Tag Archives: foraging

Autumn art and another walk in the woods

After our successful Leaf Hunt on Sunday, and outdoor Leaf Art on Monday,  we were feeling inspired and in the mood for a bit more Autumn Art on Tuesday morning.  Monkey was unwell, but the other three drew pictures of their Autumn treasures, and then we did some leaf rubbings.  I say “we” because I did it as well – and it was very satisfying and therapeutic!

Leaf drawings and rubbings 1

The yellow, green and blue leaves in the picture above were drawn by Tiddler.  In the photo collage, they rather blend in with the leaf rubbings, but I was very proud of his observational drawing skills – well, they are a good leaf shape, even if the colour is not so accurate – we did not discover any rare blue leaves!

leaf drawings and rubbings 2

On Tuesday afternoon, we wanted to take the three children who were well enough out for some fresh air, but Monkey needed to stay inside and rest as he was very poorly.  So first of all, Tiddler and Rabbit went with Granny to pick some apples in her friend’s garden.  Later on, I asked Owl to come and pick some berries with me in the woods, and Rabbit decided to come too.

Berry walk 1

We set off through the village, and as I turned to take a photograph of Rabbit I noticed that Owl had brought one of Daddy’s old phones with him so that he could take some pictures of his own.  Rabbit, therefore, featured in quite a few photos, but I don’t think she minded the attention!  We walked up to the green, and then across to the woods, past the allotments where we admired someone’s amazing pumpkin and squash harvest.

berry walk 2

We had a lovely walk, and managed to pick plenty of berries.  There were a lot of rosehips, and we were surprised (and pleased) to find a reasonable number of brambles too.

berry walk 3

After being out for quite a while, we reluctantly turned back as the afternoon was almost over.  It was beautiful and peaceful, and we could have stayed longer, but it was nearly supper time.

berry walk 4

The children enjoyed squelching in the mud with their wellies, so we paused for a little while in a particularly good muddy patch.  Rabbit took a turn with the phone camera, and thought it was very funny to take a picture of me taking a picture of her.

berry walk 5

As we left the woods, we picked some haw berries and a few more brambles at the roadside, and then went back across the green.  After a very quick play on the roundabout, we walked back to Granny’s house, stopping to pick some elderberries on the way.

berry walk 6

We arrived back in time for supper, and had stewed apple and bramble for pudding.  I brought the rest of the berries home with me, and made another batch of elderberry, rosehip and haw berry syrup.  It was a lovely walk on a beautiful Autumn day, and it’s nice to have something to show for it too.

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall

Haw Berries, Chestnuts and Freedom

On the last two Wednesday afternoons we have been out with our Home Education group.  We have been enjoying the good weather, the fresh air and the freedom to explore and learn outdoors.

haw berry picking

The week before last, we went haw berry picking at the local smallholdings where some of our home educating friends live.  We had a lovely time, and got a small but reasonable harvest of berries.  Owl was particularly keen and he really stuck at it to make sure we collected enough.  We used the berries to make haw sauce, which Owl, Daddy and I liked very much – the younger children weren’t so sure, but really I thought it was rather similar to tomato ketchup!  It lasted a mere two days, so we need to go and pick some more berries before it is too late.

Chestnut picking

This week’s activity was chestnut picking in our local park.  The same friend who took us haw picking taught us how to do it.  For the uninitiated, you hit the chestnuts with a stick to get them down and then stamp on them to remove them from their cases – so all in all, a very child-friendly exercise!

chestnut picking and conker collecting

After a bit of tree-climbing and conker collecting, we returned home with our haul.  We haven’t decided yet whether to roast the chestnuts or make soup with them.  We are finding it difficult to choose so we will just have to go back to collect some more!

I love Autumn, it’s my favourite season, and there is so much fun to be had outdoors.  We always collect leaves and conkers, but this year we are all really enjoying learning more about foraging for food.  I think that the freedom to do this kind of thing together is one of the things I like most about home education.  I am grateful to my friends for sharing their knowledge and skills with us – it seems far more valuable to me than a lot of what goes on in school.  I wish teachers had the freedom to take children out of the classroom and spend time outdoors doing things like this.

The weather has changed now, so it might not be so idyllic but we are planning to carry on making the most of the Autumn bounty for as long as possible.  Closer to home, we have plenty of apples and a few pears in our garden, as well as some pumpkins which we will be picking soon.  This evening I went out in the dark and rain to pick some apples, feeling somewhat heroic, and Suburban Dad is now making chutney at nearly midnight.  It might be a bit crazy, but there’s a great deal of satisfaction to be found in using free sources of food.  The brambles might be over for this year, but we are not done with foraging yet!

Country Kids from Coombe Mill Family Farm Holidays Cornwall