Hidden places- secret treasures- autumn forage the Gaia way.
Autumn is here and its time to forage for all those treasures that Mallorca's abundant nature is providing for us. The summer heat is over and now begins that wonderful run up to winter which seems like a blessed second spring that we are given every year. It is a pleasure to be out of doors again, to rejoice in walks in our forests and hidden gardens.
Our valley used to be a market garden for our village and there are many abandoned gardens full of fruit, herbs and, in their over grown state - wild medicinal plants.
We are gathering, almonds, the algaroba* Carob fruit*, prickly pears, pomegranates, laurel leaf, rosemary, winter jasmin blossom, figs and if we are lucky autumn roses and rosehip. We process all of our harvest into fine products.
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| Fruity exfoliants |
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| The first of the winter flowering Jasmin blossoms |
After the first, sometimes violent rain storms most plants get wonderful fresh green leaf tips and that is the time to gather. We have been distilling fresh green pine needle tips, wild thyme, mint & rosemary.
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| Rosemary in flower |
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| Pine with fresh green rain fed tips |
My personal favourite is a deserted, hidden garden with a small forest spring at ground level. You can tell that somebody has really loved this garden at some point as there are many thoughtfully placed plants and trees- my favourite a white rose bush that has been gown over a tall tree stump of an almond tree.
It has hundreds of small white roses of an old fashioned kind that you never see commercially anywhere. There is an old fashioned hollywood swing and a small spring fed pool- it is totally iddillic- and no I am not saying where it is.
We take regular walks there throughout the year, passing through this garden. We always find something that inspires us to use what we forage and in thinking up new products.
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| The secret spring |
Working with Amber, who has studied herbal medicine we have are becoming ever more aware of the sometimes forgotten plants and their properties. We have gathered, infused, macerated and distilled many plants this year and are busy preserving more for our winter use
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