Foraging days are happy days!
@fotostef had a brilliant idea this morning! Not to work and go for a walk at the mountain. And it was the best thing we could do this weather-weird morning.
The place we went, is where the people of our village have their vineyards. It is pretty obvious that once upon a time they also had gardens here and many fruit trees, now most of them are abandoned, so a great opportunity for some foraging for us and crazy running for our canine companion :)
Isn't it the happiest tree? So beautiful colors, and believe me, super tasty fruits!
They are called "bourneles" here and I am not sure but I think in English they are called wild plums. They can be red or yellow. Either way they are delicious!
Excuse my excitement, I couldn't stop taking photos of these photogenic fruits :)
The next 20 days (or maybe more!) we are going to taste them as much as possible. Rich in vitamins A and C, antioxidants and great for arthritis and boosting the immune system.
Next stop: abandoned vineyards. The first grapes have been already formed!
The harvest of the fresh leaves was rich and our lunch was great!
And it looks like an abundant year for grapes as well.
Wild fennel at its last days, but enough for cooking.
Someone got thirsty and luckily at the end of the route there is a spring. It is a beautiful place with clear energy. I always feel at home when I am close to plane trees. The sound of their leaves moving by the fresh air is one of my favorite sounds since I was a child.
Markos got excited :)
We were not alone there...
You think that life is easy when you are a dog...
Well, sometimes you have to model even on your day off.
This is also the time for caper to harvest. I will make them pickled, ideal for salads, but also for a taste of summer when the winter will come again. Most of the caper jars go to friends that live in the big cities or abroad, it is a way to help them travel gastronomically. These days I am thinking of organizing a small production and maybe sell it as well. It is one of the many plans!
Here we are! Our little humble basket full of goodies.
Foraging makes my heart sing. I think it is a need rooted deep inside humanity, and even though these days it is not necessarily a need, it surely gives a great joy and a sense of fulfillment.
Driving in these dirty roads can be very confusing as they keep getting divided and you can be easily lost. Of course we took the wrong turn at a point, it is almost impossible not to :)
But the view on our way back was more than rewarding!
Always grateful to Mother Earth!
This is my contribution to #SublimeSunday by @c0ff33a , as well as the #beautifulsunday by @ace108.
Wish you all a fruity day!
If you would like to know more about me this is my introduction post!
Superb! I had prepared some photos and was trying to start a post when I thought it would be good to see how my friends from afar were doing. That's how I saw this beauty! As I was writing I saw that you sent a comment, I haven't read it yet. I think telepathy works, another time I think it's a coincidence but I hope it's telepathy.
You say @fotostef had a great idea to not work and take a walk in the mountains. I think the idea is a consequence of your extended vacation. A vacation that showed you that you needed a... vacation. Because work steals you away, it rolls on and you can't stop. But it's not good, and the events after Easter I think that's what they want you to know. Besides work, you need relaxation and more time for each other. I'll tell you this, I'm an old man and I had a job in a (Greek) bank and I worked for years more than 12 hours a day. Then I realized that I didn't see how our boy grew up. I realize that I don't have many memories of our boy's teenage years, I would give anything to be able to go back and experience those times again and pay more attention, but of course, it's not possible. Sorry for talking about myself so much!
It's creepily beautiful where you walked. You manage to take such beautiful photos! I found another similarity between Romania and where you live. These "bourneles" here are called "corcodus" and are the trees of my neighborhood. The streets are full of these trees. My wife is, like you, eager to eat these fruits, she eats them even before they ripen.
Everything you've picked, how good it looks! Capers, oh what a gorgeous flower, wild fennel(I recently discovered fennel and love it), I wonder what you do with the vine leaves?
All photos of Markos, Stefanos, the dragonfly, and the spring... superb! Not to mention the view, the scenery, and the sea. I felt a bit like I was there too and seeing the sea in the distance, oh what a pleasure.
Thank you so much for what you have offered here!
Definitely telepathy!!!
What an amazing feedback dear @bluemoon, honestly it means the world to me!!!
I appreciate so much that you generously share your personal experience. I am so grateful for everything you share :)
It is so easy to get carried away by work and obligations, that's for sure. I have a busy brain, always looking for a new project, but I am a bit lazy at the same time as well, the two opposites, haha! I am sure that you will be happy to hear that since we returned I have set a limitation to 2-3 hours of farming work early in the morning 4-5 days per week :)
It is a magic place, that people have left in peace so it remains magic :)
We are always so excited when corcodus are ready, so nice that you also have them around. I guess they need some more time there till they are ripe, or maybe not?
As for the vine leaves, I am not pacient enough to make "dolmadakia"! I slice them up, add onion (preferably fresh), fennel and cumin, and any spice you like (I always use turmeric which I love) and then add rice or millet or buckwheat or whatever you want and voila, a very summery food is ready! Smells wonderfully!
The light was wonderful yesterday, I was amazed by the photos myself too, haha!
So glad you felt like you were there with us!
Same to you dear @bluemoon! You skyrocketed my good mood with this message!
Thank you! You gave me good news, first of all, that you chose this light work schedule. I, too, like to laze around, I don't seem to have enough time to laze around... because I have to work from time to time.
You're right, the corcodus is not ripe yet, it will be in two weeks.
Dolmadakia has a counterpart in Romanian, they are called "sarmale" and it is a kind of national food, the meat version but also the vegetarian one, which is made in fasting. All my life I thought it was a Romanian food and now I found out that it is Balkan and from there it came to us.
I'm so glad my message had such a good effect, glad you are well!
Way beyond good!!!
To be honest I thought dolmadakia was a national Greek and Turkish food! Learning about sarmale makes me think that our cuisine is not as unique as I thought, hahaha! Amazed once again by how many things we have in common!
I prefer the vegetarian ones, I love them, I can eat dozens of them!
Light work schedule works well, it just needs consistency and patience :)
Well, @traisto! Dolmadakia (sarma) was brought to the Romanian countries by Turks and Greeks, it's the most plausible situation (I don't know what the specialists say), anyway there were exchanges between our countries and it's very good that it happened like that. Magda too prefers no meat.
I hope it goes well with light work and maybe find best practices for good results from less work! I hope you can. I didn't manage that, although I tried.
Yes, you are right, of course they were exchanges, it would be impossible not to!
I am grateful for baklavas and chocolate and so many more, haha!
Stefanos as well prefers them without meat. So, I guess the three of us will share one plate and you will get your own, right??? :))
I have to admit that the plan has already fallen apart, haha!
But I am working on it!!! Doing better than before though, and that's a good start!
For your sake, everyone, I will give up meat, of course!
Well, I was afraid the plan wouldn't work. I saw you didn't have time for Hive and suspected you were tired.
I couldn't stick to the plan either. It's important that you saw that it can improve and ease the work that needs to be done.
My idea of foraging! Wonderful companions. Delicious food. Magnificent views
Thank you sweet @buckaroobaby! This is one of the greatest places for foraging close to the village, what a great feeling every time we get there :)
I know that you can feel my excitement :))
Oh I love this post! Great pictures Fontini and what a great forage. If you are foraging you are for sure eating what is in season. It is so hard to know these days, since grocery stores have all types of food all year round. The wild plums look great! Yummy and that was funny about Markos having to model on his day off.
Thank you Sara!
You are so right about the "in season" issue. I think that kids nowadays don't even know that tomatoes are a summer fruit, since they have it all year round on the table, its taste is not even close to real, and it is so sad. Wild fruits and veggies have this amazing aroma and taste! The real one, that makes you feel emotions while you eat them.
Haha, Markos is 24/7 model :))
What a wonderful day and a bounteous harvest!
It was wonderful indeed @goldenoakfarm! Harvests like this make you feel rich for real!!!
Love the pics of Markos at the water!
Oh, he was truly excited! I should have captured though the moment when something jumped out of the water (an insect or similar) and he fell off the wall... Not the calmest guy in the world, but he is cute :))
Thank you for stopping by @kstreet!
Wow, beautiful pictures and so much abundance.
I love this
What a nice thing to do 🙂
I hope you are well.
xx
Thank you dear @mamrita! So much abundance, yes! The real one, that you can smell and taste :)
Friends love it too. Not always easy to send jars abroad, but we have a friend in Berlin that he becomes a child every time he gets his jar, haha! And that makes me happy!
I hope you are well, too! Love! xxxx
Yes, the fruits does look like and sure looks like what's know as plum to me too.
Hope you enjoy you free food.
These wild plums were delicious indeed and I enjoyed them to the max :)
It is always so nice to taste true food! Thank you for your comment @ace108!
You're welcome
Oh wow, look at the bounty you have there. I love wild plums, I would have to go higher up in the mountains to find any here. It looks so green and lush there still, everything is drying up here xxxx
Hey @trucklife-family! I just love wild plums, too!!! The weather here is not so hot yet, so it is quite green yes, not very usual for this time of year, but very welcome :) I read that you have very high temperatures these days there, I hope it will get cooler soon! xxxx
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