We now have a food bank in Coleford and, no doubt, in other Forest towns – you'd think this means there are lots of poor people who cannot afford food.

But I cannot help but notice that yet again this year the blackberries hang unpicked on the bushes, squirrels get all the hazelnuts and the plum tree on the public land opposite my house goes largely unmolested.

If you look hard enough you might also find wild raspberries, sloes, rosehips, etc. but when even the easy stuff like the delicious wild blackberry goes to waste it does make you wonder why?

The best thing about this time of year has to be the bounty in the woods – fruit for jams, jellies, pies and crumbles. 

You could pay £2 for a 100g punnet of comparatively tasteless cultivated berries or you could walk up the road and get pounds of the stuff with the best flavour for the investment of a small amount of time.

If you don't have the expertise or a recipe book you can google it nowadays so there's no excuse (or perhaps the Review would like to publish a few seasonal recipes to help out.)

Come on people – get out and gather all the free stuff. 

– Amanda McCallion, Sling.