Top Left: Wild Oregano / Top Right: Unknown flowers by riverside / Bottom Left: Lavender / Bottom Right: Cute bug drinking the nectar of a white meadow flower

Identifying plants and flowers is kind of new to me, I have to say in the past I always appreciated them but that was far as my interest went. But after slowly reconnecting with mother nature over the last few years my curiosity keeps growing. Learning from others here on steemit has been a real blessing and i'm learning to use more of what the natural world has to offer. I was excited to find there was so much available just a few steps away from where I live but I still wanted to explore a bit further a field.

If you are able to identify something i've labelled unknown or i'm wrong in my identification, please let me know it the comments!

Tordera river

It wanted to do something naturey for my birthday but the weather was a quite wet and grey the day before, I hadn't planned anything special so it was kind of a last minute decision when I saw the sun shining, I don't own a car so I had to see what was accessible by public transport, the options were a bit limited. After a little research I chanced upon Medieval Castle: Castell de Montclús and quickly figured out how to get there, after two changes on the train and a bus ride, we were at the foothills of the Montseny Mountain. To reach the castle you must first cross the Tordera river, this had to be done bare foot as the stoney path had be knocked out of place. The water was very fresh, clear and extremely cold, my feet were burning with the sensation they were about to drop off! Thankfully the path that climbs up the hill to the castle was warm and sandy, so I enjoyed walking bare foot for a while.

Wild Strawberries

On the way up we noticed these wild strawberries, it was a coincidence that just the day before I had read that it is possible to transplant wild strawberries so the decision was made on the way down to grab some clumps of it to take home. The video said that you need about 6 inches deep of the soil and roots but there were so many rocks and the soil was hard with many other plants growing in between it didn't seem feasible. We got the best of what we could with soil balls around the roots and put them inside a spare bag. They made it home safely and I have potted them, I will let you know how they get on after they have settled in a bit more but so far they seem alright and there are little soon to be strawberries already dangling off, so i'm quite excited about that.

Montclús Castle or Moors Castle

The castle occupies a strategic place, with a difficult access, with two giant windows looking to the west on the second floor not quite sure what the purpose of this would be, unless it was made and built by giants? Apparently this indicates it would of been a palace. The wikipedia page which seems to be only available in Catalan gives quite a sketchy history of it. After further investigation it seems the exact origin is unknown and because of this is known by another name Castell dels Moros, Moros meaning Moors (North African Berbers) The Muslim rule of Medieval Iberia (modern-day Spain) has heavily influenced Spain’s language, intellectual culture, and architecture. Although, the peace which existed at the beginning of the reign became increasingly challenged by the crusading Christian invaders. Its interesting to think that Spain was having a Renaissance during the time of the middle ages whilst northern Europe were still in the 'dark ages'. It seems a shame that the Moors were defeated when they tried to cross into France.

The Gorge with wild oregano growing on the verge

This gorge runs around one side of the castle, the was a small fence to stop people going to close to the edge but we crossed it as it looked like a nice place to stop and have a picnic, just as well, as there was wild oregano growing, we could smell it quite strongly although there was a moment we were unsure if it was thyme because the leaves are so small but thanks to smart phones we could quickly check and confirm it was oregano! Fantastic, I got quite a few bunches and there were still loads growing in the field.

Flowers Everywhere

I sat down for my sandwich break in the sea of these lovely yellow flowers, There was a lot of life and action happening all around spiders and swifts. Different flying insects taking a drink of nectar from the white flower above in the first picture, as well as the red beetle even large ants seem to like the nectar too. A perfect place to enjoy the midday sun.

Divine Succulents

I really love the Mediterranean landscape and Cactus and Succulent plants are still very foreign looking to me, these ones were really thriving growing in the direct sun light on top of the castle between the rocks. I had to snap this one for its beautiful spiral formation as it grows, such a delight to look at.

Wild Asparagus

During the whole excursion I was hoping to find wild asparagus, i'd been watching videos on how to find it in the wild over the weekend but I couldn't identify the plant I was looking for at all. On the way down I saw the bunch left by someone on the bank side to the river crossing. The don't look quite like the conventional asparagus, but I had seen an Spanish internet page identifying different types of wild asparagus that look a lo like this one which is Tamus communis and grows from a creeping sort of vine plant. It was good to know the asparagus were around here still, as I thought I may have been a bit too late with the season. Unfortunately there wasn't time to keep looking around because the last bus back to the station was at 3pm. As the bunch had been abandoned, I didn't want them to go to waste so they came home with me but i've not got around to trying them yet.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the natural beauty and delights that Calatunya has to offer.

If you didn't check out my PART ONE to this, please do here!

P.S: I just went out again today and the foraging is far from over! I will update more about my new obsessive interest and my foraging finds....!

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