#365daysofbiking A bitter pear:
September 17th – The pear tree in Clayhanger has had a good season, against my expectations.
I had thought the crop this year would be poor due to the dry summer and ravenous birds, but it’s been heavy and the fruit are large and softer than the usual small, bitter offerings. And mercifully free of bird-pecks.
But oh my goodness they’re sharp!
A lovely thing to see.
September 2nd – This year, as usual, I’m charged with foraging fruits and other goodies for the family winemaker, and precious jewels indeed are the sloes.
Thankfully on my ride out to The Roaches, I found a plentiful crop I’m not going to give the location of!
Thes dark red berries with the blue sheen, very similar in appearance to damsons make a lovely warming gin and are much prized.
A great find!
August 16th – Another delight of the season, that frustratingly I couldn’t harvest: Giant puffballs on the patch of fenced off grass used as an occasional football pitch right in central Walsall between Smiths Flour Mill and the turn off the ring road for Birchills.
These are about the size of a football, and are pure white and lovely to eat. There were about 14 in total over the field, but due to the gates being locked, they were beyond the range of my frying pan.
Nice to see these huge fungi though, looking for all the world like alien eggs.
August 2nd – Another late summer and autumn bounty is fungi. A prime hunting ground for edible treats like these lovely field mushrooms and puffballs are the verges of industrial estates. Usually undisturbed, fungi prosper quietly here, and tend to go unstomped by mischievous kids.
From now until late autumn I will carry a cotton bag and knife to perform an impromptu harvest of anything tasty that would otherwise go unplucked.
This time of year does have some excellent things to commend it.
September 26th – There’s still a bountiful crop of elderberries for the taking out in the hedgerows, thickets and copses of the area. I spent a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon getting very red fingers collecting for a family winemaker.
Elderberries make a gorgeously dark, potent wine that in the the hands of a skilled winemaker can be way better than any shop-bought red wine.
One of the benefits of autumn!
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 