pale_kid
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hedgerows in swindonhi,
does anyone in swindon know of any good places to find berries. i've moved recently to the area and would like to get my winemaking underway!
thanks
p_k.
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Amanda in Wilts
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Hi - I've heard that berries around lake at Peatmoor are good (sloes, blackberries etc). Hope this helps ya
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snowball
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Lydiard Park is good too. Welcome by the way.
Where abouts in Swindon are you?
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Amanda in Wilts
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Hi Snowball. I live in Wroughton. Where are you? My neighbour has some ace sloes so I'll be tapping him up for them soon. Do you have any top tips for local forraging? Have been making jam, raspberry gin and preserved lemons. Can u tell I'm on maternity leave or what?!Amanda
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jema
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Where is the key. Swindon is a dozen miles side to side these days 
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cab
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| jema wrote: | | Where is the key. Swindon is a dozen miles side to side these days |
Fingers crossed you'll have enough hedgerows to share then 
I think its handy knowing who the other foragers are in your home town.
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Amanda in Wilts
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Yes, plenty for us all. Having to get a pushchair to top forraging destinations may add an interesting new challenge. Freezer bags are stowed underneath just in case!
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pale_kid
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thanks guys, i'm obviously not looking hard enough. i'm in old town, btw.
i have found enough elderberries to make a gallon of wine, but think i moved at the wrong time as they seem to be on the turn!
p_k
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jema
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Elderberries are a struggle this year. Some years I have put on 30 gallons of Elderberries. This year I have not collected enough for 5 gallons and am thinking of giving it up as a bad job.
Let's face it the "summer" has been appalling.
From Old Town you have the "Front Garden" as your main accessible spot, but that is not only not a great foraging area, but it is also one of the very few places in Swindon where I have seen others foraging.
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Amanda in Wilts
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Noticed there are a few elderberries on Greens Lane and more further up priors hill in Wroughton (on way upto barbury castle) .... Might be worth a try?
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Dee J
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I'm not in swindon any more... but I have previously got good amounts of Elderberry and Blackberry along the short length of cycle path between Westcott Place and Turner Street (SN1 4NJ on google maps)
Good Luck
Dee
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pale_kid
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| jema wrote: |
From Old Town you have the "Front Garden" as your main accessible spot, but that is not only not a great foraging area, but it is also one of the very few places in Swindon where I have seen others foraging. |
excuse my ignorance, but what/where is this?
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Dee J
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Swindon Front Garden...it is(was) the undeveloped strip of country between swindon and the M4. I used to go through that area via Mill Lane (from the western end of Westlecot Road, Old Town). Last time I was anywhere near there it was a building site  . Is any of it left?
Dee
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pale_kid
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| Amanda in Wilts wrote: | | Hi - I've heard that berries around lake at Peatmoor are good (sloes, blackberries etc). Hope this helps ya |
you weren't wrong!!
i went there yesterday and picked as many blackberries as i could carry!
PS didn't see any sloes though!
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jema
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| Dee J wrote: | Swindon Front Garden...it is(was) the undeveloped strip of country between swindon and the M4. I used to go through that area via Mill Lane (from the western end of Westlecot Road, Old Town). Last time I was anywhere near there it was a building site . Is any of it left?
Dee |
Flip, it was not too bad last time I looked 
But that happens a lot in Swindon, the places in North Swindon I forage are regularly built on 
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pale_kid
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hi guys,
after all the replies for locations, i found enough elderberries/blackberries to make 3 gallons of wine. however, the berries i collected are all on or very near main roads (there's no other option in swindon ).
i read recently that these berries could have accumilated poison from the car fumes they are exposed to. should i drink this stuff or will i kill myself?
thanks,
p_k
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