What's Happening?

Spring has sprung, and summer is properly here. The absolutely amazing weather seems to have brought out the best in wild food, and this year looks set to be a bumper crop of all sorts of goodies.

After last year’s dismal effort, the huge quantity of flowers in the spring seems to indicate that this year will be a extraordinary one for Bilberries – the bushes were literally groaning under the weight of the purple flowers, and they are now showing the green immature fruits growing nicely. Here is a description of the Bilberry.

Raspberries are similarly available in a plentiful supply. My usual bushes are not yet ripe – a few more weeks should see them emerge in their delicate glory. Keep checking your hunting grounds as they may be ready now and you don’t want to miss that boat. Here is a description of the Raspberry

Gooseberries! Wow! My local bush was, as of 3 weeks ago, growing nicely and full of life. I checked yesterday, however, and the whole thing was overgrown and all the leaves had been eaten by caterpillars. I did manage to salvage 8 Goooseberries, so not all was lost, but still, I’m not impressed! Next year I will do some weeding… or does that count as gardening rather than foraging? See post below for the details on Gooseberries. 

And ladies and gentlemen, the whole house once again smells of cat pee which can mean only one thing, the Elderflowers are in season. Get them whilst the going’s good… or not! They really seem to be everywhere this year, and one can smell them in the most unlikely places. Kate is making champagne again, but also a cordial, and is attempting to make a wine. We have a freezer full of the flowers too, so that should keep us going for a while! Recipe and description are here and here.

In other interesting news, I discovered a Medlar tree on my travels yesterday. I had thought the tree looked familiar when I first came across it in the spring, but I couldn’t place it. So, during yesterday evening’s ramble, I explored further and lo, the large leaves and the small emerging apple-like fruit gave it away. Here is a description of the Medlar. 

Elderflowers in full bloom.  

What was left of my Goosberry bush after the caterpillars!

Raspberry (Rubus Idaeus)

Where: Hedgerows, woodland margins and clearings. Common throughout UK. 

What: Berries.

When: Mid-June – August

By late June, if you are lucky enough, then you may be able to forage Raspberries. Related to the Blackberry, and superficially similar looking, the Raspberry plant is smaller that your standard bramble and is often overlooked lurking in hedgerows, or simply mistaken for a slightly odd version of it’s cousin. 

The plant can grow to a height of 1m, but is usually much lower to the ground, and has a thick, yellow-green, stem trailing throughout the hedgeback and climbing on other plants. This stem looks very thorny, almost hairy (especially compared with the Blackberry), but these reddish coloured thorns are soft, and so picking the fruit is not the trial it is with brambles. The leaves are a mid-dark green, occasionally shiny on the upper and pale below, and are slightly hairy on the upper, more hairy below. They are oval in shape, clearly veined and often taking on a wrinkled appearance, have a serrated edge, and occur in groups of 5 or 7 leaflets, with the longest, terminal, leaflet measuring up to 10cm long and 6 cm wide.  

  

The flowers, arriving in April/May, are white and are small (max. 1cm across) made up of 5 delicate petals with green triangular sepals separating them, and with a centre comprised of white stamens with reddish tips.  

By the start of June, you should be able to see the fruit growing – pale green and hard at first but slowly turning orange, and finally the classic warm translucent red. The berry itself is soft and juicy, perhaps a little sharp tasting, but still sweet with that wonderful flavour. The fruit is smaller than the shop bought variety, measuring just 1.5-2cm, but is in the classic shape, and looks just like an unripe red Blackberry. The berry hangs down underneath the leaves, usually in groups of up to three, so you have to go looking for it, literally turning plants upside down, and whilst not growing in the same quantities as the Blackberry (actually, depending on the plant, fairly sparsely), they are well worth the effort.

Use the berries in any way you see fit – pies, salads, breakfast, juice them, add them to chilled white wine for an evening drink… hell, just pop them in your mouth and chomp! They freeze well, but are a tad mushy when defrosted! In a wonderful display of irony (and with a sense of mischievous glee), my main Raspberry plant is in my local supermarket car park, and whilst they are currently having a sale on Raspberries (£1.99 for a punnet), I can get mine for free!