Free food

This is the time of the year for collecting lots of free food - I'm starting to see ripe elderberries in the hedgerows, and my jam making mother has been on a blackberry collecting mission for the past few weeks. Good crop this year. You might also find crab apples. I think that things are too wet for good field mushrooms - at the end of the last good summer (2006 - remember it?) my brother was presenting me with carrier bags full of mushrooms - wonderful stuff.

If you are picking - try to pick away from a roadside - less dangerous and dirty, and if you are in any doubt as to what you are picking, as an expert.

Here's a sample of what you might do with your pickings...
Elderberry Jam
Elderberry syrup
Blackberry Jam
Crab Apple jelly

OK, now I'm motivated myself - that Elderberry syrup sounds tasty, healthy and easy to make - think I'll have to try it!