hi all

I live on a small main road and have wild blackberries
in the front garden (about 30 foot from road)

would these be bad/dangerous to eat
(after thorough washing obviously)

my next door neighbour and his kids
eat them straight off the bush,

while browsing, i was amused by the
superstition of not picking after the 15th of sept
(the devil has spit on them!!)
although according to wiki there is truth in this
as the damper weather promotes mould etc

rgds

4

In reply to fourmations ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

hi all

I live on a small main road and have wild blackberries
in the front garden (about 30 foot from road)

would these be bad/dangerous to eat
(after thorough washing obviously)

my next door neighbour and his kids
eat them straight off the bush,

while browsing, i was amused by the
superstition of not picking after the 15th of sept
(the devil has spit on them!!)
although according to wiki there is truth in this
as the damper weather promotes mould etc

I eat them off the towpath until they go rotten. Beat the wasps, but wash
them thoroughly, because of catpee etc. I have to say I was stuck once with
a duff engine and was there for hours, eating nothing but blackberries all
day, and I was a little queasy by the end of the day. I suspect too much of
something might not be a good thing.

And if the devil wants them he needs to fight me first :-)

fourmations wrote:
hi all

I live on a small main road and have wild blackberries
in the front garden (about 30 foot from road)

would these be bad/dangerous to eat
(after thorough washing obviously)

my next door neighbour and his kids
eat them straight off the bush,

while browsing, i was amused by the
superstition of not picking after the 15th of sept
(the devil has spit on them!!)
although according to wiki there is truth in this
as the damper weather promotes mould etc

rgds

I suspect that the 'damper weather/devil' thing was based on pre-global
warming climate experiences.

The blackberries round here are fine (for blackberry and apple crumble) as
of yesterday, anyway.

OTOH, maybe the Pope has been eating some...

fourmations wrote:
I live on a small main road and have wild blackberries
in the front garden (about 30 foot from road)
would these be bad/dangerous to eat
(after thorough washing obviously)
my next door neighbour and his kids
eat them straight off the bush,
while browsing, i was amused by the
superstition of not picking after the 15th of sept
(the devil has spit on them!!)

Err ... it's peed on them. Which is far worse really ;o)

although according to wiki there is truth in this
as the damper weather promotes mould etc

Just be choosy, that's all. This week end we're doing our annual trip
to Styall with kids and dogs and friends to pick them up. I love that
time of year )

"fourmations" wrote in message
...
hi all

I live on a small main road and have wild blackberries
in the front garden (about 30 foot from road)

would these be bad/dangerous to eat
(after thorough washing obviously)

my next door neighbour and his kids
eat them straight off the bush,

while browsing, i was amused by the
superstition of not picking after the 15th of sept
(the devil has spit on them!!)

That's correct. They're winter food for the fairies.

although according to wiki there is truth in this

Especially if you believe in looking after the fairies,
which will bring you good luck. Or rather the
reverse. Woe betide you, if you don't.

There was also a superstition that backberry juice
represented the blood of Christ and that the fruit
shouldn't be eaten at any time, on account of that
belief.


michael adams

....

as the damper weather promotes mould etc

rgds

4

Martin wrote:
On Mon, 18 Sep 2006 15:29:23 GMT, "Bioboffin"
wrote:

fourmations wrote:
hi all

I live on a small main road and have wild blackberries
in the front garden (about 30 foot from road)

would these be bad/dangerous to eat
(after thorough washing obviously)

my next door neighbour and his kids
eat them straight off the bush,

while browsing, i was amused by the
superstition of not picking after the 15th of sept
(the devil has spit on them!!)
although according to wiki there is truth in this
as the damper weather promotes mould etc

rgds

I suspect that the 'damper weather/devil' thing was based on
pre-global warming climate experiences.

The blackberries round here are fine (for blackberry and apple
crumble) as of yesterday, anyway.

In NL the farmers are out in the fields making hay and meadows are
full of buttercups.

They are a bit late, I think. (Both the farmers and the buttercups)


OTOH, maybe the Pope has been eating some...


If he had visited Munich this week he could have pontificated at the
Oktoberfest. The Pope is several litres short of being a real
Bavarian.

He has made his choices.

"fourmations" wrote in message
...
hi all

I live on a small main road and have wild blackberries
in the front garden (about 30 foot from road)

would these be bad/dangerous to eat
(after thorough washing obviously)

I would never pick blackberries from a roadside, not because of animal
contamination but because of deposits from exhausts. They're not water
soluble so can't be washed off. the distance you state should be enough
barrier to prevent most of that.

The devil doesn't **** on them until the end of the month. He told me.

Mary

Mary Fisher wrote:
"fourmations" wrote in message
...
hi all

I live on a small main road and have wild blackberries
in the front garden (about 30 foot from road)

would these be bad/dangerous to eat
(after thorough washing obviously)

I would never pick blackberries from a roadside, not because of animal
contamination but because of deposits from exhausts. They're not water
soluble so can't be washed off. the distance you state should be
enough barrier to prevent most of that.

I would be interested to know just what deposits you would expect? Unleaded
fuels have removed the nastiest one, and catalytic converters remove most of
the gases. Diesels are chucking out particulates, but they are mostly
carbon. I'm not suggesting that you are wrong - I wouldn't eat blackberries
from the side of the road either, but I'd really like to know which deposits
you are thinking of.

"fourmations" wrote in message
...
hi all

I live on a small main road and have wild blackberries
in the front garden (about 30 foot from road)

would these be bad/dangerous to eat
(after thorough washing obviously)

my next door neighbour and his kids
eat them straight off the bush,

while browsing, i was amused by the
superstition of not picking after the 15th of sept
(the devil has spit on them!!)
although according to wiki there is truth in this
as the damper weather promotes mould etc

rgds

Funny, most sites I found say 29th September............so still two weeks
to go :~)
Jenny

"michael adams" wrote

There was also a superstition that backberry juice
represented the blood of Christ and that the fruit
shouldn't be eaten at any time, on account of that
belief.
michael adams

Bit more trivia from http://www.mwrop.org/W_Needham/Blackberry_050807.htm :
The medicinal benefit of the blackberry extended to superstition. In
medieval England, the arch made by a bramble that rooted at both ends was
believed to provide a cure for hernia or rupture in children; the afflicted
child was passed backwards and forwards through the arch. A similar
treatment is still in use in Cornwall, where children are passed through a
slit in the trunk of an ash sapling which is afterward bound up to affect a
cure. A bramble-cure of this sort was also used to heal boils, blackheads
and rheumatism in adults, who either crawled or were dragged beneath a
bramble shoot. The name scaldhead for the blackberry is due to the belief
that children who ate the fruit to excess became afflicted with a disease of
the scalp called scald head.

Jenny

"Bioboffin" wrote in message
...
Mary Fisher wrote:
"fourmations" wrote in message
...
hi all

I live on a small main road and have wild blackberries
in the front garden (about 30 foot from road)

would these be bad/dangerous to eat
(after thorough washing obviously)

I would never pick blackberries from a roadside, not because of animal
contamination but because of deposits from exhausts. They're not water
soluble so can't be washed off. the distance you state should be
enough barrier to prevent most of that.

I would be interested to know just what deposits you would expect?
Unleaded fuels have removed the nastiest one, and catalytic converters
remove most of the gases. Diesels are chucking out particulates, but they
are mostly carbon. I'm not suggesting that you are wrong - I wouldn't eat
blackberries from the side of the road either, but I'd really like to know
which deposits you are thinking of.

MAFF has a report :
http://archive.food.gov.uk/maff/arch...9/199multi.htm
bit technical for me ..... Jenny "~)

JennyC wrote:
Funny, most sites I found say 29th September............so still two weeks
to go :~)

True. I had mentioned it a couple of weeks ago - but instinctively I
know when it's the time to go and pick them before the devil releive
himself spit

"Bioboffin" wrote in message
...
Mary Fisher wrote:
"fourmations" wrote in message
...
hi all

I live on a small main road and have wild blackberries
in the front garden (about 30 foot from road)

would these be bad/dangerous to eat
(after thorough washing obviously)

I would never pick blackberries from a roadside, not because of animal
contamination but because of deposits from exhausts. They're not water
soluble so can't be washed off. the distance you state should be
enough barrier to prevent most of that.

I would be interested to know just what deposits you would expect?
Unleaded fuels have removed the nastiest one, and catalytic converters
remove most of the gases. Diesels are chucking out particulates, but they
are mostly carbon. I'm not suggesting that you are wrong - I wouldn't eat
blackberries from the side of the road either, but I'd really like to know
which deposits you are thinking of.

'Mostly carbon' you say - what are the rest? Exhaust gases from any source
are rarely 100% 'clean' because engines are rarely 100% efficient. I'm
prepared to stick out my neck and say that the majority of exhaust gases
leave greasy deposits. That's why I wouldn't eat them.

Why wouldn't you eat brambles from the side of the road?

Mary

"JennyC" wrote in message
...


MAFF has a report :
http://archive.food.gov.uk/maff/arch...9/199multi.htm
bit technical for me ..... Jenny "~)
Oh come on :-)

....

"Concentrations of lead were higher in urban fruit and platinum levels were
higher in blackberry samples taken from locations close to main roads
reflecting the emissions of these metals from road traffic."

That's clear.

"Estimated dietary exposures to these elements by consumers of wild
blackberries and fungi have been considered by the independent Committee on
Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT).
It concluded that 'the concentrations of the elements arsenic, cadmium,
chromium, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, platinum, tin, titanium
and zinc in fungi and blackberries collected from the wild do not provide
any cause for concern for individuals eating these foods'. "

As is that.

I didn't say that I was concerned about these things but I don't want to eat
them. I go to a lot of lengths to eat good food with no additives. Others
can do what they like.

Not that I have much confidence in the FSA ...

Mary

JennyC wrote:
"Bioboffin" wrote in message
...
Mary Fisher wrote:
"fourmations" wrote in message
...
hi all

I live on a small main road and have wild blackberries
in the front garden (about 30 foot from road)

would these be bad/dangerous to eat
(after thorough washing obviously)

I would never pick blackberries from a roadside, not because of
animal contamination but because of deposits from exhausts. They're
not water soluble so can't be washed off. the distance you state
should be enough barrier to prevent most of that.

I would be interested to know just what deposits you would expect?
Unleaded fuels have removed the nastiest one, and catalytic
converters remove most of the gases. Diesels are chucking out
particulates, but they are mostly carbon. I'm not suggesting that
you are wrong - I wouldn't eat blackberries from the side of the
road either, but I'd really like to know which deposits you are
thinking of.

MAFF has a report :
http://archive.food.gov.uk/maff/arch...9/199multi.htm
bit technical for me ..... Jenny "~)

Yup. This is dated March 2000, and probably relates to research carried out
at least a year earlier (peer checking and all that). Lead levels have been
falling for the last decade, and are likely to be even lower today. The
platinum levels might be worrying, as the report says - a component of
catalytic converters - although I'm not too convinced that it is toxic
except perhaps in very high concentrations.

However. Thanks for the link - it was relevant and interesting.

John.