Tag Archives: Spring flowers

fruit, historical recipes, nature, plants

British Wild Flowers: The Blackthorn

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I was driving along the roads around her a couple of days ago and the blackthorn was in full bloom. It struck me that I’d not posted a British Wild Flowers post for ages.

So let me introduce The Blackthorn.

This tree is in flower right now. Large areas of white are visible in every hedgerow around here (East Sussex in the south east of the UK).

It is one of the earliest trees to bloom. I’m calling them trees because they can grow to four metres. Yes, that’s a smallish tree, but I think it’s bigger than a bush! However, because they are often found in hedges, they are trimmed and I’ve not seen a really tall one for ages.

They can live for 100 years, apparently.

Image by Lenny Löwenstern from Pixabay

They are one of the earliest bushes to bloom in spring, usually around March. As such, they are very useful for insects to find nectar and pollen at this early time. The leaves are also the food for a number of butterfly caterpillars.

As the dense stems are very thorny, they provide an excellent nesting site for birds, and the caterpillars and other insects that eat it become an easy meal for them.

They have been associated with witchcraft and it was said that witches wands were made from its wood. More prosaically, it was used to make walking sticks and it is said to burn well.

In the past it was used to make tonics. Bark, flowers and fruits were used for these.

It belongs to the genus, prunus (Prunus spinosa), and is thus related to the cherry, plum, peach, nectarine, apricot and almond. Like them, it has a fruit containing a stone, but unlike them, you wouldn’t want to munch on them.

Image by Hans from Pixabay

The fruit is called a sloe. It is a small black fruit , but you wouldn’t want to eat it as it is because it’s very sour and bitter. However, when cooked, it is much more palatable. Sloes are often made into jam and sloe gin.

To make sloe gin, you need 500 ml gin, 250g of sloes and 250 g of sugar. and a 1 litre jar with a tight-fitting lid.

First prepare the sloes by cleaning them and pricking them all over with a fork. I believe that freezing them works, too. This is to break the skin so the juice can escape.

Add the sloes to the jar along with the sugar and gin. Shake it thoroughly. (Don’t forget to put the lid back on first!) Shake daily for the first couple of months, then weekly for about 3 months. Store it in a cool dark place.

The gin will have taken on a deep purple colour and the sugar will have removed the sour and bitterness from the sloes. When the time is over, decant the gin. You can filter it if you wish. Bottle it into clean dry bottles and store in a cool dry place. It continues to improve as it matures, and it’s best drunk after a year. (So prepare this year to drink next!)

Enjoy.

My mum made sloe gin from time to time, but her forte was damson gin. It was made in the same way, except she used damsons instead of sloes. I think that was even nicer!

Thanks to The Woodland Trust and Wikipedia for some of the details of this lovely plant.

There are some more unusual drink recipes in my recipe book, Viv’s Family Recipes, which you can get by clicking on the cover of the book in the sidebar. This book has some recipes dating as far back as 1909 and came from my grandma. Although not things we eat nowadays, long cooking and probably too much fat, it’s interesting to see what kind of things people used to eat.

Have you ever made sloe gin, or any other kind of unusual drinks? I would be interested to find out.

free book, Give Away, Poetry

Spring Blooms. A Poem.

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This poem is taken from my poetry book, January to June, One Poem a Day Book 1.

It isn’t the poem for today, but today’s was rather short, so I picked tomorrow’s instead!

The hedgerows and woodlands are looking lovely with the spring flowers.

A mantle of gold is thrown over the heath;
The gorse is in bloom, spread over the ground.
Wonderful memories it does bequeath 
As its delicate perfume spreads all around.
Golden, as well, are the banks by the road
With dandelions like small shards from the sun.
Primroses, cowslips and celandines explode
Their colour, as if it were shot from a gun.

Pools of pale lilac cover the verge
With the beautiful flowers of ladysmock.
In April and May these flowers emerge
And behind them, grow the tall leaves of the dock.
In woodland the ground is covered in white.
Not snow, but a small and delicate flower.
Wood anemones nod their heads in delight
As the breeze blows in a gentle shower.

Wild cherry and blackthorn are white in the hedge
Blossoms promise of fruit yet to come.
In autumn we make sloe gin from the pledge
They gave us, as they ripen in the sun.
Spring is a time for renewal and growth
As all nature wakens again.
Our hopes are renewed, as she fulfils her oath
As we listen to the song of the wren.

If you like my poem, you can get book 1 as an ebook for free. There is one poem to read every day from January to June. Then book 2 takes up the poems from July to December.

The books are also available in other formats from your favourite online store.

Click to get my free poetry book.

What is your favourite type of poetry to read? Do you enjoy poems written in the modern way, or are you a person who prefers more traditional types?

Let us know in the comments.

Poetry

British Wild Flowers. The Lesser Celandine.

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Lesser celandines are one of the earliest wild flowers to appear, blooming from late January until the end of April.

They are small, growing to a mere 2-3 inches, but form masses of flowers. They look gorgeous when in bloom. A veritable carpet of yellow stars.

They are found on banks, at the edges of woods and paths, in grassland. In fact, almost everywhere. One might be tempted to put some in the garden, but think twice. Although they are lovely little flowers and bloom when there isn’t much else, they can be invasive.

They spread from tiny tubers which grow in the leaf axels. Rooting them out can be a problem as it can help them to spread! My suggestion is to enjoy them where they are. I did see some for sale in a local garden centre. They were lovely with unusual dark, reddish leaves. Very tempting.

I understand, from reading on the net, that their leaves are a rich source of vitamin C. Useful at a time when, in past ages people hadn’t had much green vegetables during the winter months and may have been suffering from scurvy as a result. I have no experience of eating these leaves, and so cannot recommend them as a salad vegetable. ALWAYS CHECK FOR TOXICITY BEFORE EATING ANYTHING GATHERED FROM THE WILD.

Here’s a little poem to the celandine.

Celandines

Little stars litter the grass.

Have they fallen from the sky?

They are shining when I pass

Reflecting sun’s rays from on high.

Celandines are here to say

Winter’s gloom is nearly past.

Spring is really on the way;

Warmth will soon be here, at last.

Bright and cheerful little flowers

Covering the woods and banks  

Creating lovely yellow bowers.

We should all be giving thanks.

I hope you enjoyed this little post about one of our early spring flowers. Feel free to share it with anyone you think might find it interesting, but please link back to this blog if you do.

If you want to read more of my poetry, you can buy my first poetry anthology, Miscellaneous Thoughts, by clicking on the book cover in the side bar or the title in this paragraph.

I just looked at my poem on the preview, and the breaks between the verses does not appear even though I added them when writing. this always happens and I wonder why. Does anyone know why?

Please leave your comments in the comments box. I love hearing from you.