The Sunday afternoon foraging walk with Kevin Godby delivered! The plants, the warm sunshine, the good humoured ramblers and our amiable and knowledgeable guide came together – and a good time was had by all. By now some of you know Kevin brings along experimental tidbits from his foraging using the local plants and he didn’t disappoint!
There may be another walk in the autumn, depending on how dry the summer is – or isn’t. Watch this space!
And thank you to Angela and Sandra for the photos…
Today’s Tree Walk was a huge success! We had more than 20 people along to hear John Denton’s wise words. Although it rained a bit, it didn’t put us off learning about the amazing varieties in the park. We were introduced to different kinds of trees – Gmynosperms (naked seeds) and Angiosperms (enclosed seeds).
One young man took on the task of collecting a leaf from every tree we stopped to look at, and he ended up with a very full bag.
Starting in the car park we saw a Common Lime, a Box Elder, a Copper/Purple Beech we moved on to look at a Holly and a False Acacia – in all there were more than 20 trees identified.
Here are the updated documents:
John asked us to add the following:
“On the walk a lady (sorry I didn’t ask her name) asked me to identify a tree which was next to the car park behind the Lime Tree. At the time I hadn’t a clue but I’m now sure that it is a variety of “Flowering Ash”, properly called Manna Ash. “
Local enthusiastic amateur, John Denton, will lead us on a walk through the park – introducing you to local flora and fauna, you’ll learn more than you ever dreamt of about the trees in the park, how they’ve survived and thrived, how old they are and much more!
Sunday 28 April at 2pm
Meeting point : Notice Board by the car park. Binoculars and magnifying glass would be handy. Sturdy footwear would be an advantage.
Read and download John’s Trees Key and Tree Classification in advance of the walk!
Dig out the boots and join one of the Spring Walks and Talks planned: Birds, trees, flora foraging and bats!
Full details for each walk will be up in the park notice boards, emailed to members and on this site as they come up.
All walks are now free but donations to support park projects are gratefully accepted.
This photo is of the eager Bat-seekers that came along for our annual Bat Walk 7 September. Les had more bat facts for us and as usual a pipistrelle buzzed the crowd prompting the walk to start!
We explored the different environments in the park, getting our night vision sorted out and enjoying the pleasant weather. A tawny owl followed our progress for awhile (looking for mates not humans) and bats came out to display their aerobatic skills while gobbling their evening meal!
Thank you to everyone who managed the pre-booking. Please keep an eye out for another walk in May if you missed this one. And thanks for the donations on the night, these go towards a second bat detector.
If you would like to borrow the FSP detector for a week please follow link http://fspark.org.uk/…/Terms-and-conditions-for-loan-of-FSP-bat-detector.docx
Have a look at the Bat Conservation Trust website for loads more about these important creatures. www.bats.org.uk
It’s time to adjust your night vision for the now annual Bat Walk. After a short intro – next to the notice board by the Plum Lane car park – Les Clark will lead the walk through the woods and glades where the bats hang out. Bat detectors supplied!
This time we ask that you book your free place in advance using;
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bat-walk-tickets-48480937790
A maximum of 50 people allows everyone to get the most out of the experience. If you don’t have computer access please drop a note through the door at 189 Plum Lane with your name and phone number.
Wear suitable footwear (maybe bug spray too) and bring a small torch if you have one. The walk is approximately 1 1/2 hours. Dogs are welcome if kept on a lead.
FSP and Woodlands Farm have collaborated to offer a relaxing ramble through these two diverse green spaces. It will be a meandering walk discovering varied habitats, plants, wildlife and atmospheres.
Walk begins at the car park entrance to Shrewsbury Park on Plum Lane and includes the woods, Dothill allotments and nature reserve. We then follow Barry Gray through the Dothill gate to Woodlands Farm taking in more woods, hedgerows and the hay meadows in full bloom. Endpoint is the café with refreshments available! You can retrace the route to the Park or take the 89 or 486 bus back up the hill.
Cost: £2 – Children up to 16 go free. We will be walking through fields containing ewes and lambs, so sorry, NO DOGS allowed on this walk.
Wear sturdy shoes and clothes for the weather on the day. Any questions about accessibility etc. please contact werfs@gmail.com
The weather gods were smiling on Sunday 13 May, as we gathered in the park to look at bee behaviour around the blossoming flowers, ably guided by local Apiarist, John Large.
The idea was to mark some foraging honey bees, with a view to finding them in the apiary hives later, but the bees proved (mainly) elusive.
We then departed for Oxleas Wood Apiary, where after a short, but informative talk, beekeeping suits and gauntlets were passed round, preparing us to get up close and personal with the bees.
Opening up the hives identifying the Queens, and seeing the way the pollen, nectar, honey and bee larvae were stored was a real eye-opener.
Later on, we even got a chance to taste the amazing honey – a great day with a very sweet ending!
Thanks go to John Large – find out more about his Beekeeping courses and Apiary Days now.
If you’ve ever wondered how you’d survive if you were stranded in the woods over a weekend, our local foraging expert, Kevin Godby is the man to ask.
On Sunday 6 May, 26 residents gathered, eager to learn more about foraging. Amongst the edible plants were, black mustard, nettles, ground elder and ash keys (samples of which Kevin had pickled last year). See a list of our Foraging_Finds
As the group munched their way through the park, he talked about how the first communities would have used foraging to supplement their diets, eating small amounts from each plant. It is an important thing to note, as this would stop any digestion problems from eating too much of a particular plant.
Kevin works for Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency, delivering the Growing Greenwich project at 5 locations in Greenwich Borough. It allows local residents to attend free, drop in gardening sessions and is part of the Good Food in Greenwich network.
To find out more about Growing Greenwich please contact:
Kevin Godby on 020 8269 4880 or email Kevin on Kevin@gcda.org.uk
Update: Kevin has some recipe advice for fellow foragers:
The cherry plum jam I made had less sugar than ‘proper jam’ as it is kept in the fridge. To make it I squeezed out the stones as I worked through the pile of fruit and cooked in a preserving pan.
The hogweed omelette would have been tastier if I had ignored the poor advice online that says frying brings out the flavour. If I were doing it again, I would use a smaller amount of the youngest fresh leaves, chopped fine, perhaps steamed for a couple of minutes to soften, and stirred into the egg just before cooking.
I based my pickled ash keys on the parts of several recipes I liked the look of but this one is a decent starting point, the main thing is to boil them and discard the water a few times to remove the bitterness before making the vinegar. Use cider vinegar and brown sugar. I didn’t include ginger as I didn’t want it to overpower the other flavours. Some recipes add curry type spices which doesn’t appeal to me. The harvesting timing is crucial, they need to be quite small and not be at all stringy when tasted raw from the tree, but soon the bunches of keys will be hidden by the leaves until they suddenly become too big.
Link to recipe for Rowan Jelly (ignore the waffle that precedes the recipe, and can use ordinary apples instead of crab apples).
Enjoy!
