Wild Food - Foraging!

Forgaing for food is becoming increasingly popular once more. We quite often walk down our track in the country and come back laden with bits we have found growing by the side of a field or Almonds that are just there for the taking on the trees.

Everything from Wild Garlic, mushrooms, nuts, oranges, blackberries, raspberries, edible weeds - there are tons of free food out there if you just get out of the house and go look :)

Autumn is the traditional time for harvest, when the efforts of months of hard graft finally pay off! In Spain you see the farmers out there in he field during the months of Autumn picking their food either for sale of for their families - home grown food is so much better than supermarket bought food.

However, these days we tend to rely on our food being cultivated in greenhouses whatever the season. In Spain we still only get fruit and vegetables that are in season, it is getting more common these days to see out of season fruit and vegetables - look at what the market is demanding!

Reconnecting with the old ways of hunter gathering, foraging is taking off once more. In Britain's and Spain's woods and fields, there's a bountiful harvest of vegetables and fruits to be had - all growing naturally without intervention from human hand or industrial fertiliser.

From wild garlic to berries and nuts, there are plenty of mouth watering ingredients to be had, whether you live in town or country you will be amazed at what you can find, all for free - well that is until the government catch on to this and ecide to tax it LOL!

You can also help the environment by forgaring, there's nothing shorter on food miles or more sustainable than fresh produce that's already growing indigenously in your neighbourhood. What's more, sourcing food from a country walk or perhaps beside your local canal is a lot more exciting that a trip to your local supermarket, healthier for the family and fun too.

Apart from all that you will start to notice seasons more as you watch your local areas transform from Winter/Autumn to Spring/Summer.

You can even try your hand at making chutneys and jams from the fruit you find and learn something new while you are at it :)

Wild mushrooms - puffballs friend in garlic butter with a bit of black better are divine! Wild garlic, nettles and elderflowers are common in the wild, you can make ice creams or codials with these ingredients.

Miles Irving has been foraging for years and now makes a living finding wild herbs and plants for top chefs keen to source unique ingredients that are fresh and local
from root to tip. Jamie Oliver is a former customer of his company - check him out online. Miles Irving Foraging

During times when families are on the look out to save money and do activities that do not break the bank, an afternoon of foraging is fun and educational for all the family. Teach your kids where REAL food comes from - not fast food joints like McDonalds or Burger King.

However, before you can go off foraging, it would be good to know what you are looking for, you don´t want to go out picking mushrooms if you don´t know what you are looking for as this could be potentially dangerous for all concerned - below I have listed some good books to buy. You just need to check that what you are picking is safe.

Miles Irving has a new gook out called "The Forager Handbook", a guide to Britain's edible plants, or Food for Free.

About The Forager Handbook

At any time, in any place, food is there for the taking - if only we knew how and where to look. Miles Irving makes his living out of foraging - in this unique, authentic guide, he reveals the how, why, what and where of this lost art, a way of life that is becoming increasingly popular as more and more of us pursue an eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle. This ground-breaking handbook tells you how to recognize the rich possibilities that surround us, whether in the city or countryside. From waste ground to woodland, from cliff top to coast land, plants flourish year in, year out. Spring is when wild garlic flourishes in shady woodlands; summer is the time for marsh samphire in the salt-marshes; autumn heralds an abundance of fruits and nuts; . Many of these plants - nettles, dandelions, fat hen, sorrel - grow so profusely they are considered a nuisance. Yet they offer fantastic food possibilities and are rich in nutrients. Assiduously researched, packed with information and enlivened with anecdotes and more than 330 photographs, "The Forager Handbook" is a milestone publication marking the way forward for the future of British food. And for each plant family, Miles gives ideas for using foraged ingredients in the kitchen. With recipes from some of the most exciting chefs working in Britain today, including Sam and Sam Clark, Mark Hix and Richard Corrigan, and coverage of techniques like drying, pickling and making cordials, this book will take readers on a voyage of discovery. Foraging was something our ancestors did instinctively - this book truly connects us with our past and our future. Discover a secret world of edible possibilities - all freely available.

A classic foraging book by Richard Mabey titled "Food for Free" which is still in print some 30 years after it was first published.

About Food for Free

Fans of Food for Free will be delighted at this new format -- ideal for carrying in a rucksack. Over 100 edible plants are featured together with recipes and other interesting culinary information. With details on how to pick, when to pick and regulations on picking. This new format of a best-selling title provides a portable guide for all those who enjoy what the countryside has to offer. Over 100 plants are listed, fully illustrated and described, together with recipes and other fascinating information about their use throughout the ages. The recipes are listed so that you can plan your foray with a feast in mind. This is the ideal book for both nature-lovers and cooks. Particularly with today's emphasis on the freshest and most natural of foods. There is also practical advice on how to pick plus the countryside laws and regulations on picking wild plants.

If you are looking for a more hands on experience then you can have an unforgettable day out with the Forage Rangers, Xa Milne and Fiona Houston. Their mission is to help people have fun outdoors hunting for wild foods anywhere plants can grow, from city parks, to country waysides and the seashore, and, as importantly, show you how to turn this wild food into delicious dishes and drinks.

They are the authors of the highly acclaimed Seaweed and Eat It - this is a family foraging journal and cooking adventure for all the family.

About Seaweed And Eat It

This is the foodie's answer to "The Dangerous Book for Boys", and a nostalgic journey of rediscovery for the whole family. Part cookbook, part natural history guide, with tasty recipes, fascinating folklore and inspiring ideas for seasonal feasts, "Seaweed" leads the reader through the process of identifying, learning about and cooking unusual and wild native foods. From discovering edible wild plants and flowers, to creating delicious seasonal feasts, "Seaweed" puts the fun into foraging and injects a sense of adventure into preparing dinner. For anyone interested in the origins of their food - or who's shocked by the price of elderflower cordial - this inspirational cookbook will ensure mealtimes are never dull.

Protocol for Foraging
Do not overpick, pick small amounts to preserve the plant
Pick locally from common land
Do not pick from same areas all the time, to lessen your impact
Do not pick from protected areas such as wildlife reserves, sites of SSSI
Private land would require permission
Do not eat or pick it if you cannot clearly identify the food source
Take seeds and try growing in your own garden
Choose a foraging area and familiarise yourself with as much as you can
No Trespassing!
Do not pick endangered or protected species (local library can provide regulations)

Getting Started with Foraging
Start by picking the easy stuff like dandelions and nettles. Collect some rosehips and make syrup which can be used to put in ice cream

Gardening UK, Moving & House Clearance

Hi its Gill

Sorry I didn´t get time to do a blog last week, there is too much to do with the moving, let alone blogs.I am moving house as you know if you follow me already, but this is the most stressful move I have ever done. When you are widowed you feel so alone and unable to cope, maybe its because I am now a pensioner. I hate saying that because I am so young in my head it just doesn´t seem right! The trouble is that I need to get back to Four Marks because my daughter is having my second grandchild next spring and I had wanted to be living nearer her.

I could afford a flat but would die without a garden!!! I am about £30,000 short for a small house. I have looked in neighbouring Alton but the ones I can afford are in such rough areas and yes I am may be being a snob but I don´t want to live there. I just don´t know what to do and would love some feedback from you all if possible.

The only alternative I can see is to buy on a pensioners mobile home estate. The houses are lovely but everyone has white hair and I dont feel ready to retire to a place like that. I had thought that maybe I could buy a small piece of land in Four Marks for £100,000 and put a wooden mobile home on it. Unfortunately all the builders gobble up any land available!!!!!

The garden is still a nightmare of a mess but I do intend to get it straight for the new people, they have 3 children and they will be wanting to play out there.

I did go out with Irene and Wendy on Wednesday to a garden centre, I would have gone insane if I hadnt got out of the house. We went to Secretts in Godalming. This is a nice place to go because they have a good range of shrubs, flowers, bulbs, Christmas stuff, and nice food. The only bad thing I have to say about them is that their bedding pansies and violas were £3.49 for 6 and they are £2.99 in most places.

On the way home we went into Hilliers in Liss because I wanted a bag of grit for my cacti. They didnt have their Christmas stuff out which was a shame because we cannot resist buying decorations. The tables holding the flowers outside looked absolutely lovely, a miriad of colours everywhere you looked, very nicely presented.

Well all I can say with the gardening is to make the most of this lovely weather and carry on clearing away all the spent plants and generally tidying up.

I will do my best to do a blog next week but know you will forgive me if I don´t get time. Take care all, happy gardening. Luv Gill xx

Autumn Gardening

Hello all, Gill here,

There is so much to do in the garden in the autumn, it makes you wonder where we all find the time. At this time of the year the main thing is clearing up and pulling up. If like me you like your plants growing naturally anywhere, when you pull, shake, there may be some seeds still left in the heads.

Love them or hate them, you cannot fail to notice the striking colours of the dahlias. They come into their own at this time of year, in my opinion there is nothing to rival them. They come in every height from 6inches to a about 5foot, the flowers heads are from a teaspoon size to a dinner plate and there are some with zillions of petals and some with single petals so I find it hard for someone to say that they hate all dahlias!

Most people don´t think of autumn as being a busy time for planting but it can be for both flowers, fruit and vegetables. Plant all you currants now, black red and white and raspberries oooo yummy, gooseberries yuk and the like, all cane type plants.

Also your herbaceous perenials, cottage flowers such as echinacea should go in now.
I have already mentioned fruit trees in a previous blog, you can still plant those for a couple of months, but preferably September and October.

Broad beans are best planted now because they are less prone to black fly than when planted in the spring.

Get down to the garden centre now if you want shrubs and get digging!!!! I think they take better in the autumn than spring, they certainly get a head start next year being planted now, such as euonymous, berberis, choisya and hebe. Most garden centres do these at very reasonable prices in bulk. I think in Avenue nurseries, Lasham they have 6 small shrubs for £8, thats fantastic. They are small but dont take long to grow. Get two sets, one thats all green plants and one reds and yellows, when they grow all mixed up together they can look stunning at this time of the year.

These can be put in tubs or hanging baskets with winter cyclamen and pansies, an ivy and heather, don´t forget to pop in some spring bulbs so that when the pansies are dying off, up come these little surprises of bulbs to make you smile :).

I have noticed that the birds are eating a lot more suet balls, so please don´t forget them, they are such lovely creatures, they brighten up my day, I can´t imagine a world without birds.

I am rushed off my feet at the moment packing boxes to move. I cannot believe I have got so much rubbish!!! Car boot here I come.

Make the most of this lovely autumn sunshine and get cracking in the garden instead of reading this lol.

Catch you all next week when I get time, take care all, Gill x