seeformiles
Lost in the wood
10lbs of blackberries picked today - another 5 gallons of wine 
Let's go foraging
- Thread starter killer b
- Start date
Kevbad the Bad
Amiable Bowel Syndrome
Found our first ceps/boletus/penny buns of the season, plus a handful of chanterelles. Will go out again in the next few days, if the wind eases a bit, to our favourite haunts to check some more. We always find ceps are very unpredictable as to where, when and if they appear, and how plentiful they are, more so than some other fungi.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Bloody hell! 10lbs! Well, that's a benchmark - on the other thread I'm complaining about my low picking rate, so I clearly do have room to raise my game...10lbs of blackberries picked today - another 5 gallons of wine
I got 6kg of blackberries in no time from a place I found over lockdown. The brambles are sitting on the edge of a pond so they are massive too. Still visiting my other two favoured spots for some extra, because I cannot resist picking them. There's so many! Have already made 8 jars of bramble jelly, two crumbles, and got another 8 jars of jelly to make yet.
Got enough elderberries to do a litre of vodka with. Am not bothering making syrup this year, cos we've been taking Sambucol daily since the start of lockdown, so might as well continue with that.
The sloes are ripening ridiculously fast in the local park, so this weekend's mission is to get as many as poss for sloe gin.
Got enough elderberries to do a litre of vodka with. Am not bothering making syrup this year, cos we've been taking Sambucol daily since the start of lockdown, so might as well continue with that.
The sloes are ripening ridiculously fast in the local park, so this weekend's mission is to get as many as poss for sloe gin.
I got 13 lbs - do I win?
I use one of those 'grabbers' - useful for pulling high ones down, and hooking gnarly thick bramble branches aside.
Chilli.s
mingling jets and statuettes
Supposedly sloes are better after the first frost of autumn.
Kevbad the Bad
Amiable Bowel Syndrome
True, but things are ripening early this year. If the sloes look ripe, pick them now and bung them in a freezer to soften the skins.
Chilli.s
mingling jets and statuettes
Doh, why didn't I think of that!
Yes but...
This ^
I left it too late last year, just assumed September would be fine, and they were all gone! So I've been keeping a close eye on all the blackthorn in our local park, and there they are!
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
So far, yes
seeformiles
Lost in the wood
Elderberries are starting to ripen in Leeds so will be checking fave spots over the next week. Already getting offers of apples so time to dust down the cider press and get into the “Squeezin’ Season”. Went a bit mad last year with the cider (800 pints..) so perhaps will rein it in a bit this autumn (Good intentions and all that..). Just sampling a glass of this year’s blackberry and wild strawberry wine and it’s showing a lot of promise.
Kevbad the Bad
Amiable Bowel Syndrome
But don’t make the mistake Mrs K made recently. She made a cheesecake and topped it with jostaberries (a cross between blackberries and gooseberries) from the freezer, after cooking them with lotsa sugar. Or so she thought. In fact they were left-over sloes from last year. The cheesecake tasted lovely, but the downside was the huge number of stones on the topping. It proved to be a very tasty but painstaking experience.
chainsawjob
Kipping in the dunes
Rosehip syrup, made from hips I had in the freezer. Sloe gin next.
mr steev
magic thought wizard
Especially lucky as these trees generally fruit inconveniently high, but there was a fallen tree that was laden with fruit.Lucky bugger. The recent storms seem to have taken this years damson crop round here
heinous seamus
Perfect in an empty room
I got some sloes while I was on holiday but I've just read that you're supposed to wait until they're soft before picking them
Kevbad the Bad
Amiable Bowel Syndrome
Bung them in the freezer, that softens the skinsI got some sloes while I was on holiday but I've just read that you're supposed to wait until they're soft before picking them
Johnny Vodka
The Abominable Scotsman
Still getting brambles in Scotland. Making a crumble filling from garden apples & brambles right now. 
Kevbad the Bad
Amiable Bowel Syndrome
Picked the first parasol mushrooms of the season today. From a spot we’ve never picked them from before. Breakfast tomorrow morning!
I've got a mix of very hard ones and softer ones in my sloe gin. You should be reet.I got some sloes while I was on holiday but I've just read that you're supposed to wait until they're soft before picking them
Yeh, don't bother, they're an absolute arse ache to work with. Billions of tiny scratchy hairs that need filtering to within an inch of your life.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
I saw loads of rose hips on my previous foraging expeditions, and was wondering about going back for them. You have now spared me the task
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
They'll grow back even stronger next year.
Seriously, I tried making schnapps with them and it took forbloodyever. You can still have a go, and rosehip syrup's packed with vitamin C so great for the winter, but I wouldn't bother with them ever again.
