The Plants
Where each plant grows, what it is called, and why it earns its place. If a plant interests you, take the question to your own assistant — every row opens one ready to ask.
Rubus chamaemorus
Where it is from
Arctic bogs and fells, Scandinavia
Why we are interested
A berry of the short northern season — hours of daylight, cold nights and acidic bog soil give it a concentrated, honeyed flavour that never reaches shops.
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Where it is from
Boreal forest floor, Scandinavia and the Carpathians
Why we are interested
It grows where little else ripens, on acidic forest floor, and holds a sharp, bright acidity few cultivated fruits carry.
Juniperus communis
Where it is from
Heathland and northern moor
Why we are interested
A slow-growing evergreen whose berries take two to three years to ripen, giving a resinous, pine-and-citrus aroma.
Prunus domestica subsp. insititia
Where it is from
English orchards and hedgerows, Somerset
Why we are interested
An old orchard fruit left largely to hedgerows — small, deep-skinned and intensely tart where a plum is mild.
Cydonia oblonga
Where it is from
Mediterranean orchards, Calabria
Why we are interested
A fruit almost never eaten raw. Cooked or pressed, its pale flesh turns deep amber and gives a perfume nothing else quite matches.
Crataegus monogyna
Where it is from
British hedgerows
Why we are interested
The hedgerow tree of every English field boundary. Its berries have a mild, apple-like character gathered mostly by foragers, not farms.
The editions that hold them
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