on tuesday i followed my friend, mary around as we went foraging in the english countryside of wimborne. this is a field that belongs to someone...but a public footpath runs through this someone's field. so, we walked through the gate, said hello to mr. horsey and carried along our merrily way.
this is elderberry. you can eat this! i planned to make jam with this.
public footpath.
and of course, there was a family of swans at the side of the river. gah! so beautiful.
this is sloe. it's like a mini plumb. it tastes awful raw. i know. i tried it and mary watched me make a funny face. mary says to make sure you cook sloes for at least twenty minutes before making jam or chutney out of them.
see this? this is poisonous. don't eat this. i can't remember what 'this' is exactly...but don't eat it. it looks like a flower, so you're probably safe by not thinking you could even eat it, because it doesn't look like a berry or something edible. so, you'll be fine. nevermind what i just said.
took the road back to the car. we wanted to avoid the cow patties this time. except for the narrow roads, i felt like this could have been southern ontario. there was corn growing on the other side of the hedge.
this couple was cute on their bicycle-built-for-two.
we searched high and low for some blackberries, but mary thinks we might have just missed the season. i got a little container full, which i was happy about. i attempted elderberry and blackberry jam this afternoon. i think i should have used more sugar. the english weigh their ingredients with a scale and i don't know how to do that so i kinda just...guessed. i was also worried about the sugar content but maybe exercised too much caution. oh well. i think it tastes alright. i don't like my jam too sweet to begin with.
i'm sweet enough.
1 comment:
Mmmmm elderberries....yummy. They are awesome in pie too, nice little crunchiness.
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