Hedgerow Harvest

Superb pictures Hornbeam,they certainly beat the old box brownie

 

Love picking Brambles & making pies,lovely time of year

 

Wonderful pictures Hornbeam and nicely presented!

Gogs, you have reminded me, I used to have a wonderful recipe for 'yoghurt apple pie' but sadly don't have it any more, anybody got one please?

 

Lovely pics Hornbeam - reminder that we are close to the season of mellow fruitfulness

 

I think the season has arrived, can't see the field for the fog today!

 

I found this tree in a wooded area near my house not sure what they are but they taste okay..not quite ripe as yet..Their wont be any photos of my hazelnuts as the squirell has taken them all..grrrr..

 

Interesting, but I don't know what they are. Must be a cultivated escape. Are they soft like plums and greengages?

 

If you are making sloe gin - wait for a frost on fruit.

as to guelder rose, I had a "snowball" vibernum which was a real pain in the **** always suckering, so I slung it in the hedge bottom and let it sucker to its hearts content, it looks fantastic, I now wonder why I bothered with "snowball" and must move it back to prime position.

You are all way ahead of us with Autumn (scary) I have a dog walking friend makes 3 fruit gelly with hawthorn, rose hip and rowan.

I have had autumn crocus for a week now - oh don't think I can stand thought of winter, can I come live with you LOL?????????

 

Hornbeam..Yes they will be soft i ate one that was semi ripe..it didnt taste of anything much..The thing is its in the middle of a wood area at the back of the cricket pitch that is now a nature reserve..its surrounded in native trees and brambles..quite a distance from the houses..I dont think its a plum as they are allready ripe and harvested..I saw some bullaces at the fruit farm yesterday and they looked a bit similar ??

 

Waco, the sloes here are already ripening and some ready to pick- if I wait for frosts they will all have dropped- first proper frost last year was November!

 

Mistletoe berries are just beginning to ripen now. The fruit is very sticky and birds love to eat them. Then they wipe their beaks or bottoms on other trees and so lodge the seeds in a crack in the bark. Many trees in Hatfield Forest are hosts to mistletoe including hawthorn and apple.




Black Bryony is a member of the Yam family. It has heart shaped leaves which distinguish it from the unrelated White Bryony.


White Bryony is a member of the Gourd family. It has palmate leaves.


Hedgerows on any calcareous soil are festooned with the flowers and seeds of Old Man's Beard now. The plant is actually Clematis vitalba and when in flower it is called Traveller's Joy. You can see flowers and seeds on the same plants now. The fluffy grey seed heads give it its name of Old Man's Beard, but they look quite different when you get closer.

 

I have a silly question: are these hazelnuts? Can I eat them? Told you it was a silly question.


Look what we found in the garden. Any ideas on what it is called? The hand belongs to Andrew and they are not dainty!

 

Yes they are hazel nuts and you can eat them when they are ripe. Not sure what the monster is but it looks like the underneath of a parasol mushroom that has been chewed by slugs.