Adventure 54: If in doubt, leave it out

What is the difference between these two plants?

Plant A  

   Plant B

                                      

They're very similar you must admit. They're both tall, with thick stems and an umbrella of little white blooms. 

Well that's where the similarities end. Plant A is lovely cow-parsley, for which the wonderful Robin Harford has a great recipe for sweet pickled cow parsley (and you should in general check out his blog, its brilliant). Plant B, on the other hand is deadly Hemlock - yep, that which is found in King Lear, causes "drowsy numbness" in 'Ode to a Nightingale' and killed Socrates. 

Can I tell the difference? Sort of, is the short answer. Hemlock has a purple mottled stem, cow parsley doesn't. Am I confident enough to make Harford's recipe? Nope. I stick to the golden foraging rule: "If in doubt, leave it out" and so should you. 

A short post today, as I'm horrendously busy with reports and lesson planning.

Foraging news in brief - my elderflower gin is ready. It smells divine and I think it would go well with some chilled lemon tonic. Will let you know more when I've tasted it.

Pub wise - this weekend Levi and I decided to do a walk from Feniton to Ottery St Mary. Feniton is on the train line from Exeter and has a great old man pub called the Nog Inn. We first came across it a few years ago. It has delicious 'Tawny Owl' beer from Cotleigh Brewery, in Someset and an authentic 1930s interior. 

 We then took part of the walk we found here. Sadly, there were no instructions and the map is teeny. I however, spent some time with google maps and have written some instructions below if anyone would like to replicate it. 

Feniton to Ottery St Mary's Walk

1. Turn right out of Feniton Station onto Station Road

2. Walk up Station Road until you turn right onto York Crescent

3. Turn left on the bend to a continuation of York Crescent

4. Continue straight on to Salisbury Avenue

5. Turn right onto Wells Avenue

6. Turn right onto Green Lane

7. Go over the bridge, on the left there is a small footpath (signposted)

8. Walk through two sets of fields with the Orchard and chickens on the left

9. Walk over the bridge over the A30 and then a second bridge until you reach the other side of the A30 to a parallel road

10. Turn right and walk up the verge of the old road (be careful of traffic). This house is on your left

11. Turn left onto Gosford Road where the John Coleridge Patteson* Memorial is

12. Continue up the side of the road and cross a bridge with a little white bunglow on the left

 

13. Turn right onto another public footpath by the River Otter and follow the path through the woods until you get to a mud skate park

14. Don't be tempted at the park to go to the path on the right. If you get to Fairmile Lane, you've gone too far. Instead follow the path round to the left and keep going for another 1/2 mile up a stony path in the woods until you emerge at the main road into Ottery.

* John Coleridge Patteson was the great nephew of Coleridge the poet, and got murdered in the Solomon Islands in the 1870s by the locals in his work as a missionary. The memorial is in bad shape, partly I suspect because it refers to the polynesians as 'savages'... the tolerance of the Victorian imperialists towards other cultures is always so pleasing to see in 2015.....

Ottery St Mary was as always a pleasure. It was so weird to see the place in daylight without burning barrels (if you have no idea what I'm going on about see my post on the Ottery Tar Barrels here from a few years back).

We stopped off at the church there, which is highly interesting with a planetary clock, some medieval effigies and lots of Coleridge memorabilia (he played in the church yard as a child apparently).

 And finally, we stopped at the Lamb and Flag Public House, which CAMRA recommended. Only Otter Bitter on (the other two went off when we went in - bad luck)  but the landlord is friendly and it was good to put our feet up. 

Sadly, I must return to report writing but my summer holidays to Norfolk and Scotland are all booked and I can dream of fine pints in North Norfolk and Dumfries while I'm doing them. Hate 300, but quite like this MEME.