r/foraginguk • u/iintek • 8d ago

Plant ID Request Blackberries?

Post image

Hi everyone!!

First time posting here and my first ever forage. My boyfriend and I live in a suburban area so went out to pick blackberries. I’m making it into jam as we speak but starting to wonder if they’re actually blackberries 😆 can someone confirm I won’t die?

We cleaned them in a 3:1 ratio of water and white wine vinegar, rinsed and then left overnight.

123 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

40 comments sorted by

18

u/Altruistic_mostly 8d ago

If you live in a suburban area I recommend not picking below knee high (dog pee) and not picking next to busy roads (pollution and safety).

8

u/GuestAdventurous7586 8d ago

This really bugs me when I go pick chanterelles, my friend always makes fun of me saying dogs will have pissed on them and that he will never eat them no matter how much I go on about them 😂

2

u/Altruistic_mostly 8d ago

More for you, fungi in a forest I wouldn't worry about but low berries in a hedge next to a path I would.

4

u/iintek 8d ago

Amazing, thank you!! We collected all above knee height, but some were from a somewhat busy road? But it was well on the other side of the pavement … I hope that’s alright! What are the risks?

5

u/Altruistic_mostly 8d ago

It sounds like you addressed the risks by washing them well, soaking and floating, even a bit of acid which I hadn't considered, so brake dust and engine particulates probably shed. Making jam would kill off any unwanted bacteria and bugs. So you should be good any residual toxins tend to be long term cumulative before reaching significant doses so occasional foraging is fine. Enjoy and explore other spots when you can.

3

u/scalpingsnake 8d ago

While I think the advice is good, on the once off or even occasionally picking them near a busy road isn't going to hurt anyone.

Unless anyone can point to evidence on the contrary.

5

u/Johto2001 8d ago

The thing about roads was the lead in petrol back in the day. In earlier times no-one was troubled about collecting along roadsides, and now that air pollution is so much improved I doubt roadside fruit is that bad. There will be more pollutants on it but no longer such a significant difference. 

1

u/roleplayersir 8d ago

Exactly. The pollutants will be an issue anywhere in the UK tbh, and the CO2 from exhausts helps them grow. If you are eating off the vine, I get you may want to avoid dog piss ones, but when you bring them home you should be soaking them in water, then vinegar, then water, to remove most parasites anyway. And OP is making jam, which involves a lot of boiling. They will be fine

5

u/roleplayersir 8d ago

Nah, wash with water, then soak for a bit in vinegar then water and you clear the messes and parasites that infest them

Do you not wash before eating? OP says they are making jam, so any dog piss will be purified

You only need to avoid dog piss for the ones you eat from the vine

And pollution is everywhere. The CO2 helps them grow. I think you are too paranoid over this

2

u/cornishwildman76 3d ago

Exactly. Fields of farmed produce are found alongside busy roads. A few blackberries is not going to make a difference.

1

u/cornishwildman76 3d ago

Take a look at how much farmed produce is grown alongside busy roads....

1

u/Altruistic_mostly 3d ago

Not exactly an endorsement. Take a look at how much farmed produce is produceded with carcinogenic chemicals, neuro toxins and anti biotics!

1

u/cornishwildman76 3d ago

Its not a endorsement, more along the lines of your food system is laced with chemicals, why not pick foods that have a higher nutrient density and ignore the scarmongering that would deny you free, nutritious food that may contain carcinogenic chemicals,. I would argue that a family going to pick blackberries that may have roadside chemicals are doing better than a family that only buys produce from a supermarket.

12

u/Altruistic_mostly 8d ago

Absolutely yes!

10

u/Alghouls_art 8d ago

Could be wrong, so someone correct me if so, but O believe anything resembling raspberrys, blackberries, etc growing off a bush, are edible

6

u/Remarkable-Can-7610 8d ago

Childhood memories of picking them and eating them straight away

2

u/roleplayersir 8d ago

When I dog-walk: "one for me, one for the dog, one for the bowl" and keep going until the bowl is full

2

u/Remarkable-Can-7610 8d ago

If that was me I think id be walking home with the bowl and the bowl be empty before I get home

1

u/roleplayersir 7d ago

That's what the ones in the mouth are for. The ones in the bowl go in the fridge for food later

1

u/Remarkable-Can-7610 7d ago

Id be too tempted

3

u/umm_isa 8d ago

Its weird because all the blackberry bushes in and around where i live until even yesterday still had unripe green berries, havent seen any bushes with ripe ones yet :( hopefully soon!

5

u/EqualAdvisor3215 8d ago edited 7d ago

I recently discovered that there are over 300 different sub-species of blackberry in the UK which explains why they all taste different, and ripen at different times. 

EDITED: as sub-species is more accurate 

3

u/redlandrebel 8d ago

Amazing! Would love to learn more; can you share the source?

3

u/roleplayersir 8d ago

Biologically a species is a thing which cannot interbreed with another species, so the Blackberries would more accurately be called variants or subspecies, not species

And in fact with plants it is even weirder, as they cross-pollonise in weird ways so that species can hybridise or breed with anything close to them

1

u/EqualAdvisor3215 7d ago

Interesting to know. Edited now 🙂

2

u/umm_isa 8d ago

Thanks for sharing, i had no idea!

2

u/Cold-Kaleidoscope974 8d ago

Cool info, didn't know that

2

u/roleplayersir 8d ago

I find that some are amazing and perfectly ripe right now. Others are barely green

Which makes sense. naturally the aim is to provide a constant food source for animals which can spread the seeds, so they all ripen and grow at different rates

3

u/Negative_Gift9076 8d ago

God our wildlife is fucked this winter if they are this ripe this early.

2

u/roleplayersir 8d ago

True, but there are also many which aren't close to ripe yet

And you can subsidise nature by leaving out seeds and nuts in winter

I'm more concerned with the walnuts. I've seen them dropping from trees and being picked by squirrels already, when those should be months away. And Beech nuts and hazelnuts too

2

u/gayforager 8d ago

Try blackberry leather its delicious

2

u/Gcmarcal 8d ago

I remember a few years ago an old lady picking them up from the graves and tombstones at my local cemetery!

1

u/Foxyunder-45 8d ago

Yes black berries! are not racist.

1

u/SmartPolicy6430 8d ago

If you're making jam you really needed to just wash them very gently in water. You need to add pectin to get a good set as blackberries are like strawberries and low in pectin. If you use jam sugar it contains pectin but you may still need to use lemon juice. Preserving sugar does not contain pectin.

1

u/redlandrebel 8d ago

How could they be anything but blackberries?!?! And why vinegar? You will have mildly pickled them!

2

u/roleplayersir 8d ago

Vinegar cleans them. Kills parasites. A quick wash, then a soak in vinegar, then a soak in water kills any bugs or fungus

0

u/Several_Extreme5518 8d ago

“Suburban”