Adventure 4: A downward turn for this particular domestic goddess.... (13-15.09.2013)

Since posting last, things have taken a serious down turn in the life of this particular domestic goddess (I  knew it would be too good to be true that I could actually make things!). The dandelion marmalade still hasn't set (grrr....) and to make me even more distraught my second batch of hawthorn jelly hasn't either (I wonder if freezing the haws damaged the pectin levels?). I will be looking into the possibility of rescuing these  today but am not hopeful. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know!

On a more positive note, hubby and I went for a walk at the weekend, the first since I did my knee in. It was only short - just under two miles on the flat, but it felt like a positive step - I really miss hiking! We started at Exton, where we had an extremely overpriced pint - nearly four quid at the Puffing Billy (http://www.thepuffingbilly.co.uk/). It seems to have a very nice (albeit dear) menu. Maybe one day we might have enough money to sample its delights. We then walked along the railway line, past the Marine training base (full of beautiful raw recruits hanging off climbing frames) to Lympstone Village. I may have exasperated my new hubby a tad by stopping every two seconds to collect rosehips (they make good tea I'm told) but he was amply rewarded with a nice pint of Bays Gold in the Swan (http://www.theswaninn-lympstone.co.uk/).

I have since spotted a number of ripe red rosehips on the way to Aldi near St Thomas and will be returning with my foraging bucket forthwith.

Adventure 3 - Dandelion Marmelade (12.09.13)

Weather was poor yesterday, so I headed back to the island with my bucket. I'd read that dandelions are very edible and decided that this would be my focus for the afternoon to get enough to make Dandelion Marmelade (http://www.makeitandmendit.com/how-to-make-dandelion-marmalade/).

Dandelions were not that easy to find, but I did find an amount of clover (which is also apparently edible) and more haws and a single sad little sloe (which I ate so it wouldn't be lonely).

I began to appreciate the variety of hawthorn trees - I counted at least 12 different types on my walk and also discovered what I believe to be a Grey Dagger Moth caterpillar. Another early memory of walking with Grandad in Norfolk are spitting the hawthorn pips out - apparently they contain cyanide - just shows really, the first golden rule of not eating things you don't completely understand, is completely sensible!

I tried a dandelion leaf - it was pretty gross. Might look into things you can do with them another week as well as dock leaves which you can also make stuff with, apparently.

I tried to make the dandelion marmalade last night and as of this evening, it hasn't set, which has annoyed me a great deal (waste of peel, sugar, apples and the painstakingly picked dandelions), but I managed to freeze the haws for another day.

Jars are annoying me as well - I had a collection which was thrown when we moved to Devon, and now I can't find any on upcycle or gum tree for love nor money. And, I am categorically not paying Wilkos over a quid per jar!

On a more positive note, I made up my batch of sloe gin into two old glass bottles with sugar and sloes. Would like to have made it with slightly better gin but pennies are tight and hopefully it will still taste delicious in a few months time.

Here's the recipe I used

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/sloegin_7722

Now, just to shake the bottle every day this week...

Adventure 2: Hawthorns, sloes and rosehips (11.09.13)

My appetite wetted, I said to my hubby, "and where can I go now to find sloes? I mean, have you seen any?" He looked perplexed, "er, I'm not sure what one is?" "They're purple and small and grow in bushes."
Still, a blank look.

I remember my first sloe, well. Walking between East Runton and Cromer with Grandad Peter and my English cousins, he plucked some from a hedge. "Ay, ducks," he cried, "come try these!" The three of us tried them trustingly and spat them out sharpish. Bitter is the word, like your mouth has been turned inside out. "Them's sloes - you make gin with 'em, damsons are bigger, and tastier."

And I've never forgotten the walk and since growing up, sloe gin has been a favourite of mine and my friends Jo and Ed make the tastiest I've known. Desperate to follow in their footsteps, I tried hubby again: "anywhere that might be promising?"

He suggested the island in the middle of the Exe near our home with its shrubbery where he likes to go running. So on Wednesday, I bought a bucket and some gloves from the 99p shop on the way back from the job centre and took a stroll.

Indeed, there were many shrubs and bushes as promised and armed with some suggestions off a foraging website (http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/) I identified and started picking haws, elderberries and some rosehips I found near the station. I also, to my delight found sloes! Not lots of them, but a plentiful haul enough and got scratched to pieces. I talked to many nice dog walkers clearly curious to know what I was doing in the hedges and finally rewarded myself by sorting out my haul with a diet coke, watching a pair of cormorants frollicking in the Exe.

I decided to discard the Elderberries - I wasn't 100% that's what they were - and the first rule of thumb apparently for foraging, is if you don't competely know what it is - don't eat it. Second rule, is to respect the environment and know that it is wrong to decimate an areas supply of nuts and berries - they are after all the food of the wildlife in the area. So, I have made sure just to take a little from each tree.

When I got home, I realised that the elderberries had been what I thought they were, but I figure its better to be safe than sorry. I froze the sloes in the freezer (first on a tray and then in a box) and dried the rose hips for tea. The haws, I decided to make into jam using the recipe I found here: http://www.eatweeds.co.uk/hawthorn-jelly-recipe

Not having a jelly strainer I used a clean pillow case which worked well and produced the most amazing hawthorn jelly ever. And so, adventure 2 came to a close.

Adventure 1 - Blackberry Hunting (10.09.13)

Ok, so its a pretty timid start to foraging. I mean, who hasn't picked a blackberry? But this, is how my adventures have begun. On Monday, I met my husband after work and we walked down the footpath on the way to Exeter University on our way to the fantastic Rusty Bike Pub for a quick pint (if you're interested in locally sourced good food and real ale please see: http://www.rustybike-exeter.co.uk/) and he pointed out the mass of blackberry bushes. We ate our plenty and went on our way. Next day, I went back to the path armed with bags. I explored the field off the end of the path and down into the valley beneath the university. I found many blackberries and even a couple of sloes and went home happy. I was intitially tempted to try and make blackberry vodka with them, but unfortunately, job seekers doesn't stretch far and I wanted to save my pennies for the gin, so I found this recipe for Blackberry Jam instead:

Recipe for Blackberry Jam

• 750g blackberries
• 900g sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 160ml water

Mash blackberries, add sugar, lemon juice and water in pan. Boil and stir for 8-10 mins and then put in sterilised jars. 

Result: 2 jars and a bowl of delicious blackberry jam! Bon appetit! 

Welcome to my blog!

An unemployed teacher, seeking work, I have recently developed a new hobby - foraging. Its been a long time coming and inspired by a number of awesome people in my life. From Jack G and his vegetarianism in a bid to highlight sustainability, Jo S-Band Ed C-B who have been making the most awesome sloe gin for the last four years (and sharing it with me), to my 91 year old grandfather, Peter, who first introduced me as a child to the countryside and the delights to be found there. Though brought up in the city, I have spent all my holidays in Norfolk and the West of Ireland, where I have spent many hours combing the beeches, fishing for minnows with a pair of tights, a hanger and a garden cane with cousin Claire and walking through the fields at the back of my house, wandering the boreens. Sloes have been on my mind for a few months now - I decided that a benefit of living in Devon (I moved in January 2013) might be that I could find some. Combined with the fact that I can't walk too far at the moment due to a dislocated knee (which has put a stop to my usual rambling activities) this, really, is how this new hobby has come about. I'm looking over the next few months with what I can forage (responsibly, I might add) and what I can make from it. I hope to share my adventures here.