Bee Orchids....

[Snev]

and much more were found yesterday in our little trip to Portland (again) I bought a new book about foraging and it shows what you can eat at certain times of the year so off I went with a very sceptical Sammy, trying to find stuff..... came back with a sort of Salad consisting of Goose Grass, Alexandras, Nettles and Bramble leaves. Didn't pick the Bee orchids but they were very pretty and Bee like..... Well I know one thing, I couldn't be a bloody Vegan ! The Alexandras were introduced by the Romans and used like Spinach for thousands of years, you can eat the whole plant but hell does it taste shite.... Anyway, next week (Friday) we're off to Northampton and I'm booked in to Billing Aquadrome for the weekend while Sammy does family stuff with her Cousin. Might get some fishing in and will deffo be off lurking in the undergrowth looking for some more free food ! Fitting another Solar panel on wednesday, should be self sufficient for a few weeks now if we ever go anywhere off grid for that length of time, just got to work out how to collect rain water now.

[bobsnicholson]

Brother stayed on Billings for a number of years. Had a lovely static on a small lake. You could fish off his terrace thing.
Some scruffy bastards get on there in summer hols................just saying like.
They also have some great Bike and motor shows there.

Hopefully tomorrow we will be in Hotel Prison M4

[Snev]

I was warned it might be a bit Iffy there Bob but I don't mind, it's only for a couple of nights and it's just nice to get away. Hope all goes well with your latest Escape plan !!!! Have you thought much about what MH you'll be buying ? I'm quite happy with ours, It does the job well and I've got it all set up the way I want it...... in a year We'll be buying our Transit from the Lease company and doing a basic conversion so that I can take it on more solo trips, complete with Bike. It's easier to drive and park than the MH so it makes more sense when going solo...... I'm planning to build modules so that then can easily be taken out for when we use the van for carrying stuff.

[Beelady]

I eat all that stuff, too. I wouldn't want to depend on it though.

[Ninjachica]

My grandma was from Ukraine. Had a very hard life. Lived off the land.

Escaped to Germany during the invasion, stopping in what became DDR.

Fabulous story (we do have a written record)

She was finally able to come to UK. We live in a small village. She went into everyone’s gardens saying, ‘we used this for tea, we used this for bruising, etc’. (The neighbours were fine)
She was delighted with the garden centre, where she found spearmint (she knew everything else - just snapped a bit off and ate it)

In Spain, as well as lots of wild herbs, we get wild asparagus near us.

No one cares these days that it is out there. Easier to buy in the supermarket.
I think the Europeans often do that right - mushrooming at weekends etc

[Snev]

Ninja, I love stories like yours, We tend to go through life ignoring the horrors of the past and we forget all the basics like food. I remember watching a program on TV years ago about Human Migration and how the Coastal regions of the UK were where the first people settled due to the abundance of food. Fish being the obvious but also Plants, Fruits/berries and Nuts....... My family and few friends all think I'm odd for doing this and Sammy just seems to have placed it in a locked space in her mind.... either way I enjoy it and hope to sow a few seeds in peoples minds .... who knows, we might have to rely on foraging in the future again.

[Ninjachica]

Her history is written in German, with copies of all her documents.
There are 4 copies, one for each of her children.

I often think that I should translate it into English (I’ll just get my mum to translate each sentence and type it up) but it’s one of those things you don’t get around to.

She was a wonderful woman. Unbelievably kind and content with everything.
(But don’t cross her - my mum had to repeat a school year, because my grandma wouldn’t give the teacher any potatoes. That soon got corrected )

[CantCorner]

Funny how some people are about foraging ; we have about 100 acres of grass in work which regularly give a good crop of mushrooms and work colleagues consider me weird for picking them . Not sure where they think mushrooms come from .
I won't mention the reaction when I shoot and gut a rabbit for consumption .

[Snev]

But this is the thing isn't it...... people are conditioned to buying food which is grown un-naturally, zapped with radiation, pumped full of chemicals and wrapped in plastic....... So much to find if you bother to look around and it's all free.

[Beelady]

I love being lucky enough to grow most of my fruit and vegetables. Foraging is great Love lots of the greenery in my salads but I hate mushrooms and always give them away now. John used to enjoy them though.

I'm teaching my grand daughter all about herbs and the things we can make with them. She's getting quite good at recognising some of them.
We planted new raspberry canes in her garden last autumn on my one and only visit. Can't wait to see what she makes of picking and eating them this summer.