Wild Food - Foraging!

Forgaing for food is becoming increasingly popular once more. We quite often walk down our track in the country and come back laden with bits we have found growing by the side of a field or Almonds that are just there for the taking on the trees.

Everything from Wild Garlic, mushrooms, nuts, oranges, blackberries, raspberries, edible weeds - there are tons of free food out there if you just get out of the house and go look :)

Autumn is the traditional time for harvest, when the efforts of months of hard graft finally pay off! In Spain you see the farmers out there in he field during the months of Autumn picking their food either for sale of for their families - home grown food is so much better than supermarket bought food.

However, these days we tend to rely on our food being cultivated in greenhouses whatever the season. In Spain we still only get fruit and vegetables that are in season, it is getting more common these days to see out of season fruit and vegetables - look at what the market is demanding!

Reconnecting with the old ways of hunter gathering, foraging is taking off once more. In Britain's and Spain's woods and fields, there's a bountiful harvest of vegetables and fruits to be had - all growing naturally without intervention from human hand or industrial fertiliser.

From wild garlic to berries and nuts, there are plenty of mouth watering ingredients to be had, whether you live in town or country you will be amazed at what you can find, all for free - well that is until the government catch on to this and ecide to tax it LOL!

You can also help the environment by forgaring, there's nothing shorter on food miles or more sustainable than fresh produce that's already growing indigenously in your neighbourhood. What's more, sourcing food from a country walk or perhaps beside your local canal is a lot more exciting that a trip to your local supermarket, healthier for the family and fun too.

Apart from all that you will start to notice seasons more as you watch your local areas transform from Winter/Autumn to Spring/Summer.

You can even try your hand at making chutneys and jams from the fruit you find and learn something new while you are at it :)

Wild mushrooms - puffballs friend in garlic butter with a bit of black better are divine! Wild garlic, nettles and elderflowers are common in the wild, you can make ice creams or codials with these ingredients.

Miles Irving has been foraging for years and now makes a living finding wild herbs and plants for top chefs keen to source unique ingredients that are fresh and local
from root to tip. Jamie Oliver is a former customer of his company - check him out online. Miles Irving Foraging

During times when families are on the look out to save money and do activities that do not break the bank, an afternoon of foraging is fun and educational for all the family. Teach your kids where REAL food comes from - not fast food joints like McDonalds or Burger King.

However, before you can go off foraging, it would be good to know what you are looking for, you don´t want to go out picking mushrooms if you don´t know what you are looking for as this could be potentially dangerous for all concerned - below I have listed some good books to buy. You just need to check that what you are picking is safe.

Miles Irving has a new gook out called "The Forager Handbook", a guide to Britain's edible plants, or Food for Free.

About The Forager Handbook

At any time, in any place, food is there for the taking - if only we knew how and where to look. Miles Irving makes his living out of foraging - in this unique, authentic guide, he reveals the how, why, what and where of this lost art, a way of life that is becoming increasingly popular as more and more of us pursue an eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle. This ground-breaking handbook tells you how to recognize the rich possibilities that surround us, whether in the city or countryside. From waste ground to woodland, from cliff top to coast land, plants flourish year in, year out. Spring is when wild garlic flourishes in shady woodlands; summer is the time for marsh samphire in the salt-marshes; autumn heralds an abundance of fruits and nuts; . Many of these plants - nettles, dandelions, fat hen, sorrel - grow so profusely they are considered a nuisance. Yet they offer fantastic food possibilities and are rich in nutrients. Assiduously researched, packed with information and enlivened with anecdotes and more than 330 photographs, "The Forager Handbook" is a milestone publication marking the way forward for the future of British food. And for each plant family, Miles gives ideas for using foraged ingredients in the kitchen. With recipes from some of the most exciting chefs working in Britain today, including Sam and Sam Clark, Mark Hix and Richard Corrigan, and coverage of techniques like drying, pickling and making cordials, this book will take readers on a voyage of discovery. Foraging was something our ancestors did instinctively - this book truly connects us with our past and our future. Discover a secret world of edible possibilities - all freely available.

A classic foraging book by Richard Mabey titled "Food for Free" which is still in print some 30 years after it was first published.

About Food for Free

Fans of Food for Free will be delighted at this new format -- ideal for carrying in a rucksack. Over 100 edible plants are featured together with recipes and other interesting culinary information. With details on how to pick, when to pick and regulations on picking. This new format of a best-selling title provides a portable guide for all those who enjoy what the countryside has to offer. Over 100 plants are listed, fully illustrated and described, together with recipes and other fascinating information about their use throughout the ages. The recipes are listed so that you can plan your foray with a feast in mind. This is the ideal book for both nature-lovers and cooks. Particularly with today's emphasis on the freshest and most natural of foods. There is also practical advice on how to pick plus the countryside laws and regulations on picking wild plants.

If you are looking for a more hands on experience then you can have an unforgettable day out with the Forage Rangers, Xa Milne and Fiona Houston. Their mission is to help people have fun outdoors hunting for wild foods anywhere plants can grow, from city parks, to country waysides and the seashore, and, as importantly, show you how to turn this wild food into delicious dishes and drinks.

They are the authors of the highly acclaimed Seaweed and Eat It - this is a family foraging journal and cooking adventure for all the family.

About Seaweed And Eat It

This is the foodie's answer to "The Dangerous Book for Boys", and a nostalgic journey of rediscovery for the whole family. Part cookbook, part natural history guide, with tasty recipes, fascinating folklore and inspiring ideas for seasonal feasts, "Seaweed" leads the reader through the process of identifying, learning about and cooking unusual and wild native foods. From discovering edible wild plants and flowers, to creating delicious seasonal feasts, "Seaweed" puts the fun into foraging and injects a sense of adventure into preparing dinner. For anyone interested in the origins of their food - or who's shocked by the price of elderflower cordial - this inspirational cookbook will ensure mealtimes are never dull.

Protocol for Foraging
Do not overpick, pick small amounts to preserve the plant
Pick locally from common land
Do not pick from same areas all the time, to lessen your impact
Do not pick from protected areas such as wildlife reserves, sites of SSSI
Private land would require permission
Do not eat or pick it if you cannot clearly identify the food source
Take seeds and try growing in your own garden
Choose a foraging area and familiarise yourself with as much as you can
No Trespassing!
Do not pick endangered or protected species (local library can provide regulations)

Getting Started with Foraging
Start by picking the easy stuff like dandelions and nettles. Collect some rosehips and make syrup which can be used to put in ice cream

Gardening UK, Moving & House Clearance

Hi its Gill

Sorry I didn´t get time to do a blog last week, there is too much to do with the moving, let alone blogs.I am moving house as you know if you follow me already, but this is the most stressful move I have ever done. When you are widowed you feel so alone and unable to cope, maybe its because I am now a pensioner. I hate saying that because I am so young in my head it just doesn´t seem right! The trouble is that I need to get back to Four Marks because my daughter is having my second grandchild next spring and I had wanted to be living nearer her.

I could afford a flat but would die without a garden!!! I am about £30,000 short for a small house. I have looked in neighbouring Alton but the ones I can afford are in such rough areas and yes I am may be being a snob but I don´t want to live there. I just don´t know what to do and would love some feedback from you all if possible.

The only alternative I can see is to buy on a pensioners mobile home estate. The houses are lovely but everyone has white hair and I dont feel ready to retire to a place like that. I had thought that maybe I could buy a small piece of land in Four Marks for £100,000 and put a wooden mobile home on it. Unfortunately all the builders gobble up any land available!!!!!

The garden is still a nightmare of a mess but I do intend to get it straight for the new people, they have 3 children and they will be wanting to play out there.

I did go out with Irene and Wendy on Wednesday to a garden centre, I would have gone insane if I hadnt got out of the house. We went to Secretts in Godalming. This is a nice place to go because they have a good range of shrubs, flowers, bulbs, Christmas stuff, and nice food. The only bad thing I have to say about them is that their bedding pansies and violas were £3.49 for 6 and they are £2.99 in most places.

On the way home we went into Hilliers in Liss because I wanted a bag of grit for my cacti. They didnt have their Christmas stuff out which was a shame because we cannot resist buying decorations. The tables holding the flowers outside looked absolutely lovely, a miriad of colours everywhere you looked, very nicely presented.

Well all I can say with the gardening is to make the most of this lovely weather and carry on clearing away all the spent plants and generally tidying up.

I will do my best to do a blog next week but know you will forgive me if I don´t get time. Take care all, happy gardening. Luv Gill xx

Autumn Gardening

Hello all, Gill here,

There is so much to do in the garden in the autumn, it makes you wonder where we all find the time. At this time of the year the main thing is clearing up and pulling up. If like me you like your plants growing naturally anywhere, when you pull, shake, there may be some seeds still left in the heads.

Love them or hate them, you cannot fail to notice the striking colours of the dahlias. They come into their own at this time of year, in my opinion there is nothing to rival them. They come in every height from 6inches to a about 5foot, the flowers heads are from a teaspoon size to a dinner plate and there are some with zillions of petals and some with single petals so I find it hard for someone to say that they hate all dahlias!

Most people don´t think of autumn as being a busy time for planting but it can be for both flowers, fruit and vegetables. Plant all you currants now, black red and white and raspberries oooo yummy, gooseberries yuk and the like, all cane type plants.

Also your herbaceous perenials, cottage flowers such as echinacea should go in now.
I have already mentioned fruit trees in a previous blog, you can still plant those for a couple of months, but preferably September and October.

Broad beans are best planted now because they are less prone to black fly than when planted in the spring.

Get down to the garden centre now if you want shrubs and get digging!!!! I think they take better in the autumn than spring, they certainly get a head start next year being planted now, such as euonymous, berberis, choisya and hebe. Most garden centres do these at very reasonable prices in bulk. I think in Avenue nurseries, Lasham they have 6 small shrubs for £8, thats fantastic. They are small but dont take long to grow. Get two sets, one thats all green plants and one reds and yellows, when they grow all mixed up together they can look stunning at this time of the year.

These can be put in tubs or hanging baskets with winter cyclamen and pansies, an ivy and heather, don´t forget to pop in some spring bulbs so that when the pansies are dying off, up come these little surprises of bulbs to make you smile :).

I have noticed that the birds are eating a lot more suet balls, so please don´t forget them, they are such lovely creatures, they brighten up my day, I can´t imagine a world without birds.

I am rushed off my feet at the moment packing boxes to move. I cannot believe I have got so much rubbish!!! Car boot here I come.

Make the most of this lovely autumn sunshine and get cracking in the garden instead of reading this lol.

Catch you all next week when I get time, take care all, Gill x

Gardening: Holiday, Moving & Planting

Hiya peeps, its Gill,

Got back a week ago from my hols staying with my brother in France not too far from the Pyrenees. Glorious weather, between 26 and 30 deg every day. My brother Peter grows all his own veg and some fruit for the year too. I was told to eat as many strawberries and raspberries as I wish from the garden. Needless to say I didn´t have to be told twice lol! The raspberries (my favourite fruit) were delicious. It reminded me of my first taste of this wonderful fruit. When I was about 7 or 8 years old I had a friend on the army estate where I lived in Wolverley called Joyce McCluskey. Her back garden was about 5foot square at the most and it was just raspberries. We used to lay on our backs and crawl under these canes and just eat. What wonderful days. My Dad used to grow strawberries and I used to eat them green, I couldn´t wait for them to turn red. He often used to say what a poor crop he had, if only he had known! If he were alive now, I would own up.

Whilst in France we watched swallowtail butterflies, a beautiful creature that was plentiful in my youth but haven´t seen here for over 50 years. Also something I have never seen before a humming bird moth on a newly opened hibiscus, stunning! There were frogs croaking all day long, a flock of egrets came every day and settled near a little creek to catch the fish I guess, and we watched buzzards spiralling on thermals, as I do in England too.

My nephew 5 year old Jenson had been there for the summer holidays and had seen the chickens eating a mouse. He was most concerned and told my brother to get it because if he didn´t the mouses Mum and Dad would be sad if he didn´t come home. Isn´t that lovely? Oh and the other thing that I haven´t seen before was a big fat black bee on the runner beans absolutely fully laden with pollen he could hardly fly, I could watch that sort of thing for hours.

Well I have news, we have sold the house and will be going our separate ways soon, but there is so much to do in the garden to get it straight for the new family moving in. The biggest job is to move the chickens, my daughters friend Jenny is having them. They will have acres of bluebell woods to run around, a freer life than they get here. I did shed a little tear, I will miss Lucky most, but I will be able to go over and see them when I like she said.

It is definitely the start of autumn here so I will be cutting off all the tall plants. The tomatoes can be pulled although there is still time for a few more to plump up and redden. I pulled all the runner beans up yesterday and gave the whole plants, beans and all to the chickens. They stripped everything off and left just the main stems, they will eventually mulch down into the ground. All the leaves on the trees are starting to turn a golden yellow, absolutely stunning time of the year.

Now is the time of year to start looking at spring bulbs. There is an ernormous choice these days of colours and shapes. For me you cannot beat the every day daffodil, I am not one for the pink variety etc. The tulips are my favourites in the spring. Just check that the bulbs you buy are not even slightly mouldy, they won´t grow and they infect the others. I hate the thought of leaving my lovely English bluebells here but I´m not going to dig them up as I wont have a permanent house to go to and dont know when I will have. Most of the bluebells that you see other than the ones in the woods here in England now are Spanish. Goodness knows how that happened. I think one of the most beautiful sights in England is woodland with that glorious bluebell colour, a lilacy blue haze. My gladioli are still flowering, one of my Dad´s favourites, thats why I grow them.

Don´t forget like I said last time, if you need to regrass or have patches on the lawn that need seeding, do it this month or March only.

I have dug up and potted two of my acers and left 5 here that are too large to move without doing any damage. This week I will be potting up probably about 5 of my azaleas, one of them I brought from my last house and it survived, a vivid orange one. I have bought some ericaceous soil for that, oh and also two rhodedendrons. I must be boring you with all my things to do so I will close now and get some of them done.

Take care all, happy gardening, and will try and think of something to chat to you about next week. Luv from Gill

September Gardening Trimming

What should you do in September?

This time of year you should be watching out for hungry caterpillars and removing them from your roses before they munch them all!

Hedges need their final trims.

Vegetable Garden

• You still have time to sow salads and greens for the winter


• Plant garlic and onion towards the end of the month


• Keep the birds off your produce by using netting, at least until they have put down their roots


• Make sure purple sproutin broccoli or brussels are earthed up and staked to prevent rocking


• Remove leaves around winter squash and pumpkins so they can ripen in the sun


• Place an old plate under pumpkins and squash so the dry evenly and don't rot


• Celeriac and leeks need a liquid feed for the final growth spurt while the weather is still good


• Cover tender crops such as lettuce, dwarf beans and other salad crops with polytunnels and cloches as the nights begin to get cooler

Flower Garden

• Dead head as many plants will not produce more flowers late in the season, keep pretty seed heads on for autumn and winter to keep the insects happy


• Try not to be too tidy! If you want to see more wildlife then a tidy-ish garden is the way to go


• Plant bulbs between shrubs and herbaceous plants, and in natural drifts in the lawn, discard any mouldy or shrivelled bulbs


• If you are lawn planting choose daffodils and crocus


• Clip new hedge growth, such as yew and box for the last time this season, weed around the base of hedges, compost the weeds


• Protect your tall plants from strong winds by staking them


• Fruit trees should be planned now, the cheapest trees are bare-root plants sold to plant in late winter/early spring. Frost resistant varieties are Apple Falstaff

Seeds
Saving your seeds is an easy way to grow your seed collection. Easiest are poppy, nigella and beans. Leave your beans until they rattle in the pod, shake poppy and nigella seeds into airtight containers. Store in a cool dry place for next time

What Bulbs should I plant now?
Dutch Iris
Parrot Tulips
Alliums
Crocus
Daffodils
Hyacinths

My favourites are Daffodils and Hyacinths, I have Hyacinths in various colours growing in pots - just gorgeous!

Chickens Learning About Nature

Hello everyone, its Gill,

I hope you have all been enjoying your gardens in the last week. Mine looks like a disaster zone at the moment, we let the chickens out of their run yesterday and they created mayhem!!! I will be tidying up today so no problems. My lovely chickens are going to a new home in the next 8 weeks. We sold our house on Saturday and as neither of us can have them at our new abodes they have to move on. Luckily my daughter Michelle has a friend with acres of land and she is kindly taking them on. I have already shed a tear, you grow so close to them, they all have different characters, and are more intelligent than people think, although being thick at the same time, if you understand what I mean lol!!! I will miss 'Lucky' my bantam more than anything. When I was a small child we had chickens, mind you I grew to hate them because I fell in their run when I was about 3, I can actually remember it, and I thought they would eat me. Ridiculous but when you are small they must seem huge. My two Aunties in Crawley had them, Auntie Dorothy and Auntie Bess. I loved going over to Auntie Bess' she had 8 children and it always seemed that there wasn't a second without noise everywhere, I absolutely loved it there. We used to chase after the chickens, naughty us, but we were young then. There was always a huge plate of chicken for dinner. Of course my favourite part as always was collecting the eggs.

One of the reasons for me getting the chickens was because I was opening up a bag of compost that I had folded the top down on after using it before, and out came a spider. I am scared of spiders, I mean really scared. This was a black widow, I froze on the spot, then stood up and went to my brother and sister in law who were staying with me at the time, and told them. My brother did what all brothers do, laugh, but my sister in law said, "Look at her face she's serious". We went back to the bag and of course it had gone. I got straight on to the net and found that it was a false black widow. All I remember was that its body looked like a shiny black marble, perfectly round. They are prevalent in the south of England and have been here for about 35 years, apparently the first one coming over in someone's suitcase after holidaying. (how they know that I will never know). Hence the chickens, nothing grows or lives anywhere near them lol. Yesterday when I was in the garden with them, I heard a little scream and found 'pepper' pecking at a little frog. Poor little thing, I saved it, I didnt know they could scream.

Obviously the main reason for people loving gardening comes from their parents, but also what we used to call the 'nature table' that we had as infants. Most schools unfortunately don't have them now. Also nature walks, I loved going on those learning the names of all the plants in the area. They apparently can't do these now because of 'health and safety' what absolute RUBBISH. Never did us any harm, in fact it started off the seeds in our brains for the love of all things to do with nature.

I cannot tell you how much I love to see old gnarled trees, and I am certain that came from my infant teacher, I know I learned the names of them from her. I can remember a marshy place not far from our school absolutely full of oxlips. I have some now in my rockery, I bought them from the garden centre, I wouldn't dream of digging them up from the wild.

I have the predicament at the moment of which plants to take with me, and which to leave. At least it will be the right time of the year to dig up small trees and bulbs (my lilies and gladioli) mainly. I am hoping that my friend Wendy will take all of them to stand in her garden until I make up my mind what to do next. I hope that my son and his wife sell their house soon then I could have a wooden chalet in the garden of their new house. Luckily I have several places I can go until we all get sorted. My plants are my main priority right now.

If you have patches in your grass, March and September are the best months to seed your lawn.

Okay folks thats it for this week. I won't be doing a blog next week, sorry. I am going to France tomorrow to visit my brother who now lives there, for a week. Hope you have good weather and get all the tidying up jobs done in the garden. Take care,

Gill

Kolkwitzia Gazanias,UK Garden Centres

Hello everyone its Gill, hope you are having a good week,

I am a little early this week due to the fact that I am going caravaning this weekend to Worcestershire and visiting a village that I lived in as a little girl - Wolverley, a pretty pretty lovely village. The main reason for my visit though is that I am meeting up with two of my cousins that I havent seen since I was about 12-14yrs old. They lived opposite my Nan and Grandad in Notting Hill. Ray the older one lives in North Wales and he and his wife are meeting us in Shrewsbury.

Ray's sister Sue who lives in Jersey is flying over to meet me too, I am so excited. I don't have any contact with my Dad's family since he and Mum have passed on so this is wonderful. Ray and I met on Friends Reunited. We have found a campsite for adults only (wonderful, kids stay up till all hours these days and when you are in a caravan you hear every bit of noise) on a farm in the middle of the countryside. The pics look lovely, hills all around.

Anyway this is a gardening blog, not a Gill blog you would never know hehehe!!!

If you want a recommendation for a pretty bush, buy a kolkwitzia. Alan Tichmarsh said on one of his programmes that every garden should have one. At the time I couldnt afford one so bided my time. They were about £11 for a plant about 1ft tall.

I saw one in Keydells, Horndean at exactly that price and got it with a gardening voucher that my lovely friends buy me for Christmas and birthdays. That was about 3 years ago and you wouldn't believe how much it has grown in that time. I would guess that it is about 6ft across and 5 or 6ft tall. It has smallish pink flowers with an orange throat, an unusual combination of colours but it works. Another plant that he said is a must is a verbena bonariensis, a tall gangly purple flowered plant. These are usually about £5.99 in garden centres but don't buy one. If you spend less than half of that on a packet of seeds you will end up with thousands of them, they are so easy to grow. They are perrenials too, and usually flower the first year. I have had them in several gardens now. They do grow very tall, about 5-6ft so place them carefully. They are spindly so you look beyond them to other flowers beyond. Oh also they self seed everywhere and I do mean everywhere so actually you really need to only grow the one seed. The following year there are trillions of them, plenty to spread around friends and neighbours! They look good cut and placed with other flowers.

I have dead headed my buddleias this week, hopefully they will flower a second time round this year, I have done this for the insects, mainly the bees.

The runners are coming in thick and fast now, yummy!!!! I have picked that cucumber and several tomatoes. Do you remember I was having problems with the toms going black at the bottom before they had chance to ripen, well my neighbour says that is due to irregular watering. Yes he is right or was, I am watering every other night in the greenhouse now and it seems to have stopped, fingers crossed. For me the very best flavoured tomato I have ever grown is a yellow cherry one. (They never get to the table because I cant resist them when I am in the greenhouse), don't tell anyone ;)

I went to Hayling Island on Sunday last with my grandson, James, he is 7. The sun was great because there was a lovely breeze too. We only stayed there for four hours but that hasn't stopped me looking like a beetroot the next day, must have been hotter than I thought hehe. Whilst there I saw 5 buzzards spiralling up on a thermal, what a magnificent sight! It was even more special to share this with my grandson and explain to him what they were doing.

All the butterflies seem to have left us other than the cabbage whites, I wonder where they go? Spain if they have any sense.

The dahlias are starting to look good, you can't beat them can you at the end of summer right through to the middle of autumn? My gazanias are still magnificent, absolutely vivid colours, I will definitely buy these again next year. These were bought from Brambridge garden centre, they were the best value that I saw this year.

If you live in Hampshire and have never been to this garden centre, then go. I can highly recommend it for the plants and the quality of their food. I haven't been for a few months but when I go and see any bargains I will let you know. Tomorrow my friends and I are going to Forest Lodge, then after we have eaten there we will go on to Country Market 5 minutes away. Here you can buy vegetables that they grow themselves on the farm and also pick your own.

Anyway you must be getting fed up with me rambling on. Have a lovely August Bank Holiday because I will. Happy weeding hehe! Gill x