Cherry stem in her mouth she could tie with her tongue*...

You don't need to go yomping off into the great wild yonder to go foraging. Blackberries grow almost everywhere. There are apple trees along many roads thanks to all those cores thrown out of car windows. I still wouldn't pick directly next to a busy road (although I'm less concerned since the advent of lead-free petrol), but in my opinion a few apples from the side of a quiet residential street are not likely to harm you, especially if you wash them before eating. However, always do your own research and most of all, use your common sense.

An often overlooked food resource is gardens. Many gardens, especially in older properties have a few fruit trees, raspberry canes, or gooseberry bushes. Now I'm not suggesting you go scrumping, but if you have a neighbour who seems to not be doing anything with their bounty, why not just ask? The worst they can say is 'no', and you'll still have met your neighbour (apparently, some people out there don't talk to their neighbours)! 

Offering to repay their kindness with some produce is only polite and can build up a lasting friendship. I have one bloke who lets me have cooking apples from his garden every year in return for an apple pie, and someone with an old orchard who gets a bottle or two of plum wine. The fruits of my labour from their fruit! 

My favourite cherry variety- Prunus cerasus v.Freebius

Anyway, what got me on to this blog today was cherries. My sister-in-law recently moved into a house with a lovely garden. With a cherry tree. Best of all...she hates cherries! Win! These are not the small wild cherries like I was foraging last week, but big fat juicy beasts. The tree is small, so all the branches were easy to get get to (no crook required), and really heavily laden. I got 9lb (just over 4kg) off in a short space of time, and now my fridge is groaning. 

The cherries are quite sharp, so they're more for cooking than eating. I have enough to make a batch of wine, some jam, and some cherry vodka. My sister-in-law has some on the go and it smells just like maraschino cherries - divine! 

*yes, yes I can