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Adventures in foraging
This year, I picked a whole lot more wild garlic than last year, because it seemed a shame to waste it. Some of it I blanched and froze (ok results. Nothing amazing, but that may be partly because the only thing you can then do with it is stick it in a stew-ish thing with lots of other stuff), most of it I made into wild garlic pesto, which was fabulous even after being frozen, and will be repeated.
I didn’t pick as many blackberries as last year, I’m not sure quite why. Sadly, this means there isn’t a stash in the freezer for making crumble with. I did pick enough to make blackberry and apple jelly, though, along with the apple and lavender jelly and the apple butter.
On the booze front, we’ve had
- elderflower vodka (tasty, but it did seem to make people poorly. Note to self: check if elderflowers are slightly poisonous in the same way that the berries are)
- vin de pêches (not strictly foraged, but very, very tasty: I’ll be making more of that in the spring when the new peach leaves come through. Might also try cherry leaves)
- chestnut liqueur (still in the bottle. I have no idea if it’s going to work or not: Mike is doubtful that any flavour will come through)
- wild strawberries in vodka (also not strictly foraged, although they're wild plants on our land, and also still in the jar. Really must do something with those, it looks lovely...)
- sloe gin (of course!)
(We’ve not had hop vodka, sadly. The hop had a bad early summer, which we think was not enough water: it was dry, and there were tomato plants near it this year. Next year.)
On the non-booze drinks front, the usual apple juice with apples from the common, some strawberry juice (panda-bowl man while he’s packing up counts as foraging, right?), and spiced elderberry cordial (must make some more of that, the berries are in the freezer).
I didn’t pick as many blackberries as last year, I’m not sure quite why. Sadly, this means there isn’t a stash in the freezer for making crumble with. I did pick enough to make blackberry and apple jelly, though, along with the apple and lavender jelly and the apple butter.
On the booze front, we’ve had
- elderflower vodka (tasty, but it did seem to make people poorly. Note to self: check if elderflowers are slightly poisonous in the same way that the berries are)
- vin de pêches (not strictly foraged, but very, very tasty: I’ll be making more of that in the spring when the new peach leaves come through. Might also try cherry leaves)
- chestnut liqueur (still in the bottle. I have no idea if it’s going to work or not: Mike is doubtful that any flavour will come through)
- wild strawberries in vodka (also not strictly foraged, although they're wild plants on our land, and also still in the jar. Really must do something with those, it looks lovely...)
- sloe gin (of course!)
(We’ve not had hop vodka, sadly. The hop had a bad early summer, which we think was not enough water: it was dry, and there were tomato plants near it this year. Next year.)
On the non-booze drinks front, the usual apple juice with apples from the common, some strawberry juice (panda-bowl man while he’s packing up counts as foraging, right?), and spiced elderberry cordial (must make some more of that, the berries are in the freezer).