Bramble Jam

Another fruit crop that has taken a bit of a hit this year due to the wet spring was the blackberry, or bramble.  The thorny bush that grows along Britain's roads and hedgerows gives gorgeous dark berries in the Autumn months and these are a sweet treat for any rambler or forager.

Brambles are a great freezer berry - popping them in freezer bags allows you you mix them in with your porridge all year round, gives you an easy pie filling and by in the bottom of a pudding bowl and plonking some sponge cake mix on top is a simple twenty minute pudding.

Another way to preserve these is to make jam - which, when I start up the Christmas Feast next year, I hope to use as a form of currency for bartering.  You need

Ingredients
1kg Blackberries (or raspberries)
1kg Sugar
1 sachet Pectin

What you do

Put the fruit, sugar and pectin into a large pot and heat, stirring occasionally.  Here is where you need a jam thermometer, and when the temperature hits 220F, allow the jam to boil for five minutes.  Then pour into sterilised jars and seal with a disc of waxed paper, before covering with either a lid or a piece of cellophane.  You can eat it once cool, but I'd leave it for a month - it tastes better.

Brambles, Sugar & Pectin

Boil at 220F for five minutes

Pour into sterilised jars

Initial thoughts 3: Fruit and booze

Fruit is both simple and tricky when you are trying to find things for free.  Obtaining apples and brambles is pretty simple as there are trees and bushes galore in the local area.  Plums are a little trickier, as although I know where there are plum (and damson) trees, they are on private property and I need the owner’s permission and will, of course, have to thank them for allowing me to gather their fruit.  Fortunately, a few pots of jam made from their fruit is always a good way to thank someone.

Similarly, there are dozens of rosehip bushes growing wild in East Scotland, so it is my plan to make some jelly with these, that might be ideal bartering currency or gifts for my dinner guests.

More problematic fruit are the dried varieties that are needed for the likes of Christmas Cake, Christmas Pudding and Mince Pies – three things that I have to produce to retain the traditional Christmas dinner.  Similarly, I am going to have to find nuts for the feast, and this could prove very tricky.  But the main thing I am worried about when it comes to Christmas is the drink…

Part of the reason that I am focusing foraging a Christmas dinner rather than becoming self sufficient, is that I have a normal job – I run a wine shop.  As I spend many hours there, I can’t devote lots of time to gardening, foraging and so my challenge has a reality to it, something that a lot of foraging or self-sufficiency blogs and shows don’t have.  However, there is a problem when it comes to the drinks over Christmas.  Soft drinks shouldn’t be a problem – elderflower or rose cordial is an easy option (I could use the roses that are growing up the front of my house) – but it is the booze that I’m nervous about.

I have, in the past, written some fairly damning pieces about commercial British fruit wines, but I am now going to have to venture forth and try and make some wine out of fruit that I find in the countryside.  I am also going to have to give beer or cider making a shot, which is again something I have not a clue about.  Now if I didn’t really care that much about alcohol, I would be able to produce some filth and just pass it off as ‘acceptable’ but there is a problem.  My guests are going to know that I’ve made this, and will be expecting the same levels of quality that I would demand from a commercially available product… all of a sudden, the critic has become the producer and that worries me a lot!