Sloe wandering...

It's been a bit of a dreich week - rain and clouds have made it dull and cold indoors, and whilst I took some time to cut some curvy lines into the grass to extend the borders, and planted some spring bulbs, I've felt a bit twitchy about not spending more time outdoors. Has this erstwhile city dweller finally turned into a country bumpkin?!

Still, there are good things - the changing colour of the leaves on the damson trees, seeing bright golds and reds amongst the green and, even tho' it means they are coming to the end of their season, enjoying the tiny green buttons left behind after the petals have fallen from the 'Japanese' anemones (actually a native plant of China).

Sunday afternoon saw us heading out to pick some sloes for sloe-gin making. Hardly any to be found last year but now, as with all the fruit this year, there are sloes in abundance. A gentle stroll over to the meadows, passing the cows having a lie down in the damp grass, admiring the festive red berries on the bushes and trees, and skirting puddles that blocked our route.

Loads of sloe berries were gathered and the slow wander home afterwards, laughing and chatting as we went, took us past some apple trees we hadn't spotted before so, of course, we had to pick some! Three different types, and all sweet and juicy. Perfect! On the home straight the sun finally came out for a short while, and lit up this cheeky rose peering over someone's garden fence to check us out. Lovely stuff. Lovely day.

Last of the cherries, first of the berries...

A dreich and dreary Saturday (it felt like the beginning of Autumn) so our visit to a fund-raising garden fete wasn't quite what it might have been. But we said hello to some folk we know, bought a raffle ticket, admired the Heath Robinson-style props for the ancient trees in the garden, then headed off and got home mere minutes before the deluge began.

Sunday was, by contrast, hot and sunny, warming our forager's follicles... so, off we went with Trusty Foraging Stick (one of several walking sticks C acquired during his recuperation from breaking his leg the first year we moved here), a couple of empty containers, and a vague idea of where we were going. The cherries aren't finished by any means - there are still plenty to be had if one happens to be a bird, or more nimble-footed than we are, as they're all at the top of the trees. We nabbed the few that had been missed, and that weren't being enjoyed by wasps. Hardly enough to do anything useful with, so we ate them as we went. Anyone seeing our hands would have thought we'd murdered someone and buried them in a corner of the field...

Oh, but the blackberries! Thanks to the foraging map provided by the Transition group we found loads of them on a nearby industrial estate (goodness knows what's going into them to make them so big, but if I start to grow extra limbs, or develop superpowers, I'll know who to complain to... or thank...) In case you're thinking that they don't look that big, I took the photo after we'd spent 10 minutes picking them. They have already been transformed into half a dozen jars of jam. Yum.

It's weird wandering around an industrial estate on a Sunday - feels a bit like being in a disaster movie. One with zombies. Felt like we were being watched by doleful, rheumy eyes, weary and worryingly resentful after the hard slog of the previous week. But the only other human we came across was a chap who warned us that we'd get spiked by the blackberry bushes (I was, and I was being so careful) and told us that they're only cut back once the berries have all gone, and then the workers can double park on that space! I'd have thought all the employees would be out there picking away every day, so as not to let the berries go to waste, and to guarantee a parking spot.

We were slightly flummoxed when we passed these, but looking again at the foraging map, we think they might turn out to be walnuts when they grow up and get all wrinkly. From there we headed off to more familiar territory, just to see what might be ready in the next few weeks. We can look forward to more berries, of course, and there are plums and damsons just about ready to collect. I opened a jar of homemade damson chutney when everyone was here last weekend - just delicious - so I must make some more this year. Given, however, that I usually just bung in whatever I've managed to collect, there's no guarantee of repeat success. Lots of apple trees around and we found the particular tree we'd been searching for, which has unusual pear-shaped yellow apples which are sweet and good for eating straight from the tree.

Found one cherry tree dripping with a clear sap, and not in good shape, and later some other trees, their leaves riddled with black spot, which is a little worrying. Who deals with those open spaces? Who sorts out any diseases? Some blackberry bushes are fuzzed over and the fruit is dead, while others are still green and yet to produce edible fruit. Nature just seems so random sometimes! So speaketh a (bewildered) child of the city...

Nevertheless, the fields were filled with crops just waiting their turns to be harvested, the sun was shining down on us, and it was good to be out just walking and laughing - another lovely day.

The cherry pickers...

Back to the tree with the best cherries, where the gorgeous girl and C did some tree climbing while I stood below with my heart in my mouth and the occasional cherry dropped down my top. We came back with 2.7 kilos of cherries, and I see there's a list of recipes now waiting to be tried out by the GG over the next week...

The bees are buzzin' in the trees...

The bees are buzzing everywhere. Every flower must feel it's the prettiest in the garden with the attention it gets from the pollinator population. There is a hum in the garden, like very low key conversations at a party... 'Do you buzz here often?' 'Oh, we come back every summer!' 'It's particularly busy this year, don't you think?'

The lavender is the most popular place to be seen, of course. We have masses  of the stuff, and the last couple of years I have dried some to put into lavender sachets. Everyone walks across the grass to get to the front door because the lavender bushes are alive with wildlife. I'm happy to brush past the bushes to scoop up the wonderful scent, but also because the bees don't seem to mind too much.

The edible beds we planted up back in June have gone slightly crazy, and they too are filled with bees.

Sadly, when I popped round, someone had decided that the best way to get rid of their parking permit was to shred it into bits and shower those bits over one of the larger plants at one end. I confess to utter bewilderment as to why someone might do that. There have been a few cigarette butts left in the earth, and some of the willow hoops have gone but happily, by and large, it has been left intact - so much so that there are new signs up encouraging people to eat the plants - there is an abundance of edible stuff in there, but I guess people aren't used to taking a few leaves home to add to their lunch!

It's also the time of year to begin foraging. A hint here told us about some particularly delicious cherries and so C and friend P next door went off with ladders and brought back loads. We now have 2 kilos sitting in the kitchen waiting to be sorted out (dry them? freeze them? cook them? just eat them?).

Our neighbours have done much better with their home grown stuff which means, of course, that we get a share!

Some of their redcurrants got sprinkled on my porridge (a little bit too tart, so not a success) and the rest I made into a disastrous redcurrant jelly - Delia's recipe from the 19th Century must've lost something in translation because as K mused, 'Do you have any walls that need plastered?' Better perhaps are the lovely onions, which are small but apparently very tasty!

I don't think we'll have too much to share with them other than pears, apples and apple juice later in the year - but the trees are laden, so it bodes well for the autumn!

Elderly flowers...

While I was off looking at other people's gardens, C went out foraging for elderflowers - he didn't have to go far as there are loads nearby. So, they have now been added to silly amounts of sugar, pints and pints of water, and some oranges and lemons, and after a couple more days we shall have ourselves some lovely elderflower cordial. Delicious with tonic water for a bit of sparkle!