Feral Raspberries

I picked these from the edges of the allotment site. There are lots more in the nearby woods. I just love the idea of "escaped" plants, as these most probably are...

Cannock Chase

I visited Cannock Chase with friends at the weekend. It was beautiful!

We saw lots of interesting animals and plants, including Lizards, Frog tadpoles, Deer, Dragonflies, various Butterflies, wild Raspberries, Strawberries, Bilberries and Cowberries (or possibly "Cannock Chase Berries" - a rare hybrid Bilberry/Cowberry, apparently!).


Bilberry


Cowberry

I'd never tasted Bilberries before, but they were really sweet and juicy. The Cowberries were more mealy and had less flavour, but were still nice. The wild Strawberries were absolutely gorgeous!

Yum!

One thing I learned in my first year of allotment gardening (last year) was to harvest as much as possible while it's still young, tender and tasty - there will always be lots more to come!

Tonight's dinner was quiche (made with homegrown leaf beet), baby new potatoes, broad beans, peas, teeny carrots and salad. Pretty much all of it was my own produce : )

I would have had wild raspberries for pudding, but I scoffed the lot on my way home...