Autumn. Time for seeds! (18 foto)

Autumn is the ripening time, the time for harvesting the fruits, the most suitable time for walks in nature with the aim of "counting the autumn chickens". Unfortunately, as you already understood, I am absolutely out of leizure time, last week there were three (3!) urgent projects that needed to be completed within this week. And I only did 2 of them, and trying to finish the third one now... so outdoors walks are out of the question. Besides, by the weekend the weather gave us gray skies and rain, again. So today I was looking for seeds ... AT HOME!

Nutmeg goes as my number one. I have a nice jar full of these nuts! We bought them a long time ago back in 2012 and slowly consume them; I add this spice to the coffee that I brew in my jezzwa. Unfortunately, nutmeg does not grow in Russia, otherwise I would definitely go out to the field in the fall with a big, big bag and happily foray them up. Although this is not my fave everyday specie.

Lychee is a baby of the tropics forest, in Russia country you can find them only at the supermarket. It was there that I found him, and for a long time. Lychee is used in salads, but as far as I know, not because of its nutritional value or bright taste (the taste is so-so, inexpressive slight sourness - you won't even notice). Its advantage is its appearance, beautiful design of the skin (c) mother nature. This is precisely the reason why I bought myself a few pieces. They lie at my house on the dining table, on a withered orchid leaf, and delight with their appearance.

And now I will show you my favorite spice: star anise (anise). I always put anise in my coffee, and I restock it at the store. I only need a little, 1-2 pieces for a large cezva, but since I brew coffee often, the stock has a habit of suddenly showing the empty bottom of the can :) This is not only my favorite spice, I remember that @txatxy also loves it - in the first place , of course, but its shape. Nature created these seeds in the shape of stars - these stars can be photographed endlessly, combined with other objects, they are magical.

And now a bit of foraging. Something that (of course!) you can buy in the store, but in my case, actually, I foraged it myself. And also a little riddle / intellectual challenge / a test of your imagination, mind, deduction skills? And by the way, check our special palm-sized fabric bags with zippers that we have in our household, especially for the purpose of collecting / keeping wild herbs or seeds, or anything that we may need at the field. I am sure @riverflows will appreciate the idea.

In addition to useful functionality, they just have a beautiful design ... it's nice to store something in them!

Ok, we pick up those seeds two years ago. This is not the most commonly used spice in everyday life. The plant from which we collected this grows in my country, in the north of Russia. Question! What do you think it is?

The next issue is pine cones! But these are not ordinary cones, they are not collected from the ordinary pine that grows in local forests. This is Siberian pine, or cedar. Under normal conditions, such a pine do not occure at local forests (unless someone deliberately brought and planted a seedling). But last summer I accidentally found a place near my house where several of these pines grow, and in the fall I collected a modest crop of pine cones. They contain very tasty cedar seeds, which have a lot of very different pleasant uses.

An interesting coincidence: this summer my daughter tasted the taste of pine nuts, and now she keeps asking me to buy her more. I must say that these nuts are quite expensive: 1 kg of peeled nuts costs 3000 rubles ($ 40-50).

Perhaps that's all. I also wanted to show the beautiful autumn fruits of physalis, but unfortunately I did not go outside today, and I can not take new photos. I hope you enjoyed the little virtual walk - keeping track of the "gifts of nature" with me. So, all in all, lets count again: nutmeg, lychee, star anise, juniper, pine nuts, poppy. There are six types in total, the list is not that long... but each of these natural packages deserves a separate post, worth a story on its own!