• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

my foraging diary

I agree this is Mallow. I went outside and got a leaf from a plant that I know is Mallow to compare :lol: I think the flowers come in about a month's time.

Also agree that pic No 2 is Herb Robert.

I can't be sure about pic No 1. I bet it turns out to be a Willow, possibly White Willow, but I'm really not sure :lol: What makes me doubtful is that it looks altogether more stiff than how Willow generally seems to me.

Not weepy enough, eh? ;)
 
thanks omi im stumped with the tree too lol.. scrappys little helper i would say number 1 is a willow that we have around here, its hard at the minute because some of the newer leaves look so different to the older ones and when you go and look at the same tree a week later you think its a completely different free. Keep taking pics and compare them. Post them on here too, Next year you will be able to pick them earlier if you remember where the tree is :lol:
 
that's the problem with foraging ...the planning & Id requires patience which I lack. My house is now free of drying forage & is lovely & tidy. I've vowed it gets sun dried only from now but I do that every single weekend. Then you lot get me excited about trying new stuff all over again & next minute all Boo inaccessible places get covered (not many then).

The willow thing is so frustrating as I know we have different types here, I just can't tell them from the other trees :lol:
 
1 pink hawthorn (the flowers confused me at first)
DSCN0567_zpskjo2gmg2.jpg
[/URL][/IMG] 2 alder i think
alder_zpsmvu17h63.jpg
[/URL][/IMG] 3 poplar i think
poplar_zpsirulkcju.jpg
[/URL][/IMG] 4 rowan i think
rowan_zpssfjtrlv1.jpg
[/URL][/IMG] 5 cut leaved cranesbill i think
DSCN0557_zpsnp6wioec.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
Yes I agree with the pink flowered hawthorn. Also, I am sure that the hawthorn that used to be white is now turning pink? Somebody please correct me - am I going mad or does this really happen?

I have seen the one you describe as cranesbill, and I have for the life of me forgotten what it is - I hope you're right, as I believe it's safe for the buns x
 
i agree that some of the white hawthorn has a pinky cast to it, but i hadnt seen one bright pink like this before so i nearly walked straight past it. All i know is i havent picked a buttercup again because i can see a pink/purple flower :lol:
 
Your alder looks like what I mistook as hazel. A very impressive selection W&S - are they all OK to eat (assuming ID correct)? if so my bunnies are coming round to yours
 
thanks omi im stumped with the tree too lol.. scrappys little helper i would say number 1 is a willow that we have around here, its hard at the minute because some of the newer leaves look so different to the older ones and when you go and look at the same tree a week later you think its a completely different free. Keep taking pics and compare them. Post them on here too, Next year you will be able to pick them earlier if you remember where the tree is :lol:

I might have to go back tomorrow and tie a ribbon around it :lol:
 
1 pink hawthorn (the flowers confused me at first)
DSCN0567_zpskjo2gmg2.jpg
[/URL][/IMG] 2 alder i think
alder_zpsmvu17h63.jpg
[/URL][/IMG] 3 poplar i think
poplar_zpsirulkcju.jpg
[/URL][/IMG] 4 rowan i think
rowan_zpssfjtrlv1.jpg
[/URL][/IMG] 5 cut leaved cranesbill i think
DSCN0557_zpsnp6wioec.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

Yes an impressive haul :D

Pic No 1 is a double-flowered pink Hawthorn. Was this growing in a wild area? I have not read anything to support this view, but I am nervous of any of the "bred for the garden" types introducing themselves into the wild and possibly outcompeting our native varieties (similar to Bluebells and Spanish Bluebells). Hawthorn is just so important to our native wildlife most of the year. The pink Hawthorn is double-flowered and I think it has fewer spines. Seeing this made me recall when I was ill and had just moved into my old cottage (not here), there was one of these pink-flowered Hawthorns in the existing garden. It was one of my coping strategies at that time to push myself physically as hard as I could (I know silly :oops:) and so I sawed it down as I hated it so much :D. Anyway I digress, yes pink-flowered Hawthorn and yes must also be safe for rabbits.

Pic No 2 - yes definitely Alder and have just compared it to a leaf picked from a tree in the garden here, which I know is Alder. It's on the rabbit safe list from the site I use. I have just never thought to feed it to mine.

Pic No 3 - Haven't seen it around here, but yes it looks like Poplar leaf from the online site I use. And the leaves are pretty distinctive. Also on the rabbit safe list I use. I have never fed it and, as I think I've said before, I have this niggle about Black Poplar. This could be unfounded though as I can't find anything to support it online.

Pic No 4 - Again I haven't see this around here (shame as the berries attract Waxwings in the winter), but looks definitely like Rowan and it's on the rabbit safe site I use.

Pic No 5 - This is the Geranium we have the most of in the garden and yes I think it is Cut-leaved. Definitely rabbit-safe and mine like it lots.

Your rabbits are in for a feast today :D

I fed mine with lots of long grass, Geranium and Lemon Balm about an hour ago. It never fails to bring an enormous smile to my face, as they know exactly what I'm doing and wait for me at the corner of the run where I place the forage. The nearer I get the more excited they get, binkying round in a very small circle, so as not to leave the spot, almost falling over themselves.

I think the Hawthorn blossom and the Cow Parsley flowers are really looking splendid this year :)
 
thanks omi the hawthorn was wild but i didnt pick any of it just in case, didnt id the rowan until i got home so never tried them on that either but they loved the geranium. i also brought home some green alkanet but they didnt bother with that, which im glad really because it looks so pretty where it is. Im going to miss RU when i go on holiday tomorrow night. I hope everyone posts some fab photos while im gone so i can have a look when i get back. My poor buns have to have all dried for a week because my mum doesnt know how to forage.
I havent seen the hawthorn and cow parsley this much in blossom before, your right they are beautiful.
 
thanks omi the hawthorn was wild but i didnt pick any of it just in case, didnt id the rowan until i got home so never tried them on that either but they loved the geranium. i also brought home some green alkanet but they didnt bother with that, which im glad really because it looks so pretty where it is. Im going to miss RU when i go on holiday tomorrow night. I hope everyone posts some fab photos while im gone so i can have a look when i get back. My poor buns have to have all dried for a week because my mum doesnt know how to forage.
I havent seen the hawthorn and cow parsley this much in blossom before, your right they are beautiful.

We will miss you too :wave:

I hope you have a fab time and look forward to having you back :D
 
thanks omi the hawthorn was wild but i didnt pick any of it just in case, didnt id the rowan until i got home so never tried them on that either but they loved the geranium. i also brought home some green alkanet but they didnt bother with that, which im glad really because it looks so pretty where it is. Im going to miss RU when i go on holiday tomorrow night. I hope everyone posts some fab photos while im gone so i can have a look when i get back. My poor buns have to have all dried for a week because my mum doesnt know how to forage.
I havent seen the hawthorn and cow parsley this much in blossom before, your right they are beautiful.

I hope you have a fantastic holiday :love: We'll miss your photos too :)
 
Another good day foraging :) Found some vetch and also the one pictured below which I need some ID help with please. The leaves have a suede-y feel to them and it was a low lying plant. Actually a lot of them about. No flowers with the leaves. TIA!

2016-05-29%2020.00.08_zpssypdp24c.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]
 
thanks omi the hawthorn was wild but i didnt pick any of it just in case, didnt id the rowan until i got home so never tried them on that either but they loved the geranium. i also brought home some green alkanet but they didnt bother with that, which im glad really because it looks so pretty where it is. Im going to miss RU when i go on holiday tomorrow night. I hope everyone posts some fab photos while im gone so i can have a look when i get back. My poor buns have to have all dried for a week because my mum doesnt know how to forage.
I havent seen the hawthorn and cow parsley this much in blossom before, your right they are beautiful.

Have a lovely holiday :wave: I bet you sneak out to do a bit of foraging ;)
 
Bon Voyage Willow & Squiggles - have a fab time:wave:

We shall be sure to keep your zen little foraging thread thriving in your absence

I'm super excited as have found willow. Not the weeping willow I have to steal from local park after dark, but willow on my foraging territory. I am struggling to tell if it is Goat Willow or Crack willow - based on the catkins & thinner leaves I'm thinking the latter. There is loads!! So happy
 
Another good day foraging :) Found some vetch and also the one pictured below which I need some ID help with please. The leaves have a suede-y feel to them and it was a low lying plant. Actually a lot of them about. No flowers with the leaves. TIA!

2016-05-29%2020.00.08_zpssypdp24c.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

I've no idea what this is :lol: I hope someone can ID it, especially as you say there were lots of them. It must be quite common. It might need to be another one to wait until it flowers.
 
thanks for the well wishes everyone but i dont think i had better pick any forage from fuerteventura lol.. imagine the questions at the airport on the way home when the see all the dried herbs :shock: im actually giggling out load at what OH would say :lol:
scrappys little helper i havnt even come across that plant before, id probably pass it thinking it was a nettle lol.
 
Thanks Omi and W&S. That one is going to sit in the "Do not feed" pile for now. I'll have to take a pic of the area I'm going foraging in. It's huge and there is such a variety of different plants I hardly recognise any of them! It's amazing in one respect but also a bit overwhelming for a novice like me. For now I'm just trying to zero in on the ones I'm fairly confident on and then try and gradually identify more.

I've seen some which I'm about 70% sure are cow parsley. However I have also definitely seen hemlock in close proximity, with the unmistakeable purple blotching on the stem. Funnily enough a lot of the hemlock has been cut down, I hope no-one's been making use of it's, ahem, unique properties :shock:
 
Back
Top