Went on a quick walk today with my girlfriend, her dog and her sister’s dog (both of which are nightmares to walk with - hence it being a quick walk).

We went on a path we hadn’t been down before where we found a huge amount of Fennel - the first time I’ve found it in the wild.

As I spotted it I knew it was either Fennel or Dill but a quick sniff and it was obviously the former, either that or a stick of aniseed rock disguised as a plant!

A couple of years ago I came across a recipe for sloe jam and decided I wanted to forage for some sloe to make my own.

I went out with my foraging book and managed to find a bush with a few berries on it. I naively ate one and tried to explain how bad it was to my girlfriend with streaming eyes and lips stuck to dry gums. Unfortunately, the bush was pretty low on berries and we didn’t find any more. It was late in the year and a couple of frosts had past so we decided to wait until the following year.

Summer was really good the next year and having got my eyes (and lips) on a few sloe the year before, I was certain I knew what to look out for. Thanks to the weather, the bushes on my usual coastal walk were more like shopping isles in a supermarket that stocked nothing but sloe. We picked so much that we’re still eating sloe and blackberry jam to this day.

This year spring is well under way and I’ve noticed something that I’ve never seen mentioned in a book before — the easiest way to find sloe.

The bushes I got my sloe from last year are now all blooming with little white flowers. Because it’s so early in the year, nothing much else is blooming yet. Anything white amongst the still bear branches and few early shooting leaves is sloe — or at least sloe to be! I found plenty of spots last year to pick sloe from but now knowing this, I’m finding lots more without even trying.

So, if you’re looking for sloe yourself, don’t look for the berries at the end of summer, look for the small white flowers early spring that stand out amongst the greenery. You might even look to the ground where you’ll see lots of the miniature white petals lying around.

Tomato seeds only took a week before they needed potting. Gardener’s Delight and Sweet Millions

Woke up to find some Tomato seedlings on their way! Gardener’s Delight.

This year’s seeds

Homemade White Loaf

Found in Dawlish Warren nature reserve. Didn’t eat.

Found in Dawlish Warren Copse. Didn’t risk eating it!

Had an awesome day today. Walked from Dawlish to Dawlish Warren and I have never seen the sea so far out before. There was tons of exposed mussels, I conveniently had a carry bag in my bag so I nabbed a load and had them for lunch. About 5 hours on and I haven’t died from sea food poisoning yet.