Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness….

Autumn, season of mists and mellow fruitfulness and my favourite season to take a walk into the countryside on a crisp bright day.

While summer may strike you as the best time to be outside as much as possible – Autumn is also the perfect time to enjoy the fresh air.

Bright blue and sunny skies; crisp, frosty ground; trees painted in bright reds, oranges, and yellows; how could you not be drawn into spending more time outside making the most of the beautiful scenery?

Fun and foraging

There are also lots of fun activities that the whole family can do together while going for a walk.

From playing hide and seek and running through fallen leaves to picking blackberries and looking for conkers, hazelnuts and acorns, the countryside is a natural playground for all.

Foraging for nuts, berries in the hedgerows finding sloe, damson and blackberrying is a firm favourite of my family, and we often return purple stained and slightly prickled, keen to make a tasty apple and blackberry crumble. Custard or cream?

Apple & Blackberry Crumble

Free plants from seed saving

It also a wonderful time of year to seed save from plants in your own garden or local trees and hedgerows.

I always garden with wildlife in mind so do not clear my fading plant stems until the spring, allowing the hibernating insects to shelter over winter, however I do collect seeds from annual plants and veggies like my poppies, calendula, nasturtium and runner beans to save and grow for next year.

Seeds can be saved from many plants, trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, grasses, vegetables, and herbs.

Seed comes in many different natural packaging. The most common forms include:

Berries (holly or rowan trees), capsules (poppy or love in the mist), catkins (birch tree), cones (pine tree), nuts (hazel or oak trees), pods (sweet peas or runner beans) & winged seed (Sycamore or Ash trees).

Depending on the type of seeds you are collecting there are many ways to store and sow them.

RHS Seed Collecting and Storing

Once you have harvested your seeds then you can have fun sowing them and see what grows.

Adrian Thomas -  how to successfully sow seeds

And remember please go peat free when choosing your growing medium.

If you are foraging on your walk, you can collect native tree seeds and they are easy to grow and add to your local community, school, or home project.

You could even start up a local ‘seed swap shop’ or plant swap page?

I know as a gardener I always have lots of seeds and spare plants that I have to re-home. I often head to my local Freegle page to share with my community.

Or do you have a local community hall or phone box that could become a local hub for your gardening/plant swap shop?

I have seen some phone boxes on my summer travels as a library for books, but why not seeds, plants and tools to help local budding gardeners and projects?

All Change

As with the seasons, life will always present change and challenges.

I am a busy mother of two children and as a family we have a few transitions to face with the start of the new school year and I have started college part time. All of these factors, even when we know they are coming can cause an element of stress and cause ripples across family dynamics.

At times of stress, I have always taken solace in the natural world, sitting in my garden for 5 minutes and listening to bird song, the buzz of insects or simply sitting in a sunbeam.

But the benefits I feel from a walk in the countryside or into my local woods, alone or with my family are tremendous.

Aside from being gentle physical activity which will improve our overall health, the other benefits we can feel are:

Brain stimulation, as the impact of each footstep increases blood flow to the brain. This can help improve your memory, cognitive function, and protection against decline.

A wander through the countryside or woodland is a real treat for the senses, with different things to see, hear, smell and touch. This gives your brain lots to absorb, and each change in the weather and season will reveal something new to keep your mind alert.

Taking your walk in the morning may give you an extra edge for your daily tasks too. Some claim it can boost your energy levels, mental clarity, and ability to focus for the rest of the day. It will also boost your endorphins, the feel-good hormones that improve your mood and lower stress, anxiety, and depression.

A good walk will also help you sleep better, you expend extra energy will help you to feel more tired and get better rest at night. 

And research shows that walking in green space can put us into a meditative state. It makes us calm and reflective and helps us pay more attention to our surroundings. In this state, our creativity can flourish, perfect for problem solving or finding a fresh perspective.

Just being out in the countryside can have so many benefits, fun food foraging, collecting seeds to grow trees and plants or just using the time to be at one with nature. Let’s get on those walking boots and go!

Forestry England Top 10 Mindful Walks to enjoy in autumn