Foraging forumagers

600g of local wild plums bubbling away making jam. Scoffed quite a few of these while we were out!

2 Attachments

Also got a handful of these which I think are young hazelnuts. What do I do with them?

1 Attachment

The few times I have picked such young hazelnuts,
before the shells started to colour up towards the expected shades of brown,
I have found the kernels to be under developed to the point of being bitter/vegetal to taste.

Yes, they are bitter and green-tasting. The squirrels and birds have eaten most of them but I thought I remembered someone on here had something you could do with them when they’re still green.

Free lane berries

1 Attachment

Under ripe walnuts are pickled.
(Parents always had a jar of them at Xmas).
Immersion in infused vinegar might deal with that astringent off-putting flavour.

Gonna hit up my usual blackberry spot tomorrow. Anyone SW there's loads ready on the Thames path that runs alongside the wetlands centre.

Kids went for a walk yesterday and came back with these. Enough for breakfast for ten this morning.

1 Attachment

Good job you had an empty fridge.

Spare fridge in the garage for weekend catering for family gathering, happily empty enough for puffballs by yesterday evening.

Good stuff, that’s the dream!

I photographed the Roger Phillips hazelnut pages with meringue and nougat recipes before reading this key sentence.

1 Attachment

Thanks! The squirrels and birds had already got most of them but I’ll keep an eye out in case there are any left in September!

Here’s the recipe pages if you get anything good.

2 Attachments

I've found a medlar. It was on a medlar tree ;)

I'd like to grow it - presumably it has seeds - any tips?

Paging @mespilus

I'm hoping you have to eat the seeds and wait for nature to take its course.

But I think they are probably like other apple/pear type fruit and need stratification, i.e. a cold spell to germinate, so stick them in the fridge.

It's a bit early.
Let's hope the seeds have developed.
You should find 5 seeds, one in each section of the fruit, twice as long as wide, keeled and ridged.
As @andyp has noted, medlars are from the same family as apples & pears, so the chances of germination are improved if the seeds experience a cold spell. So fridge till Spring, then plant in a pot of soil, and if you have one, put the pot in a cold frame, so the seed experiences the gentle increase in soil temperature.
Good luck.

Nettle seeds are ready. Such a bountiful plant, it took about half an hour to fill a 2 litre container, which lasted most of the year last year sprinkled on my porridge. I’ll probably collect more this year just to make sure I have enough.

1 Attachment

No seeds unfortunately, I'll try and liberate another one later in the year

Sorry if I missed this...but what is this and how do you collect it and what are the benefits (taste/nutrition etc)?

They’re stinging nettle seeds.
Full of nutrients and abundant. I’ve been adding them to my diet for a while. There’s loads of enthusiasm for them among foragers
https://hedgecombers.com/stinging-nettle-seeds-how-to-gather-them-and-why-youd-want-to/

Is this an edible puffball? Or will I die if I go back and get it? It’s about a 150mm ball.

1 Attachment

Looks OK but not sure you’ll find a forumenger brave enough the give you an “eat this” ID over the internet.

Big one is. Nothing else gets that size. It's good eating if not yellow inside (then it's too old to eat).

Eat at your own peril, try a bit first and wait twenty minutes incase you're not tolerant of it. Same rule for all new eating of things.