A friend recently told me about a secret Wild Cherry (Prunus avium) tree in my neighbourhood. I knew the village, and roughly where it was. And so Zillah, me and our trusty Cairn terrier when off to stalk it.
We’d nearly given up hope, when around a very overgrown corner we were presented with a sight I haven’t seen in a long while. A Wild Cherry that was so laden with fruit the branches were hanging right down. In fact there was more red/black than green leaves!
We harvested a couple of pounds in less than 10 minutes. And even though I knew another family had harvested too, both our activities had made virtually no impact on the abundance of this wonderful tree.
If there is one thing that foraging has taught me, it is that Nature is truly abundant, you just have to be smart and aware of when to harvest. Sometimes a crop can be gone within 48 hours, so grab your chance while you can, because Nature doesn’t take pre-bookings.
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JUST MOVED 2 A COUNCLE FLAT IN TAUNTON AND THOUGHT WE-ED GO UP THE LOVLEY COUNTRY LANE AT THE BACK AND HAD JUST READ YOUR THING AND SAID MITE START FORAGING AS A HOBBY IN 30 SECONDS THERE WAS A WILD CHERRY TREE LOADED WITH EM! THEN TONS OF NUTS THEN AN ALMOND TREE THEN A MORRILLO CHERRY TREE IT WENT ON AND ON -MY DAD IDENTIFIIED THE RED CHERRIE AS WILD BUT THE REST PROBABLY WERE PLANTED MANY YEARS AGO-THE COMMUNIAL GARDENS AROUND THE FLAT GOT CRAB APPLES ELDERBERRRIES ROSE HIPS ETC=