The healthy forager

Gradually, slowly but surely, new life is emerging in the natural world. We’ve had a very cold (and wet!) start to the year here in Aberdeenshire and most of us are wondering when Spring will finally arrive. But if you look closely….

A few weeks ago the first hesitant larch flowers appeared. The female ones (in the picture above) are pink and upright. Once fertilized, they will become the seed-bearing cones that you can see in the background. The male flowers are much less showy, small green dangly things 🤭. They’re all edible, but I couldn’t bring myself to eating something this cute.

Talking of small green things, the first of our runner beans have sprouted. John has built a kind of wigwam in a planter in the front garden (you can just about see it in the background of the picture), where they are to live once they get a little bit bigger.

I love the excitement of going to my nursery in the morning and seeing what has popped up overnight. Seedlings evoke maternal feelings in me that nothing else can really match (except baby birds). I think I was destined to be a plant mother. And we certainly have a windowsill full:

At last, things are also happening on the mushroom front again! It’s been a very quiet few months, but yesterday I spotted the first Spring Cavaliers while cycling on the South Deeside Road near Durris:

They are very tasty, but there only were two (plus a tiny one) and I didn’t feel I could uproot them both, so I left them to spore. Maybe next year there will be more!

The wild garlic also runs riot around our locality. I know other foragers get very excited about that, but personally I’ve never found a good use for them. We don’t really eat pasta (which is what it seems to go well with), so if anyone has tips for lighter recipes, please let us know!

Finally, here’s a picture of today’s rain. There was a shower every 15 minutes or so, but with enough sun in between to make us feel it was Spring. I’m looking forward to cooking Ground Elder soup and making Sweet Cicely tea in the next few weeks!