by Judith Stafford | Mar 18, 2020 | Into the Woods
Into the Woods March 2020 This has been a strange month. With Corvid-19 arriving in the UK and us going from a bit of extra vigilance to total lockdown. Nature doesn’t care about that though and March is the time that plants and trees really start to bloom. Spring flowers such as daffodils, celandines and primroses are all out now, it is very much the yellow season. So I have been out for my sanity walk, as I call it, keeping local and realising how lucky I am to live somewhere so green and beautiful. The blackthorn is now in blossom, it is the first of our trees to burst into flower. Its flowers looks like tiny white stars against the bark and thorns. It always reminds me that spring is now here. I went on my second foraging course this year too, at the start of the month. Don’t know when the next one will be, but I really enjoyed it despite the rain. It rained from start to finish, clearing up nicely for the afternoon! Even though it was only a few weeks after the first foraging the plants were very different. Cow slips, another striking yellow flower, were blooming. These plants have been used to make wine in the past but now it is illegal to pick them. Which is good as they brighten up bare bits of ground. We also found common sorrel which is one of my favourite plants to eat. The leaves have a fresh citrus flavour. I love it so much I bought a packet of seeds to grow it at home....
by Judith Stafford | Feb 29, 2020 | Into the Woods
February in the Wood Today I was very lucky. I went on my first foraging trip of the year today with Martin Bailey of Go Foraging in Bristol . So far this month it has rained – a lot! So I was expecting my first foraging trip to be in the rain, with a bit of sleet and hail thrown in. But, it was sunny, and we only had one small rain shower. What a surprise. In February there is not that much out, but there are lots of things emerging from their slumbers and poking through the ground or starting to bud. The first plant we looked at was wild garlic. This plant is one of the first we can forage and enjoy. The leaves can be eaten in salads, omelettes or pasta and when the flowers bloom they can be scattered over food to add a lovely garlicky taste as well as looking great. Martin told us that we need to make sure that it isn’t mixed up with Lords and Ladies whose leaves look similar when they start to grow as these plants are poisonous. Another plant of interest was cleavers or sticky buds. You will probably know this plant as its seeds have sticky spikes that stick to jumpers or pet’s fur and great fun can be had sticking them on friend’s clothes! These are a used in herbal medicine as a cleansing herb and can be drunk in a tea along with nettles as a spring tonic. There were other plants coming up including cow parsley, stinging nettles and dock leaves. All these were...
by Judith Stafford | Jan 31, 2020 | Into the Woods
Into the Woods, January 2020 It may be a new year for us, but in the woods most things look dormant.Nothing much is growing at the moment. There is some sign of life but most of this is still left over from last year as it has not been very cold this winter - yet! January always seems dull, grey and faintly depressing to me. It comes after Christmas which is full of light and fun but then comes January, all damp and grey. but there are signs of life out there, if you go and look for them. I am lucky enough to live by the coast, the estuary actually, the sea is usually brown rather than blue but I’m not complaining. This is the view from the top of my walk over the sea. On a beautiful sunny day, like today it is wonderful. But as the battered trees show, it can be bitterly cold with a strong, penetrating wind. Today birds were singing, I identified blackbirds, robins and great tits among the sounds. As I walked through the park there were snowdrops in flower and crocus and daffodil coming up in my garden. It looks like spring is on its way. But I know how easily that can change! There are some plants growing. Nettles are coming up and there are buds on the trees. I saw these little plants starting to grow among the ferns and mosses. There are other signs of life too. Birds flying by with twigs in their mouth. Insects buzzing - something bit me while I was pulling up weeds in...
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