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Now’s the time of year to celebrate our evergreens. So here we have the Monterey Pine, or Pinus radiata. This beautiful, lush 3 needle pine has spreading branches that can hang low down. When I say ‘3 needle’ I mean that the needles are arranged in bunches of 3, and they are around 15cm long.…

Now is the time to go out gathering rosehips, the fruit of our native wild Dog Rose, (Rosa canina). Once the frosts have come, the previously rock-hard hips are ‘bletted’ , which means they go soft and ripe, ready for picking. So how can you recognize when they are ready? It’ll take a bit of…

Also in an airy Grove near the edge of Plantation Wood, we happen upon Robinia pseudoacacia, the False Acacia, or ‘Black Locust’ as it is known in its native Missouri, US. They are They are strange, atmospheric sight, pinnate leaves rustling in the light and trunks covered in the tree equivalent of weals. The False…

On our first Tree ID foray into Plantation Wood Phil and I happen upon a Wellingtonia, or Giant Sequoia, Sequoiadendron gigantum. The vast tree tilts skyward, and my fingers push into the thick shaggy burgundy fibres of the bark. Normally they grow about 50m tall, but in their native valley of Sierra Nevada in California,…

I bring to you all the creepiest mushrooms in time for Halloween…as if the mycological world isn’t odd enough already! 1) Dissolving into Black Goo : Ink Caps First prize for disgusting mess goes to the Ink Cap family (Coprinus sps). Some, like the Shaggy Ink Cap (Coprinus comatus) are good to eat when young…

We head across the top of the slope and down into fine soft grasses, where bright green forks of Sheep Sorrel peep out. These can be used just like common Sorrel; in soups with onions and cream, or in potato, egg and fish dishes…not to mention, mushrooms! We now enter Baker’s Wood, an ancient site…

On the way to my friend’s farm project near Reading I caught sight of a Muntjac deer that had died being hit by a car. “What luck.” I thought as I had been wondering what to bring as a present (apart from a good bottle of red) and I already knew not to bring vegetables…

Don’t miss an opportunity to taste these seaside wild plants below if you are on holiday! I found lots of SEA BUCKTHORN bushes (Hippophae rhamnoides) when I hopped behind the sand dunes on Sand Bay dog beach in Weston-super -Mare. Myself and my 6 year old son lost no time cramming the wickedly tangy, sherberty…

Even the country folk of us, who enjoy a nettle tea or soup, often don’t realise that common Nettle (Urtica dioica/urens) SEEDS are a nutritious and tasty meal. Ths female seeds are chock full of essential fatty acids, protein, Vitamin C and energy rich oil. You can taste this when you eat them, it is…

With a flourish of Phil’s pocket magnifying lens, a suckered tentacle stares back at me, an iridescent grey white. It looks like it should be coiling around a shipwreck, not oozing out of a fallen beech near National Trust Ashridge Monument. I’m here with Phil McAustin, mycologist and wood specialist, on a thankfully sunny Wednesday…