Bee Friendly

This month I have mostly been spotting Walnut trees and busy, buzzing Bees! 

Yet Another Walnut Tree

Ordinarily I would be harvesting the vast quantities of wild plums that are currently filling the trees but I have been unusually busy. 

If you have any spare time, I suggest getting down to the cricket ground opposite the Cricketers pub on Chestnut Avenue, Eastleigh, where they are available by the thousands.

Beeware

I have had the pleasure to meet several colonies of very busy bees. In previous years we have found Bumble Bees making a nest in our lawn and they are back again this year, which makes mowing the lawn more complicated.

Very Busy

I have also found Wild Bees nesting in hollow trees, we located a fantastic one on Danebury Iron Age hill fort, where we had visited for a picnic and to collect Elder and Juniper berries.

More recently, my parents told me that they had a colony of Tree Bees in a nesting box that was normally reserved for a Blue Tit family.

This year, to my delight, a swarm of bees began to build a nest in my work car park, on an industrial estate. The honeycombs are attached partly to a shrub and partly to the perimeter fence. The bees are constantly attending to and extending the combs. The bees do not trouble anyone and I was easily able to approach the nest to photograph it.

Juniper = Gin

The weather was sizzling on the August Bank Holiday and we wanted to go somewhere nice for a day out but any beach within easy reach would be clogged and the journey back in a hot car would clearly be a nightmare. We decided eventually to go for a walk and picnic at delightful Danebury Ring (an Iron Age hill-fort).

I bought a bucket to collect Elderberries and containers for Raspberries and Juniper berries, which I knew from previous experience existed here. As it turned out, there was not enough Elderberries available and the Raspberries were not ready either. I gave up on the original plan and continued my search for Juniper.

On my route around the embankments I heard a deep humming buzz, "Bees!" I thought... Sure enough, after tuning in my ears to the sound, I located a large beech tree with a bee's nest hidden behind a hole in the trunk. Hundreds of bees were busily buzzing in and out and all around the entrance. I crept up close, took a photo and then scurried off to continue my search.

Juniper berries are primary botanical in the manufacture of gin and they lend it the distinctive aroma and flavour. As I had recently struck up a relationship with award-winning local artisan distillery, Twisted Nose, I thought I would gather a few berries to take back for experimentation and comparative purposes.

The Juniper is a fascinating tree and Juniper groves always look slightly eerie; it is the only fir native to the UK and survives only on very specific soil types, which  happens to suit the ancient downs, in the South. I have seen it on several of the hill forts we frequent. The berries (which are actually miniature fir-cones) ripen in a three yearly sequence and you get ripe and unripe berries on the same tree. This, along with horribly spiky, needle-like leaves, makes collecting them in any quantity very difficult and painful.

Soon my fingers were throbbing painfully and I resorted to using my penknife to avoid further injury, there must be an easier way. However, the sun was still shining and the kids were off playing on a rope swing somewhere in the nearby trees, so I persevered. Eventually I collected enough berries to fill my small container and reported back to the picnic rug.

Walk Out in Winter

I hope all our readers got what they deserved from Santa this year. We were busy making wreaths for the home and even found Mistletoe on the local Pitch and Put golf course. Our Mulled Cider and Elderberry Wine seemed to go down very well at various Christmas celebrations.

After a while though, I was getting cabin fever and so we had to get out for a couple of hikes, to blow away the cobwebs and burn off the mince pies. The New Forest is always very convenient for us and we ended up marching out for a brilliant frosty walk with friends around Bramshaw.

We also braved a blustery day and scrambled up and around Old Winchester Hill in the fantastic Meon Valley. This ancient place was once a Bronze Age Enclosure, then later an Iron Age hill fort. It has burial mounds on top and the incomparable view stretches for miles, out over the Solent to the aforementioned New Forest and the Isle of Wight.

There is an abundance of interesting landscapes to be enjoyed on the South Downs but the Meon Valley and especially the area around Old Winchester Hill, are too interesting not to explore in greater depth. Our trip took in beautiful villages, fields of Watercress and the meandering Meon River that was once the main transport route to London from the South coast, before the silting up of the estuary (now an important nature reserve) allowed Southampton to take the lead.

On the way up the hill, we took refuge from the wind's icy blast by spending a while clambering around in a grove of  Yew trees, which for all I know, could have been there since the first human occupation. Then it was out onto the crest, to admire the view and attempt to cling on to a wildly flapping kite.

While the kids were enjoying being dragged about by the howling gale, I discovered a plantation of Juniper bushes, hunkered down and clinging resolutely to the side of the hill. These shrubs are the only native UK fir trees and are now seriously endangered due to disease and also because of their spiny leaves being nibbled up by sheep and rabbits. Interestingly I also found Juniper on Danebury, another local Iron Age hill fort. 

I gathered a pocketful of ripe, black Juniper berries to take home; their exotic aroma adds a unique spice to many meat recipes, as well as being the main flavouring in Gin. It was a good job I was wearing gloves, as the needles of this bush are quite savage. By the time we got home, we were thoroughly tired and all of us had a ruddy glow in our cheeks.

So readers, what have you resolved to do differently in 2015? Personally, I'm going to finish and publish, the Urbane Foragers Field Guide. Actually, I think I'm going to need a more snappy title for this forthcoming book, so please, send in your suggestions...

Iron Age Elderberries

It was the last Bank Holiday in August and the sun was still beaming it’s joyful rays onto the parched earth. 

Get Busy With the Fizzy

We decided to go to Danebury Iron Age Hill-fort for a summer picnic. We packed our bag, sandwiches, snacks and a bottle of vigorous home - made Elderflower Champagne and set off along the Test Way.

A Big, Fat Fish in the Test River

Danebury is the perfect spot for a run about with the children, but first we sat down to feed our poor starving mites and treated ourselves to some sparkling English Fizz, with one of the best views available in Hampshire.

and Relax...

After we had eaten, I set off with my son to hunt for Elderberries, I wanted to make port again; I have done this successfully for the past 2 years. As it turned out, we filled our boots with a sufficient quantity from the first small tree we came across. You can also make Elderberry cordial, jam and many other hedgerow recipes from this eldritch provider.

Elderberries

Later, we  found plenty of Blackberries and a crop of Raspberries, which we simply scoffed, as quickly as we could pick them. We also found loads of Juniper bushes, which was something of a revelation.

Ruby Red Raspberries

Juniper berries have a three year cycle (flowers, green berries, dark-blue berries) and they can all be present on one bush at the same time. These prickly bushes are related to Pine trees and the berries are actually tiny pine-cones.  The blue berries are used as herbs or spices when dried. They have many herbal uses and are also a significant part of the flavouring used in Gin!

Juniper Bushes

Sadly, like the Ash, Juniper bushes are currently under siege by a fungus, which is threatening their existence all over the country. Let’s hope that the arboricultural experts can do something to save all these trees. I’d hate to go through Summer without a cold G&T.

Ripe Juniper Berries

At one point the peaceful background hum of the countryside was shaken by the thumping of a Merlin engine and the iconic shape of a Spitfire roared into view across the trees. When it appeared, I had been thinking about the role of hill forts during the Roman invasion; the mysterious legend of the Angels of Mons crept into my mind. The plane vanished into the distance, like a ghost from the past, leaving nothing but blue sky. Looking back, the moment was so dreamlike and anachronistic that if I hadn't photographed it, I might doubt my own memory.

A Spitfire Over Danbury?