TURN THIS INTO…

There aren’t many flowering plants adding colour to your walking palette in January, but there’s always that good-old year-round companion, gorse. Its soft yellow blossoms have a mild, coconut-like aroma and almond taste, and can be added (raw) to salads or pesto. They can make a nice tea or even a half-decent wine, blended with oranges, lemons, raisins and grape tannin plus a lot of sugar (see www.eattheweeds. com for the recipe).

Top sites for gorse hunting:

The South Downs, Dartmoor, Pembrokeshire, or the heathlands of Suffolk.

Just two caveats:

1) Take thick gloves, as the plant’s thorns are exceedingly prickly, and 2) Don’t overeat the raw blossoms: they contain slightly toxic alkaloids.