Salaric Gardening and Wildlife

Foraging the local area

Me and my children gathered these blackberries on our way back from the library, I had meant to bring tubs but had forgotten and was sad about this as we passed a rather abundant patch of briars when my 7 yr old had an idea – we drank the water out of her water bottle and the babies beaker and then filled them with black berries. When we got back I rinsed them and froze them reasoning there wasn’t enough there to do much with.

A quick tip is if you find they have lots of grubs or maggots in them then just give them a little soak in a weak solution of water and table salt, this extracts the bugs!

So having assessed the local forage a bit better this year than I managed last year, I have decided that I want to attempt black berry wine for which I need a lot of black berries – looks like we are going to be out picking most days!

Jean has requested crumbles and Mary cakes – I like to make ‘blood’ pies for halloween as well which I freeze. I think my main limit is going to be freezer space. We also spotted elderberries, rose hips, sloes, damsons, crab apples and haws so all I need for hedgerow jam is some rowan berries! People have been asking me if I am going to make it again and having already received a lovely jar of black current jam from one friend I feel I should get cracking!

I am still sadly awaiting an allotment but some of the best forage I found last year was along the pathway next to them last year.

I am still sorely missing the Perri Pear tree though that I used to get the pears from at the old house but I have just discovered that there are such things as community orchards so I am hoping we can get involved in same way with these things.

My favourite book for forage is still Food For Free by Richard Mabey – I have a very old copy but there are upto date ones with photographs and stuff.

The recipe I use for hedge row jam comes from a Womens Institute book.

Salad for Daddy

My eldest Jeany and her friends decimated my salad plants in an effort to make my husband Alaric a salad! They harvested the radishes which was a good thing as they were starting to ‘run’ (go to seed) and were getting a bit woody. But though Jean knew what were bean plants and what were radishes the boys didn’t so there were a few fatalities!

They cut up all of the chives, lettuce and quiet a bit of mint! The sorrel looks worse than were the deer got to it (in the old house) and the margoram has some obvious gaps in it! But they all had a fantastic time, they washed and chopped the radishes and stuff too! Alari was very pleased to be presented with a salad and the baby was happily eating the salad from the garden pots!

Also Jeany’s friends are excited about us getting an allotement as they want to come and help on it! Not sure they will still feel that way after an afternoon on one!

Chillies!

For the first time ever I have managed to grow chilli plants and get them to actually bare fruit! Normally I can get them to germinate and that is it!

This is the first attempt at the new house so it may just be because it is not draughty and there is a lovely lot of sunlight here were as the valley was well a valley.

I am shall we say ‘well chuffed’ 🙂

Jean’s Carrot Harvest

My little girl finally got to harvest her carrots which we then used for a stir fry for our dinner!

Custard Apples

My friend bought us a custard apple which was a strange and new fruit to us.

We were so intreged by it that we’ve extracted the seeds and have potted them up in the hope that we will get some custard apple trees. These will be restricted to the green house I think and if they germinate I hope they can be dwarfed by pot binding them – I suppose only time will tell!