Wordless Wednesday – No words, just pictures. Allow your photo(s) to tell the story.
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End Of Summer #WordlessWednesday #Photography
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I love foraging! Beautyberries and goldenrod are a good find this time of year in the south. Now that I’m farther north, I’m harvesting hops and crabapples this month. Just made some crabapple butter. Yum!
I’ve never heard of crabapple butter, but I’ve had crabapple jam. Could combining the two be the next best thing? Maybe you already have?
Dandelion greens is my favorite in spring ! I make them into spicy curry
Sounds mouthwatering. I like anything spicy.
We were just up in Washington State and Vancouver Island where there were tons of berries alongside the roads and hiking paths. Yum! Here in Southern California, it’s pretty easy to forage lemons and rosemary.
How lovely to be able to forage for lemons. The climate in the UK is too cold for citrus fruit, although there are indoor plants that grow citrus. They can spend the summer months in the garden, but as soon as the first frosts come, they need bringing indoors for the rest of the autumn and winter (and some of the spring).
Hi Hugh. At the moment, I forage in my garden every morning for fresh raspberries and/or alpine strawberries to have with my overnight oats, yogurt and walnuts breakfast. Seeing your photo reminds me that during 2020, while going for our daily morning walk, we’d take bags with us and collect blackberries. Duly soaked in salt water, rinsed and dried, I’d pack them into larger packs and put them in the freezer. While we ate some of them, we had far too many and they ended up in the compost bin 12 months later. I would have made jam or jelly, but all my jars were filled with pickled onions!!
I’ve given up trying to preserve anything now as I don’t have room to store them.
I remember my grandmother always pickling onions, but she only ever did it for Christmas. I used to love pickled onions, but I don’t eat them anymore, preferring chutney instead.
I try and avoid putting anything in the freezer, because it’s unlikely ever to get used. I even have ice cream in there from years ago, which I should really throw away now. The only thing that tends to come out of the freezer are ice cubes when making drinks.
I’m so pleased that your garden is a source of lots of fruits. We’ve grown blueberries in our garden for the last few years and they taste amazing.
There was a fantastic crop of blackberries growing in the park behind my house. They weren’t quite ready as they tasted sour, even though many were black. Then, just before they ripened enough to start picking, the council came and did their annual cutting back. Now this fabulous crop has all gone before anyone could benefit from it. 😭
I used to forage for field mushrooms. They grew in my stepfather’s fields in abundance. They were large, some 20-25cm across, and tasted so much better than the little things we buy in the supermarkets.
I’ve also made elderberry jelly from foraged elderberries, and my son made some wonderful elderflower cordial a few years ago. And hazelnuts, too. They can be foraged.
I think stuff picked from the wild always tastes better, but is that imagination?
Hawthorn berries are edible and can be used to make a jelly, and rose hips for rosehip syrup, a great source of vitamin C. It used to be given to babies.
In this time, when more people are suffering from poverty greater than I remember, it’s a pity that they don’t understand about this free food. In the park there are apple trees, a pear tree and a plum tree. No one collects the fruit. They pick the nascent apples and pears and throw them around, and completely ignore the plums, which are wonderful and sweet. They don’t seem to understand that if they left them to grow, they could pick them and eat them, as we do the plums.
What a shame cutting down all those blackberry bushes just before they were coming into fruit. You’d have thought they would have waited until after everyone had picked what they wanted and to have cleared the bushes after any leftovers had diedback.
I’ve always been a rather hesitant to forage for mushrooms knowing that some varieties are poisonous. You really need to know your mushrooms to stay safe.
I also walk past many apple trees where the fruits have all fallen and are rotting on the ground. I know that they can be a source of food for insects and birds, but it’s a shame that nobody has picked them and used them. You’d think that the people who the apple tree belongs to would pick them. But maybe they have too many? I did walk past one house recently where apples had been left in a box outside their front gate with a sign saying ‘Free apples – please help yourself.’
If I was walking past a plum tree in a park, I’d certainly help myself to some plums.
I don’t know what kind of plums they are. They are small and round a bit like a greengage shape, but smaller, and with a slight purple blush. And oh, so sweet.
The park used to be the orchard of a farm on whose land our estate was built. I think the apple and plum trees were part of that orchard, so the plum could well be an ancient variety.
We planted a pear, and a peach in anticipation of climate change! Also a cherry that vandals destroyed. ☹️😡
I can’t understand why anyone would want to destroy a tree for no reason. I heard of a case last year where somebody destroyed a dozen newly planted trees in a park. They did finally arrest somebody who got a large fine, but I would have made them replant new trees in the park as well.
The plums you mentioned could be the damson variety.
I used to pick berries when I was a child going for walks with my grandpa. Still, when I walk in the woods and find some, I love picking them … and go back on memory lane.
I’m delighted that this post has brought so many lovely memories back for many readers, Erika.
Only one picture can do that.
They taste great, but them darn seeds!!!!
The seeds in blackberries are so tiny I never notice them.
It’s the crunching that gets me.
I’ve never had cruncy blackberries. They’re very soft fruits over here, with no crunch. You must have a different variety.
Maybe?
Most definitely, we do go out every season to pick berries. The best ever.
Join and share with us at ES #43 #WordlessWednesday
My contribution this week Sunset
Hope to see you there.
Thank you, Esme.
We used to have blackberry bushes in the backyard but they got quite aggressive and the berries weren’t that good. However our local Farmer’s Market has the best berries ever.. Who doesn’t love a berry pie!
True. We’re lucky that the climate where I live in Wales makes the blackberries worth picking. And they taste so sweet.
I am so sad that we didn’t make it to Wales when we were there! We did meet three lovely Welsh ladies in London.
Wales is much better than England (in my opinion). But being welsh, I guess I would say that.
I fondly remember the raspberry bushes I had in a garden long ago. Enjoying the raspberries and while picking one finger in the mouth for the finger that was pricked upon a thorn,
Foraging can be risky, but the rewards are always worth it.
A lovely photo. I always enjoy fresh berries.
Especially when they’re in season. They always taste much better when in season.
For sure!
I have many fond memories of blackberry picking with my mum. But they’re definitely appearing earlier, as you say.
I am glad to have brought back some lovely memories of blackberry picking with your mum with this photo, Esther.
What a timely Wordless Wednesday.
Just last week, I spotted some puffballs in a forested park. They were just off the pathway. Have you seen or eaten puffball? It’s a wild mushroom that grows from baseball size to soccer ball size and even bigger. It has a creamy white colour, a spongy soft texture and will grow to a round shape.
At home, we slice it a little thicker than pancake size and fry it in butter.
I’ve definitely heard of them, Kevin. I may even have spotted a few, but I’m not keen on eating mushrooms. It’s about their texture that puts me off from eating them. I’m glad to hear you are enjoying the ones you’ve foraged, though. I hope you get a good harvest of them.
Here, in the Surrey Hills, we have been foraging blackberries on our daily dog walks. The Labrador, belonging to a fellow walker, loves blackberries and is an excellent forager! The only issue is that she eats them directly from the bushes, rather than giving them to her owner. I’ve never previously come across a dog who does this!
Spot the Collie 2 #Wordless Wednesday – Fancying France
That’s the first time I’ve heard of a dog that eats blackberries. I hope she doesn’t hurt her mouth with those brambles. I hope you’ve had an abundant harvest of blackberries this year. We certainly have.
Thanks so much for your link. I’ll certainly check it out.
No, don’t worry, she’s never hurt her mouth, nor her tummy!
I had a corgi who loved them, too. He ate them from the bush, too, regardless of the prickles. And woe betide your hard work if you put your bowl down for a rest.
Not just Labradors then! My parents had corgis (Pembrokeshire) when I was small – very characterful dogs!
We had a corgi-cross who also loved eating blackberries from the bush. We had to lift him up to reach the ones he wanted or he’d bark until we did.
I will forage for blackberries, Hugh. These look great! One of my favorite end of summer memories at the delta was to paddle across the river and fill ziplock bags full of blackberries. One of our friends would make cobbler with his.
Great shot! Happy Wednesday!
We’ve had an abundant crop of blackberries this season, Terri. They even grow by the roadside. The birds get lots of them, though. Blackberry pie served with custard is a favourite of mine.
I have not, but my daughter has studied mushrooms and she does occasionally
I know you have to be careful when forging for mushrooms, as some are poisonous. But having studied them, I’m sure your daughter knows which ones to avoid, Beth.
Oh goodness, I can’t remember the last time I went blackberry picking. I did pick strawberries the other week though
Was that on a strawberry farm, Cathy? The British strawberries have been wonderful this year. Full of flavour and quite plump. I never buy strawberries out of season, as I find they taste too bland.
It was actually a garden centre that has a large strawberry field where you can pick your own. I agree about strawberries out of season though. I’m in favour of seasonal produce.
I agree, Hugh. I remember the days when you could only get them in season. We looked forward to the first ones. It was such a treat. Being able to buy them year round has spoiled that anticipation. People nowadays want everything now.
And they weren’t huge things. These are not as flavoursome as smaller ones in my opinion. They’ve been bred for size, not flavour. (Oh dear! I’m sounding like my age talking about how much better things were ‘in my day’.)
Not al all, I recall the times when you could only get Tangerines around Christmas time. I also had one at the base of my Christmas stocking. It was always a treat getting one.
I tend to only buy fruit and veg when it is in season, because the flavours are so much better. I never buy strawberries or raspberries in the winter, although I do buy frozen blueberries during the months the fresh ones are not available as I always have a handful in my porridge every morning.
I am hoping to forage some pecans in a couple of months.
I hope you get a big crop of pecans, Betty.
My mum said she used to pick blackberries as a child in Ireland and they’d sell them to a local dealer. I agree with your comment on global warming. We always used to have fresh strawberries in mid-July, around the time of my wedding anniversary and birthday. Now we’re lucky if the season stretches to early July.
Unfortunately, even my favourite season, autumn, is getting shorter. However, in some parts of the world, I hear Autumn now lasts only a few weeks. I’d miss that so much. I used to go conker-picking in October as a child. Now, the conkers are falling off the trees in August.
Autumn is my favourite season too, Hugh. Here in the part of Canada where I live, autumns seem to be longer and warmer. And our winters are milder with less snow, and summers very unpredictable. Yet people continue to deny climate change.
Exactly, Michelle. Although I’m not complaining that we’ve just had the coolest summer since 2015 in Wales.
When I was in Ireland on vacation in August, I loved seeing the blackberry bushes everywhere. It brought back memories of when I was a kid and we used to pick wild blackberries in England. Mum used to make blackberry pudding and blackberry crumble. So yummy!
When I was growing up, we always went blackberry picking just before the new school year started in early September. I used to sell what I picked to some of the neighbours to earn extra pocket money. These days, the blackberries seem to appear earlier and earlier, Michelle. I guess it’s one of the signs of global warming.