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Quote of the day:
“What wondrous life is this I lead!
Ripe apples drop about my head;
The luscious clusters of the vine
Upon my mouth do crush their wine;
The nectarine and curious peach
Into my hands themselves do reach;
Stumbling on melons, as I pass,
Ensnared with flowers, I fall on grass.”
~ Andrew Marvell
Forage in October for:
Sweet Chestnuts, Sloes, Dandelion Leaves, Rosehips, Hops, Walnuts, Haws (Hawthorn berries), Wild Strawberries, Cleavers, Burdock Roots, Rowan Berries
Tag Archives: orchards
Late, late season plums … those would be bullaces
I’ve recently discovered that the fruit tree opposite the gardeners’ bothy at Wimpole is not just an oddly prolific, especially late-season plum, but is actually a Bullace. I’d never heard of them before! Both physically and in taste, bullaces lie … Continue reading
Posted in Food, Foraging, fruit, Trees
Tagged Bullace gin, Bullace jelly, Bullaces, Cricksies, Fruit growing, Gardening, orchards, Prunus domestica subsp. insititia
7 Comments
A crescendo of sweetly scented plum blossom
I’ve been off down an internet rabbit-hole again. This time following the trail of plum blossom hydrosol. A hydrosol is a distilled floral or herbal product and apparently plum blossom essence is what ‘freshness’ smells like. So of course I … Continue reading
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
