I brought camera on sunday and got some pics for you:
A woolly blanket for the baby herbs, keeps down the competition and the slugs hate fur too:
I went down the notment a couple of days ago as its the change of season and its time to check up.
I found all the little herbs I planted doing well under their woolly blanket, and the big dominating original plants that were so enormous in the summer, dying back and shrivelling. The Alexanders were fallen, rotting already, but there were masses of baby ones coming which is perfect for harvesting so I got a good crop of those as well as some very lush and think dandelion leaves for a nice salad. The Alexanders are rather strong flavoured to eat in quantity but they were excellent chopped up small with a beetroot salad.
As I cleared away the burdock, getting burrs all over my woollens, and the nettles, and the big Alexanders (fallen), I found a big collection of purpley-brown mushrooms. They smelt heavenly, a very strong mushroomy smell like oyster mushrooms and at first I thought that's what they were. Really the scent made me want to eat them right there and then, its was very powerful.
But closer up they obviously werent that, so i took one home to identify and pored over my books and left it on a black paper to see the spore colour. It looked promisingly like a Wood Blewitt but could have also been something nasty called a Silky Pinkgill, so as always with a new mushroom a certain sense of adventure fell upon me.
I checked the books and they gave rather unclear and conflicting information, and online I fared no better. Adding up all the evidence and trying to make sense of it (what is a 'mealy' smell? Is the Silky Pinkgill poisonous or not? What is the difference between 'pink' and 'pale pink' spores? Does it matter that my mushrooms stems didnt look as fat? Why does only one of the books mention Lapista sordida?) I decided that I was 90% sure it was OK.
So I cooked them up in copious quantities of butter (the books say you must cook your wood blewitts), and served them to my family to see what would happen... they cam e with a warning so in the end it was only me and my father who actually tasted them, and in very small doses, and mum reminded us that only one mushroom can actually kill you, so it was fine, and they tasted fab.
This morning I had no ill efects at all so I have eaten the ret of the mushrooms along with the remains of the chicken stew which was very delivious but even better with the mushies.
And now that I check up on Lepista sordida, I actually think that is the mushroom I have been eating, and apparently it is uncommon. This is very exciting because I almost have never found uncommon things and most things always turn out to be something incredibly normal. The picture on the link really does look most exactly like my mushrooms. I'm sorry to say I didn't take my own pics this time but will try to get there tomorrow in daylight and photo the little ones that are left.
So here's to the notment and its amazing and unexpected autumnal offerings - for which I had to merely turn up. (Well there was a certain amount of nettle root pulling but that is all part of the fun.)
The walnuts make a great and very durable dye but I haven't used it because we were moving back into the flat after the New Kitchen and all that, so I didn't have time to do all the processing.how the notment is looking after a lot of nettle-clearing. I have cleared this area twice now, cropping the baby nettle and fat hen as it crops up so quickly.
A pile of breeze blocks under the nettles has been partially dismantled to make small seats in a circle for the herbs - with the help of my Lovely Assistant
Collecting fat hen (delicious! like spinach but nuttier) and dandelion
using sheeps fleece to protect herbs planted out from my backyard pots. They are doing ok and the fleece also keep slugs away very effectively (they dislike hair!) The fox liked it though and came and dug at it when it first appeared.
a large burdock - can be used in dandelion and burdock cordial...
collecting the nettle tops
pureeing the cooked nettle tops with the white sauce, a messy business. (My old kitchen, soon to be gone, a nasty steel cooker in its place.. it just wont look as good in the pictures any more :-( )
ooh a lovely meal, cheese makes anything taste good!
All the details on cooking the nettles are on the earlier post
Tell me a good recipe for nettles please!!
This:
http://www.wildfoodmentor.co.
is a course on wild food, I am wanting to sign up but will i have time? can i justify the cost? will i actually follow it?
maybe i could do it and report on the results here. your recommendation?
xx
I harvested a large batch of nettles the other day. After all the hard work a couple of weeks ago the nettles sprang back incredibly fast and are already a foot high again. I made an enormous quantity of nettle puree from the young tops. Did you know nettles contain more iron and more protein than spinach? It is very very rich, and I think better in small doses. They could be used more like a sauce or herb than a main vegetable. So I froze a lot of it as I doubt we can manage to get through it all.
My friend Anna reports a French recipe she tried recently that uses the nettles in a flan, with great results which I must try.
I also collected abundant amounts of Goog King Henry which has sprouted up on the cleared ground, and some dandelion leaves, for a salad.
There is a huge dock doing well and the herbs I've planted are taking too, the feverfew and calamint are seeming happy under their protective sheeps fleece mulch which works extremely well now that the foxes have lost interest in digging it up.
I've added sage, a mint, and some marjoram I found growing in the field, hoping they will take too. The reserve is full of blackberries and hawthorn now, but the plums all completely vanished so I missed out.
Nettle Puree Recipe
Big Pile of young nettle tops (if your nettles are old and straggly, cut them and pull them up and come back a week later to harvest the young shoots)
1 pint milk
3 oz butter
3 tbsp flour
3 oz meltable cheese (cheddar)
Seasoning
First rinse your nettles (wear rubber gloves!) and strip away leaves from larger stems as they are very stringy (older nettle stems can be used to make twine). Put the rinsed leaves in a pan to simmer in their own water, no need to add any - like spinach, the nettles shrink down and produce their own water.
Meanwhile make a white sauce using the usual technique. Melt the butter in a pan over a low heat, stir in the flour, slowly add milk a little at a time, always stirring, until you get the thickness and quantity you want.
When the sauce is ready you can put it aside while you use your blending machinery to puree, or at least partially puree, the cooked nettles. You may want to drain off the water from the nettles first if it is very dark and strong, although it can also help to make the sauce a little runnier and contains a lot of nutrition.
You can then start adding the sauce to the nettles and keep pureeing. When its nice and smooth, add the cheese and heat a little if needed to melt it all in. Season, and of course do experiment with your own white sauce and herbs.
This makes a very nice and exceedingly healthy sauce for jacket potatoes. You can go back next week for the next round of fresh nettle tops as well! Or do as I did and freeze the remainder sauce. The plastic containers from the indian takeway are ideal for freezing sauces.
I imagine it working well with fish too, espceially with some lemon or yoghut mixed into the sauce for some extra bite.
On Saturday I was very happy to be invited to join Pudding Mill River at the Greenway in Stratford, running through the Olympics site, to collect some plants with the help of some lovely people who joined the Botanical Collecting Expedition.
Marie Briggs at Kew Herbarium was good enough to make the loan of a Vasculum and a press which made it a much more efficient expedition.
We collected specimens from herbs and shrubs. The list is as follows:
Viper's Bugloss - Echium vulgare
Hedge Mustard - Sisybrium officinale
Burnet Rose Rosa pimpinellifolia
Bird's-Foot Trefoil - Lotus corniculatus
Teasel - Dipsacus fullonum
Black Horehound - Ballota nigra
Treacle Mustard - Erysimum cheiranthoides
Common Mallow - Malva sylvestris
Oxeye Daisy - Leucanthemum vulgare
A Grass - unknown
We also saw plenty of apple trees, brambles and mugwort, ragwort, yarrow, various roses including dog rose, three types of bindweed (probably Convulvulus arvensis, Calystegia sepium, and the non-native Calystegia pulchrum) and a mix of grasses.
Hilary from Pudding Mill River had made excellent blackberry cakes which were very popular and I was delighted to take some home along with a bottle of Pudding Mill sloe gin.
I was struck by how many native plants were growing on the Greenway, in contrast to the railway sides I had seen from the train on the journey there from West london. Buddleia, Russian vine and japanese knotweed dominated most of the tracks all round north london so to see a great many natives there was very interesting.
It is not clear to me what the plans are for the Greenway but my somewhat vague impression is that they intend to clear most of it and then replant after the Olympics are over. I am concerned that the infrastructure of the wildlife already there will be damaged and cannot be replaced. I hope this impression is wrong and would like to know of any plans made public about it. Also whether any more comprehensive surveys are planned or have been done.
We did see a great deal of mugwort growing and this being a relative of the plant used to make absinthe, it a question as to whether mugwort can be used in a similar way. There are some records of absinthe plant itself in the east of london so it may be possible to find some although I didn't spot any on this trip.
I was also very impressed with the people who joined in with the collecting especially Michael and Ayesha who were very open and seemed genuinely fascinated with the whole experience. Michael carried the vasculum which although small is actually a very good way to carry plants around although I don't know of botanists using it any more. He also was very attentive and made sure we got the mustards named correctly which I confess I was being a little too quick about. Ayesha was meticulous in recording notes and labelling and Jim was very interesting adding his knowledge of the plants from his childhood, for example how the rosehips were used not only for paste, rich in Vitamin C, but also to make itching powder to irritate teachers and other enemies. He used to sell rosehips as a kid, and had an excellent tip about steaming them so you dont have to spend hours picking out the little irritating hairs from the inside like I had to last year.
All in all a fascinating and lovely day out and I hope that Kew accept the collections and help to identify the grass. Many thanks to Dan and Hilary from Pudding Mill and to everyone who took part in collecting and naming the wildflowers. Also to Jim for some great photos.
At Pensford Field there is a hut (the studio) and behind the hut is a bank of earth with a lot of nettles on it.
I am amazed to find that I am offered the opportunity to grow things on this bank. I am allotted, not an allottment but an aNottment.
I went there yesterday with Graham from the Alpines in Kew Gardens, you could say he knows a few things about native plants. We had a look around and got together a list of plants growing on the patch. Of course it is mostly nettles, but also Alexanders, burdock, green alkanet, horsetails, Black HoarHound, a type of wild lettuce and a mustard, some pretty grasses and a wild barley, mugwort (allegedly useful in clairvoyancy), a buddleia and some buttercups. I may well have forgotten a couple of things too.
We also have on the site a pile of breeze blocks, some rubble, a few black plastic tubes and a bird box.
With this highly promising collection of assorted plants and objects I want to intervene as a concious and conscientious agent of ecological change. I would like to foster whatever wants to grow there naturally, introduce a few new things, (mostly native) for diversity and for edibility, usefulness, and interest (eg perhaps some woad) and monitor the assortment of plants to maximise their happiness and health and also the diversity both of species but also of uses to myself, other animals, and the earth and other plants, other people etc.
People usually dominate when it comes to choosing who should a plant serve but i want to make sure I provide for as many strange creatures as possible.
In short, I want to make it a garden of natural wonders and delights for all the senses and the imagination. When you really look at little humble plants they become the most amazing extraordinary beasts of all manner of marvels.
Also I'd like to put in more bird boxes so if anyone can help please get in touch.
I tried digging up some green alkanet roots thinking they were good for dye, but it turns out its the wrong type of alkanet. But for now the alkanet stays: its pretty , and the bees and bugs seem to absolutely love it. They were thronging in.
When I clear out some of the nettles (some will stay) I can eat the tops, make fibre from the stems, use the roots for a good yellow dye (for the fleece that will be delivered at the Pensford Field Picnic 20 June) and put the rest into a mulch for a good compost.
This is totally thrilling and all are welcome to help out and learn about the amazing wonders of weeds.
Hurrah! many thanks to the lovely Diana and Pensford Field people, and Graham.
i got married last week, on May 1st we went to Pensford Field for a 'picknick event' to celebrate, and i wore a cream embroidered top. i also had a white skirt but it was too white so i dyed it with teabags and onion skins.
Who knew? I will try this recipe and let you know how I get on. It will be tricky nicking the magnolia flowers, if mum catches me it will be her eating me for breakfast.
At Kew Gardens on Saturday there was a fab event showcasing various kinds of ethnobotanical research that goes on here and there. 
I went along and met various friends from life and internet, and discovered some really great new plants to eat from the weed-bed.
I've also got all interested in collecting english plant lore for Ethnomedica so if you have some ancient plant remedy to tell me please do.
I met some really great people with weeds to eat so I thought I would mention it and then I will go and find the weeds for myslef and report back. 
One particularly cool thing was eating thistles, speficially in this case, Sow Thistle. Anna showed me how to cut away the spines and gave me the stem to try. Its crunchy and juicy and fresh tasting, vaguely in the same food bracket as celery I suppose.
A lot of the plants at the stand were things you know very well from the garden, little hairy things that grow in the grass or along the cracks in the paving. 
In fact hairs and spines are a good sign something is nice to eat - otherwise why would it bother making hairs and spines to try and put you off.
I was also fascinated by wild parsnip which I'm not sure I would find as easily as cats ear or hawks bit, or of course the Ubiquitous Dandelion. So Iwill be reading up on it and hoping to discover one this year. I also will be finding out more about Fergus Drennan who is living off foraged food entirely.
Apparently Anna and her colleagues are going to run a course in Sussex on wild food foraging, but its fully booked and there arent more planned just yet. Judging by the enthusiasm of the punters I reckon they would be well advised to sort it out. And BBC TV shows like my former colleague James Wong's, about herbal medicine in the garden, and Ray Mears (whose book Wild Food was co-written by Gordon Hillman who was there with Anna Richardson), and of course the adorable Hugh F-W, will all be helping feed this apparently resurging interest in local herbalore. The famous James was also rumoured to be at the show but I didnt see him. I was probably too busy fondling bamboo fibres in the textile displays.
I just can't wait till some things start growing again and I can go and eat them.
I also watched a film about shamans in the Amazon which brought back great memories of my adventures in Ecuador all those years ago.
Many thanks to the organisers and participants of this brilliant event. It was even better that it was on my doorstep and for once, my friends were schlepping in this direction and not the other way around. It made me think what a great place Kew is to live, if only they would all come and live here too!
I don't have photos this time but have been bee-servicing again. This time we were just scraping honeycomb wax from the wooden frames so they can be reused for the coming year and the new bees.
Bees are in a bad way and unlike other creatures in a similar, or worse, situation, People are notcing. This is because
a) bees are quite cute
b) people like honey
c) bees pollinate fruit crops, and the fruit crops are suffering.
I saw a little while back a Haagen Daaz campaign to help honeybees - because the bees are not there to pollinate fruits, and this is making it harder for the ice cream manufacturer to source and pay for fruits. It is a very serious problem in the US and also I have rumours from China and the Ukraine that they are losing fruit crops.
One of the main threats to British honey bees is a parasitic mite called Varroa destructor. Originally confined to Asian honey bees, it has spread across Europe and reached England in 1992. It now infests 95 percent of hives.
You can get a bee chamber for your garden to provide a home for bees here - search for bees to see bee related stuff
Read about bee conservation here
Article about bees problems in the Daily Telegraph
Reuters report on the bee problem globally
Monday was a day famous for Snow, but for me it was also about honey.
I visited Linda who has recently started keeping bees.
We processed some honey and she very kindly gave me a pot of golden sweetness at the end.
I learnt about mites, and deaths, and bee dancing and pollen and nectar and propolis (the red stuff in the pot - very sticky and it stains the hands, the bees make it from tree resin), and how the bees tenderly care for the grubs and feed them bees milk, and how the worker bees come out of the growing chambers and do housekeeping first for a few days, and then nursing, and then they guard the entrance, and then they start foraging only after all that.
The pics show how we scraped the honey out of the combs, avoiding letting pollen and nectar into the honey, and let it drip through a net to separate it from the wax - collecting the was crumbs for melting down and further separation from the honey that is left; propolis; and the honey pots that were filled. 
20 in total, from about as many combs. This seems a lot but there are many hours of work to go into making this much honey and £4 a jar in the shops is an amazingly low price when you realise what is involved. Of course a lot of wax is also produced and it can be used in hand lotions, candles, furniture polish, bookbinding and all sorts of other things.
The bees had died in the frosts (before the Big Snow) and it was because there weren't enough of them to keep warm. They had been decimated by a mite earlier in the year which is the thing killing all the bees and causing mayhem for fruit crops and honey-makers worldwide.
Apparently there is a lot of extra work nowadays because of all the various diseases affecting bees. I think the snow will help to kill off some of the alien species and make things easier for bees next year - well I hope.
I am thinking of trying to make some hand cream from part of the honey Linda gave me so recipes would be welcome. I have various oils including coconut oil in the cupboard (available for incredibly low prices in large amounts from Southall by the way).
As for the snow, well I cycled to Linda's and it was rather wonderful as there was very little traffic, and people pulling kids along in sleds, and saying hello to each other, and I had to go very slow because it was very icy and I really wish that the snow would have stayed for a week or more.
Many thanks to Linda and looking forward to learning more about beekeeping -and honey- this year.
Last Friday I went to a Kew Wassail in aid of making the apricot tree fruitful for the year. It was very exciting because I also met a woman with a sheep, and another woman who has a spinning wheel - and knows how to use it - so I think it was a very fruitful occasion already.
I do sometimes think "is it ok for me to collect wild food" because surely there are lots of wildlife who cant go to tesco if they dont find any nuts in the woods that day. And generally people like the guys at River Cottage and other proponents of wild food collecting give the answer more or less of "yes its fine, there is plenty to go round, so long as you always leave a bit of it ie dont dig up ALL the truffles you can find in one spot."
Now I know the deer in Richmond Park are not a "naturally occurring" species in a "natural" environment but even so I found this interesting. I was up there on an early morning to photograph the deer with a friend and saw this notice.
I hadn't seen that sign when I collected the chestnuts last time.
I have taken an interest in the past in the idea of eating invasive species so will start to investigate that as an alternative. We could act as a biological control agent, enhancing the biodiversity rather than damaging it, by making conscious choices about what we eat and using wild resources in a balancing rather than 'i eat what i am interested in' sort of a way.
And now here are some nice pictures of deer and chestnut trees:
I have just become a publisher - with the production of a book about the English Christmas Pudding under the publishing name 'Spiderbooks'.
The book is a tasting sample of some of the stories behind the ingredients of the Christmas Pudding. it will be in some local shops in the Kew and Richmond area, and should be on Amazon soon too.
Your feedback is welcomed! Find out more at http://www.spiderbooks.co.uk
There was a big pile of rose cuttings in the garden and they were covered in rosehips; not being one with a high tolerance of wastefulness I set about cutting them off with plans to make some delicious thing or other.
Then the little red hips sat in my fridge for a few days while i was too busy.
Eventually I got round to dealing with them but quite a lot had gone soggy and or mouldy so the initial crop was quite whittled down.
It was surprisingly difficult to find recipes for rosehips. I found several for rowan berries in my assortment of ancient recipe books, even though rowan is less spoken of generally in life, and i rather suspect, considerably less palatable than rosehip.
I did find one however, in May Byron's Pot Luck, an old favourite.
And it was very true about how awkward they are to prepare, covered in fine sharp hairs than get under your fingernails and apparently in another recipe ( which I ignored) one is expected to not only top and tail but de-seed and peel them before boiling up! This is preposterous as you will discover if you try it yourself.
Rosehips are said to be incredibly high in vitamin C content so the tiny jar of jelly that resulted from my efforts ought perhaps to be viewed as a sort of winter medicine rather than Jam. It also tastes very sharp (and delicious) and is probably best suited as an accompaniment for game rather than for bread and butter.
The method is simple as for all these jellies made of indigestible fruits: Get your rosehips, top and tail them (mind all the sharp bits) stick em in a saucepan with a minimum of water, boil up till soft, force through a sieve, add a quantity of sugar, boil down till thick and pasty and cram into a sterile jar.
Amazing how sugar can make food of almost anything.
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