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Sunday 5 October 2014

Hedge harvesting.

It was the coldest night so far this autumn, it was down to 2.9 deg on my thermometer, but we were nice and snug inside as we banked the stove up and it kept the chill off mall night. The morning dawned with a beautiful blue sky and it soon warmed up.

Smoke on the water, not from the stove but the last of the mist burning off.

We had quite a lazy start and after breakfast I went up to the village to get the paper and some eggs. I like to use all our small change to buy these purchases otherwise you are left with a load of copper laying about. I have culled almost all the shrapnel now and down to 'big' money. When I got back we listened to the Archers Omnibus and Desert Island Discs before stirring our stumps and making off. As we have to be at Calcutt tomorrow morning at 0930 we were going to stop just before Napton Junction, or Wigrams Turn. It only took us the best part of a couple of hours before we stopped. We had a great parsnip and apple soup with crusty bread for lunch.

A bright splash of colour around Wolfhampcote.

I thought that I would find a few blackberries to go with the apples from the other day so wandered the tow path looking for fruits. I came across a few blackberries but my eye was taken by the beautiful hawthorn haws. I had seen a recipe for a jelly that is supposed to be nice with meat so I picked a punnet to see if I could make it. I also came across some rose hips so picked a punnet of those too to make a rose hip orange and ginger jelly, and then came across another apple tree so filled my pockets with them and will have a stab at an apple jelly too. The only trouble is that I don't have enough jam jars!

Top left are the hawthorn haws, that actually taste a little like apples, top right is the jar with the sloes we picked yesterday along with sugar and vodka. At the bottom are the blackberries, apples and rose hips.

After my foraging trip I thought I had better get the batteries checked as it was such a nice day. Everything was fine but they do take a fair bit of water every month. As it was still early and warm I thought I would take the magnet out to see if I could pick anything up on these moorings that are popular. I came up with nothing other than a brand new tin lid. I usually come up with old nails and screws, hut his time nothing. It must have been dredged fairly recently.

It is supposed to rain all tomorrow so that may make working down the engine hole interesting. I hope that they are under cover, but I have been thinking of how to cover over so that we can continue working and aren't delayed getting the heating sorted.

3 comments:

Mrs. Jaqueline Biggs said...

Great bit of wild crafting as we call it in the States! Iike to dry the rose hips and hawthorn and make a hot tea with them, mixed with red clover flowers and some mint. Sorry we didn't get a chance to catch up with you both for a natter and a cup of tea but this gives us somersetting else to look forward to next year.
Stay warm!
Jaq and Les

NB Holderness said...

Hi Both,
I love something for nothing and I love the act of being out and about picking the stuff. I think it will be jams, jellies and syrups for me as they will all go on my morning porridge. It was a shame we didn't get to natter, but I did see that Les was looking well. I'm sure that all will be well in the fullness of time and that his lifestyle will provide loads of benefits for his continued health. Best of lock in the next day or two and I am already looking forward to seeing you next year somewhere. We haven't decided where we will be bound for, but we will see you soon.
Cheers for now Tony and Helen.

Marilyn, nb Waka Huia said...

A fine example of a gatherer, if not a hunter, Tony! Don't eat all of the stuff you make, as we are keen to try the spoils next year. One of our guests made crab apple jelly from the ones we'd collected when we saw Jaq and Les at Fenny Stratford. Neill put some sage leaves in it - absolutely yummy with cheese I have discovered.
Cold here at home in NZ, but it was a lovely sunny day when we arrived. David, of course, has a streaming cold ...
M&D xox