Tuesday, 26 July 2011

Giveaway Winner and thoughts on food for free

Hasn’t it been an awful week for news? It just gets worse and worse. I would say, it makes me feel quite depressed, but that might be a bit self-indulgent and I imagine quite a lot of people in Norway feel a bit worse, so I won’t, but yes, what an awful week. Anyway, despite global awfulness, I have chosen (not me, the randomizer thingy) a number for my Spell Book Giveaway, and it is Comment Number Three, which, I believe, is Mumma Troll. Congrats, Mumma Troll! I shall email you your prize and I hope you enjoy it. Use your power wisely ;-).
As a black cat, I walk between the worlds. Also I stare at Susie with my yellow eyes when she walks home from Yoga and make her think that I suspect her down dog of being inadequate
I have booked to go on a herbalism guided walk in Milton Country Park (not till September) because it is an excellent bargain and also I am considering getting into foraging. If you are going to forage in Cambridge you have pretty much got to do it in Milton Country Park, because we are a city and there is not really much countryside, so I have been scouting possible opportunities while doing what we laughingly call ‘running’, and I have found quite a lot of blackberry bushes and apple trees. I am just concerned that when they are properly ripe in a few weeks suddenly lots of other opportunistic foragers will appear and I will be elbowing them out of the way. Perhaps I will do it by dead of night; but, that might risk me getting enmeshed with the local coven, as Milton Country Park is where they perform their rituals (as I say, it is our green space). The last thing anyone wants while they are casting a circle skyclad and invoking the four elements is me with a basket nudging them and saying, excuse me, could you just reach that branch for me as I would like some more blackberries to go in my pie, saucy wink. Anyway I have high hopes for the herbalism guided walk and perhaps less obvious plants will be pointed out to me for which I will have no competition in my foraging. Who knows? Have you ever tried foraging or getting food for free? (Not by shoplifting in Waitrose, obviously. By partaking of Nature’s Bounty in a wonderfully thrifty fashion!).

7 comments:

Alittlebitsheepish said...

Sloes for sloe vodka/gin much recommended

Rachel said...

Try the guided busway (it's not being used for buses yet, is it?) Last year I found rosehips, haws, elderberries and many blackberries there (St Ives end). I didn't have any competition, either.

Vivianne said...

I can't find a link for that walk ? Please ? :-)

Susie said...

http://www.ofpeopleandplants.co.uk/

I don't think they've got the info about that particular walk on the website but luckily you've got me to tell you that they cost £5 and there is one one August 14th and one on Sep 11th (although perhaps email them and check).

I shall try sloes and rosehips! But Rachel, you said the G B words and you know every time someone says they don't believe in the G B a county council worker whimpers and is v sad.

Vivianne said...

That website drives me insane ....it just goes round in circles and is not recently updated ...

Mumma Troll said...

Thank you Susie, It's the first time EVER I've won a giveaway! I'm very excited, I hope it has a spell to turn the fruit theives into toads! ;)

Voie de Vie said...

I've definitely picked wild blackberries and other fruit in my area. The blackberries are everywhere ... and in late August and September, you can't get out of the way of them.

Good luck with the foraging - and woo hoo to Mumma Troll for finally winning something. :)