It was not long ago when, in the Autumn in the Highlands, you would see cars parked in a wide range of places along country roads or cycles leant up against a hedge or gate. This was a good sign that people were out collecting what has been described as “Food for Free”. The expression came from the book by that name by Richard Mabey, first published in 1972. There have been so many editions since then that it must be one of the most popular books about the countryside. Brambles, some still call them blackberries, were a prime choice and you could often see people in all sorts of impossible situations where they had pushed themselves well into bramble thickets. In my teens I used to gather brambles by the basket, a simple type of trug. I used to eat a lot but the purpose of my gathering was a mini commercial one as they went to a local firm to make jam. I think we used to get only a few pence for each basket and the old fashioned sixpenny piece seems to come to mind as the payment.
In the last few years the number of people gathering such food seem to have virtually gone. This year I did not see anyone despite going past various sources, particularly brambles, where I always used to see people. Even the cars parked below the nearest wood do not seem to have appeared for the last two or even three years. They were after mushrooms, or fungi I like to call them. They used to annoy me as they were collecting to sell to the trade and always took just too many. Chanterelles were their favourites but many other species of fungi were taken. As with all this free food collecting moderation is the key. Always remember that the birds, and some mammals, need these various berries and fruits as well and if you decimate bushes they will suffer. If readers are interested in just what birds feed on what, one book I often refer to is by Barbara and David Snow. It is “Birds and Berries” published in 1988 and nothing since then, or for that matter before, has come anywhere near on this subject.
So last week when I stood under a rowan tree on the roadside with a large plastic bucket in one hand and secateurs in the other, in the past there would have been no comment from passers-by. As it happened the only two people to go past both stopped as they wondered what I was up to. Gathering rowan berries could have been for a wide range of things. It is one of the more productive of trees as both the berries and the flowers are used not only in culinary purposes but also in medicinal uses. Rowan jelly is a favourite one for venison and also makes wine and syrup. Wine made from the berries is one of the more unusual ones but is well worthwhile. It is said to give the “second sight” to the drinker! On the medicinal front rowan berry jam is reputed to help over various ailments and the fresh juice is used as a gargle for easing sore throats. Coupled to that the rowan is said to have connections with the magical world and a cross made from rowan wood protects against witches.
As for my modest collecting of rowan berries, my aim was solely to augment the food I am putting out on a daily basis for the garden birds and badgers. The redwings and fieldfares, those migrants from Scandinavia, are yet to arrive so some berries will go into the deep freeze. However, I have seen plenty of chaffinches plundering the rowan berries on the road plus blackbirds, starlings and mistle thrushes in the trees. So I put my first batch of berries underneath one of the feeding stations in the garden and put some in a mixed seed feeder. The feeder was not touched, I will give it time, but the berries on the ground were taken by blackbirds and chaffinches.