Fruits are hanging ready all about me, urged on by the earlier, hotter than normal weather. Being aware of climate change and making whatever steps we can to lower our carbon footprint is one thing to do.

Try to walk on local journeys whenever possible…not only are you saving carbon and getting fitter, you’ll spot all manner of luscious fruits and crunchy seeds too. (I know it’s not that easy, especially with time constraints.)

Here’s what my son and I have been munching on locally.

Wild plums like this are known as Mirabelle or Cherry Plums. They are naturalised in the UK. Darker purple fruits with yellow-green flesh are likely to be Bullace. Both are edible. I dont like Bullace much though…its like a giant raw sloe and dries up your mouth! Best put in a jam.

Here are some Bullace below.

Forage them by cutting a hooked stick to draw down the branches and pick them with your free hand. You can eat them raw or cook them in pies, pastries, and fruit leathers.

A great (and FREE!!) thing to do with the kids to pass the time!

We made and burned Mugwort Smudge Sticks to keep biting insects away. Plus, it cleanses negative energies. A win win situation.

Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) is a relative of wormwood, and contains thujone. It also contains sesquiterpenoid lactones, flavonoids, coumarins, phenolic acids, sterols, polyacetylenes, carotenoids, vitamins, and cyanogenic glycosides, as well as essential oil.

What this means in good plain English is that it’s a little bit poisonous (don’t take it if you are pregnant), it’s antibacterial and antifungal, and it keeps annoying bity flying things away if you burn it. It’s also meant to give you strange dreams if you put it under your pillow.

I’ve made a new batch of St John’s Wort Oil ready to turn into salves this weekend. It took 2 weeks of sunlight to infuse this oil to a deep red – this is the hypercin extracted from flowering St John’s Wort tops.

The oil and salve are pain-relieving and antibacterial. They can be used for muscular aches, arthritis, shingles, and surface wounds.

I’ve made Elderberry Oxymel today. This lasts us most of the winter and the cold and flu season. The cider vinegar balances the sweet, musky taste of the elderberries. I added a few spices too.

Last but not least, I’ve been working hard on two articles about Off Grid Fridges for Backwoods Home Magazine and Bushcraft Magazine. Why not try making a simple natural food cooler dug into the ground, or using terracotta pots and water convection?

I’ll describe this in more detail in another post soon.

Remember, there’s 2 more Herbal Medicine courses coming up – one this Sunday 10th with just 2 spaces left, and an Adults-only course on the 16th August. Links are in the post before this one.

I also have some Intro to Fungi courses coming up at Ashridge Estate.

xx Hedgewitch Kat xx