Not foraging season, yet.

I went for a somewhat optimistic little bimble to an area on campus that I know grows wild garlic in abundance during my lunch break today.
Despite myself, the Chap and his brother managing to find some Navelwort to nibble last weekend, and spying these fungi on a tree, there was no sign as yet of the Ramsons.

I didn't really expect there to be, but as it's the first sunny day for a while after all these storms, I fancied a breath of fresh air and a little vitamin D.
Sometimes I forget just how lovely the Campus is here; I really should make more of an effort to have a ramble around in my lunchtimes.

 I did come across this fungus; given it's somewhat forbidding purple hue I left it where it was though!

  Anyone know what it is?

The Chap and I go to Dorset :-)

We had a weekend in Dorset a few weekends back.  We went to see the Brownsea Open Air Theatre's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.  We also got to meet up with my mother and sisters, brother in law, aunt and uncle, 2 cousins and their other halves.  So there was a fair few of us!
After a late Friday night on Brownsea Island enjoying the open air Shakespeare and our 'posh' picnic (de riguer for these things) - although enjoying the mossies somewhat less, we started later than usual for our Saturday morning walk.  We drove west through Corfe Castle and on up along the ridge until we turned off for Worth Matravers.  This is a very pretty little village situated a mile or so from the coastal path and homing my favourite pub, the Square and Compass.  (Of which I have spoken before.)
On the walk we saw lots of insect life on the hills and cliff tops.  This is a Marbled White butterfly - I think a male.

There were lots of these flitting about the thistles growing through the long grasses.  Often in the past I've seen blue butterflies on these cliff tops but not today - perhaps a sad indicator of the changing nature in our countryside?
This is a moth rather than a butterfly but was showing itself off just as enthusiastically, and was just as welcome a sight.  This is the Six Spot Burnet - rather fab don't you think?

Later that day it absolutely threw it down, but thankfully after we'd had the customary pint and pasty at the pub.  :-)  It just wouldn't be the Worth Matravers experience without those!  

If you should find yourself in that region of Dorset do give it a look, it's a beautiful place.

(PS - apologies for the shortness and fairly insipid nature of this post - I still seem to be struggling to have time to write these things up.  We've had the Chap's son staying for the summer and he has somewhat monopolized the pc as his laptop gave up the first week he was down.  He has now returned home so hopefully autumn should prove bounteous in posts as well as produce though!)

My beautiful Exeter

I've been thinking recently that I really should share a little more of the beauty of the place I live with the world. Exeter is a lovely city; small enough to still be friendly and fairly safe and dating back to pre-Roman times.  Extensively bombed in the second world war it was lucky enough to escape significant damage to the cathedral and some of the old buildings in the city centre remain there to this day.
Anyway - to start (not being that well planned) I have a couple of images of the river.  I walk along and then cross this river every day on my way to and from work so I see it in all moods; swollen and brown with the mud-laden run off from the moors after heavy storms, shallow and burbling gently in the summer sun when you can spot a little fish through it's lucid ripples, partly iced over in the harshest part of winter or just reflecting serenely the sky above on a still and calm evening.
This first image then (and I am well aware that you will have seen numerous images of the river before this if you are a regular visitor here) was from a couple of mornings ago when we had one of the (so far) very few frosty starts to the day this winter.  Although the frost laid heavy on every grass stalk the sun shone down and glinted such sparkles off the river it made me want to run to the hills for the day rather than go to work.  Or at least get down the allotment for some digging!

This second image is from my journey home last night when the river was in one of it's languid moods and showed me such a perfect reflection of the trees' bare branches above I had to capture the image; although these dimpsey lighting conditions aren't the best for photography.  I hope however, that the image manages to convey some of the serenity the river regularly gives me, and some of the beauty it is capable of.

Spiffing CSH meet up

Well - if anyone out there pops in with any kind of regularity you've probably seen me mention CSH - the Cottage Smallholder blog and it's attendant forum; before.  This disparate group are a great bunch of friendly people who share interests in making your own, baking your own, growing your own, sewing your own, brewing your own and drinking your own.  [hic]  :-D  Also the keeping of chickens, the finding of bargains on the CFC et al are favoured topics.  Well - a while back someone suggested we took over Danny and Fiona's place for the weekend had a meet up - a grand idea we all shouted and promptly charged up country.  Well - not quite.  After a few weeks of wrangling the time off and organising the picking up of a fellow forumite en route we were off.  We stayed with the Chap's brother on the Friday night after first meeting our pick-upee [I know that's not a word] for a quick 'hello' pint in Reading.  Saturday we were up bright and early to nip back into Reading and pick up 'Sumprat' - the man who would be demo-ing the arts of home smoking at the meet up.  [That's smoking as in fish, meat, garlic etc.  'Fnar' indeed!]  En route to his we also nipped into Halfords as the Chap had realised he didn't have the plastic bung for the airbed on which we would be sleeping that night anywhere within the discernable vicinity.  Nor indeed a pump.  Hmm - rather pre-requisite items one would have thought when contemplating repose on an air bed for the night...

After a wee bit of a drive (you can rely on the M25 to induce impotent total rage at any time) we were finally passing through Newmaket and nearing Chevely; our final destination.  A lovely little village; Chevely is composed of some thatched and some charming old brick cottages with some fab brickwork chimneys to be seen.  The CSH nerve centre came in site and the Chap pulled the van onto the gravel drive.  Danny and Fiona appeared with welcoming smiles and hugs and we were immmediately at ease feeling amongst friends.  We profferred our addition of cheese-various to the groaning table of provendar on offer - no one was going hungry this weekend!  We took Dorset Blue Vinney, Cornish Blue and the Sharpham Rustic both plain and the chive version.  On display were many delicious goodies including fab home baked cakes, homemade fudge, Fiona's scrummy Polenta Bake, various salads and this fantastic creation made by 'Mrs MOS' in honour of the occasion.

We repaired to Danny and Fiona's beautiful garden.  This is split into several 'rooms' each leading one from another and all lovely.  I want to share some of the gorgeous little cameos that caught my eye. 

A tumbling rose blooming over the archway in the hedge leading from one area to the next.

The lovely established pond full of life, and a closer look at one of the lilies.

Much chatting, beer drinking, laughter and joy followed as we spent the rest of the evening being gently smoked out by Sumprat's home smokers - firstly a fab invention comprising a big metal stock pot rescued from a skip, an inner basket for it and a probe thermomenter inserted through a hole drilled in the lid of the whole affair.  This was the cold smoker - we tried some mushrooms in there - quite tasty indeed; and then some garlic - smoked garlic is ace!  Sumprat also smoked some chillies in it and served up smoked nuts still warm - these were great. 

He then cranked up the hot smoker and served up a platter full of smoked fresh mackerel fillets - yum!  We also did some hot smoked garlic - so it's cooked as well as smoked.  Great stuff!

The MOS's had kindly brought some of their really rather good sloe gin for everyone to try [ours was polished off ages ago but this year I'm determined to have multiple batches on the go] and I can testify that it was damn fine stuff.

Once the smoking was done the BBQ was fired up.  Danast had brought some steaks down from Scotland and the Chap was overawed by how good they were.  He said it melted in the mouth and was most definitely the finest steak he's ever had.  [Danast - here's your chance for a plug for the steak provider!]  We eventually headed bedwards; lulled by the quiet strains of the all night rave opposite to the cottage.  *rolls eyes*

The next morning brought the much anticipated 'White vs Black pudding / Scottish vs Irish fry off' which I didn't partake in but the Chap did and enjoyed them all, though admitted to preferring the black pudding but not one side of the Irish Channel over the other.  [You can find further details here on the CSH site.]  We were then showered with gifts from amongst the chilli plants, seeds and cakes that had been brought and Fiona also gave me some veggie pasties which were lovely, along with chutney and a beautiful lavender bird that was a little tardy in winging it's way to me earlier in the year.  Most unexpected but really touching and now has pride of place brightening up the kitchen. 

Many hugs were exchanged and photos taken and we set off on the long route home.  Once more the M25 was fully stationary - this time on the slip road with some fools deciding to reverse back up; followed by some even bigger fools turning round (yes - turning on an M25 slip road!) and driving back up only to seem slightly surprised that they couldn't get out at the top.  [Mind you if you're that dumb I guess most things in life come as a surprise - the sun coming up every morning, the appearance of the moon etc... cretins.]  Having managed not to be killed by any of these idiots we eventually pulled up in Reading to drop off a tired but happy Sumprat and resumed our journey southwards.

Feeling a little peckish by this point we took a detour via Bath and had a mediocre Italian [the starters were great, the mains not so much - odd] and a small wander to stretch our legs.  I liked this wall next to the river with the water heights and dates carved on from various floods over the years. 

Here's the classic view of bath - the river drops down through the centre of town; it's pretty idyllic.

Wearily we returned to the trusty van for the last stretch home - fairly uneventful though we followed a classic rounded 50's looking winnebago for some time down some lanes where it really took up all the space.  They pulled over to let us pass and gave us a cheery wave to which I waved madly back.  :-)  [People were pausing in their gardens to grin at it going by - isn't it great how old classic cars and such like can put a smile on peoples faces?  There's a passage on that theme in Iain Banks's rather good 'Raw Spirit' in which he tours various whisky distilleries.]

Eventually however we pulled up at home and there was one last task to do - scare the Chap with the mileage we'd done over the weekend.  Ouch!!  Bring on next years meet!!  :-)

Impromptu weekend away #3: South Devon Chilli Farm - Buckfastleigh - Home (Really this time!)

Having another very good and exciting weekend to tell you about plus several recipes I figured I'd best finish off the 'IW' sequence at some point this decade! :-)
So we motored off out of Salcombe, licking ice-cream off our fingers and following the satnav built into the Chaps phone - very handy as we'd never have found the Chilli Farm without it; it's a wee bit in the middle of nowhere! After following some pretty small roads and cutting across others we pulled into their smart gravel car park. There's a bit of an industrial unit thing going on and off to one side is the timber building housing the 
shop with many different chilli items and their cafe; which we didn't partake of but which looked good. There were some interesting books which we mentally tagged as potential gift ideas - or possibly just for ourselves! There was the whole range of their chilli chocolate - including a new one to try that's not yet for sale made with Naga chilli - that was a bit hot for my taste but the others are lovely. Also on offer were dried chillis, chilli seeds, relishes, chutnies and sauces all made with some of the vast number of different chilli varieties they stock.  We settled on some orange chilli chocolate, some smoky chipotle sauce and some chilli chutney.  We then ventured outside to check out the polytunnels and peruse the plants for sale section.

The polytunnels were fascinating - as well as all the varieties they use in their products and sell they have other trial types, also tomatillos which I'd never seen

in the flesh before and remind me of big Cape Gooseberry or Chinese Lantern type plants.  We also loved the look of this purple chilli variety - sorry I can't remember the name but it wasn't one they had for sale yet.

Having had a good nose at all the plants the polytunnels had to offer we carried on to the plants for sale area.  Now - when it comes to plant nurseries or open gardens or farm shops with plants or a wee pasting table in the drive outside someones house I am truly my mother's daughter.  [Although in the case of my mother it used to include pub hanging baskets for 'cuttings' as well!!  Worse part of it is she'd get me to break off the purloined cutting as I was taller than her by the time I was about 12.]  Neither of us can go within a country mile of any or all of these places and not come away with something.  [Hence my mahoosive collection of seeds but we won't mention those - I have plans for those to keep them from taking over any more of the house!]  This inevitably meant that the Chap and I would be adding to our small family of chilli plants for this year.  (A quick aside here - the Chap has got right into the Chilli growing this year with some of his own seeds he planted from our trip to a nursey back in March, seeds from a yellow chilli I had at home that Ma grew last year and a couple of plants my Ma gave us - she's been growing them for years in the lean to conservatory at home in Dorset and makes a mean Chilli jelly - with cheese it's divine!)  So - the only question was which would we go for?  As we sauntered along the shelves checking

out the labels a sudden outbreak of fluttering and cheeping above our heads distracted us - up in the corner a few feet away was a swallows nest and every so often one of the parents would zoom in with some insectile goodness firmly grasped in beak to be met by a renewed cheeping and the 'I've got the biggest flip top head' contest from the brood.  [Excuse the pic quality but I wasn't about to use the flash on them.]  This was entrancing and we could have happily stopped there for a few hours just watching in fascination but we had plants to buy then lunch to find so, with some difficulty we finally narrowed our choices down.  The Chap got a 'Peruvian Purple' and I chose the 'Aji Limon' - one I've liked the sound of for a while.  I will keep you updated with how they do - especially as this is over a month ago now - my bad!!
Next - off to find that elusive lunch.

We ended up stopping in Buckfastleigh which is on the edge of the moor quite close to Exeter although I don't know it myself.  It was that or we were in danger of getting back home before we decided on food.  We pulled up at the Abbey Inn and sadly perused the sign informing us they'd stopped serving food but 5 minutes earlier - then we decided to stay anyway and have a bag of crisps with our pints and just enjoy the view from our riverside table.  When the sun is shining and the water is burbling all you need is a packet of Burts Salt and Pepper flavour and a pint of Dartmoor Best and the Chap and it's bliss.  Trust me.  :-D

Suitably refreshed we toddled on our way and were soon home with memories of some great places and what seemed like a much longer break than 2 days.  If you have the chance and the funds [this was the Chaps treat for which I thank him - he is a star!!] to nip off unplanned try it - it's a true tonic and you don't have to go far to find somewhere you've never visited.  Get out there my friends!!

Parke Estate

A sunny afternoons wander in the countryside back round easter.  We had a pleasant walk round the Parke Estate on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon, not a place I knew of before.  We wandered along the stream, tried to spot oil beetles [we didn't but we saw some other pretty ones] and generally had a lovely afternoon.  Pics follow.

 And here's the beetle - any ideas what it is?

Shoreline at Shaldon

I'm hoping this post goes smoothly today! I want to share with you a little beach off the back of Shaldon in Devon. Go to the Ness car park, shown here and follow the signs for the tunnel through the cliffs to the beach itself. The Devon red rocks are interspersed with bands of deposits, giving interesting patterns as they various layers wear at different rates. I think the protruding part here looks like a big tongue coming from the cliff!

There are warning notices all over the place as cliff falls are not exactly infrequent so do be careful looking around!

We had a lovely walk along the beach spotting pretty shells and rocks. Chap saw a tiny starfish that was immediately washed away by the next wave but then I spotted it as well on the returning wave. Here it is before we safely returned it to the welcoming embrace of the sea. A baby razor clam shell.
The afternoon ticked away as we dawdled along the coast, scrambling over rocks and picking up varied pieces of wood, rock and an unattached buoy. [I have grand plans for this to do with sea foraging.] As the sun dropped in the sky we left and made our way over to Teignmouth on the other side of the estuary for a welcome pint in the last rays of the day.

Forage on the coast

As you'll know [if you've been paying attention :-p] we went traipsing on the Dorset coast at the weekend. Whilst there we foraged a couple of items to try once we'd returned home.

Whilst the Chap was poking around various caves in the cliffs (left from the quarrying that once took place in these parts for Purbeck stone) I came across an enclave of Sea Cabbage/Kale plants on the clifftop. Being cognisant of the fact that nationally this is a rareish species I took just 2 or 3 leaves from any one plant. It was good to see that there were a lot of these plants in this area, and I know they've been thriving on this coastline for years as I've been seeing them all my life. I was chastising myself for lack of preparedness as I emptied the top of my bag of camera, purse etc and dumped the leaves in. Really must remember to carry a suitable receptacle for unforseen foraging opportunities like this!

Further on at the top of a set of steps up from the valley floor to the cliff top the eagle-eyed Chap let out a delighted cry of 'Ears - Jelly Ears' which may well have earnt us the odd look or two had anyone else been foolhardy enough to be out in the howling wind and, at this point, driving rain. Luckily they weren't so were spared the sight of the childlike excitement of 2 fully grown adults exclaiming over the finding of what have been less than charitably described as looking like 'the pigs ears I gave the dogs tonight' on one forum I frequent! Jelly Ear fungus admittedly aren't the most immediately appealing item to pull off a tree and contemplate eating but they are one that it's nigh on impossible to misidentify meaning a safe bet for fledgling foragers to try. We gathered the larger growths, leaving the smallest to carry on; wrapped them in a tissue [it's all I had to hand] and popped them in the top of my overloaded bag taking care not to squish them. Further on round our walk we spotted some more but these were old and dried out so after a quick photograph we left them alone.

After our visit to the Square and Compass we headed back down to 'sunny' Devon [ha] - through driving rain, massive side winds and a pea-souper fog. Not fun driving conditions for the Chap.

Safely back home I looked up the Jelly Ears. Whilst we both knew they were edible we weren't so sure what to do with them - I'd had some vague recollection of stewing in milk being an option. [I know - sounding more and more tasty by the moment eh!! :-D]

The River Cottage 'Mushroom' book has this to say:

"The Jelly Ear...is something of an acquired taste. The undistinguished mild flavour and unassailable crunchiness...has proved something of a challenge to western palates. ...used with discretion in a spicy soup or stew where they can absorb the surrounding flavours, their unfamiliar qualities become clear assets."

'Food for Free' advises:

"It should be washed well, and sliced finely, for although the translucent flash is thin, it can be tough and indigestible.

Stew for at least 45 minutes in stock or milk and serve with plenty of pepper. Ensure it is cooked properly, otherwise the flesh will be very rubbery. The result is crisp and not unlike a seaweed."

Doesn't that all make you want to rush out and find some to try yourself?!!

I decided to casserole them for at least the stipulated 45 mins and see what we thought.

A check of the River Cottage 'Edible Seashore' guide had left me fairly certain that I'd collected Sea Cabbage but a *google later has now made me think it could be Sea Kale as most sources seem to use 'Sea Cabbage' to describe a type of seaweed which this most definitely isn't. Anyway, the book mentioned that you want the smallest leaves in Spring time - 'uh oh' thinks I - wrong time of year. Oh well - I did go for the small leaves so we'll give them a try. Lightly boiled they could make a nice 'greens' accompaniment to the Ear Casserole. [I can hear you thinking 'yum'.]

So; here we go with our Dorsetshire Jelly Ear Casserole and Seaside Greens Supper:

Splosh EVOO - about 0.5 tbsp

1 onion peeled and chopped

3 sticks celery chopped

Sprig rosemary - chopped

2 carrots chopped

Swede - approx 7-8oz - chopped

Veg stock - I used a total of 0.75 pint

2 bay leaves [look at my beautiful fresh bay leaves courtesy of mother's plant and my cute lttle jar for putting them in!]

2 medium spuds - 10-12 oz in total - chopped

0.5 tsp dried garlic - or 1 crushed and finely chopped fresh clove

1 small sweet potato peeled and chopped

Jelly ear mushrooms - small handful washed, trimmed of any hard stalk part and sliced finely

Glug red wine, approx 4 tbsps-ish

1tsp veg gravy granules

Handful green beans - chopped

Sea Cabbage/kale

Heat EVOO. Add onion and celery and fry gently to soften. If using fresh garlic add this now.

Add rosemary, carrot and swede and stir.

Add stock to cover - at this point it was 12fl oz. Add bay leaves and garlic if using dried granules.

Put oven on to heat up - Gas 6.

Chop both kinds of potatoes and add to pot.

Prep fungi and add these too. At this point the Chap made the helpful comparison between the sliced fungi and slugs. Not exactly the image I wanted in my head - thanks lovely man!!

Stir all well together.

Splosh in the red wine and sprinkle over the gravy granules then add enough stock to just almost cover the veg. As mentioned this took me to a total of 0.75 pint.

Stir again and pop in the oven for 40 mins.

Remove, add beans, stir through and replace in oven for 5-10 mins.

Meanwhile lightly simmer the sea cabbage/kale for 2-3 mins then drain well.

Verdict: hmm - er - well they were right that they don't really taste of anything themselves. The Jelly Ears had soaked up the flavours of the casserole so worked in that respect. However, they did have a slightly 'slimy' kinda thing going on, and were chewy with it. No sign of the crunchiness both books mentioned - not sure what they meant there? They were edible - no more than that.

Overall - I wouldn't go out of my way to find these again although I think the Chap would like a try at drying them and using in an oriental soup. Glad to have the opportunity to try them and this was our first foraged fungi meal so kinda exciting on that front.

Oh - and the sea cabbage? Bleargh!! This was absolutely vile. No other word for it - or at least no other polite one! I think it's the wrong time of year. I did try a tiny baby leaf - about 1cm size of tiny - and that was ok so I think these will be worth a try as spring baby leaves but now - totally unpalatable. They'd keep you alive and that's about all can be said for them. Very rich in iron the chap said through making faces at the taste.

All in all not a total success then but life is a patchwork of experiences is it not?

I now know not to either gather sea cabbage/kale [whatever the damn stuff is] in the depths of winter nor to post a photo of dubious looking fungi on a forum and expect to get away with it. :-D

*I'm not sure when 'google' became a verb but it now seems firmly ensconced in the national, if not international, conciousness as such if not in the actual Oxford English so I'm afraid it may well get used in this way on these pages. If it makes you wince - sorry 'bout that.

Shroom saturday

Given the beautiful weekend weather we decided to go for a trip to Fernworthy Reservoir on Dartmoor for a walk in the sun. Lovely spot this. As it happened though, we ended up spending rather more time looking at the floor rather than around us due to the abundance of fungi we spotted. Had we brought a single id guide with us though? No, of course we hadn't! *facepalm*
Anyway - some pics of the various examples - I'm afraid the quality is variable being a) taken on my phone and b) often in lowlight under the tree canopy. If I knew categorically if any are safe for eating I'd head up there again soon!

The first - spotted before we even got out of the van!

Above - impressively yellow

Left - impressively shaggy

This was a purplish capped one and the undersides of an already broken off one. There were a lot of these.

More delicately purple these - maybe Amethyst Deceiver on the right?

Another impressively ruffled one on the left and the red one above was the last 'spot' of the day.
We saw others but the pics are too poor I'm afraid.
We didn't eat any!
I'm afraid Blogger rearranges my pics so what looks like a nice layout in preview is in fact annoyingly staggered. Soz - nowt I can do 'bout that.