The plentiful bilberry

Foraging for hungry cyclists.

The first in a series.

Ciaran Hussey, of the Crank & Cog blog, writes:

The beauty of the bike is that there is no barrier between you and your surroundings.

The slow pace of travel,  panoramic views, and lack of metal and glass encasing you in an air-conditioned bubble allows you the opportunity to spot things you otherwise would miss if travelling by car or the like.

Things. Free things. Food. Free food!!  Bilberries!

Bilberries are small, black, delicious berries, similar in appearance to blueberries, that grow as a low lying scrub scattered across bog land, forests and hedges.

The berry ripens in Ireland around the end of July and beginning of August.

Found in clearings in forests, where the sun can reach them, along roadside hedges and carpeting some highland and mountainous areas that haven’t been extensively farmed.

It can be simply gathered and thrown in with your porridge in the morning, eaten as a snack as you travel or used as a bloody dye in a hoax horrific bike accident….

Free Food…for a limited time! Foraging along the way _(Crank & Cog).