My second unsuccessful attempt to find ramsons (ramsløk) at its northernmost natural site at Ramslia in Nord Trøndelag (on the other side of Trondheimsfjord from my place). Neverthless, it was a great day out with one of my ex-OCEANOR work colleagues Jarle Tronstad who owns an old mountain farm in the area!
Starting from an old farm by the road
Walking up from the road there were masses of ostrich fern (strutseving), here with Alpine sow thistle / turt (Cicerbita alpina)
Alpine sow thistle / turt (Cicerbita alpina)
Insectivorous Butterbur / Tettegras (Pinguicula), traditionally used to curdle milk
Wood anemone (hvitveis)
Rumex acetosa (sorrel / engsyre) with ostrich fern (strutseving)
Wood sorrel / gjøksyre
Valeriana sambucifolia
Ostrich fern stands could be spotted from afar on unstable openings in the woods
Distant view of Storvatnet
Bilberry
Bog myrtle / pors in flower
Cloudberry / molte
Viola
Stachys sylvatica
Fjellgeit Jarle Tronstad with roseroot (Rhodiola rosea)
My friend Misoni Sandvik who figures in the Aster scaber and Bunias orientalis stories in my book has been back to Korea for the first time and she kindly sent me these seeds :)
Astonishing how much an apple tree can produce here year after year after year with zero input! It looks like this year will be no exception. Perennials for ever <3
My friend LaNita Nash in Portland, Oregon puts out the podcast “Align with plants, align with health”. She interviewed me when I was in Victoria, BC this spring. You can hear what we talked about in the link below!
Another magical walk along the Homla Canyon in Malvik in the company of wwoofer of the week :) First, a parade of Ostrich Ferns along the bank of the Homla river
A dipper (fossekall), Norway’s national bird flew past us singing as it flew and landed conveniently on some rocks 50m upstream:
A curly whirly dandelion
Although popular in the past, Gyromitra esculenta (sandmorkel) is no longer recommended as edible due to toxic compounds that may not even be neutralised by cooking…
Alternate leaved golden saxifrage /maigull in seed already
Fomitopsis pinicola (Red belt CONK or rødrandkjuke)
Bracken fern / einstape
Violets are blue….not only..here yellow-flowered Viola biflora
I’ve never before met a bear in the woods…well spotted by my companion wwoofer!
Lathyrus vernus (Spring pea / vårerteknapp) is a rare plant in Malvik
The path crosses the site of an old charcoal burning site
Charcoal in the path
Our goal was the ostrich fern site (strutseving) where I’d been with Berit Børte Ane Mari Aakernes and Marit By only two weeks ago (see http://www.edimentals.com/blog/?p=11108), the plants had grown a lot in the meantime and only a few young fiddleheads were to be found!
Ostrich fern with meadowsweet (mjødurt) and rosebay willowherb (geitrams)
Ostrich fern with an understory of nettles
Tasty Cardamine flexuosa, Wavy Bittercress / skogkarse in the path
We took a new path used by salmon fishermen down to the river and discovered new large stands of ostrich fern
Homla river
Large stands of ostrich fern also on the other bank!
…and then magic happened as I noticed the moon rising from the forest high up on the ridge on the other side of the river! WOW!
Caltha palustris
The first flowers of Cornus suecica
The first flowers of Cornus suecica
A song thrush (måltrost) was alarming as we passed near his nest sire, a shy forest bird here!
Spruce tree grasping the earth…
Alpine sow thistle (turt) hanging on in an area that had once upon a time been a luxuriant meadow..
Large leaved raspberry in deep shade
Masses of Campanula rapunculoides in alder wood on the edge of Hommelvik
