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Who needs Tesco!

I've had quite a bit of foraging success this week.  I have picked wild raspberries, blackcurrants, and gooseberries.  I also picked a handful of pristine field mushrooms yesterday.

I made 1 lb of blackcurrant jelly this morning, 
and last night, a raspberry sweet pastry, for the children's pudding.  As far as I can work out, it is my eldest grandson's most favourite thing to eat, in the whole world!
On our walk to North Berwick today, I picked a pound of gooseberries.  There were masses of them, I could have picked loads more, but Tilly was getting bored.  I haven't decided what to make with them, but jam is tempting.  I may go back and get some more for a pie, or fool!
It rained all morning, and was still drizzling a little when we struck out for North Berwick.  By the time we were walking up the John Muir Way, the weather was fine.  The track has some wonderful stands of hogweed.  It is such a handsome plant and I can quite understand why its outline is so appealing to designers.
We passed a lovely clump of field scabious, and the hedgerows are full of blackberry flowers, which is a promising sign!
Within sight of North Berwick Law, the route takes the walker along two sides of a huge field.  The western boundary was a billowing mass of sweet briar rose bushes, one after the other, all the way from one end of the field to the other.  It was just wonderful.
And then a short stretch along the road, with patches of scrambling tufted vetch - a great hit with the bees.
Three hours after leaving home we arrived in North Berwick.  At the foot of the Law, there is a stretch of ground which has been sown with wild flowers of the field - cornflowers, poppies, and mayweed, or chamomile, not sure which. 
 There is a brilliant Melbourne-style cafe, coffee roastery in North Berwick, called Steampunk http://www.steampunkcoffee.co.uk  So as a treat, while I waited for Mr Gaucho to finish off some work he was doing, I sat outside Steampunk and enjoyed a chilled chai latte and a piece of their extremely yummy granola bar.  It was a seriously good way to round off our walk!


Comments

  1. Love all those berries...yummalicious! Sad that I didn't visit Steampunk while I was there, but will have to just visit one of our lovely local haunts here!
    Summer looks wonderful, walks beautiful and weather keeps everything fresh, green and colourful.
    Funny coming back to Oz to find things rather bare, but I will post you on FB some lovelies from the garden..King Protea and the like. xx

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  2. Have a long black and piece of cake for me! x

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