Just asking you blokes/girls, can you remember those times back in the day, when you came across a good feed of berries or mushrooms. Our memorable trip was in the early 80's. Coming up the Monaro area, we came across a rather large Black berry patch. Their were about 20 cars on the side of the road, and everybody was in the paddock, getting blackberries, we did the same. The berries were the size of a 50cent piece. We managed to get a gallon bucket full, and their were many hundreds of thousands left. So quite happy, off we drove for about 5 km, and came across more cars on the side of the road. In the paddock we could see these massive mushrooms. We went in and got only 4. These mushrooms were dinnerplate size and nearly 4 inches thick. Their were also hundreds and hundreds of them. Have never seen mushrooms that big before or since. This was after 2 days of heavy rain. When we got home, the next night I invited in the inlaws over, and Donna made 3 blackberry pies, and then did Homestead style coated mushrooms. We each had a mushroom. How about you lot, can you remember, a time when you went mushroom and blackberry picking?. One thing I have noticed more now, not much of that wild food around anymore, hardly ever see them on a drive now.
-- Edited by Bicyclecamper on Sunday 23rd of August 2020 07:42:51 PM
-- Edited by Bicyclecamper on Sunday 23rd of August 2020 07:44:35 PM
-- Edited by Bicyclecamper on Sunday 23rd of August 2020 07:56:44 PM
Its sad isn't it. Today. we are constantly getting messages "don't eat the mushrooms, they will kill you" and the blackberries (if you can find any) are weeds and likely have been sprayed with a noxious poison and will kill you also.
-- Edited by msg on Sunday 23rd of August 2020 09:59:33 PM
I still pick blackberries. Wife loves them with ice cream. Get a few most years. Tend to stay from mushies these days. Usually if I see them they are the ones that turn yellow.
When I was a boy, in the UK, I use to go mushrooming regularly and would often find field mushrooms the size of a dinner plate, these days I would not be sufficiently confident that I could recognise the dangerous fungi from the good.
Again, in my childhood, blackberrying was a family task and we would do it regularly. I still pick them when I see them. otoh blackberries in Australia are terrible weeds, there's many a stream I know in the High Country where it's often impossible to get to the water because of the mass of blackberry bushes.
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"I beseech you in the bowels of Christ think it possible you may be mistaken"
Oliver Cromwell, 3rd August 1650 - in a letter to the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland
I know where there are acres of wild blackberries on Crown land, being cut down by adjacent land owners by slashing walkways by PTO tractor mounted slashers into the huge bushes each year. They then have easy access to BIG bucket loads to make jam and sell! Not saying where though, but too far for me to drive each year!
Re the mushrooms, what has happened there? Yep dinner plate specimens back in the mid 1970's and some even in the early 2000's but suddenly no more and when decent ones appear they are suddenly deemed deadly.
Did Ag Dept. spray long lasting chem's or is because of our changing diets making us susceptible to stuff we previously had no problems with?
I miss both the gathering AND the eating of them.
Cheers - Ian
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Cheers - Ian
I slowly realise as I get older that I am definitely NOT the fastest rat in the race.
Also the older I get the more I realise I do not know.
I used to live on a sheep station as a boy, there were plum trees, and passion fruit trees where I could gorge myself all day, bu there was a plantation close by, and in it were wild raspberry bushes, i would eat until full. but one day I looked inside where the stem pulled out, and sitting there was a green caterpillar. Needless to say, I stopped eating them then and there!
I have never seen a Passionfruit tree, but we had plenty of Blackberries until about 30 years back. It's probably easier to grow your own mushrooms these days with plenty of varieties available to the novice. Has anyone had Cape Gooseberries aka Golden Berry, Peruvian Berry growing locally?
My Dad used to grow them( Cape Gooseberries) in Stanley Tas in late 1950's, they were ok but did not miss them when they were pulled out.
We could also fill our jumpers with large mushrooms early 60's, they were called horse mushrooms for some reason, about dinner plate size, but only 30mm or so thick
-- Edited by Craig1 on Monday 24th of August 2020 03:27:25 PM
Not too many if any wild blackberries in S E Qld, but there used to be lots of mushrooms in my youth.
At one stage I worked in the country 20 km or so out of our home town & as I drove out to start the day's work at the right time of the year I'd keep a good look out for mushrooms. I'd frequently gather a billy full & then turn around to take them home to Mother who loved nothing more than fresh mushrooms on toast for breakfast. A late start those days but a happy Mum.
Have you ever tried Brazilian Cherries?
A tree came up in my back yard a few years ago and provides a regular annual feed. Perhaps an acquired taste
