Seaside Specials

Not wanting another stuffy hot day inland, I headed for the coast really early this morning.

Essex has over 350 miles of coast line and about 30 islands. Tegan and I had six glorious miles like this all to ourselves


We found some rare plants too. This is Golden Samphire


and this is Rock Samphire




Sea Lavender is not related to lavender and doesn't have any scent. It is everlasting and is the Statice flowers that Gypsies sell as "Lucky Heather"





Sea Holly is a great favourite with flower arrangers and a good drought tolerant garden plant.


Sea Rocket is a member of the cabbage family. It has succulent leaves and inflated pods that can float.

 

lovely photos..glad you enjoyed yourself..as we are in for yet another hot week i bet the sea air was great..i lived on anglesey once and was allways grumbling about the wind well i wish i was their now with the wind off the irish sea...

 

Oh Wild flower I lived in Menai Bridge for a few years the wind even knocked the Pansies over...
On a fine day no where nicer.. well perhaps Dorset which is gentler.

 

Samphire,now Hornbeam which one of those can you eat? super pictures.

 

We almost bought on Anglesey, chose the IoW instead! Perhaps a better choice weatherwise?

 

Neither of those, Rosietu. The edible samphire is Salicornia also known as Glasswort.

I ate some today straight from the sea. It has a delicious cool, slightly salty taste. I gather that it is now being served in posh restuarants at exorbitant prices

 

Oh, sorry, Hornbeam ... how rude of me! I loved your pictures but especially Tegan on the beach! I have a lovely picture like that (obviously without Tegan) of a beach on the Gower Peninsula, so lonely and so beautiful without people, only sandunes, which I have had put onto canvas and it's in my hall here alongide a photo on canvas of a west coast Portuguese beach, again without people! Heaven!

 

That is true... Hornbeam but they used to sell it on the fish stall on Cambridge market years ago and I did try it was not very impressed thought it like Spinach I eat that because it is good for you but don't really like it..I like asparagus!!!

 

Good collection of costal plants Hornbeam, I know a shop in Dungeness that sells samphire, not tried it though.

 

The stuff in the market couldn't have been fresh and I expect that makes the difference.

 

What no sea kale Hornbeam! did you starve?

Great pictures - lucky dog, mine are confined to quarters at the moment - heat and pups.

 

Thanks Waco! Never seen Sea Kale, but I will one day. I'll have to take a trip down to Dungeness

 

Well I have read so much C Lloyd at the moment I feel I have swallowed his books, but he thinks they are so sculptural he grows them in his garden. He also describes vividly his mother cooking it once - which was not a repeatable experience apparently!