Autumn Feast

Just thought I'd put up some pics of the Shaggy Inkcaps Mum and I ate last night.


Rosie came round this evening and we picked some more on the way back, although they were too old and went inky. There's so many down on Leigh Hill, I've never seen so many before!


We also cooked the Shaggy Parasol, stuffed with garlic tomato sauce topped with breadcrumbs and cheese. We had this with carrots from my plot and the chestnuts Rosie and I picked on Sunday. Mmmm...



While all this was happening we cooked up some more Japonica Jelly from the bush in my garden. We boiled it for longer this time, and it went a lovely red colour, although still didn't set as well as the one we bought at the Farmer's market!

For pudding we had plums some of the walnuts we got from Stubbs Farm on the same walk as the chestnuts.

Shaggy Mushrooms

With all the wet weather and leaves falling from the tress, we're well into mushroom season. On the way to work today I was delighted to discover a Shaggy Parasol the size of a dinner plate on Leigh Hill. After a bit of research to confirm the find, I also discovered that these are not quite so tasty as the normal parasol but I still plan on having it stuffed with garlic breadcrumbs with Rosie tomorrow night.



As if this wasn't enough, on the way home I also found some Shaggy Inkcaps on Leigh Hill, which definately are good eating. I shall be having those with Mum this evening as they won't keep. Dad refuses to try them as he won't trust anything that's not bought in the shops. Although he's right to be wary, these mushrooms are so easy to identify correctly he's just being silly...

Mushroom feast and incredibly early blackberries!

More rain = more mushrooms! :)

Because I'm back home this week I was able to go down the Leg'O'Mutton field with Dad earlier and got a whole punnet of tasty fresh Field Mushrooms. I can smell the risotto we're cooking them in as I type and it's making my mouth water. If my parents hadn't gone and bought so many cultivated ones last week I would have been down there every day! Will probably go back on Friday for more.

On the way home we swung by Leigh Hill for some raspberries. there weren't many worth having as the birds like them too, but we did find three of four ripe blackberries! That's unbelievably early, we're hardly out of June!

Day of little surprises

I got the train back from Rosie's today. She's still ill so I've been looking after her for the last few days while her parents are away. On the way back from the station I discovered a whole bunch of full sized rasberry bushes at the bottom of Leigh Hill. I never even knew they were there but will definately go back for more. When I got home I threaded the Fairy Ring mushrooms on string and hung them up to dry in the garage. Will use them in a Risotto when Rosie's better.


Another discovery was waiting for me in the back garden where my tomatoes have produced their first tiny little fruit! It was on one of the plants affected by the mosaic virus. Rosie's plants, which never got sick, already have a number of fruits on them.


Down on the patch, my courgette plants are really getting established. They're huge now. Henry says his have alreay got fruits a few inches long.

The final surprise of my day was being sked by my local Friends of the Earth group to take over as Campaigns Officer for the Big Ask Climate Change Bill campaign. Following all the havok being wrecked by flooding in Yorkshire this week, hopefully the UK government will take this problem seriously and bring in legislation to help reduce future chaos.