probably need to live near to / in a rural area to do it well. This year so far I've foraged/scrumped/pinched cobnuts, blackberries, blackcurrants, bramley apples, plums, gooseberries, elderflower, strawberries. Not cost me a penny. Found a pear orchard the other day and biding my time. BTW if you haven't tried kentish cobnuts there's only a small window of opportunity to get them, about 6 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Yes. Mainly blackberries, wild strawberries, elderberries and nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hovis Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Day off today and when the tide has fully dropped and the sand's dried out a bit will be gathering sea beet and marsh samphire to go with the mackerel I caught for a fully foraged dinner. I would love to say that I always eat like this but this will be the first one this year. Though hopefully not the last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-percent Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Try bilberries. Wonderful in a pie (called mucky pie as it stains). The season is over now but late July/early August next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spunko2010 Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 I've never seen bilberries growing wild round here I don't think. I did get some samphire back in June, much better than the salty Israeli stuff you get in the supermarket, which I assume from the taste grows in the Dead Sea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Have not been cockling or shrimping for years but many do so around my way. Best done in the Spring and Autumn and not Summer months. There are loads of mushrooms around the place but I just avoid for obvious reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One-percent Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 I've never seen bilberries growing wild round here I don't think. l: Don't know where 'here' is, but moorland is the place. Totally different to blueberries, which look to be a larger version, but the taste is completely different. The poles like them so can be bought in polish shops in jars, but not really foraged then (and the bottling does something detrimental to the taste) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porca misèria Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Not much any more. Too many blackberries in the garden to need to go anywhere else for everyone's #1 Nature's Bounty. Though I do still collect, for example, wild garlic in its season. Back when I had no money, it's how I lived. I was collecting blackberries not just around peak season (like, right now) when they're plentiful and good, but right into the second half of November of 2003 when the few stragglers are too shrivelled and tough even for the bugs. I daresay I'd do it again if my money were to run out and my disposable income were to fall back too far below the dollar-a-day line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveinHope Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 I forage (does that include road kill) and scrump at least 75% of our food I reckon, well it equates to 5 main meals a week most of the year. But, yes you really do need to be rural and if you are rural and by the coast, it is easy to be very self sufficient to a very high standard, and it's also fresher than you could ever buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porca misèria Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Don't know where 'here' is, but moorland is the place. Totally different to blueberries, which look to be a larger version, but the taste is completely different. The poles like them so can be bought in polish shops in jars, but not really foraged then (and the bottling does something detrimental to the taste) Many variants on blueberries, though I've never seen wild ones remotely near as big as supermarket ones. Our local ones are called whortleberries. Delicious, but b***** hard work to gather in any quantity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 I was walking up from a Gower beach last summer stuffing my face with bilberries and blackberries. A child in front wanted to eat one but her Mother told her that they would have to go to the supermarket to buy some. Clearly not a local parent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Barlow Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 When I used to live in the UK - apples, Cherries, Blackberries, Sloes, Deer..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justthisbloke Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Only blackberries as a regular thing but I have dabbled with other things in the past; elder flower/berries, wild garlic, etc. My walks take me past fields full of sweetcorn, broccoli, rhubarb, etc. Lots of opportunities for gleaning. Not quite theft. I also know where there are wild (well, feral is probably a better term) apples and plums - but as I have these in my garden, I've not tried these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Masked Tulip Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Never seen wild cherries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spunko2010 Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 There are I believe wild cherries around here (in Kent) but I've never known what to do with them so haven't picked them, plus there are a lot of lookalikes that aren't edible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveinHope Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 When I used to live in the UK - apples, Cherries, Blackberries, Sloes, Deer..... That one's still on my hit list - well somebody else's. Been past a few but there's always been too much traffic to stop for the amount of time it would take to haul it into the car boot. This time of year, if you know the routes they take, you can do very well collecting spuds spilled from trailers as the tractors take the bends too fast. I have been known to turn the car around to fill a sack with spuds Always keep your eyes peeled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Not from people's gardens or allotments I hope. That's called stealing not scrumping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Our local ones are called whortleberries. Delicious, but b***** hard work to gather in any quantity. I think they're the same thing as bilberries. They usually only grow high up (by UK standards, perhaps 800' above sea level around here). There are some patches near me that I'll help myself to when passing at the right time of year, and I keep meaning to take a box along and try to fill it with enough to put in a pie, which will take ages. There are some places near me with patches of raspberries growing along the roadside, and they're bloody delicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
council dweller Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Yes spunko..... Starting in May with strawberries I can eat loganberries, blackcurrents, gooseberries, blackberries and apples until January. So, that`s fresh fruit for most of the year....don`t need to buy from a supermarket. (supermarkets are for bacon and sausages) I also grow a wall of Jerusalem Artichokes which grow faster than I can eat them. Btw, I`m not a prepper nut. It just makes sense from a number of angles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 I have been known to turn the car around to fill a sack with spuds Always keep your eyes peeled. "Keep you eyes peeled" for spuds. Groan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turned Out Nice Again Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Does free Waitrose coffee count? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justthisbloke Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Yes spunko..... Starting in May with strawberries I can eat loganberries, blackcurrents, gooseberries, blackberries and apples until January. So, that`s fresh fruit for most of the year....don`t need to buy from a supermarket. (supermarkets are for bacon and sausages) I also grow a wall of Jerusalem Artichokes which grow faster than I can eat them. Btw, I`m not a prepper nut. It just makes sense from a number of angles. Nut and fruit trees and perennial vegetables (ie artichoke, rhubarb, asparagus, strawbs, raspberries etc) are my line of veg gardening as well. I do a little conventional veg gardening as well but it's a lot of faff. Like you, I think having some grub growing in the garden "just makes sense". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freeholder Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 We usually get a good crop of damsens off our local heath but not this year. I pick and eat wild strawberrys and blackberrys and this thread has reminded me it is time to check out the lovely russet apples on a tree on public land nearby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
council dweller Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Yes, (just this bloke) We seem to be inventing a new type of hybrid ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spunko2010 Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 Not from people's gardens or allotments I hope. That's called stealing not scrumping. No just farmers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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