Wild Foraging- Elderberries, Blackberries

Anyone else into wild foraging for berries etc? There is so much to be had right in the hedgerows near us, I'm happy to say I've learned to make jam finally and have been enjoying messing around with different things. This fall so far it's been a big batch of Blackberry Apple Jam (lower sugar). Now I'm looking for Elderberries to make syrup for the winter. Anyone else collect things to make?

Anyone else into wild foraging for berries etc? There is so much to be had right in the hedgerows near us, I'm happy to say I've learned to make jam finally and have been enjoying messing around with different things. This fall so far it's been a big batch of Blackberry Apple Jam (lower sugar). Now I'm looking for Elderberries to make syrup for the winter. Anyone else collect things to make?

My sister loves blackberries.  Well, she loves almost all fruit.  On the other hand, I prefer my veg to fruit.  But I used to go blackberry picking with her in the late summer in Arkansas, so when I saw blackberries all in our hedgerows around the stableyard and between our garden and the neighbors, I picked them as they came ripe.  But then I had a small handful of blackberries and nothing to do with them.  There weren't enough to bother with jam.  I thought my husband might just eat them.  He didn't.  :/  But maybe I'll find a use for them in later years.

Anyone else into wild foraging for berries etc? There is so much to be had right in the hedgerows near us, I'm happy to say I've learned to make jam finally and have been enjoying messing around with different things. This fall so far it's been a big batch of Blackberry Apple Jam (lower sugar). Now I'm looking for Elderberries to make syrup for the winter. Anyone else collect things to make?

If my body cooperates I love to. Wild blueberries grow near my grandparents house so we used to pick tons as a kid. We would freeze what didn't go into muffins etc. I also have a friend who took me hiking through Edale (I think) on my first trip to the U.K. who is well versed on foraging and it was pretty amazing how many edible plants are in the forests. He's also a mushroom hunter, which is pretty sweet!


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All that talk reminds me of a trip that we took a while back to Finland.  We went on a week long backpacking trip and the forest was completely covered in blueberries.  You couldn’t even sit down with laying in blueberries. 

We also went mushroom hunting with a local and found kilos of chanterelles.  Unbelievable.

Here, my wife picks the apples from trees on her campus and we make applesauce.  And she picked kilos of blackberries earlier in the summer.  Made coulis.

I've seen lots of blackberries but didn't pick them because at the time I didn't think it was allowed.  Later I looked it up and it seems it is allowed as long as you're not going to sell them.  Might have to try it next time we go that way!

You guys aren't picking blackberries after Michaelmas, are you??? 

You guys aren't picking blackberries after Michaelmas, are you??? 

Having looked up when Michaelmas was, I can say that I did not pick any after it.  But what is the significance?

Edit (added everything below this line):

In British folklore, Old Michaelmas Day, 10th October, is the last day that blackberries should be picked. It is said that on this day, when Lucifer was expelled from Heaven, he fell from the skies, straight onto a blackberry bush. He then cursed the fruit, scorched them with his fiery breath, spat and stamped on them and made them unfit for consumption! And so the Irish proverb goes:

“On Michaelmas Day the devil puts his foot on blackberries”.

Source: http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Michaelmas/

Aye, have been known to collect brambles, elderflowers, elderberries, rose hips, and bilberries. 
Most of my collections in the past have been made into country wine. 

Update on my picking this fall and what I've made. Happy to say that I finally took the plunge and made Hedgerow Jam! Wow is it tasty! I found two crapapple trees growing in the field next to us, most of the apples from them I found on the ground after a good windy night. I had a few bags of blackberries in the freezer from summer's end. I had rosehips in the freezer from last winter. I picked some of the plumpest Haws (Hawthorn berries) I ever saw....tons on one tree near us! Oh yes and some Elderberries gleaned from mostly one productive tree.

I like that I could just boil it all together, seeds, peels and all because I would be straining it later. I didn't fuss too much about keeping it clear by not squeezing the bag. I squeezed the heck out of it! Then saved the pulp for later I made some Hedgerow 'apple sauce'.

I only added as much sugar as I liked to taste...not 50%...that's way too much for me.

I also made scrumptious Blackberry Apple, and Apple Rosehip.
Jimbocz- the wild blueberries you refer to I think are Bilberries, the very same we have here in the UK. I live in Northumberland and they're everywhere in the woods and on some moors. (if the sheep don't get them 1st) They are also in the Lake District and I'm sure more places. They make the most marvelous jam and Bilberry pie..stains your tongue really bright! Like blueberries but more sour.

So what is the significance of picking blackberries after Michalmas?

So what is the significance of picking blackberries after Michalmas?

See  jfkimberly's post, two above yours.