the annual bilberry haul

 

Each summer we dedicate a day to go up to the Stiperstones armed with plastic tubs to collect bilberries. We were a little late going this year, but there were still plenty to be found. Going later in the season meant we were treated to the amazing scent of the heather as it was in full bloom.

 

 The boys love to use their berry pickers and eagerly begin to fill up the tubs. However before long they are frolicking and rolling about in the springy heather, getting covered in purple splodges.

 

Their day was enhanced by doing a spot of Geocaching - something we started doing last summer. They love the quest of finding something that's been hidden away. The Geocache here didn't disappoint especially being an old ammo tin.

 

So with purple stained fingers, we headed home to freeze our modest haul of bilberries to give us a taste of the summer hills through the winter months.

foraging

 

As summer slips into autumn, it is a time of picking and preserving... and picking some more. 

My favourite wild damson tree in a hedgerow a few fields away was laden with fruit. A carrier bag full was promptly turned into damson chutney, followed by a batch of damson jam.

 

 

  

The plum tree in the allotment has had a wonderful year, with more fruit than ever before. The boys have been climbing up it to reach the sweetest fruits up in the top of the tree. We have picked and picked - eaten lots straight from the tree, given boxfulls away, made plum jam and plum chutney and even sold some in punnets on the doorstep with an honesty jar - and the tree is still laden! 

  

 In recent years I have made a small batch of elderberry syrup which is particularly good for those winter colds (a little with mixed with some hot water is very soothing).

 I do love hedgerow foraging...

the big pick

 

Our annual trip to the Stiperstones for the big bilberry pick. 

 

A rare photograph of me - taken by my 4 year old son!

 

While I take 2 hours to carefully hand pick enough to fill a tub, the boys and their dad use berry combs which fill up the tubs in no time. Though I do need to spend hours picking out the branches, leaves and other random 'alien' material.

It's a lovely few hours away from it all, which we all enjoy. 

making

 

Making has been the theme for the past few weeks ~ from picking flowers in the garden to make garden posies {even selling some on the doorstep!}

 

 

The foraging season starts for me with elderflowers or 'elderbloom' as I read recently in an old book. I have been out in the Field gathering basket fulls to make refreshing elderflower cordial.

 

New to me is dressmaking. I have altered and botched items of clothing but never really followed a proper pattern. A couple of years ago I bought a Merchant & Mills pattern with the idea of teaching myself dressmaking which has lain untouched until now. I had a special occasion to attend which provided the perfect deadline and impetus to pursue this dressmaking idea. I ordered some gorgeous Irish Linen from Merchant & Mills to make their Trapeze Dress which I was shortening to a tunic. I also got some cheaper fabric to do a trail run. 

 

Doing a trail run was a good idea as I really did have a lot to learn. I also discovered that the alter table here serves as a very good cutting table - perfect height and plenty of room to walk around.

I finished my new top/tunic just in time and I'm really pleased with it. It is full of novice errors and handmade charm, but I love it!

May Day Posy

 

I was inspired to create a May Day Posy by Lou at Littlegreenshed. She is helping to revive an old custom of  making a posy of handpicked flowers to leave on the door of a friend as a celebration of Spring and Friendship.

 

The garden is a little sparse of colour at the moment with most things poised to flower, so I had to scrump some forget-me-nots which were spilling out of a garden on the roadside and some wild garlic growing in a shady spot in the churchyard. Mint and wych elm flowers provided a fresh green filler. 

The Posy was carefully carried across town to be left on a friend's doorstep. It was such fun to do and I wish I could have made more. I have already begun to note potential flower scrumping sites for next year.

foraging for christmas

 

 

 

Gathering larch cones with Christmas garlands in mind. Have been wanting to do this for the past couple of years but never seem to be near a larch tree at the right time. Today I had an hour to spare, a car and had noted the location of said trees AND the sun was shining so off I went. And what a blissful hour it was!

the field in august

 

The field is full of seeds and berries and has slipped into a very autumnal colour scheme. 

 

Blackberries and elderberries have been picked and preserved - the blackberries went straight in the freezer and the elderberries bottles as a cordial. 

The boys gathered some early conkers and playing with my (precious!) camera while I was berry picking. It's always nice to look through their photographs, seeing their viewpoint.

Fred's view of the field.

Previous monthly posts of The Field here

mushroom picking

 

A neighbour kindly deposited a bag full of field mushrooms on our doorstep the other day and informed us of the field she found them in. This morning we went out before breakfast, to find some of our own and introduce the boys to mushroom picking. It's been years since we've picked mushrooms from the fields as we have either missed them or been too unsure of their identification. However, the look and smell of these make them unmistakably field mushrooms.  A nearby field which is grazed by cattle was peppered with them. The boys loved running from clump to clump gathering them, still covered in dew. They soon learnt to only pick the young newly emerged ones. 

The mushrooms were cleaned up at home and made into a soup for lunch. It's rather time consuming checking for the tell tale holes of creatures that you don't want in your soup, but for a seasonal meal it's well worth the effort.

It's bilberry time!

 

A whole month earlier than last year the bilberries are ready. Word in the hills was that they were ripe now... in July, so keen not to miss out we set out to gather our annual haul. We always head up to Nipstone Rock, part of the Stiperstones over the border in Shropshire. Rarely is there anyone else there and the views are outstanding looking back into Wales or if you turn around you can see for miles into England.

 

The Stiperstones

 There are so many berries that you hardly need walk very far, just find a nice mossy clump to rest on (though you will get purple splodges on your clothes) and pick away. In a couple of hours we have gathered enough to keep us in pies and muffins for the year - though I have to admit that Karl's highly efficient method of picking with a berry comb completely outdoes me for quantity, I'd have to be there all day!

 

Bilberries fresh from the bush, are the best way to enjoy them! 

 

And finally, some 'rock climbing' up the 'mountain' with Dad as a reward for their foraging efforts. It sure beats buying a punnet of blueberries from the supermarket! 

The Field - January

Looking out over the churchyard wall, you get a lovely view of The Field. Here we go sledging, pick elderflowers, forage for berries, collect conkers, climb trees, spot butterflies and most importantly it's a wonderful little escape right on our doorstep.
I thought it would be interesting to photograph The Field each month, as a record of the changing seasons. It is just a humble field, peppered with mature oaks, beeches, horse chestnuts, hawthorns and elders. I am hoping that by looking closely, there will always be something interesting to see.

 

On a chilly January morning, the light in The Field is beautiful, catching the water droplets on the branches making the tree look like it's covered in jewels. 

 

Just visible through the trees at the far end of The Field is Powis Castle, our neighbourly National Trust property.

 

This particular spot marks the best elder and blackberry bushes for foraging. And its one of my favourite views of Moel-y-Golfa, a distinctive hill which is often in the background of my photographs.

 

 

Near the top of The Field is one of the boys' favourite trees, the horse chestnut with its low branches, perfect for scrambling up. It provides some welcome shade whilst blackberrying in the summer. That feels an age away now, but the buds are there... waiting...

 

My favourite trees in the field are the old twisted hawthorns. 

 

 

I love the long shadows at this time of year.

 

Heading back you get one of my favourite views of home...