A Private Chef

A Private Chef

Share this post

A Private Chef
A Private Chef
A Story of a Year

A Story of a Year

Chapter Three

Will Cooper's avatar
Will Cooper
Apr 29, 2024
∙ Paid
19

Share this post

A Private Chef
A Private Chef
A Story of a Year
2
3
Share


March

Oxfordshire, March 2024


March saw much rain, in the months leading up to what many consider (often unwisely ) to be the first month of spring, but that in reality has been a damp, leaden skied month of never-ending rain.

For what seems like the first day in an eternity, stately pines stand tall in the glow of warm sunlight in the untroubled forest. Near a small stream the poison hemlock, conium maculatum, emerges upwards in clumps, the smooth stems mottled purple and green, its fronds reminiscent of carrot tops. I pull away one small stalk, for curiosity's sake and hold it close enough to my nose to sense the foul, gas-like stench that often will tell you of its presence on the wind, of what is historically one of the most poisonous plants that we know of. An invasive weed, whose toxic alkaloids were used to make a draft to kill Socrates, most poisonous in spring and growing in abundance here with its other relative the Hemlock water dropwort Oenanthe-crocata with its celery-like appearance that grows in clumps by the waterlogged ditches of the pasture. As I have said before, if it looks like wild parsley, it’s probably not.

Why not treat yourself?

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to A Private Chef to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Will Cooper
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share