Photo-a-Day  (Saturday, 10th September, 2022)

What a prayer to wish for ,
What a dream to keep ,
When I wake tomorrow - this ! Is my dawn from sleep..

Lovely photo. But how come you were up so early, Poet ?

Another mystical tinged atmosphere at Hic Bibi… just the sound of crackling undergrowth beneath to disturb the silence…. Ouch!

I like your style Poet, it has a mood all of its own.

Looks like Himalayan balsam a beautiful but evasive plant.Poppers,plenty near me

What a peaceful scene, and it's almost sepia, like a Victorian photograph. It would make a wonderful jigsaw puzzle but would take an age to complete!

I knew this was one of your pics straight away, some realy good shades make a very nice view, I think a bit off the bottom would have made it even better.

Looks like Himalayan balsam a beautiful but evasive plant.Poppers,plenty near me

Alan , wandering alone so early you feel you own the earth , like Adam .

The sun was flooding the sky over Winter Hill so I had to cut the glare by going behind the tree to take the picture .

Poppers is a good description of balsam Pw . The fruits do indeed explode sometimes sneezing the seed quite a few yards .

In retrospect Fred you're right , I didn't notice at the time .

Many thanks to all for commenting .

looks that the farmer has finished his hay baling from the other photo a day a few days back, I can imagine he'll be happy too with those early nights and late mornings creeping in now ever so faster along with a most definite chill in the air.

Those Himalayan Balsam seed pods certainly do pop Pw, used to love going around them and finding the ripe pods to touch and to watch and listen them explode, I also carried them carefully and put them onto folks shoulders, when they saw them and tried to brush them off it would give them a scare when they popped open, and far better than anything from a joke shop.

According to wiki 'the pods can contain up to 800 seeds and can shoot them up to 22 feet, 7m away.' So there's some force contained within the pods to send the seeds so far. Wherever you see them there are always plenty of Bumble and also Honey Bees going from flower to flower so they're very rich in nectar.

I've been out wandering all day. The village where I live had some Himalayan Balsam growing so lots of us village folk met up early one morning just as the sun was rising and organized what's known as a Balsam bashing session.

Is , was be .

Mines been taken by developers, soul destroying, more than I can explain ! Hang onto it Poet . I play pictures like yours in my mind , every single day .. What we had and what we knew . You are lucky Poet to have it still living and breathing , mines Aluminium , or such like , and vast areas of warehouse . Like I said , soul destroying how progress just washes it all away

Looks like Himalayan balsam a beautiful but evasive plant.Poppers,plenty near me

Well Mick here was I expecting you to say you all later enjoyed a hot Himalayan Balsam Seed Curry lunch sitting around a campfire after a morning bashing Himalayan Balsam, you missed out there.

Free food
Himalayan Balsam is a tasty plant commonly eaten as curry in its native Northern India. By foraging for this free food you can help your budget and the environment. The more seeds we eat, the fewer seeds there will remain to spread this plant. This plant is the least harmful of our three main invasive species. Bees adore it and we can eat it but when it gets to be too abundant it crowds out our natives.

Collect the flowers once they appear in the summer and the seeds in Autumn, August/September. Just DON'T plant them!

Immature seed pods (before they reach the 'explosive' stage) are edible whole, and can be cooked like radish pods or mangetout (snow peas) and used in stir-fries and curries.

The seeds themselves can be eaten raw and have a nutty taste that is variously described as being like hazelnuts or walnuts. Collect the seeds by covering the whole seed head with flowers and all in a bag. Touching the seeds through the bag will make the seeds explode into it. Both unripe cream coloured seeds and the dark brown/black ripe seeds are edible. Seeds can be eaten whole, toasted and ground to make flour, crushed and used as a spice or substituted in any recipe that calls for hazelnuts. They are excellent baked in cakes, breads and biscuits and make a welcome addition to soup, stews and curries. When collecting the seeds, you need not be too particular in removing all bits of the seed pods that you collect with them as the pods are edible. The seeds require a period of cold to activate from dormancy, as a result mature seeds (if carefully picked over) can be stored in an air-tight jar as a store-cupboard standby. They are useful for substituting in cakes instead of nuts for those with nut allergies and ground Himalayan balsam seeds can be substituted for ground almonds.

The flowers can also be used to make floral jams and jellies or added to salads. The young shoots and stems are edible, when cooked, but care should be taken as they contain high concentrations of calcium oxalate (which is broken down and leached out on cooking) but it is recommended that they are not consumed too frequently. From: https://riverseverncustodians.co.uk/Himbalrecipes.html

Link to recipe for Himalayan Balsam Seeds Curry
https://www.eatweeds.co.uk/himalayan-balsam-seed-curry-recipe

Marky , I really like your energetic and spontaneous writing . It's quite unique . Your heart is clearly in the right place . I think you could make some great poetry . Give us a shot pal .