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Quote of the day:
“Hello, sun in my face.
Hello you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields…
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness,
in kindness.”~ Mary Oliver
Forage in May for:
Alexanders, Beech leaves, Cow Parsley, Hairy Bittercress, Hop shoots, Cleavers, Hawthorn flowers, Lime leaves, Red Clover, Ox-eye Daisy, Garlic Mustard, Wild Garlic
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Category Archives: Drinks
Wordless Wednesday: The Slow Sloe Gin Preparation
Posted in Drinks, Foraging, Wordless
Tagged blackthorn, Fruit growing, Gardening, Hedgerows, iPhone photography, Prunus spinosa, Sloe gin, Spring blossom
6 Comments
Delicacies from Delicious Dogwood
A couple of years ago I discovered that you could actually eat the fruits of the dogwood tree Cornus mas, aka. the Cornelian Cherry. So much fruit set that year that in August the bushes became shiny red beacons in … Continue reading
Posted in Drinks, Food, Recipes, Trees
Tagged cooking, Cornelian Cherries, Cornus mas, Gardening, Grow you own, Moraba, Preserves, Sharbat
21 Comments
In a Vase on Monday – Fancy a cuppa?
Having got over the worst of my fascination with the so-called Cup and Saucer vine (Cobaea scandens) in last Wednesday’s’ Wordless’ post I decided to ruthlessly cut some of the flowers to use in today’s vase (fear not they are … Continue reading
Posted in Drinks, Whimsy
Tagged Cinnamon basil, Cobaea scandens, Cup and saucer, flower arranging, Gardening, In a vase on Monday, Photography
26 Comments
Confessions of a coffee drinker
We are a coffee loving family, although some of us are more fussy about the taste than others. Our coffee machines have gone through any number of incarnations and are in fairly continuous use. I particularly liked the version that … Continue reading
Posted in Drinks, Food, Nature
Tagged Coffee, Coffee grounds, composting, Gardening, Grow-your-own, mushrooms
11 Comments
Elderflower Fizz … made with Black Lace
There is a fantastic pair of elderflower ‘Black Lace’ bushes, albeit ~ 12 foot tall, growing on either side of the entrance to the Soame greenhouse in the walled garden at Wimpole. I pass them all of the time, but … Continue reading
Posted in Drinks, Flowers, Food, Recipes, Trees
Tagged countryside, Elderflower, Gardening, Lemonade, nature, sambucus nigra 'Black Lace'
13 Comments
Fresh beech leaves – a forager’s delight
With the bright frosty starts we’ve been having this last week, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to take Sadie for a walk on Therfield Heath and check out the progress of the wild pasque flower colony growing there. It … Continue reading
Posted in Drinks, Nature, Spring, Trees, Walks
Tagged Beech, Beech Leaf Noyau, countryside, Fagus sylvatica, Foraging, Fox Covert, nature, Therfield Heath
12 Comments
Will you go a-wassailing?
Do you want to ‘wake up’ some apple trees, so that you get a brilliant crop this year? Then you need to go a-wassailing and tonight is the night to do it. Twelfth Night, the evening of 5th January, is … Continue reading
Posted in Drinks, History, Whimsy, Winter
Tagged agriculture, apples, cider, crops, Gardening, good health, Harvest, nature, orchards, perry, productiviy, tradition, Twelfth Night, wassail bowl, wassailing
12 Comments
The signs of autumn are already here
Walking the dog yesterday I suddenly realised that there were leaves on the ground under the sycamore trees and that they were showing autumn colours. Of course when I actually thought about the date, I realised that we have hurtled … Continue reading
Posted in Drinks, Food, Nature, Plants, Wildflowers
Tagged autumn, berries, blackberries, cobwebs, Hawthorn, leaves, sauce, sloes, teasel
17 Comments
When life gives you lemons, make elderflower champagne
As the hedgerows start to light up with plate-sized heads of elderflower (Sambucus nigra) waving like a circus act in the gusting winds, it is time to collect or buy bottles ready to make Elderflower Fizz. Elderflower Fizz is a … Continue reading
Posted in Drinks, Plants, Recipes, Whimsy
Tagged Cordial, drinks, Elderflower, Fizz, lemons, recipe, Sambucus nigra
5 Comments
