Category Archives: foraging

Garlic mustard and other surprises

Posted on April 29, 2019 by Helen

Last year, I acquired a sheep’s fleece and I made a loom with the aim of weaving a mat. Except I decided to have a go at using the drop spindle I’d bought my daughter as she had been fascinated … Continue reading →

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A beautiful Easter

Posted on April 20, 2019 by Helen

Carr House Farm in the Yorkshire Wolds opened its doors for Good Friday and in addition to buying a few months’ supply of bread flour, I took a walk round to see how the farm looked in spring time. A … Continue reading →

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Looking back, moving forward

Posted on January 1, 2019 by Helen

I’ve totally up how much produce I got from the garden last year and by my estimations, had I bought this stuff it would have cost me £183. The figure quoted above is down considerably on last year (2017’s was … Continue reading →

Posted in foraging, Gardening, In the kitchen | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Bullace or sloe?

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Helen

There’s a lane which runs down the side of my housing estate and is a cornucopia of goodies for the forager. At the moment, that means haws, so today I went with my basket to collect some in order to … Continue reading →

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No qualms whatsoever!

Posted on September 26, 2018 by Helen

A friend yesterday identified what I thought was a hawthorn bush at the back of the garden as cotoneaster! Just as well I didn’t pick the berries and make jelly, although in all probability they are not that toxic. But … Continue reading →

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Elderberries

Posted on September 6, 2018 by Helen

Until this year, I had had no idea that there were elders in my vicinity, otherwise I would have foraged from them sooner. But on Monday, I took myself off with my foraging basket and made my way to the … Continue reading →

Posted in foraging, Good for the environment | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Curd: a tale of many plusses

Posted on August 12, 2018 by Helen

Very close to us there are blackberries enough to feed both man and beast quite substantially. With the fruit ripening earlier this year (because of the hot weather), I therefore decided to try out a recipe in order to use … Continue reading →

Posted in foraging, In the kitchen | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Rewilding

Posted on June 9, 2018 by Helen

My current read is Feral by George Monbiot, which discusses his vision for returning the uplands of Britain, such as Snowdonia and the North York Moors, to a more natural state, put in simplistic terms. In a post I wrote … Continue reading →

Posted in Days out, foraging, Permaculture, Wildlife | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

The rain keeps running away

Posted on June 8, 2018 by Helen

On Tuesday, there was an horrific multiple pile-up on the M62, which had major repercussions for getting home that evening. So, I eventually got off the standstill bus and ran to the train station. I got even more exercise by … Continue reading →

Posted in foraging, Gardening | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Ground elder

Posted on April 7, 2018 by Helen

The warmer weather seems to have galvanised me into working (willingly) in the garden again. Thus, yesterday the first of the bean poles went up and then I wandered round my budding mini forest. It certainly does feel increasingly like … Continue reading →

Posted in foraging, herbs, Permaculture | Tagged , | 12 Comments