Cherry blossoms might be long gone by now this year, but if you joined me in preserving some of the young buds with the recipe in this Japanese Salt-Pickled Cherry Blossoms post then this recipe is for you! If you didn’t preserve any blossom buds this year, don’t worry you can actually buy them online if […]
Flowering currants are a beautiful pop of pink in gardens, parks and the occasional hedgerow in spring. They are particularly abundant in March and April, but can still be flowering in early May in more northerly parts of the UK. I love their fruity aroma and gorgeous bright colour and they are just perfect as […]
I know it’s probably a little late now for cherry blossom buds unless you live fairly far north in the UK, but I’ve been sharing how to make these Japanese salted, pickled cherry blossom buds over on my Instagram stories and wanted to put together a post with all of the information in one place […]
A little while back I would have been the first to complain that foragers seem to be obsessed with making everything into a syrup – especially flowers. However, I’ve gradually learned that it’s one of the best ways of harnessing and preserving the flavour of many of nature’s best, and most fleeting specialties. Making syrups […]
I’ve loved magnolia trees ever since I was a child visiting my grandmother’s cottage in spring and seeing the beautiful Magnolia soulangeana in bloom in her garden. There seem to be a lot of magnolia trees where we live – I feel very lucky to be able to walk down nearby streets and see them […]
At this time of year there really is a sense of emerging as the blossoms and bulbs begin to flower. Saturday 20th March was the vernal/spring equinox which marks the final transition out of winter as the days and nights are of equal length. We spent the day outside on our allotment in the fresh […]
Whenever I see a bed of tumbling nasturtiums it always makes me think of the beautiful hobbit gardens in the Lord of the Rings films – is that just me? There are countless varieties of nasturtium from deep reds, through tangerine oranges, to soft yellows. At some point I want to grow all of them! […]
May (well towards the end of April until the start of June) is all about asparagus in the UK. This crunchy, tender, delicious veg has such a short season which makes it all the more exciting to many of us Brits alongside our propensity to lose our minds over Jersey royals and, more recently, wild […]
You know you’re well into the spring season when the lilacs start to bloom. Shrubs put on huge shows of beautiful flower clusters with an intoxicating floral scent that infuses the air. Like most spring blooms, their show is short-lived and only lasts a couple of weeks, and if you bring the cut flowers into […]