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Wild Produce


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As regulars may know, I live in the depths of the Southern English countryside enveloped by farms, forests, and the Sussex Downs. There is a plethora of wild produce to be had here - animal and vegetable. At the moment, it is the height of the blackberry season.

There are gazillions of blackberries waiting to be picked between my house and Tesco - a shop where I've just seen 250g packs of Californian blackerries for sale at £2.95 per pack.

I also noticed that all the Christmas tat is being wheeled out to the exclusion of anything real that one might want to buy.

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Same in our area.

However - consider how much it would cost to fly some californians over here to pick them.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Very good. Well up to standard.

Anyone who wants a blackberry pie would do well to pick those, pops, while they last. But I guess Tesco and others want a long term regular supply even though they can be, like their huge strawberries, tasteless.

Thos.

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But I guess Tesco and others want a long term regular supply even though they can be, like their huge strawberries, tasteless.

Thos.

It's not so much Tesco selling them, it's the infinite laziness of the local population not bothering to go and pick them that gets my gongler. Six weeks + of holidaying, bored schoolchildren moaning constantly about there being nothing to do - why not go blackberrying, gathering hazelnuts, bilberries, raspberries all of which grow in abundance around here? I used to go and I've been out several times recently gathering nature's bounty with my granddaughters.

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They would of course be cultivated and not from the wild.

At the risk of offending some with prickly susceptibilities, can I ask would this be the Californians or the fruit?

I though Californians were not wild, but laid back.

Thos.

I refuse to be drawn on that one, although the response is shouting everyone in the face.

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I used to go and I've been out several times recently gathering nature's bounty with my granddaughters.

We have lots of stuff around here.

Every year we gather huge rosehips and stew up a delicious Vit. C brew for the winter. It tastes so much better than the bought tablets.

Last week we got blackberries from the field hedges, and made a load of BB.syrup, some of which has since been made into the most delicious ice cream.

Sadly the squirrels usually beat us to the hazel nuts....but I suppose they really need them...we don't.

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You would also miss the extra protein of all the little grubs. :D

Unless it's a really bad infestation, the grubs normally reside only in the terminal berry - the main berry at the end of the sprig which ripens first. If you avoid that one you will normally find that your picking efforts are almost free of grubs.

If you then cover your berries with plenty of water, any grub remaining will either float to the top or will be seen at the bottom of the container. Either way, they can be easily picked out.

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You would also miss the extra protein of all the little grubs. :D

Unless it's a really bad infestation, the grubs normally reside only in the terminal berry - the main berry at the end of the sprig which ripens first. If you avoid that one you will normally find that your picking efforts are almost free of grubs.

If you then cover your berries with plenty of water, any grub remaining will either float to the top or will be seen at the bottom of the container. Either way, they can be easily picked out.

We usually add a small amount of salt to the water, that usually brings them out.

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