By: Blonde Two

There are few more pleasing times to visit a woodland than in autumn.  There is so much going on down there among the trees;  multicoloured falling leaves, stealth fungi in dark corners and lots and lots of berries.  If you look closely, you will be amazed how many different types of berries there are, no wonder the squirrels look so busy at the moment (do squirrels like berries?). On my walk in the copse yesterday I found;  hawthorn, blackberry, honeysuckle, black bryony (I think), ivy, rosehip, cuckoo pint, elder and sloe (blackthorn).Blackberry1As I explored the bushes I found myself wondering just how many of them you could eat. Most of them would have looked very pretty on the bowl of porridge that I had just consumed.  Some are obvious Blonde-foodstuffs; blackberries (crumble), sloes (gin), rosehips (syrup or jam) but I wasn’t sure about the others, they looked tasty enough but could you make an ivy crumble or a cuckoo pint custard?Hawthorn1

As you Blondees and Blondettes know, we Blondes love a bit of research, so I went home to find this most informative website http://www.countrylovers.co.uk/wfs/wfsberries.htm. As it turns out, you can eat hawthorn (despite its nasty aftertaste) if you don’t have a cardiac or circulatory problem, and elder without turning it into wine or cordial, but should definitely not order ivy crumble if you see it on the pub menu.

My advice would be to stick to what you know tastes good and is good.  Or introduce yourself to a woodland forager chap with a long beard and baggy trousers … he will probably deliver wiser advice than mine on the matter.