Spring Forward

One of Springs unexpected delights is the sight of Catkins, caught in sunlight, hanging in a hedgerow or dappled woodland, like golden rain. Catkins are tree flowers, commonly a Hazel tree, so later, around September there will be Hazel nuts to gather here.

Hazel Catkins 

The 2026 vernal equinox occurs on March 20, marking the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Equinox means equal periods of night-time and daylight; the tilt of the earth also brings us closer to the sun. We get longer hours of warmer sunlight up until the Summer solstice. Nature adapts according to the increase in temperature and the dwindling hours of night.

Plumb Blossom

One of my favourite and most apparent signs of Spring is the sudden blossoming of Plum trees and the related Blackthorn. Plum trees in city gardens and roadsides are suddenly filled with dramatic shows of creamy white flowers. The blossom also has a distinctive smell, which reminds me of marzipan (made from almonds, and also related), you can even taste it in a plum flower. One of my long time hobbies is the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun and this name translates as "Beautiful Springtime" and the plum blossom is a related symbol. The key thing with plum blossom is remembering where it is, plums in many varieties and colours could be there later in the season. Blackthorn, which is more common in countryside hedgerows, will supply us with Sloes later in Autumn, allowing us to prepare everyone's favourite Xmas liquor, Sloe Gin.

Magnolia Blossom

Another tree that flowers in urban gardens at this time of year, is the stunning Magnolia, their big blousy flowers are showy but also eminently edible, giving a distinctive tase of ginger. There are lots of different Magnolia recipes including various teas and biscuits.

Ransoms

Less showy but just as tasty plants that appear in abundance in Spring include Wild Garlic and Ransoms, which you normally smell before you see them, typically covering woodland banks or in damp hedges the leaves and flowers can be used in many cooking applications including salads, pesto or just for added flavour in a meal.

Alexanders

Alexanders are an often missed Spring hedgerow gem. Tasting akin and related to the carrot family, it has edible leaves and flowers. The delicious flowers can be fried in batter, the leaves can be fried in butter with wild garlic, a tasty supplement to any meal. A word of caution, you need to be very careful with plant identification, if you are unsure, don't pick it. Several very common but extremely poisonous plants (Hemlock and water Hemlock Dropwort spring to mind), can look very similar to the untrained eye. I spent a year observing the differences, through the seasons, before venturing into eating these plants.

Beautiful Springtime

Boiling Sands in Spring

Thick drifts of snowdrops send a reminder of colder Winters, but Spring is definitely coming. The signs are everywhere. Colourful crocuses are popping up by the roadside. The first daffodils are trumpeting in warmer weather. I have even seen early Plum blossom in Hedge End where I work.

This weekend though, we were looking for a different type of Spring. We were hunting for the source of the river Hamble. The Hamble’s tidal estuary exits into the Solent and is Hampshire’s premier yachting mecca. Some of the older readers of this blog may remember the TV series Howard's Way, which was filmed there.

The source of the Hamble (a group of natural springs) can be found near the town of Bishops Waltham, in the Moors nature reserve. It is known locally as Sand Boils or the Boiling Sands and it is quite an exciting discovery when you first discover it. 

A strange phenomenon occurs where chalk aquifers meet clay and sand but geology lesson aside – when you look into a shallow stream basin, true to name, the water appears to be boiling! 

Sand on the bottom of the clear stream bubbles and swirls as if some underground heater has been turned on. This is an illusion caused by the water being forced up through the stream bed; the water is actually cold. The film (below) captures this curious effect better than the photo.

We washed our muddy wellies by paddling in the boiling sands and then set out on a short walk through the reserve, to make them even muddier. It is a beautiful area with lots of interesting things to see, but even the established paths were mostly under water. We spotted a venerable old apple tree that had covered the ground at its feet with hundreds of small apples. We also noticed a Nuthatch singing a buzzing song high up in the crown of a tree.

There are various different areas where the water wells up from below and many of the trees stand in quiet pools creating a unique environment. The different spring waters all gradually come together and there is an ancient mill (Chase Mill). The river then runs down a valley to the lovely little town of Botley, where there is another historic mill. Thereafter the river is tidal as the estuary leads down to the Solent via Manor Farm Country Park, Bursledon, Wasash and Hamble.

A few years ago, my brother in law and I paddled a kayak up the Hamble estuary from Bursledon to Curbridge. There we had a tasty Sunday roast in the Horse and Jockey, before heading back down the river again. We saw Kingfishers, Herons, Oyster-catchers, Turnstones and many other birds on our journey.

It All Depends How You Look

I am considered a grown up now, and I have two young children myself. I am keen to get then familiar with the world outside and all the wonders of nature and her perpetual cycles of birth, growth, death and rejuvenation. I want to educate them about wildlife, trees and plants – not computers and mobile phones, these things will change with time. Hopefully nature will not. Personally, I cannot imagine a more healthy, vital and wholesome activity for a family than climbing a tree in order to pick and eat fresh wild fruit.

I work on a computer in my current job and I make a point of getting out of the office every lunchtime for a walk or jog through pleasant woods and fields nearby. While habitually doing this, I began to notice the passing of the seasons more closely and took note of which trees blossomed in the spring. I then began to identify some of these trees as plums or damsens (always first to bloom in spring), cherries and apple trees. They were effectively wild trees or on public/common ground.



Do you see traffic or proto-plums?



Once I became able to identify these trees I started to spot them wherever I went. It all depends how you look. It’s a bit like, when a friend gets a new car or bike, you know what it looks like and you keep an eye out for them on the road. Suddenly you begin to see similar vehicles all over the place, it soon becomes hard to believe that you hadn’t noticed how many there were on the road before – they seem to be everywhere. As you might expect, it’s exactly the same with trees, only the opportunity to benefit from this new found skill is going to be far more fruitful, than car identification.

Once I tuned in to these trees, I started to notice apple trees in the car parks, in hedgerows, in housing estates and in recreation grounds, it’s even easier when they have fruit on them or on the ground under them. I spotted cherries surrounding the B & Q car park and all along the main road into town, beside the railway track and in the community centre grounds and even outside the building in the industrial estate where I worked. Naturally, if you identify the blossoms, when they first arrive in spring and note their locations down (this is easy with modern mapping technology) you will be the first one ready when the fruit ripens.

Do you see the cars or the Cheries that will be here in June?

Cherry trees are considered ornamental due to their florid blossom that shows shortly after the plums herald the onset of spring. Consequently, they are often planted along avenues and by roadsides I have also found them used in and around car parks. People though seem to overlook the fact that they are cherry trees and that this is where cherries come from. The same thing is true for apple and pear trees, which blossom slightly later.



Do you see industry or Cherry trees?

Orchards and apple trees enjoy a rich heritage in our cultural history. Almost everyone eats apples, or so it seems, and there are a myriad of different types. Interestingly if you plant an apple pip and it grows, a completely new and random type of apple tree will result and the fruit will taste quite different from its parent tree. The only way to propagate as same type of tree/fruit is to graft a branch onto new rootstock, but that’s all getting a bit unnecessarily technical. Instead of preserving familiar types of tree, you could always try to create your own new type – although it may taste horrible or even bear no fruit, at least it is original.

Can you see Cherry trees and Hazle stands or just a dog walker?

My wife spotted a pear tree on waste ground near the children’s school and picked a few that were easily in reach. Then she noticed several apple trees in the local swimming pool car park. We drove to the pool with some friends and picked a veritable hoard by standing on the roof of our car, then throwing them into picnic blankets held out by our enthusiastic children. They were delicious rosy red apples with pinkish flesh! We named them Flemming Park Reds after the leisure centre. I also began collecting fruit during my lunch hour, initially just eating a couple of plums and bringing some home for the family. Then I started finding apples, which my son and I tend to eat every day.

Early Spring? Make Mulberry Gin!

I found a big box of frozen Mulberries in our freezer yesterday. I gave a couple to the children as a chilly treat and then remembered that we had recently consumed the last of our super tasty Mulberry gin during the Winter nights. It was clearly time to create some fresh supplies.

My brother had given me a bottle of gin for Xmas and I was going to save it until the Summer months, but this seemed a project worthy of breaking that pledge. The decorative bottle that we had dispatched over Christmas was undoubtedly cute, but actually quite small, or so it seemed once we got a taste of it.

I filled too jars with the fruit and steeped it in gin; it soon took on a glowing ruby red hue. Normally when making liquors, I add a bit of sugar to help the process but Mulberries are so sweet, it did not seem necessary. I will test it in due course, just to be sure...

Spring seems to be arriving a full month early here in the UK. Plum blossom is blooming all over the place, snowdrops daffodils and crocuses are all flowering at the same time bringing a cheery flourish to the gloomy weather we have been experiencing.

Does this mean the Plums will be ripening a month early? Will they fruit before the Cherries? Perhaps February or March will turn dramatically colder and ruin the early harvest. Who knows? All we can do is wait and observe the changes as they occur. I remember a bad year for Cherries that I put down to high winds during the blossom season deterring pollinators.

Meanwhile, we can simply enjoy the florid display, allow it to lift our hearts and hope that it heralds a good Spring, warm Summer and prolific Autumn.

Signs of Spring and a Seed Swap

The land is currently so saturated that any rain seems to simply sit on the surface, in dank, dark puddles. However, despite the depressing weather, it’s always nice to discover something new, even if it’s only fresh news to you.

For instance, from a young age, I knew that catkins were the flowers of the Hazel tree. Children love collecting and playing with these soft furry danglers and we often compete to see who can find the longest. What I didn’t know, was that the catkin is the male flower and that the Hazel, also has a female flower!

I discovered this fact for myself, when photographing catkins recently; I spotted some tiny pinkish flowers, clinging to the same branch. They looked like miniature, red sea urchins.

Having seen them, I was surprised that I had never noticed this detail before and further investigation proved that these little marvels were indeed the female partner to the male catkins.

I have also spotted other signs of Spring, crocuses, starting to show their colourful faces; in a spirited attempt to dispel the gloomy, grey, wet weather. Snowdrops are also flowering in the fields and hedgerows.

Snowdrops are out now too...

While we are thinking wistfully about Spring, there is a Seed Swap on Sunday the 9^th February in Southampton, opposite the Art House Café. 

It starts at 11.00 am till 3.30 pm; we will be there later on. 

I will also give a quick talk on our adventures with the Urbane Forager project at the Art House afterwards; so, you can have a cup of tea and a tasty cake too...

Do come along and say hi, if you can. 

The Urbane Forage Re-Boot Spring 2026

The Urbane Forage Re-Boot Spring 2026 

Hello foraging fans.

You will be pleased to hear that we're re-booting the Urbane Forager blog.

Growing your own food.

Making your own drinks.

We will start posting in earnest in the Spring of 2026. We never stopped, we simply got busy with our family and other projects.

Growing your own food.

I'm posting some images of this year's various harvests to show what can easily be achieved, as an introduction for new followers.

Feel free to ask questions.

We will be seeking out sponsors to help further our engagement and arranging public foraging walks in the city.

Signs of Spring

As I ride my bike to work, through the February weather every day, I notice changes, over time, in the roadside foliage. I think about what might be growing there in a few months and I make a mental note to check back on my prospects in the Summer.

Winter & Spring is always a lean time for foragers, especially those of the Urbane persuasion. So to entertain myself during the cold dark periods I like to test out my home made drinks and preserves to see how they are maturing. I was delighted with my Ransom Capers. 

My Elderberry Wine seems effective at staving off the colds, the Walnuts and Hazelnuts are great for baking or simply nibbling, the Cider and Apple juice is still lovely, and the Grape wine has matured into a perfectly tolerable rose. 

So, to keep you amused during the Winter/Spring months, Dear Reader, here is a fun quiz, to get you thinking about the hedgerows in your own area...

1. Identify the tree & flower images on this page. 
2. Work out if they will deliver anything edible. 
3. Work out the time of year that you would harvest and produce.
4. Plan what you could make from the available bounty.

Spring Snow Storms

I know very little about the distance between stars, or the motives of Pepys, but I can always smell the Summertime at the latest by early Spring. 

We are currently bracing ourselves for a big snow-storm, this morning it was -8 when I got on my bike to commute to work. There will be plenty of cold and frost yet to come but the signs are all there, among the flora and fauna.

Plum blossom is beginning to bloom on the branches and this is always my personal first sign of the approaching Spring.

This Winter I have been enjoying the occasional medicinal glass of last year's  Elderberry Port or Vin de Noix to stave of  any colds or other ills. 

The Cider is going down well too, although the Perry still needs a month or so more to age. The Mulberry Gin seems to be vanishing into the ether, evaporating my wife might suggest!

The Pear and Walnut Chutney, a huge personal favourite is still making a regular appearance in the fridge. It goes so well with cheese and perks up my lunchtime sandwiches a treat.

We still have bucket-loads of Hazelnuts and Walnuts left, despite my best efforts to nibble through our hoard during the chilly, dark evenings. So, I think we need to spend some time shelling a whole big load, and then make lots of flapjack and chocolate brownies. It shouldn't be too difficult to persuade the kids to help with that job...