Foraging

Picking the berries

Juicy

I love to forage this time of year-its amazing what you can bring home in a very short space of time...and all for free!

Alfie and I have just spent an hour up the fields gathering blackberries....they are ripe and juicy, I'll wash them and let any creepy crawlies make an exit then I'll bag them up and freeze them till I want to use them. 

We then raided the sloe bush.....abundant with big purple berries. Dean's off to buy a large litre bottle of Gin. I'll wash and weigh out 450g of berries then prick the skins with a sterilised needle and put in a large sterilised air tight jar along with  225g of  sugar. 

I'll put it in a cool, dark cupboard and shake it every other day for a week then once a week for a couple of months, should be ready in time for Christmas!

We came across a hop plant growing up a telegraph pole-I feel my own brewery coming on...maybe not! Some apples, quite small and some cob nuts. Also a passion flower growing in the sloe bush..bizarre- I've taken a cutting to see if it will grow.

Hop

Our hoard

I love ruby chard

I've just harvested armfuls of delicious vegetables from my garden. Ruby chard, french beans, potatoes and red onion...I've never grown ruby chard before, it's absolutely lovely. You just need to cut the stem out and chop it up then chop the remaining leaves and saute all of it in a bit of butter with garlic and mushrooms, its a great side dish. Ruby chard doesn't have that horrid green taste that spinach gets when the leaves get too big, so don't throw any of it away-eat it all!