Boletus erythropus

The season for this is normally late summer to early autumn, however I found one this evening while out hunting for kindling wood.

Most people don't pick this mushroom, since it has the red pores which are normally associated with the (possibly deadly) poisonous Boletus satanas, and the (merely) poisonous Boletus satanoides. However I do, as I suspect do all the commercial fungi collectors who pick the stuff which ends up as dried 'porcini' at Waitrose at £5 for 100g.

Boletus erythropus causes stomach upsets when raw but is edible - and good - when cooked. Hence the reason why shop-bought dried mushrooms must always be thoroughly cooked, since you really don't know what's been sneaked in there under the guise of 'cep'.

A glut of cucumbers

The cucumber vine in the greenhouse has gone mad: every day there are two or three more on it. There being only so much tsatziki or Greek salad one can eat, I've started turning them into cucumber vodka:

Peel two large cukes (or don't if you want an attractive green colour to the vodka for cocktails). Slice in half and remove the seeds. Chop into 1 inch chunks and fill a large clean jar. Cover with vodka and leave in a dark cupboard for five days. Strain with a coffee filter and bottle.

For cocktails, you could just add it it to Pimm's, however I'm experimenting with lychee and rose martinis. Or just on its own, from the freezer.

MORE TH>N 'Green' Car Insurance

Oh dear.

From the MORE TH>N website:

"We have created MORE TH>N Green Wheels Insurance to give our customers the opportunity to take responsibility for their carbon 'tyre-print'. It helps people to understand how their driving style affects the environment by giving them access to information such as their rate of acceleration and braking, the number of short car journeys they take and how long they leave their car idling.

This exciting new eco friendly car insurance product is part of our commitment to the Together campaign which believes that, by offering customers positive environmental choices, large companies can make a real difference in the fight against climate change - you can find out more at www.together.com."

Sanctimonious greenwash bollocks. Anyone concerned about fuel consumption will already know that 'changing into the highest gear as soon as you can', 'driving slowly', and 'not leaving the car idling' saves fuel.

Anyone not so positioned really doesn't care.

However, to get really sniffy, as a marketing 'idea', it is about five years behind the curve. My guess is that someone at Royal & SunAlliance had a box of gizmos they had no use for.

Give-stuff-you-don't-need-away: now that's green.

Wildlife in this heat...

...must be desperate for water. I've given the greenhouse a good hosing, thinking of this little chap who lives there in a mossy nook:

Butterflies, bees and birds also appreciate shallow dishes of water provided for them / wet ground where the sprinklers are on.


Not exactly 'green' I know, but what the hell - some things just enrich us.