I collected some filberts (hazelnuts), but it's hard to fine good ones. The birds seem to know how to tell the difference between one with a meat in it and an empty one. I seem to get the empty ones. Anyway, I collect a bunch and then dump them by double handfuls into a half-bucket of water. The floater are empty, the ones with meats sink, so no wasting time cracking the bad ones.

There are a lot of random apple trees around here. The easiest to harvest are on people's mowed lawns. Just just let them rot there, so they are often pleased to have people stop and ask to collect them.

For grains like wheat, you can put them in a bag or pillowcase and beat them with a bat or back of a garden rake, then do the winnowing as described above. A sunny day with a decent breeze makes it easy.

I collected some vegetable seeds for planting next year, but this year's garden wasn't too good for me, as I got a late start.

When I collected blackberries, I separated the pulp from the seeds to make jam, and fed the seeds to the chickens. I had previosly hesitated to do this, thinking about how rampant blackberries are around here, obviously deposited by birds. Then I read that chickens have a more thorough digestive system, so I fed them some and kept them caged. I couldn't find any seeds in their droppings, so I figured it was safe.

Sue