A Bountiful Harvest Moon

Dear readers,

We are nearing harvest moon once more, and oh, it couldn’t be more bountiful.

Luckily, where I live, the rain set in just early enough to spare most of the fruit harvest of late summer/early fall, so now we have an absolute wealth of gorgeous fruit, nuts and even some mushrooms.

Today, I want to share all the lovelies that I’ve been blessed with by Mother Nature and maybe even give you a few ideas on what you can forage right now in your own area.

Apples, Apples, Apples!

As mentioned, this year’s fruit harvest is especially great and enjoyable, and first and foremost, its bounty brought us gorgeous apples!

We’re in so much luck to have them simply standing right next to our apartment complex on a publicly available plot of greenery where we go on walks almost every day.

And every single time, I just have to forage those gorgeous ruby-and-gold fruits with crisp white flesh and an aroma so fragrant I can never find the likes in any store.

They really are something different.

And this year, I found absolute giants all over the meadow.

They really were great in any capacity, and we used them for everything: apple compote, in our fruit salad, yoghurt, on their own or topped with peanut butter.

I’d love to know what that specific kind of apple is called, so I can get one of the same variety for my future garden (at least I hope I will have one of those some day).

Maybe I’ll make it to this year’s apple fair that takes place near where I grew up.

If so, there’s a good chance I’ll be able to find out what the variety is, since they have specialists identifying fruit for you there.

The treats from that market are also beyond compare, and I really loved that kind of little fall fair all throughout growing up, until adulthood.

And still.

A Surprisingly Good Mushroom Year

Something else that really surprised me were the mushrooms popping up spontaneously all over my neighborhood.

I was taught that shrooms like a wet summer followed by drier fall weather, and so far it’s all been relatively hot and dry this year, with the exception of the past few weeks when the rain finally came and fell on some nights.

I suppose that has been enough, because ever since then I have been counting some early-to-late-summer mushrooms popping up.

Other than the, in my vicinity, very frequently found scarletina bolete that I don’t particularly enjoy, I’ve seen a huge chicken of the woods and, maybe the prettiest too, Lactarius rufus and the very early stages of chanterelle.

I hope for much more rain to come before fall, so I can hopefully go foraging for shrooms properly this year too.

Last year, we only had a super short time in which Leccinum scabrum grew, but in absolute obscene amounts.

We had friends for dinner twice in a row and still had some left over for freezing.

As the chicken of the woods was also getting more abundant by the day, I am considering a foraging trip to the nearby river and maybe making some wood-chicken nuggets!

Before that, I don’t think our close forest is gonna produce anything of use.

A Good Year for Seeds and Nuts

Spring was mild but late, which for the walnut trees is actually a good thing.

A late frost kills the young buds and then there’s not gonna be many walnuts in fall.

This happened three years in a row, so I was overjoyed when this year the conditions were just right.

Now I can pick up walnuts and hazelnuts all over my morning walk route.

While still in the early ripening stages, I was able to fill a good bowl with the bounty.

Especially since store-bought nuts have gotten horrendously expensive, these make a lovely addition!

Definitely at the top of my foraging list for me this year.

One More Orchard…

One more spot I haven’t gotten around to swinging by yet is a somewhat secluded orchard on a sheep’s pasture where they planted fruit trees years ago.

Normally, I go there on my workout route and check for Leccinum scabrum, but as I don’t have much hope for those, I haven’t gotten around to checking on the trees either.

The fruit there is, however, especially ripe, lovely and sweet, and a good variety too.

As soon as our apples are used up, I’ll give that spot a good long visit, basket in tow, and hope for some compote material.

Stocking Up for Winter

Beyond food, I’m considering harvesting rosehip and stinging nettle, along with other medicinal herbs this year.

Late-summer rain has been blessing us with loads of watering for all the foliage, and we’re finally living in our little green oasis again.

Stocking up for the winter might just be the way to go.