Documentation of yet another amazing day during last week’s Perennialen III in Hardanger!! Pictures taken on a fantastic 6-7 hour round trip from Eirik Lillebøe Wiken and Hege Iren Aasdal Wiken’s house to their shieling (støl or seter in Norwegian). We took our time botanising on the way up, passing through different types of forest on the way up, from alder (or), ash (ask), planted spruce (gran), lime (lind), elm (alm), hazel (hassel), aspen (osp) and birch (bjørk) at the highest levels. Lower down, old apple trees witnessed that these steep slopes had at one time been worked for fruit production, no easy matter….
Eirik and Hege are planning to rejuvenate and replant some of this area and have planted a multispecies forest garden above and below the house, probably one of the most dramatic forest gardens in the world (more later).
A picture of Alvastien Telste taken last year showing the house at the bottom centre and the walk to the ridge at the top and beyond!
Starting our walk up the mountain, I took this picture of a farm on the other side of the fjord and, next picture, a shieling (seter / støl) is visible on the ridge at the top!
Shieling (seter / støl)
The house at Alvastien Telste
Ostrich fern (strutseving)
Eirik and Hege’s tree house (I stayed there on my first visit – Perennialen I)
Under the spruce, a ground cover of young ash seedlings…the future of which is uncertain as Ash dieback has arrived here…
Impaties noli-tangere (Touch me not balsam / springfrø) was common on damper soils
Ostrich fern (strutseving) with enchanters nightshade (trollurt)
Cirsium arvense on a small open field halfway up the hill
Campanula
Late flowering Silene dioica (red campion /rød jonsokblom)
Ostrich fern (strutseving)
Alder tongue gall (Taphrina alni)
Mycelis muralis
Galium odoratum (woodruff / myske)
Rock to which an old cable lift was attached
Fox dung with beetle cases?
Old apple tree half way up
We saw one small population of hedge garlic (løkurt)
Wood vetch (skogsvikke)
Clambering wood vetch (skogsvikke)
Hazel (hassel)
More ostrich fern (strutseving)
There were many amazing trees, many of which were pollarded (for animal feed in the past)
Old barn
Pyrola spp.
Woodruff (myske)
The Troll Elm!
Eirik showed us an old cross on the rock marking the edge of his property
This ostrich fern had over 30 fertile fronds in the centre!!
I was surpised to find an area of Geranium lucidum
Woodruff (myske)
Steep slopes
Galium spp.
…the rain came down near the top
Fantastic views of the fjord on the way up!
Frosted bracken?
Rut pool used by red deer stags!
There weren’t many edible fungi apart from one good patch of chantarelles in the birch zone
Picking chantarelles
…and, finally, after 4 hours we reached the hut!
Foxglove (revebjelle) within the protection of this old wall
For a change I cycled to the shops at Sveberg rather than cycling to town…this also gave me the opportunity to check out the fungi in the woods…
The route involves a notorious climb up Vuluvegen. I haven’t cycled this for some years and having hardly cycled since I retired at the end of April, I wondered how it would be, but I’m pleased to note that it was pretty easy :) …and it took me about 35 minutes, so shorter than going to town but more strenuous!
Almost at the top of Vuluvegen….familiar Thomas Thomassen? Robin Arne Barstow? Avellana Wood
At the top!
View from the top of Vuuvegen over Malvik and my house :)
Into the woods…
Just a few minutes into the woods and there were a lot of young chantarelles (kantarell) on the way up…a good sign as it’s not often I find them this quickly…there were also a few hedgehog fungi (piggsopp)
…and a few chantarelles big enough to pick too
Cortinarius spp. (slørsopper)
Cortinarius spp. (slørsopper)
Russula spp.
Apricot Jelly / Traktgelesopp – Guepinia helvelloides – is apparently edible; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guepinia
Brunsskrubb (birch bolete)? Leccinum scabrum
Rødskrubb (orange birch bolete)?
Lactarius spp. (hulriske?)
Russula spp. (mild tasting, hence edible)
Russula spp. (mild tasting, hence edible)
Alpine bistort / harerug
Back down Vuluvegen, lots of Angelica sylvestris (wood Angelica / sløke) on the verge
…and some with reddish inflorescenses
Flower buds and stems are the tastiest, but I didn’t pick as it’s next to the road
A small but tasty catch and the season has started!
…for an omelette for dinner with spring onions, Scorzonera flower shoots and buds and Malva moschata leaves and garlic…
As I was working from home yesterday and not doing my normal bike ride, I decided to do a longer ride over the hills to the post office to pick up the Japanese seeds (different post)…I arrived home 3 hours later with a haul of, mostly, winter chantarelles / traktkantarell….I just couldn’t not pick them when I saw them :( Guess what I’ll be doing tonight :)
Map of the area: I was mostly in the woods between Pedersborg and the bridge over the motorway where it says Øvre…
Woodpigeons / ringdue at Årli
Woodpigeons / ringdue at Årli
Woodpigeons / ringdue at Årli
Pedersborg and Forbordfjellet
Viewpoint over Malvikodden
Viewpoint over Malvikodden
Viewpoint over Malvikodden and Malvik cemetery
Narrow path
A lot of walking…
1 minute into the woods and a champignon (Agaricus spp.)
2 mins. into the woods and I had to pick these winter chantarelles / traktkantarell…I’d heard rumours of large amounts, but hadn’t planned to pick until later…
Winter chantarelles / traktkantarell
Winter chantarelles / traktkantarell can be almost black coloured and difficult to spot…
Lactarius scrobiculatus (svovelriske) can be large. This milkcap is considered inedible here and is very acrid..
Lactarius scrobiculatus (svovelriske) with the white juice that turns yellow when exposed to the air.
Lactarius scrobiculatus (svovelriske) – its white juice turns yellow when exposed to the air.
Bispelue / hooded false morel or the elfin saddle
Stor kragesopp / luxuriant ringstalk or lacerated stropharia
It was actually bilberries that were the evening’s objective, but when you see several ceps / steinsopp in the woods and hedgehogs/piggsopp and saffron milk caps / matriske (almost all surprisingly in good condition without fly larvae) and chantarelles / kantarell, then there’s a change of plan….and there was still time to pick more than enough bilberries for drying another ovenfull!
Steinsopp / porcini / cep
Steinsopp / porcini / cep (but I can’t see any characteristic net / reticulation on the stipe)?
Amanita rubescens / rødnende fluesopp / the blusher
Amanita rubescens / rødnende fluesopp / the blusher
Last night’s dinner: risotto made with rye and barley grain instead of rice with wild and cultivated vegetables and wild fungi:
Parsley, coriander, golpar (Heracleum maximum seed spice), 3 types of pea, baby carrots and broad beans, red mitsuba, 3 types of chicory, common sow thistle (Sonchus), saffron milk caps (matriske), hedgehog fungus (piggsopp), chanterelle (kantarell), Russula spp. , garlic, chili, nettle (variegated), swiss chard (mangold) and Allium nutans…
To sign up for dinner for two at my place, please sign up below ;)
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden
