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Wanderlust Part 1 - Lake District

I was over-taken by the urge & desire to wander. My birthday was approaching. Moon was waxing and would be full in two days more and would coincide with, 'Lammas' - celebration of the early harvest. The call of the wild was explicit and clear, I was stuck in the city, I didn't want to be here.

Now, I love foraging, I love Leeds, I love visiting my various wild food haunts but there are times when a desire to explore new areas and regions really take hold. The UK is home to a variety of habitats/environs and each of these are host to a varying array of wild species. If, for example, I wish to find Spignel (Meum athamanticum) then it's fairly pointless in me trapsing around Yorkshire in search of it - Spignel is reportedly found in only 2 regions in England, 1 in Wales, 5 in Scotland and introduced at 1 site in Ireland. My love and enjoyment of wild plants, fungi etc... is an extension of my wider love of nature. It's great, after a day of wandering the fields, woodlands, hedgerows and coasts to return home with a basket or bag, full or partially of wild tasty treats. However, if on my wanderings I return home with actual samples or pictures of plants that aren't edible I'm equally happy. The journey and exploration I went on was great for all these reasons and more. What follows is a documentary (mainly of images) of my some of my discoveries and experiments.

Lake District: I explored the more northern reaches of the Lake District.


Pictures like the one on the right aren't really the kind I wish to take and post up but then again, discovering some lazy arsed, disrespectful git bags trash in the middle of a beautiful location like the Lake District, a NATIONAL PARK, isn't what I expect to find. Sort it out peeps, if you can carry it when it's full and therefore heavier, why can't you take it home or to a rubbish bin - it's not like there aren't any available is it!! Right, now I've got that off my chest, this post gets cleaner and more beautiful by the picture :)


Cleaning up after untidy others. It's a national park you twats!



Sheathed Woodtuft (Kuehneromyces mutabilis)
 















Waxcaps. Possibly a new one for me, if so I'm thinking Vermilion Waxcap. My other guess is Scarlet Waxcap. Fungi can appear very different throughout their growth stages and from pictures in books. All part of the fun of discovering.












Undecided?
Collared Parachute (Marasmius rotula)

Sometimes you have to look real hard or zone in deep to find the smallest of wild things (right).


 

















Daldinia concentrica
Exidia plana
The only 'gothic' section to this post! Exidia plana has a gellatinous n bouncey texture - sure there must be a culinary use for it somewhere... Daldinia concentrica is a great 'bushcrafting' fungi and when dry takes a spark from a flint & steel - think ancient ancestors....









Sneezewort (Achillea ptarmica). Great fun this one!
Ladys Bedstraw
Sneezewort has a numbing & tingling effect when chewed :) The leaves slightly less so and are a great salad addition. Ladys Bedstraw, once dried, has an adorable aroma, use to essence custards, cordials etc...













A wonderful array of wild flowers
A 'fence' eating tree :)
I'm guessing there is something lacking in the trees diet?
Wildflower meadows, areas have declined massively through poor land management, over development & pollution. They are integral to a healthy eco-system.










Angelica (Angelica sylvestris)
The sun came blazing through and I took the opportunity to repose and bask in it's glory. Wild Angelica (right), an aromatic herb of the 'Carrot'- 'Apiaceae' family.














Hazels Hazels Hazels! So many Hazels :)
So many Cherries n Redcurrants too
Hazels were still under-ripe but the fruits were sublime and I got my 5 a day for sure :)
Feel healthy!












At this point I'm going to halt. I have so many images that this post could go on for ages which may possibly bore the peruser and definitely me - blast that computer time! :) I'll be posting part 2 very soon - the Scottish half of my adventure... http://edible-leeds.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/wanderlust-part-2-scotland.html
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