Dave Draper : dedicated country winemaker on damson hunt

[DaveDraper]

Hi, I'm Dave Draper, a retired teacher living in Abingdon. I've been brewing/winemaking for a few years now. Beer brewing has been mostly with kits though I have tried using dried hops with malted barley extract.As a big Belgian beer fan, I try to model my ale on monastic ales: strong and flavoursome.
I tend to add malt-extract or fruit to the basic kit to create stronger beers or kriek-style fruit beer.

My speciality is blackberry wine, and I'm out picking at sites in Didcot and Abingdon most days this month.

I'm really into wild-fruit winemaking, but it's hard to find out where to look for damsons, blackberries, elderberries etc.

There must be lots of places within cycling distance if only one could find out exactly where sites are. Also, there must be people with damson trees or similar in their gardens or close by who have no use for these fruits - if only there was a means of getting in touch with such people.
So - my plea is for some means of finding out where wild fruits can be found. I'm willing to give a bottle of home-made wine to anyone who supplies /helps me find the required ingredients.

Cheers

Dave Draper

 

[bobsbeer]

Welcome. :

 

[oldbloke]

So - my plea is for some means of finding out where wild fruits can be found.

ISTR somebody started a thread about this last year.
Trouble is, the UK is bigger than you think once you start naming particular bits of particular woodlands etc.
Local knowledge is always best - somebody near you knows where everything grows (and they might be in the WI!)
Of course, they may be keeping it a secret for themselves...

 

[godfrey]

I can remember tasting a particularly fine blackberry one year and wanted to go back and get a runner later that year

trouble was I didn't take notes as to the exact location and never did find my runner :-(

keep a notebook with you so you can find your plants and trees on subsequent visits :thumb:

 

[dennisking]

Hi and welcome.

 

[Vossy1]

Welcome to the forum D :thumb:

 

[amusedparrot]

keep a notebook with you so you can find your plants and trees on subsequent visits :thumb:

If you have a smartphone you can get a few apps that are good for pinning things onto a map. I use android and "My Tracks" is a good option, it will track your walk and you can add a waypoint when you find something of interest like a fruit bush or tree. You can bring it up on your PC later to review.

 

[LeithR]

@ Dave,
Can I suggest you join your local Yahoo Freecycle or Freegle group and put a wanted ad on there. I have had all sorts of offrs based on that tactic. About 20 mins ago I returned after picking 1.5Kg of Redcurrents from somebody's garden received via this route.

Good luck with this.

 

[Crastney]

There might be local online fora (forums?) like this one, but a lot more general in contenct but specifically for your local area.
Also local groups, Womens Institute, Scouts, Ramblers, etc might be able to offer help.
a good one might be the local countryside service of your county council. the officers there are usually into foraging, and being green etc. they might offer help.
local farmers, and farm managers might also help, and then there's always the man down the pub - probably a poacher, sat in the corner with his terrier, supping at a mug of scrumpy. He'll know where most things are, or know another man who knows.

P.S. you're not Saul Draper's dad are you?

 

[DaveDraper]

Thanks for all good advice.

Blackberries have been in abundance this last fortnight - so I've got a five-gallon tub of red frothiness bubbling away in the kitchen.

(PS: Yes, I am Saul's dad!)

 

[Crastney]

Excellent!

we met briefly at his wedding a few years ago - the wine that you'd provided for that was absolutely fantastic, so you're clearly already very profficient at this hobby.

Welcome to the forum!