This is truly my favourite time of year in the woods -nothing quite beats that lush Spring green for me!   So, with the weather as promised – a beautiful day at last!  – what a great opportunity to finally get out in the woods and play!  And catch the last of the bluebells.  A small group of us met and wandered off to play games of “123 where are you?” under the fresh green canopy.

lush green canopy of Spring

twisted and fused hornbeam trunks

Next, we wandered a bit further to play a game of “meet a tree” – one of my favourite games where, in pairs, one partner is blindfolded and guided by the other to a tree, where they feel the bark, shapes and textures of the trunk, then have to find it again when led back to the starting point and un-blindfolded!

Leading on from this game, we began a discussion about trees – are they all the same?  what’s different about them?  Then using leaf i-dials (thank you Woodland Trust’s www.naturedetectives.org.uk/) we tried to identify the trees in Queen’s Wood.  Queen’s Wood is mainly Hornbeam, Oak and Beech, with Cherries, Birch, Hazel, Ash, Rowan, Sycamore, Horse Chestnut, Field Maple, and many more, and an understorey of Holly, Hawthorn and Elder.  We found a few of these and made leaf prints on cloth and bark rubbings with twig frames.

By the way, sorry about the quality of the photos – my phone camera isn’t very good!

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Will the sun last? Either way, rain or shine it will be fine and we will have fun, join us at Gospel Oak train station at 10:20am Monday 14th May.

At last!  Some sun!  Weather looks great for tomorrow’s Woodland Wander – http://uk.weather.com/weather/tomorrow-London-UKXX0085

Fill in a contact form on the family and events page to book, or call me on 07983442410.

Hope to see you!

Ros

This month’s Woodland Wander will take place this weekend (Sunday 13th May, 10.30-12.30) – weather permitting! If the rain is torrential, check here for updates…
Anything less than torrential and we’ll be out there – there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing!
The trees are well in leaf by now, so the forest will be transformed and we will explore our changed surroundings and learn a thing or two about trees and their uses in fun activities and games.
Brave the weather and come along!

Inspired through nettles. We have been harvesting nettles and cooking with it two of our best recipes so far:

Nettle Pesto:

• Fresh Nettles – 1 cup (liquid measuring cup)
• Walnuts – 1/2 cup
• Garlic – 2 cloves chopped/or wild garlic leaves
• Olive Oil – 4 tablespoons
• Parmesan Cheese – 2 tablespoons grated

How to make it:

Harvest the top part of the nettle (approx. two leaves down from top) .

In a food processor, first crush the walnuts, then add the garlic and basil. Blend it for a few seconds, then add the oil and the cheese, blend for some more time till everything comes together. Remove and store it in the refrigerator. Use it as a spread on bread, or on pizza and in your pasta.

Nettle Soup:

1 lb potatoes

½ lb young nettles

1 medium sized onion

2 oz butter

1½ pts chicken or vegetable stock

sea salt & black pepper

4 tablespoons sour cream

Cook the peeled, chopped potatoes for 10 mins in salted water. Drain.

Wash & chop coarsely the nettles (Only pick the new, young tops,using gloves!)

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the finely chopped onion until its lightly cooked and add the nettles and stew gently for a few minutes. Add the potatoes and heated stock, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes or until tender.

When all is soft, cool slightly & purée in a blender, adding seasoning and the sour cream.

Bon appetit !

The weather forecast looks fine for tomorrow’s toddler group. I hope that I’ll have a few come and join me for fun at Mortimer Terrace.