Wild Fruit Flavoured Ciders - mixing the seasons

A stroll round any high end supermarket or off license and you will be confronted with an ever increasing array of fruit flavoured beverages from fruity Belgian beers, to mixed fruit ciders from the likes of Kopparberg of Sweden.

Having tried a few, with mixed success, and generally thinking I could probably do better for free, I've set myself the fruit cider challenge this year to see if i can expand my repertoire of home brew.

Especially as it gives me the perfect excuse to increase the amount of wild fruit I pick and preserve throughout the year, to ensure I also have a spare bottle or two to add to the autumn apple glut to make these new flora and fruit flavoured varieties of cider.

I dabbled last year with Blackberry cider, but only used the blackberry cordial to "re-prime" the bottles of cider to add sugar, and as it was only a table spoon per bottle, it didn't add any real colour or flavour depth.

So my first effort for 2013 is a fully flavoured apple and blackberry cider, using the blackberry cordial as part of the initial ferment 500ml of neat cordial (to give colour, flavour, and the extra brewing sugars) to 4 litres of apple juice to make up the demi-john.

I've used up the last 20lb of apples which I'd wrapped and stored in the unheated greenhouse. this weekend's spring-like thaw suggests it's time to get them used so i can clear the greenhouse ready for growing things.  And the last bottle of 2012 blackberry cordial. 

Juicing them, straining the juice, and pasturising lightly to kill off and wild yeasts, before adding the cordial to the mix, and leaving it to cool back to a good starting temperature 37degrees. 20lb of apples gives about 4-5litres of juice, so you'll need some spare bottles for the rest of the juice if you're not brewing it all, and you'll need a spare pop bottle to hold back the top up mixture once the demi-john has had it's quick first ferment and settled down.

To a 4.5 litre demi-john add about 3 1/2 litres of the juice/cordial, and add a packet of good wine yeast, teaspoon of yeast nutrient, and a teaspoon of pecto-lase (to breakdown the pectin in the apple juice and help clarify the brew)

add an air-lock and leave in a non-drafty room corner for a few days.  once you've made sure the brew isn't too vigorous and hasn't burst the airlock, then top up the demi-john (leave an inch) with the mixture. then leave it alone in a dark quiet corner for up to a month until it's cleared and stopped bubbling.  then come back here to the next blog entry and we'll bottle it.

more photo's to follow once the demi-john has settled down a bit!

Elderflowers in a couple of months...watch this space
I'm also keen to make up some extra bottles of elderflower cordial too this year, to try and emulate Kopparberg's Lime and Elderflower cider.  why pay £3-4 a bottle...when the apples, and the elderflowers are freely foraged....and £1 for a few limes, and £1 for a bag of sugar to make the elder cordial...and you can make a dozen bottles :>)

I'm also eager to get a good batch of elderflower champagne this year - last years efforts came to nothing.

I think a late autumn cider variety worth trying too might be elderberry and blackberry cider too.

Tj@The ForagersNook.

autumnal flavours...

What better to do with windfall pears before they go overripe.

they never seem to store as well as apples do, so thought i'd try bottling some this season.

Recipe (for 8 pears, 2x 1pint kilner jars)

If you followed my blackberry cordial receipt earlier, and made some blackberry wine then you'll have the two main additions.

300ml of neat blackberry cordial/syrup
300ml of blackberry wine
depending on how tightly you pack your pears you may not need all the liqour but make a little extra incase.
tea-spoon of chopped preserved stem ginger (the sweet sticky sugar'd stuff)
boil these together whilst you peel, quarter, and core the pears
place the pear quarters in the sterilised jars
pour over the boiling liquor
seal them
for a longer keep, place in a ban-marie, or large saucepan, and bring the sealed jars to the boil for a few minutes.  then let them cool.

Forager's Chutney....

Time to get the pans out tomorrow and knock up some foragers chutney.

basic recipe

1 pint of vinegar (we use mixture of 50% cider, 40% cheap balsamic - not the decent 4 leaf stuff, 10% white wine, vinegars)
1-1.5kg of "fruit" chopped, peeled apples (any type will do..whatever you find), and maybe any plums or gage's chopped and stoned
1-1.5kg of "veg" - we use onions, garlic, carrots, celariac, maybe swede, the odd green tomato this late in the season (whatever the garden has too much of, chopped as chunky as you like your chutney)
500g of sugar

throw it all in as big a pan as you need to, and boil and stir until it's got no free juice/liquid flowing, and thick enough for you to run a spoon through it and see the bottom of the pan for a second before it closes back in. - should take about an hour or so of cooking

sterilise some jars, bottle it super hot, straight from the heat, and seal.

photo's to follow...

Cooking with Blackberry wine, and Wild Herbs

Now if you've been keeping up with the Blackberry season, you'll know we laid down a few bottles of Blackberry wine a few weeks ago.

http://foragersnook.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/blackberry-wine.html

We always keep a "taster bottle" to see how the batch is getting on, and having tried it after 3 weeks, I can confirm it's now like a sweet and sprightly french beaujolais - i.e. fresh, fruity and light on tannins.

Today's wander took us along the cliffs of Dover from St Margarets back towards Dover to the National Trust centre above the Port of Dover - along the "Saxon Shore Way"

(The Cafe at the Dover National Trust cliff top centre is a splendid place for a mid-walk cup of tea and a scone)

All along this sun drenched cliff top are patches of wild marjoram/oregano

as well as big specimens of sea beets, ready for next spring (they'll be a bit tough and stringy by now)

And what better to do than mix the two...

so today's recipe is a wonderful lamb-shank, pot braised in blackberry wine, with wild oregano.

(Wine, stock cube, carrot, celery, onion, garlic, tomatoes, mustard, worcestershire sauce, wild herbs, - 3 hrs slow braise at 180 degrees)

sweet, succulent, and delicious, served with home grown new potatoes.

And also...watch out out for wonderful butterflies feasting on the thistles, scabies, and the oregano flowers.
 

Blackberry Jam....

Now.....not sure if this is a soft set...or a hard set....I guess you'll have to re-visit this in a few hours to see how it turned out.

___________________________________________

Today's recipe - Blackberry Jam (seeds left in...perfer a bit of texture, rather than a smooth jelly)

• 1 Kg of blackberries (picked last week, and frozen - so i just defrosted them on the hob and cooekd them to a pulp)
• 1Kg of Jam Sugar (the silverspoon stuff with added pectin)
• Lemon Juice

Cook the blackberries down until they are fully broken down and liquid.

(at this point, if you want to make a smooth seedless jelly rather than a jam - then you can rub through a fine sieve or leave to drip through muslin overnight, to get just the juice and use this instead....there are recipes (try Pam Corbin) for this)

without boiling, stir in the sugar and lemon juice, and make sure it all dissolves.

Do a taste test at this point too.  there are 2000 different varieties of blackberries and they all taste slightly differently.

This batch was made from the first flush of big juicy ones from a south facing hedge of brambles, so didn't need any more sweetening and they were even sweet to eat raw.

If you like it a bit more tart, adjust the sugar accordingly, but you may need to add some more pectin (throw in a chopped cooking apple, or powdered pectin as required)

If you like it sweeter, add more normal sugar, the pectin sugar will do it's bit, don't need to add more.

once you're happy with it, then turn the heat up, put a long sleeve top and gloves on to stop boiling jam from spitting all over your skin, stir continuously to stop it sticking and burning.

once it's on a full boil, then it should take about 4 minutes of boiling to reach the setting point.

if you want to stick a thermometer in to test it feel free, 104 degrees C is what you need to aim for, or just go by the feel of it, you notice it thickening once the setting point is reached, and have a chilled plate at the ready to test a blob of it on for setting.

remember it continues to set further as it cools...so it will always feel a little looser at jaring stage then it will actually turn out.

as soon as your happy with it, funnel it into pre-heated/sterilised jars, lid, and seal.

essentially...as long as you have enough pectin, and as long as you boil for 4 minutes, it will set to something between a soft set jelly, and a fully set jam - as the berries will always be slightly different each time, you'll rarely get the same result twice....but that's surely the fun of foraged produce.

Tj@TheForagersNook

blackberry wine...

Having now picked about 10lbs of blackberries from our old favourite spot, and now a new favourite spot on the Greensands Way, we've put down our first batch of blackberry wine.

For the recipe we used, you will need:-

• 4lb of fresh juicy blackberries (you can freeze them first so that when they thaw you get more juice out of them more easily)

• 3lb of sugar


• a big bucket to steep them in


• a packet of wine yeast


• 4 litres of water


• juice of a lemon

Instructions:-

place the blackberries in the bucket, and mush them with a potato masher

Add a litre of boiling water to the mush to help release the fruit juices from the pulp,

Add the sugar to the mush, the boiling water will help to dissolve the sugar

in a seperate bowl, mix 3 litres of cold water, the yeast, and the juice of the lemon

stir all together, put a lid on (or cover with a clean towel), and leave it to steep for three days in a warm place

On Day 4 - be prepared for the most wonderful alcohol heady aroma to be released from the bucket when you take the lid off!

strain the liquor from the bucket through a sterilised muslin/fine seive and then pour the strained liquor into a 4.5litre demi-john

now...when we did this, we ended up with about 6 litres of juice as the berries were so juicy....so I guess you could use a bit less water, if you want a stronger wine, or a bit less blackberry if you want a lighter wine.

With the extra juice, I've bottled it in a pressure bottle, to make a side batch of early sparkling blackberry fizz (I'll release the pressure every few days to stop the bottles exploding)

put an airlock/bung on the demi-john, and leave in a dark corner until it stops fermenting - this could be anything from a week to a month.

what you do with it next is yours to decide.

If you want a more complex wine - then leave it "on it's leas" - i.e. in the demijohn with all the yeasty slurry for a few month before syphoning off and bottling.

If you want a quick and fruity wine - then syphon it off into bottles as soon as it stops fermenting

...and don't forget, if you want to add your own fizz to it when you syphon it off and bottle it, then drop half a tea-spoon of sugar into each bottle when bottling (but if you're going to do this, make sure they are swing topped pressure capable bottles....and make sure you release them slowly when you do drink them to release the pressure slowly (like you should with champagne)



plums...by the bowlfull.

What better way to gather plums on a perfect, balmy August morning....than at the end of a 6 mile stroll across the Kent Downs.

Sit under a plum tree, and enjoy a handful of ripe fruits, pick a couple of bagfuls, then stroll back.

But be quick...

They appear to be ripening well in the sunshine, and won't be long before they start to fall.












perfectly ripe little red cherry plums will be the perfect addition to some greengages and blackberries for a hedgrow jam.

and the larger gage like yellow plums will be split and destoned, and combined with blackberries for a delicious baking dish full of hedgerow crumble :>)

 Fill your bags, fill your pie trays, and fill your jam jars to enjoy this little piece of late summer all year round.

Tj@TheForgersNook

The one mile blackberry challenge....

Blackberries and their many guises, brambles, etc must surely be everybody's first, and to some, their only foray into foraging.

I remember the railway sidings behind our school, carrier bags, stained fingers and clothes, in the early 1980's school holiday's, the screwed up face from the tart ones and sweet heady aroma of them baking in a crumble.

eat them raw, sugar them, warm them through, bake them, juice them, jam them, freeze and preserve them, ferment their juice, leather/jelly them, there's something different for every bagful you pick.

It is rumoured there are over 2000 individual species of bramble/blackberry - and you'll also notice that the closer they are to homes, gardens, allotments, and farm animals (and thus closer to a ready free supply of fertiliser from run off) the fatter and juicer they usually are, with the hedgerow ones being much smaller, later to ripen, and much planer in taste - but still perfect for sugaring up and baking with.

 

So I set you a challenge - even if you've never foraged before, that within a mile of your house, you can find a good bagful of blackberries between now and the middle of September - enough to at least make a good crumble, and a pot of hedgerow jam or two.

Tj@TheForagersNook

plums et al.

July marks the start of the plum season....so keep an eye out in the hedgerows for them in this usual order from July through to October.

1)from mid July - greengages - juicy and tart - great for chutneys and jams
2)July into Aug - cherry plums - small and juicy
3)from Late Aug - victorias (usually escapee trees self seeded from gardens) - delicious torn open with your thumbs when fully ripe
4)from Sep - damsons - perfect jam
5)Sep onwards - sloes/blackthorns - perfect from pricking and steeping in alcohol

And as it's July...here's the low hanging fruit off one of our favourite wild greengage trees.

These will be made into a couple of jar's of jam, and also - they curiously the jam we made last year with them tastes a bit like Mango Chutney, so we're going to spice up a batch of the jam and throw in a token mango to make some hedgerow curry chutney.

Tj@TheForagersNook

Preview of a forage with "The Minnis" Chefs

A couple of months back, via twitter, the Chef's at The Minnis - Birchington asked if I would take them out for a sea shore forage, to see what there might be on offer to tempt their taste buds.

As a combination of weather, other plans, and tide times have scuppered efforts so far, I managed to sneak past one evening and did a little "test forage".

So, in advance of our foraging wander, here's the sort of things we might find this summer - there were plenty more - but only passed by on a cycle, so snapped the more obvious ones.


Above the tide line

Behind the beach huts are big patches of Purslane.















Sea Purslane - wonderful succulent leaves - eat raw in a crunchy well dressed salad, or like Samphire, briefly blanch and serve in a warm salad with a simple vinaigrette.


Down the steep banks from the foot patch to the sea look out for mallow

it's gelatinous leaves can be deep fried to make green crips - perfect bar snacks
or used in soups as thickeners, as when boiled exude their gelatinous protein rich mucilage (often used in middle east/north african soups and stews)
it's pretty pink flowers used in salads, and even the seed heads later which resemble small round cheeses before they ripen.

Along the footpath by the cabins are also some herbs - patch of spear mint growing happily

Bladder campion - worth coming back to next spring for the sweet young shoots and leaves

All along this grassy bank are ox eye daisies (young leaves, unopened flower heads chopped in salads, or flowers, petals added later) most of the common "greens/wild leaves" & thistles.

Below the tide line

Sea Weeds

bright green Sea-lettuce is abundant in the rock pools of the chalk reef, as are dulse, bladder wracks, and the odd frond of kelp in the deep water.  salads to sushi via stir-fries - take your pick.

Shell fish - (although the water's a little warm to guarantee quality during summer months in Kent, and they should be left to breed in peace)

native oysters - though observe minimum sizes (these are all too small)
and also winkles by the bucket load - For the patient ones amongst us - boil up a bucket of winkles, then pick them out with a pin for a mini snail feast

Pacific Rock Oysters (foreign imports - invasive - so no minimum size - fill your buckets!)
best used shucked, and cooked - wrapped and grilled (http://foragersnook.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/wild-oysters-marsh-samphire.html) - or added to paella's, or even Beef and Oyster stew or pies - for a taste of old London town.

in deeper waters there are also mussels - perfect for a winter paella.

and don't forget to turn the rocks carefully - a bucket of big shorecrabs makes a scrimpers version of lobster bisque - pick out the larger claw meat once boiled, blitz the rest, strain, and follow any good receipe for a lobster bisque.

The rock pools are also teaming with little shrimps - with a net, worth a bit of fun catching the bigger ones, boil and pick from the shells for sweet tasty morsels.


Tj@TheForagersNook

5 litres of Kentish cockles a day - it's official.

Not sure if you knew - but unless you have a permit you shouldn't collect cockles between Southend in Essex, all the way round the Thames Estuary, along the Kent coast, down as far as the old lighthouse at Dungeness.

http://www.kentandessex-ifca.gov.uk/images/stories/KEpicts/repos/Area_A_KESFC_Byelaws.pdf


This reads a little draconian, so I wrote to the Kent Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority, to ask for clarification for the purpose of "foraging" for personal eating, as this document doesn't mention it.

and i got a nice email back...which confirms that you are allowed to forage for 5 litres of lovely Kentish Cockles on any given day.

So that's that cleared up.....

PS - they are delicious!....

______________________

Dear Mr Jesson

Thank you for your e-mail.

I have shown below the advice we give to those wishing to take a few cockles for their own consumption but NOT for resale.

The reason we are referred to as both Kent & Essex Sea Fisheries Committee and Kent & Essex IFCA is that on 1 April 2011 the Sea Fisheries Committees ceased to exist and were replaced by the Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCA), however the Byelaws which are presently under review are still legal and binding and were signed by the Secretary of State and approved to the Kent and Essex SFC.

“KENT AND ESSEX INSHORE FISHERIES AND CONSERVATION AUTHORITY


Requirements are in place under the Thames Estuary Cockle Fishery Order and also the Kent and Essex Sea Fisheries Committee Cockle Fishery Permits byelaw that persons taking cockles must be in possession of either a licence or permit dependent upon which area they are fishing.

The SFC/Authority is not opposed to persons without a licence or permit taking a small quantity of cockles for their own consumption. Officers have, therefore been instructed to take no action against persons removing less than 5 litres of whole cockles in the shell per 24 hour period.

Please note Environmental Health Departments of the various Councils within our District can, if there are health concerns, place a Prohibition Order on the collection of shellfish and the Order must be adhered to at all times and the local Environmental Health Department should be contacted to ascertain if such an Prohibition Order has been implemented.”

If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards

Joan

Joan Taylor | Office Manager
Web: www.kentandessex-ifca.gov.uk


Kent and Essex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority
Paragon House, Albert Street, Ramsgate, Kent. CT11 9HD

Respect your Elders....

It has long been said that the English summer does not start until the Elderflowers are in bloom.

Well. I guess that means it's here.

I'll be blogging throughout the next few weeks on what else you can do with them, but it would be scandalous not to start with what is our favourite summer drink - Elderflower Cordial.


Recipe

Makes 2 litres of cordial (which diluted 1:5 parts water makes 10-ish litres of summer drinks depending on how strong you like your squash.


Ingredients
20-30 Elderflower heads
1 Kg of white sugar
2 lemons
2-3 oranges
spoonful of citric acid (if you want to make a batch that will last a year)....if it's quick batch to drink in the next few weeks...don't worry about this bit
sterilised bottles that don't mind 80degree C hot syrup being poured into them...

1)Gather the Elderflowers

Don't take too many off any single tree...you want to leave some to turn into elderberries later in the year!

you need about 20-30 fully open flower bunches

Gently snip them from the tree, and trim off as much stalk as you can, and pick off any insects without disturbing the flowers, as the pollen shakes free very easily...as it's the pollen that is the flavour!...so be careful not to lose too much



2)Steep overnight with citrus flavours

Grate the zest of a couple of lemons, and slice a couple of oranges (you want the juice of the lemons tomorrow...so keep the lemons!)

put them in a 3 litre pan or bowl with the elderflowers, and pour over 1.5Litres of boiling water.

cover and leave to steep overnight.








3)Make the cordial
Strain the steeped flowers, and use a muslin bag to squeeze as much flavour out of the flowers you can - don't worry if it's a bit cloudy...it means more pollen and more flavour! - the steeped liquid should now be a pale yellow colour and smell deliciously fragrant.

put the liquid in a 3 litre pan,
add 1Kg of sugar,
juice a couple of oranges and add to the liquid
juice the two lemons you zested last night and add to the liquid
add the citric acid if using
gently heat the liquid and stir until the sugar has dissolved
 (there should now be about 2 litres of liquid cordial once the sugar has dissolved)



4)Sterilise and bottle it
Heat the liquid until 80degrees C (i.e. sterilise temp) but DO NOT BOIL! you'll start to lose the aromatics if you heat it too much!
pour the now slightly syrupy cordial mixture into sterilised bottles, and seal.

leave to cool, then enjoy all summer, with ice and a slice (it also goes well as a shot of cordial added to a Gin and Tonic!)


Tj@TheNook

Summer Outdoor Barbeque Flavours

The Kentish summer appears to have commenced at last, so what better time to keep an eye out for some wild summer bbq flavours, at these three Kentish summer outdoor BBQ spots.


Pegwell Bay
Pegwell Bay (park and relax on the open green park by the Viking ship), it's shoreline, and the old hovercraft port are full of Alexanders and wild fennel.

Use the fern fronds to stuff fish with before bbq'ing

cut the thicker fennel stems (they aren't as thick and 'bulb like' as their cultivated cousins) at the base, oil them, and grill them on the barbie, crisp but aromatic.









Joss Bay
Joss Bay (surf beach) - who needs to drive to Cornwall for surfing, beaches, and BBQ's.

The path down to the beach has banks full of "really wild" wild rocket - the smell is unmistakable when rubbed - for a free summer salad leaf to go with your beach side barbeque

Teston
Teston open park and car-park area along the Medway between Teston and Wateringbury - they have now gravel pathed the Medway all the way from Maidstone to Wateringbury, so enjoy an evening stroll - keep an eye out for the kingfishers.

By the old stone Teston bridge, lookout for patches of wild water mint - perfect for shredding into iced Mojitos, or yoghurty dips



Enjoy.
Tj@TheForagersNook

Wild herbs on the Pilgrim's Way...

All along the north downs way's sunny south facing route, keep your eye out for patches of wild herbs.

between the A229 and Boxley, where the north downs and the "pilgrims way" intermingle, you'll find patches of wild Marjoram - the wild cousin of cultivated Oregano - the smell when rubbed is unmistakeable as the warm heady smell of herby pizza sauce

perfect to go with the wild garlic also still in season for making homemade pizza and pasta sauces.

The first Kentish Samphire of summer

An inch or two high, but already bursting with juicy savoury flavours of the sea.
 
All along the Kent coast wherever the chalk cliffs give way to gentle marshy river mouths you'll find 'Glasswort' stood defiant as Canute along the high tide line.

Having just enjoyed (at a price) a crab and samphire salad in a london restaurant this weekend, this is one wild vegetable where the cost of buying vs the reward for wet feet and a muddy boots is significantly in favour of the forager.

probably leave it another week until it's 4-6 inches high, so can carefully snip off useful lengths without uprooting it, as it's shallow rooted in the mud, and all too easily comes away if you try and pull at it.

Looking forward to seafood salad, and also including them in little tarts/quiches to add colour and seasoning.

Wild Garlic & Crayfish soup

great recipe - found in a little side street Italian restaurant in Vienna.

Wild Garlic and crayfish soup.
wild garlic,
crayfish
fish stock
little bit of cream to thicken
wild garlic
basil oil
seasoning

would go well with a big cheesey crouton floating on top like you would with french onion soup

Tj.

Something to go with your Wiener Schnitzel?

Ok..so I take a week in Vienna, with no intentions of foraging...and what do i find?

well, pretty much what i left behind in Kent!

hedge garlic and wild strawberries growing merrily in Vienna's Schloss Schönbrunn.

Though as they even fine you for crossing the road unless the green man is flashing...I reckon their foraging laws are probably not worth arguing with, so left them be.

Tj@TheForagersNook


 

wild garlic pizza sauce....

If you happen upon a patch of ramsons....then here's what we did with them last night...

finely chopped them and some oily sundried tomatoes, and used it as a pizza sauce/pesto.

delicious.

tomorrow we're going to use them to wrap some chicken breasts in,

chicken breast + ramson leaves + parma ham, foil wrap it and roast for 30-40 mins, then unwrap for 10 to crispen the ham.  serve with new spuds, boiled and coated in wild garlic+butter....and a big salad.

Tj@TheNook

Ramsons - The King of Spring

If there is one Spring foraging sight that might be considered unmistakeable, it's the heady pungent aroma and bright white heads of Wild Garlic bobbing in the breeze in a shady nook.

When we started our venture last autumn, we had no idea where would be the best spot to find them local to us...until today!

10 mile meander through Fant Farm, up past St Margaret's church, up to and through Oaken Woods, and back down through Teston, and home along the river Medway.

Oaken woods didn't disappoint, its maze of walks lined with wild strawberries, violets, and promises of plenty of cob nuts and sweet chestnuts later in the season.

The "north pole road" heading down to Teston/Wateringbury has Wild Garlic (Ramson's) along it's northern edge.

But the best haul, if you want a pot-full of Ramson's is the Medway River Walk between Teston Bridge and Fant Farm.  look out for shady nooks and the white heads, and enjoy! - There's plenty to go round.

Tj@TheNook

A perfect spot for the May "Dawn Chorus".

a 13 mile hack from Holly Hill, across the Ranscombe nature reserve, and up to the Medway bridge, and back.

Just like the previous post, this stretch of the North Downs way is littered with

Hedge Garlic
Wild Violets
Wild/Alpine Strawberries
Nettles
a whole host of wild greens
beech nuts
Cobnuts



and it appears that where you find violets you will also find strawb's, they both love the chalky footpaths of the downs, so look out for the blue violets in march/april, then come back in may/june for a juicy treat - they are just starting to flower now.

But more than this, and for foraging nothing more that the wow-factor and the scent, were the stunning swathes of bluebells in flower






And as a final bonus, the wonderful bird life (for listening to!...not for foraging), the woods along this stretch will be the perfect place to revisit in May for the "Dawn Chorus", we saw and heard tits, finches, green woodpeckers, blackbirds, thrushes, and a few more we've yet to figure out what they are.
check out this site for more details - International Dawn Chorus Day http://www.idcd.info


Tj @ The Nook