The healthy forager

The total amount raised for the River Dee Trust, as a result of my Wild for a Month challenge, now stands at £500. I thought I’d share with you the reponse I got from Sandy Bremner, chairperson of the trust:

Your amazing fundraising efforts will support our aim to plant a million native trees along the hundreds of kilometres of tributaries of the upper Dee, creating cooling shade to combat the rising water temperatures which are threatening our iconic wild salmon and other endangered species such as the freshwater pearl mussel. The money you have raised will support the planting of 250 native trees including willow, rowan. alder, aspen, birch and Scots pine. They will provide shade and nutrients for the river in the medium and long term. Thanks to your efforts and the support of others, we have now passed the 300,000-tree threshold  We are also doing work which will have immediate benefits for the river’s ecosystem. 

Here is just one example of our tree-panting work… Alders planted in the winter of 2019/20, already thriving as they push up through the heather. 

I met up with Sandy yesterday at the Hill of Fare and it made the consequences of my fundraising feel so much more tangible. I’ve made plans for another fundraiser next year – even though Sandy thinks my idea is bonkers! It’s not finalised yet, but I will give details in due course…

Meanwhile, the foraging and homegrowing continues. This weekend was an absolute bonanza of Shire fruit, mushrooms and red peppers. I think the pictures will speak for themselves:

Most of the mushrooms were found in the grounds of the James Hutton institute. It has several Giant sequoia trees and the ground largely is left undisturbed. It was amazing to see such fungal variety in a small space!

It has been raining most of the day and is likely to do so all week. Fantastic news for the mushrooms and the apples that are ripening. Not such good news for any remaining blackberries, as they spoil quickly in the rain. So I’m picking as many as I can – we currenly have two gallon of wine on the go. Cheers!