Nature saves the best of her free gifts until the autumn, when the hedgerows become a treasure trove of edible goodies.
Walking in the countryside can be a pleasurable and rewarding experience in the autumn. After a warm summer the hedgerows are an abundant source of berries, many of which can be gathered to make jams, wines, jellies and liqueurs.
Before venturing out though, there are a few things to bear in mind.
- Don’t pick anything from hedgerows at the side of busy roads. There are too many petrol and diesel fumes hanging about in the air which may settle on the fruit.
- Make sure the trees or shrubs don’t obviously belong to anyone. Those juicy plums might be hanging temptingly over the public highway but if the tree or bush is on someone’s private property the fruit rightly belongs to them.
- Take a longish walking stick with a curved handle, or something similar. Many of the best fruits are out of reach (the easily reached ones having been picked before you got there) so a stick comes in useful to pull the branches down.
- Don’t damage the trees or bushes in your eagerness. They’ve probably been on the planet longer than you, so show them some respect.
- Thick gloves are a useful addition to your equipment. Many hedgerows are full of thorny bushes.
- Always check the lie of the land. In your enthusiasm for spotting a bush covered in fruit make sure there isn't a hidden ditch in your way before you launch yourself into the hedge. Getting a soaking can take the fun off the afternoon.
- If your hunting takes you into a field, check for grazing cattle and remember to close all gates behind you …..and if you notice a bull in with a herd of cows, don’t go in the field at all.
Black berries and elderberries are the first fruits to ripen in the Northen hemisphere.
Sloes, the fruit of the backthorn, are widely sought after for making sloe gin.
Traditionally elderberries have been used for country wine making, but together with sloes, crab apples, and rose hips they can also be used to make jellies.
A rule-of-thumb recipe for fruit jellies:
- Clean the fruit thoroughly, checking for hidden insects
- Whatever quantity of fruit you have, cover with water and bring to the boil.
- Simmer until the fruit has softened.
- Allow to cool and strain through a clean tea cloth or muslin jelly bag.
- Measure cooled liquid and place in a thick bottomed saucepan.
- Add 1 lb(500g) white sugar for each pint(550ml) of liquid.
- Boil briskly until the setting point is reached
- Skim off any scum that may have formed on the surface, allow to cool, then ladle into sterilised jars and seal tightly.
Rose hip jelly is delicious with pork or poultry as the flavour is similar to cranberries and the fruit is high in vitamin C. Rose hip syrup, a healthy drink for children, can be made by following the recipe for fruit jelly, but remove from the heat as soon as the liquid has achieved a syrupy appearance. Pour into sterilised bottles when the syrup has cooled and keep in the fridge.
This is just one of many recipes that can be made from hedgerow fruit.
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