i've been thinking about this for a bit now as i have seen many foraging opportunities near me BUT to really benefit from them i need to obtain permission from the landowners
we've got a few plums an apple and a quince tree that overhang walls near us which will provide us with a pound or two of each fruit BUT we'd get loads if we could get permission to come onto the property with a ladder and help ourselves (these aren't being eaten from what i could tell from last year)
so i'm wondering, how do people approach the owners? i would think they'd be concerned about you hurting yourself or tell you they weren't edible to put you off... any tips?
on a funny note, the other day as i was going past on a bus i noticed the most massive chicken of the woods on a huge tree... i realise it'd be tough as nails by now but i mourned a lost opportunity (it was like 4 book shelves on the tree, really big!) then i considered the look on the owners face if i'd brought out a ladder to pick them... you see, they were hanging over their hedge over the pavement... but they were about 15 feet up! knowing me, i'd get them if i thought i could get away with it but i don't think the bus driver would let me onto the bus with an 8 foot ladder
judith
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 22789 Location: Montgomeryshire
Posted: Mon Jul 25, 05 12:22 pm Post subject:
Perhaps you could put a note through the door with your name and phone number on it, saying you would call and ask a couple of days later. That way, if they don't want to have anything to do with you at all, they can always ring you and tell you not to come.
boff
Joined: 23 Mar 2005 Posts: 354 Location: Still alive and kicking
i've been thinking about this for a bit now as i have seen many foraging opportunities near me BUT to really benefit from them i need to obtain permission from the landowners
Generally, people are fine about this kind of thing. Generally. Sometimes you'll meet a wierdo who objects, but that's not such a loss. We pick quinces from a tree by our doctors surgery, I also used to regularly pick mushrooms from the garden outside an old folks home in Nottingham, and from the grounds of the old mental hospital in Mapperley. Ask nicely, be willing to talk about what it is you're picking and why it's worth picking, and you generally find people are happy to let you have some. Maybe offer the owner a cut of the produce. Or get back on your bicycle and ride on till you find a genuine freebie, that's what I normally do
I'm getting my sister to ask her 80-something next door neighbour if we can possibly take the less useful apples from her tree in exchange for clearing up the rest/pruning (it's biggish and she is a big gardener but I can't see her hopping on a step ladder)...I would love to ask the old lady up the road if we could do the same but if she said no I would be so mortified I wouldn't be able to pass the house again and as it's at the beginning of our close that's probably not a good move unless I want to buy a helicopter to get home in.
Bugs, if you were to happen to run into that neighbour and happen to comment on the quality of the apples, showing just a little envy, you might find yourself with permission to raid. It's worked for me before.
Cunning...never seen her come out of the house unfortunately, only know it's an old lady by rumour, bedding plants, and carefully arranged curtains ... a nice technique though, it would probably work on me
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