Birdies Peas

Lorna Allison · Post by **Lorna Allison** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 7:54 pm

Hi Annie

I used to grow wild flowers for projects like school gardens and community grounds. I think that your Birdies Peas would likely be the seeds inside the pea type seedpods of a member of the Vetch family.

Like you I am in Perthshire and you see them twining up the hedgerows often. The nicest one has longish racemes of dark blue flowers. Wikipedia says the seeds of certain kinds of vetch "can be eaten by ruminant animals" - reckon that could well cover youngsters! Broom has pea like seedpods too, haven't looked up to see whether they are edible or not.

We have a type of fir tree in the garden with HUGE cones held upright which fall off in the wind and I quite often take off some of the green scales and eat the tip - a bit like you do with globe artichokes. Tried to get my little grandson interested (didn't tell his mother of course) but he gave me a long look then spat it out. Children just aint what they used to be.

Perhaps this will help

Lorna

Post by **joette** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 11:06 pm

Re Brambles I have just frozen my fourth batch for the winter-sometimes get used at Christmas/New Year,sometimes it's all gone! All my English friends now refer to them as Brambles as they think that makes more sense as they ramble all over the bush!
I used ove the ginger wine too-you can still purchase the Essence at the Co-op-the Scottish branches anyway.You might be horrified now when you see how much sugar goes into the making of it.We used to make it for Christmas &Neerday season.The"wine" would be decanted into empty "ginger" bottles(Lemonade,Irn-Bru etc) & then given to the children & teetootallers.An occasional bottle would be found at the back of the larder at some point over the year & my Dad would be extremely interested in it which used to puzzle me as a child as he never drank the fresh stuff

Lorna Allison · Post by **Lorna Allison** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:25 am

A footnote Annie. I forgot to say that the little pea pods of Vetch go absolutely black before they split open.

Lorna

annie1 · Post by **annie1** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 8:07 am

Hi Lorna

Thank you for that, I found out last night from a woman who had lived in the same area that the plant had yellow flowers and the pods were very slim and black, she looked at a few pictures and thinks it might have been a plant named Birds Foot Trefoil, but she is getting back to me, she is certain it was a member of the pea family, if it is this Birds Foot, its good news for me as they grow wild around hedges and fields.
I will tell her about the vetch family and look at that also.
Thanks
Ann

Lorna Allison · Post by **Lorna Allison** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:18 pm

Hi Annie

Oh absolutely - Birds Foot Trefoil ! - that will be it and, as you say, it is everywhere, black pods etc and the name just fits too.

I am just going to nip out and taste some - ah no, I take that back, mine hasn't seeded yet. Ah well, that is a treat in store

Bye, Lorna

annie1 · Post by **annie1** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:01 am

Hi Lorna

I hope they were edible!! My Mother also told me she ate Hawthorn berries, but a friend pointed out they can be dangerous!
I wish I had been taught what we could and could'nt eat in the wild, but once in a town I guess shops took over.
I might just invest in a good book about plants.

Ann

Russell · Post by **Russell** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 9:11 pm

Hi Ann

I used to eat Hawthorn berries frequently as a child with no ill effects. They staved off the hunger pangs if you were still miles away from the supper table (and expecting to be sent to bed without it anyway for straying too far)
They are fairly tasteless things with a great big stone inside.
The best treat was the Geans (wild cherries) They were small and sharp but still a treat.

Wild, fresh mushrooms were great too. We used to peel off the skin and eat them raw. Not very hygienic but I think our constitutions were well hardened by the 'Peck o' dirt' my grandmother talked about.

Russell

apanderson · Post by **apanderson** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:31 am

Ginger Wine (or Cordial as Russell says) . . . . .

We all thought we were so grown up when wee got a wee glass at oor wee grannie & grandpa's house at Ne'erday.

Our local co-op still has it, the wee bottles usually appear at the same time as the selection boxes etc.

I think I might indulge this year, even if it's only for the sake of nostalgia

Anne

apanderson · Post by **apanderson** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:33 am

Jings, I nearly forgot!

What about a nice stick of rhubarb and a poke of sugar to dip it in . . . . . . bliss!

Anne

annie1 · Post by **annie1** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:22 pm

Hi Russel

I'm glad to hear someone else ate these Berries, and many thanks for evoking another memory, Geans, my mother recalled how tasty these were, but I could not remember the name

I think a wee bit of dirt boosted the immune system, everything is too sterile these days.
Anne, I just gave a wee lad his first rhubarb and a poke of sugar last week and well, lets just say the sugar went down well

Ann