We adore THE BIG freeze
‘I ACTIVELY ENJOY THE RAIN AND THE WIND!’
Turning up fungi in winter is just one of the season’s joys for Jo Brown, illustrator of Secrets of a Devon Wood: My Nature Journal.
I’ve always been a winter person – summer is too hot, sweaty and busy – and I actively enjoy the rain and the wind. The rain brings out the fungi, the wind is exhilarating and reminds you you’re alive! Coming back from a blustery walk along a near-empty beach to a house smelling of whatever delights you have in the slow cooker is a feeling you can’t beat.
I enjoy winter food far more than summer salads, and now get all my groceries from a firm that delivers locally cured hams, steak, the most amazing orange eggs and field-fresh seasonal veg.
FABULOUS FUNGI
I love foraging, too, and even in the depths of winter I can find fungi*.
Winter Chanterelles – aka yellow legs and Trumpet Chanterelles – can be dried, and they’re delicious in casseroles. I stock up with other woodland mushroom bounty that I will use throughout the year including – Velvet Shank. Once we’ve had a frost there are even more to be found.
