Conkers Bonkers

During a recent conversation with the Hawthorns centre on Southampton Common, it came to light that, the activity of picking blackberries (or anything else) on our Common, is not permitted. This came as a shock to me as I had always assumed that this was exactly the kind of healthy outdoors activity that should be encouraged.

I decided that something ought to be done and set about finding out more about the bye laws, easier said than done... However, during my search I came across the Southampton Court Leet, a unique opportunity for locals to air their grievances in front of a Jury of Aldermen and by a lucky chance this was due to take place the following week.

The Court Leet - Sheriff Standing
Meanwhile the Urbane Forager Waits Nervously in the Foreground

I spoke to the Mayor's office and duly appeared at the Civic Centre to make my presentment; based on the idea that local children and families should be free to forage on Southampton Common - what could be more natural?

The Court Leet was also attended by a large group of very well behaved children from Mount Pleasant School, who I thought, were exactly the kind of people who would be most concerned about what I had to say. They might want to collect conkers for instance.

The Town Crier was in fine voice and soon it was my own turn to address the Sheriff and Jury. I was a bit nervous but did my best to express my feelings about the issue and I'm pretty sure that I caused the Sheriff to raise his eyebrows in concern at one point...

As I left the Guildhall, I felt confident that my campaign was in a pair of hands, almost as safe as those of Kelvin Davis. Hopefully our right to pick blackberries on Southampton Common will soon be confirmed - I hope so anyway.

There may be a small article in Thursday's Echo, in support of this cause.

Ancient Court Leet Preserves Mansbridge Community Orchard

the Urbane Forager with Southampton's Town Cryer 

The Court Leet is a wonderful occasion and also and important ancient rite. It is a place where the citizens of Southampton can air their grievances in front of a Jury of Alderman (including past Mayors and Sheriffs) and the 575^th Sheriff of the City (Councillor Ivan White) as Foreman. The Court was originally held at the Cutthorns, a raised dais at the top of the common but nowadays it is ensconced in the more comfortable surroundings of the Council Chambers in the delightfully light and airy Guildhall.

Starting to Feel the Nerves

Last year, with the help of the Court Leet, it was established that picking fruit and nuts with families was legal on Southampton Common and also the other Southampton parks, provided no unnecessary damage, such as digging up trees was caused (although quite why anyone might want to vandalise trees in this way is a mystery to me). 

All Rise!

This year our aim was to get full permissions established for the development and improvement of the Community Orchard on the Octavia Rd. Open Space at Mansbridge. Louise Owen spoke for the Southampton Woodcraft Folk, who have taken an active interest in the orchard, I was there in my guise as the Urbane Forager and we were ably supported by Claire Diaper and other friends.

The Woodcraft Folk Perspective

The court was opened by our city's Town Crier and presided over by the Head of Legal and Democratic Services. Many interesting articles were discussed and a good number of them were passed swiftly, including (I’m pleased to say) a 20mph speed limit in residential areas of the city and several cycle path improvements. The court is always attended by school children and the youngsters of Bitterne Park confidently laid a presentment to the court regarding parking and access near their school. It’s great to see children getting so actively involved in the democratic process; a lot of adult citizens could learn something valuable from these youngsters.    

the Urbane Forager with the Sheriff of Southampton

As it came to our own turn to stand up and deliver our own presentment, the nerves began to kick in a little bit but the trepidation soon abated. Unsurprisingly, everyone in the Jury agreed that the Community Orchard was a wonderful idea; they saw that it would benefit the good citizens of Southampton and they wholeheartedly passed the motion without further ado.

Hear Yea, Hear yea, Orchard saved in Mansbridge!

After the court had been closed by the Town Crier we were invited to attend a feast, laid on by the city; the sandwiches were tasty as were the apples and, although I’m not sure they were organically grown or locally sourced – but they could be next year, if they want…

You can download or print off a copy of our, Presentment for a Community Orchard in Mansbridge here.

Blackberry Ban Battered!

In a bizzare case of, I fought the law and there was none, the city council have stated that there are in fact no laws banning the picking of fruit by families and friends on Southampton Common.

Hurrah!

In fact, it turns out that the very designation as Common Land (the clue was in the name), allows locals to use it for fuel, clay and taking berries and other wild natural food. Hopefully this will put the argument to bed and everyone can Keep Calm and Carry On, enjoying the wonderful green breathing spaces that Southampton is rightly famous for, in a respectful and appropriate way.

Saturday's Sun Newspaper
(Click Image to Download Shaun Aquilina's Wave FM Report)

According to an article in Thursdays’s Daily Echo a new code of conduct is to be drawn up to clarify proper behaviour regarding the Common and the Urbane Forager is to be invited to contribute to it.  Rest assured, I will press for the inclusion of a clause stipulating that family berry, nut and fruit picking should be allowed; although I would personally object to boar (or even squirrel) hunting, brick making (currently allowed apparently) or damaging woodland in the pursuit of fuel.

Front Page of the Telegraph Friday 7th Oct 2011
We Know Which News is The Most Important

I would like to stress that I have never had any personal issues with the City Council, the Hawthorns Urban Wildlife Centre or the maintenance staff that do such a lovely job of keeping our wonderful parks and common so beautiful, I simply wanted clarification of the bye laws.

I would especially like to thank Matt Smith and Sally Churchward of the Echo for their support and Shaun Aquilina of Wave 105 FM. Of course, everyone who supported the the campaign, visited the blog or told people, played their part and I thank you all. It seems that the article went "Viral" and spread, rather like blackberry jam.

Here is where our story has been so far...

Daily Echo

Daily Telegraph including Saturday's front page!

The Daily Mail

BBC News including South Today on BBC1 TV

This is Hampshire

IT News Post (possibly a mistake?)

Common Sense Picknik

It was the weekend of the Autumnal Equinox and there had been a rather splendid harvest moon the night before. Now it was overcast but warm.

A couple of weeks earlier, we had been on a bike ride to check out the big apple tree on the Little Common. It was loaded but the apples were not quite ripe yet, so we planned to come back soon.

On our return we bought a small group of friends along to help us pick some fruit and generally have a run and ride about. There was a large amount of windfalls on the floor when we arrived.

I guess we must have spent an hour or two picking, chatting and catching the big apples that were thrown down out of the venerable tree.  The kids ran about making the most of the last Blackberries too. After Michaelmas day they should not be picked as the Devil has (allegedly) spat on them.

Southampton Common is a very pleasant environment to pick fruit in and several passers-by stopped to see what we were up to and comment on our activities. There was even a report of another big tree that we need to check out soon.

In the end we picked about 46 Kgs of beautiful apples, the best of which will go into store for the winter months; the remainders will go into the cider press! 

Even with our harvest haul, the bulk of fruit was still left on the tree, there is also plenty on the ground for anyone without pickers.

Elder, Elder Everywhere

Elderflowers are easy to identify and are said to herald in the Summer. Well, you could have fooled me - it was the coldest, wettest, windiest and foggiest half term holiday since records began!

Is it a Bird? Is it a Plane? No, It's an Elder Bush!

However, we remained undaunted and were soon out gathering a bagfull of the best Elderflower heads. We left plenty to develop into berries, not that this is really significant - Elderflowers are just about everywhere at the moment.

Our first expedition was to make Elderflower Cordial, my daughter’s favourite drink. We were in Devon at the time on a short break but the first bushes were spotted after only a short walk.

Mmmmm, Fragrant!

It only took us a moment to collect enough and then rush back to begin preparation and within a short time we were all guzzling away at this sweet, delicate summertime drink.

The next foray was back on Southampton Common; it was raining this day, so the children chose to wear sensible shoes in the form of roller-skates!

And They're Off

There are Elderflower bushes all over the common and they are currently in flower; the kids started spotting them as soon as they arrived. Consequently, it took no time at all to gather enough (you only need a few flower heads), so there was plenty of time to zoom about on wheels in the wet.

Clare Joined Us On Two Wheels

With this batch we are making Elderflower Champagne, a delicious and simple to make summer evening drink. Just be sure to store it in suitable (pressure safe) bottles, otherwise you might get some unwelcome explosions.

All Over The Common

Recipes for both drinks can be found here…

Currently Fermenting Away Nicely

Where we were staying, we couldn’t find any Citric Acid for our cordial (used as a preservative - obtained from chemist), nor did we measure out the other ingredient’s very accurately but it tasted lovely anyway.

Free Urbane Forager Workshop at the British Science Festival

Endlessly Searching for Free Fresh Fruit

 The Urbane Forager Project at the British Science Festival

Date: Thursday 17 September

Venue: Turner Sims (52) - Foyer (University of Southampton)

Category: Workshops

Production by: British Science Festival

This workshop runs from 15.00 - 16.30

Discover the hidden abundance growing all around us with the Urbane Fruit Project. 

‘The Urbane Forager’, Alan Gibson (University of Southampton) uncovers how foraging can transform the way you see your city. Join this walk with Alan and lay bare the different types of fruit that grow at the end of your road. Learn how to identify them, give them a nibble and even see how locally gathered produce can be turned into juice! 

Time to taste, explore, and rethink the ecology of Southampton city.

This event will include a 30 minute walk around Southampton Common, please wear appropriate clothing and footwear.  

Please note that this event involves walking approximately 1 mile across grass and tarmac.

For access information and directions to this venue, and all British Science Festival venues, please click this link: https://britishsciencefestival

Advanced bookings for this event are now sold out – there will be walk in tickets available on the door.

Elderberry Portal

During our recent Stonehenge walk, we noticed a lovely load of Elderberries hanging off a group of trees. Elder has a suitably ancient and mystical bent; it is occasionally known as the fairy tree.

The flowers arrive just in time to provide Summer drinks for picnics (or Pickniks). Later, around September, Elderberries ripen; they are poisonous raw but become very useful when processed.

A Positive Abundance of Elderberries but No Container!

Last year I made Elderberry Port and this has proved to be my best country wine to date. If I were a wine connoisseur I might describe it as eerily full bodied with a magical reminiscence of rubenesque berry fruits, a delightfully gay nose leaving a lingering unfathomable essence… It is proving very popular and I felt that it was high time to replenish our depleted wine cellar.

We decided to go to Southampton Common, to hunt for Elderberries. This is where we had gathered our Elder flowers earlier in the year but it seemed that the blackbirds had filled their boots before we arrived.

We fell back on picking Blackberries, which were very abundant and we were pleased to meet several other families doing the same thing. The Old Graveyard on the common seemed a specially popular spot too; we even discovered Raspberries there.

Butterflies seem to like Blackberries as much as Plums

I was beginning to think that we had left it too late for the Elderberries, but eventually had a fruitful forage in Hedge End during my lunch-hour. I ferried the berries home in my sandwich box each day and froze them in batches, until we had a sufficient amount.

We also picked a good amount on Danebury Iron Age hill fort (always a great spot for a picnic and run about).

Ready For Freezing

I'm now just waiting for my yeast to arrive in the post before going to work on this little hoard. Elderberries can also be used to make jam, syrup, wine, magical potions etc…

Pressing Needs

Garden Grapes

When Autumn arrives we always get very busy. There's lots to harvest and lots of juice to press and process. First up this year was the grapes growing in our garden. I crushed them first, with a potato masher, then squeezed them, within an inch of there tiny lives, in our decade old apple press. Two Gallons are now bubbling away merrily in demi-jons. I was tempted to pasteurize the delicious juice but fermentation is a simple way to preserve fresh produce.

Grape Juice

Next up was the apples and we normally gather around two hundred Kilograms from parks, car parks and common ground around the city. However, this year the crop was massively depleted by relentles heat waves and consistent lack of rain. 

Apple Picking

Almost all the trees have been severely stressed and as a result the fruit yeild was way below par. Many of the trees had tiny apples and a lot of trees had no fruit at all.

Telescopic Game Changers

However, over time we have mapped out a vast amount of fruit trees, and this gives us many options. Even though the harvest was poor by comparison to any other year, and we've been doing this for fifteen years, we still managed to collect enough to make it worth our while.

Northam Apples

I didn't have time to weigh them but we definitely had over one hundred kilograms, and this was more than enough to cover our event at the British Science Festival. This event was attended by thirty plus people, and I led a short fruit and nut based walk over Southampton common, assisted by my family and the BSF volunteers. On our return, everyone mucked in with the chopping, milling, pressing and drinking of juice.

Apple Day in the Garden

Then a couple of days later, we did it all over again in the garden. We had our own harvest festival with friends, family and lots of fruit. Plenty of the juice got guzzled straight from the press, I pasteurised eight bottles as mitigation against the apocalypse, and two gallons were donated to a young cider maker who helped us with our picking endeavours.

The Juice is Loose
(British Science Festival)

Foraging and Qigong Walks - National Park City Status

Autumn is always a busy time, and we have already harvested over 100 kgs of apples, that's around 40 litres of juice (quite enough cider for the year), but we will be picking a whole lot more soon. 

I recently led two, very enjoyable, foraging walks around Southampton, one in Mansbridge and the other on Peartree Green targeting National Park City status for our lovely city. 

I will also be leading a morning, Walk with Qigong, for beginners, on Sunday 17th October, on Southampton Common.

Horseradish

Qigong (pronounced chi – gong) is a system of breathing, mindfulness and movement exercises that underlie many Chinese martial arts. It is similar to Tai Chi and has proven health benefits – it is enormously helpful to those in sedentary occupations, helping with posture and back strain, it is a fantastic method of stress and anxiety reduction, and has overall health benefits of improving cognitive skills such as concentration and attention, flexibility and balance.

Chicory

We are fortunate to have many beautiful parks in our city. Practising Qigong outdoors enables us to mindfully connect with nature; spending time in green spaces is increasingly recognised as positive for wellbeing, and it also benefits eye health, particularly for those spending long hours looking at screens.

If interested, click on the link below for further details and to purchase a ticket. This is a funded event, so very reasonably priced.

 Qigong Walk for Health and Wellbeing, National Park City with Alan Gibson Tickets, Sun 17 Oct 2021 at 10:00 | Eventbrite

The British Science Festival (Free Workshop)

The Peoples Emergency Briefing

The prestigious British Science Festival is an annual event and this September it will be hosted by the University of Southampton.

Headsets not Reality

There will be many exciting events and free workshops over the week, the most stimulating of all will naturally be the Urbane Forager project workshop. 

The Urbane Forager - hunting Apples

Discover the hidden abundance growing all around us with the Urbane Fruit Project. Take time to taste, explore, and rethink the ecology of Southampton city.

Must be Nuts

‘The Urbane Forager’, Alan Gibson (University of Southampton) uncovers how foraging can transform the way you see your city. Come for a short walk on the common with Alan and lay bare the different types of fruit and nuts that grow at the end of your road. Learn how to identify them (if you want to download and bring the free "seasonal tree id sheets", that will be helpful). Then we can pick and eat something tasty and finally, see how our locally gathered produce can be turned into the most delicious juice you can drink.

I hope to meet you there, in person, on the day.

Alan Gibson aka the Urbane Forager

The workshop is free, but tickets will be limited, so add the date to your diary, and book early if you want a place. 

Thursday 17 September

The workshop runs from 15.00 - 16.30

Turner Sims foyer Building (52). Turner Sims is normally famous for the joy of live music.