Five Minute Gardener

12/10/2026

We found something in the woods today that looks like a raw steak growing out of an oak tree 🥩🍄🌳

Meet the beefsteak fungus, also known as the poor man’s steak!

There’s no shortage of folklore about the things hiding in our ancient woodlands, but some reason I’ve not been able to find anything definitive despite this literally looking like a chunk of bleeding meat growing from a tree!
Some claim that our ancestors believed the oak tree was actually bleeding and it either meant something or perhaps it was the actions of the Púca (spirits)…

The appearance may promise a lot of flavour but I understand it tastes more acidic due to its vitamin C content which can actually help the body better absorb the iron content of this mushroom. They are reported to be a good source of magnesium, zinc and potassium but it seems to vary depending on quality

Have you ever come across one of these?

10/10/2026

04/10/2026

A fruit linked to forbidden love, magical youth, and a wedding-day escape… 👀

This is the Irish Strawberry Tree ☘️🍓🌳

Now don’t let the lack of strawberries or not actually being Irish get in the way of a good story…

It features in the old Irish tale The Pursuit of Diarmuid and Gráinne, a classic story of forbidden love

Gráinne was promised to Fionn Mac Cumhaill, the great warrior and leader of the Fianna. But on the day she was due to marry him, she fell deeply in love with a younger warrior called Diarmuid.

Naturally, she did what anyone would do in her situation…

She drugged everyone at the wedding and ran off with the handsome young man she’d just met 😂

Fionn then pursued the two lovers across Ireland, but they managed to evade him through great cunning… and with the help of Diarmuid’s magical foster father, Aonghus.

And somewhere in this wonderful tangle of Irish mythology, the berries of the Strawberry Tree become associated with the Otherworld, magical fruit said to restore youth and keep those who ate them from becoming ill.

Even the tree’s Latin name, Arbutus unedo, has an old story behind it, traditionally interpreted as “I eat one”, supposedly because the fruit was not considered particularly impressive!

30/09/2026

No calls. No emails. No stress. Just nature…

Trading the inbox for the woods. The moment we locked eyes, everything else seemed to go on pause ⏱️

Caught this incredible moment right next to the office today. It’s amazing what you can experience in just a five-minute break when you actually stop and look up. 🦌🌿

27/09/2026

This is your warning to make sloe gin now to enjoy in time for Christmas!

You’ve heard the folklore, now here is a way to use your sloe harvest!

Traditionally, people would add sloe, sugar and water to a container and bury it in the ground for several months, the longer the better, the end result is sloe w**e which was seen as a great way to stretch a seasonal crop into future months.

I opted for the modern option with gin seeing as I have adult money and can buy myself ready made gin, also I don’t have any container I want to bury in the ground.

🥶 If the first frost hasn’t happened before harvest, pop the sloe in your freezer for a night or more to help weaken the thick skin (saves pricking each one with a toothpick)
⚖️ Weigh the sloe and add roughly half the weight in sugar to a round jar, then top up with gin.
🫧 Give it a good shake and then leave in a cool dark place. Remember to burp it (open the top to release the pressure) regularly.
🍷 When ready, serve over ice and enjoy 🍷

Let me know what changes you make to your sloe gin 👍

23/09/2026

“When gorse is out of flower, kissing is out of fashion” 🌼

Luckily, gorse has a habit of flowering for much of the year, so there’s always time for a little romance 🥰

The flowers have a long history of being eaten for their coconut- or almond-like flavour, as well as for their vitamin C content. Just make sure you only eat the flowers, as the rest of the plant is toxic!

There is plenty of folklore surrounding gorse too. Unsurprisingly, its many spikes have meant that it has been used for protection, as well as being viewed with a little fear.

So next time you pass a patch of bright yellow gorse, stop for a moment, and maybe give someone you love a kiss while you’re there.

🌿 Let me know if you’ve heard this saying before

12/09/2026

Did you know that this tree is so feared that people have actually diverted roads to avoid it?

For centuries, hawthorns have carried a strange reputation in Irish folklore. Lone trees in particular were associated with the fairy folk, and there are stories of roads being diverted and houses being destroyed rather than risk disturbing one.

I came across this one at the weekend, absolutely covered in haws(the red berries), and couldn’t resist stopping for a little bit of folklore

🌿 Save this little piece of folklore, I’ve got more on the way

And there’s plenty you can do with those haws too… would you like to see some hawthorn recipes?

Have you heard any tales like this about the hawthorn? I’d love to hear the stories from your part of the world. 👇

02/09/2026

I found this growing about 20 feet above my head… 🍄🌳

According to Irish folklore maybe I should have left it there ☘️

Mushrooms were believed to have a close connection with the fairy folk, and old stories warn us not to disturb or pick them!

Some say that picking fairy mushrooms could leave you being kept awake by the fairies all night, while in another story, a man who disturbed mushrooms in the wrong place was taken away by the fairies for the night, only to discover that 100 years had passed when he returned 😱

Is one night in the underworld worth missing 100 years here? 👀

Thankfully, this one isn’t a fairy mushroom. It’s Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus).

The bright orange and yellow shelves are one of its most recognisable features, and unlike many mushrooms, it doesn’t have gills underneath, it has tiny pores

One really important warning though: check what tree it’s growing on before you eat it ☠️

I’d leave any growing on yew well alone. Yew is highly poisonous, so you don’t want pieces of yew mixed into something you’re planning to eat!

This one was growing ridiculously high up in the tree, but luckily there was plenty at the bottom for me to check out

Now I just need to decide what to cook with it. 🐓 🍄

Would you have picked it?
What recipes have you tried? We’re thinking breaded nuggets, or just cooked in butter or oil.

30/08/2026

This is forbidden fruit 🚫

Or at least according to Irish folklore you might want to think twice ☘️
This fruit is believed to be very special to the fairy folk or púca in Ireland. The fruit belongs to them and if you pick them, they could give you bad luck or pull you into the underworld (some might think this doesn’t sound too bad). If you hold a stick from the blackthorn you could ward off the spirits!

The fruit of the blackthorn is the sloe berry which can be great baked in a pie or even better infused in some gin. Raw, they’ll make your mouth question every decision that led you there!
It’s in the same family as the damson, bullace and plums.