On 8th March 2019 I walked along the River Itchen in Hampshire between Shawford and Eastleigh, mostly along the old canal tow path:
River Itchen, Shawford, UK
River Itchen, Shawford, UK
Mute swans
Teasel (Dipsacus) field
Misteltoe
Common polypody (Polypodium vulgare)…called sisselrot here in Norway, the roots were eaten as a candy by children in the past!
Asplenium scolopendrium (Hart’s tongue fern)
Primrose (Primula vulgaris)
?
Dandelion
Sarcoscypha coccinea (?) (scarlet elf cup)
Ground elder (Aegopodium) with ivy
Duckweed (Lemna spp.)?
Duckweed (Lemna spp.)?
Cow parsley (?) already in flower
Not to be confused with this one, Hemlock water dropwort (Oenanthe crocata), the most poisonous plant in the UK!
Old man’s beard (Clematis vitalba)…the shoots are a favourite cooked vegetable in Italy in the spring
…and a video of a large population of Elfin cups (Sarcoscypha coccinea)?
And now some pictures taken on 10th March from the Monks Brook, a stream behind my parents’ house in Chandlers Ford where a lot of foragables were already available (a full two months before our area in Norway!), starting with a video ending with Helleborus foetidus.
Allium ursinum (ramsons)
Allium ursinum (ramsons)
Nettles (Urtica dioica) and cleavers (Galium aparine)
Nettles (Urtica dioica) and cleavers (Galium aparine)
Viola odorata
Viola odorata
Allium triquetrum (three cornered leek)
Allium triquetrum (three cornered leek)
Nettles (Urtica dioica)
Allium vineale?
Arum italicum
Great family lunch in a pub at Shawford in Hampshire followed by a walk along the river between Shawford and Hampshire
Shawford Down walk down to the village
Old cattle breed on Shawford Down
Pub lunch next to the river…fish and chips and Abbot Ale!
Walk along the Itchen Navigation between Shawford and Eastleigh!
Epilobium hirsutum
Water vole is an endangered species in England, over the North Sea it’s called jordrotte (earth rat) and is feared by gardeners because of the damage they can do!
Bamboo!
My Aunty Margaret lived in these houses and we spent a lot of time as children by the river!
Maybe it was this hous that was my Aunt’s, but without the gnomes and trees where there’s now terassing
Perennial vegetables, Edimentals (plants that are edible and ornamental) and other goings on in The Edible Garden