Adventures in Food

One nice thing about this project is learning slowly and developing a deepening relationship with the natural processes. Last year I found wood blewitts growing on the plot and this year they came back. They seem to be rather out of season but I am still fairly sure that's what they are! I ate them and enjoyed it a lot, in fact more than last time. And its very satisfying to see that they came back again. Unless they are different bnut its still interesting. This time the recipe involved frying onions and Alexanders with the mushrooms in rapeseed oil from the local shop (Squire's) and at the end, stirring in the wild garlic pesto my brother and his wife made. And here are the pictures: Baby Blewitts among the baby alexanders Ready to eat - I left about half in to reseed for the next crop Rapeseed oil, wild pesto and alexanders ready Chop everything up and fry with the oil and a squeeze of grapefruit juice. Mix with noodles, top with yoghurt and paprika and settle down...

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: Nettle roots will be used to dye the rest of the fleece: Lepista sordida growing among nettles - and Alexander seedlings in the foreground: and at home waiting to be cooked: with red onions and butter: giving a simple meal with a beetroot and Alexander salad in the background:

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...