diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 16e6ca7..b632301 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -66,7 +66,6 @@ bull uses the yuin/goldmark markdown renderer, specifically:
   * you can leave a favicon.ico in your content directory
 * handle front matter better (ignore? format differently?), e.g. [[untagged/prober7]]
 * make each heading foldable
-* mostrecent: use parallel walk
 * mostrecent: paginate to make the page manageable for large gardens
 * content settings: make title_format configurable
 
diff --git a/cmd/bull/linkindex.go b/cmd/bull/linkindex.go
index 324910d..3060aed 100644
--- a/cmd/bull/linkindex.go
+++ b/cmd/bull/linkindex.go
@@ -49,13 +49,25 @@ func (b *bullServer) linkTargets(pg *page) ([]string, error) {
 }
 
 type indexer struct {
+	// config
 	contentRoot *os.Root
+	readModTime bool
+
+	// state
 	walkq       *queue
-	readq       chan string
+	readq       chan page
 	dirs, pages atomic.Uint64
 	pending     atomic.Int64
 }
 
+func newIndexer(content *os.Root) *indexer {
+	return &indexer{
+		contentRoot: content,
+		walkq:       newQueue(),
+		readq:       make(chan page),
+	}
+}
+
 func (i *indexer) dirDiscovered() {
 	i.pending.Add(1)
 	i.dirs.Add(1)
@@ -90,24 +102,29 @@ func (i *indexer) walkN(dir string) error {
 			continue
 		}
 		i.pages.Add(1)
-		i.readq <- path.Join(dir, name)
+		fn := path.Join(dir, name)
+		pg := page{
+			PageName: file2page(fn),
+			FileName: fn,
+			// Content is empty; page not read yet
+			// ModTime is empty
+		}
+		if i.readModTime {
+			info, err := dirent.Info()
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			pg.ModTime = info.ModTime()
+		}
+		i.readq <- pg
 	}
 	return nil
 }
 
-func (b *bullServer) index() (*idx, error) {
-	i := &indexer{
-		contentRoot: b.content,
-		walkq:       newQueue(),
-		readq:       make(chan string),
-	}
+func (i *indexer) walk() error {
 	i.dirDiscovered()
 	i.walkq.Push(".")
 
-	var (
-		linksMu sync.Mutex
-		links   = make(map[string][]string)
-	)
 	ctx, canc := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
 	defer canc()
 	walkg, gctx := errgroup.WithContext(ctx)
@@ -139,13 +156,27 @@ func (b *bullServer) index() (*idx, error) {
 			return nil
 		})
 	}
-	var readg errgroup.Group
+	if err := walkg.Wait(); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
+		return err
+	}
+	close(i.readq)
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (b *bullServer) index() (*idx, error) {
+	i := newIndexer(b.content)
+
+	var (
+		linksMu sync.Mutex
+		links   = make(map[string][]string)
+		readg   errgroup.Group
+	)
 	for range runtime.NumCPU() {
 		readg.Go(func() error {
 			linksN := make(map[string][]string)
-			for fn := range i.readq {
+			for pg := range i.readq {
 				// fmt.Printf("reading %s\n", fn)
-				pg, err := read(b.content, fn)
+				pg, err := read(b.content, pg.FileName)
 				if err != nil {
 					return err
 				}
@@ -161,10 +192,9 @@ func (b *bullServer) index() (*idx, error) {
 			return nil
 		})
 	}
-	if err := walkg.Wait(); err != nil && !errors.Is(err, context.Canceled) {
+	if err := i.walk(); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	close(i.readq)
 	if err := readg.Wait(); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/bull/mostrecent.go b/cmd/bull/mostrecent.go
index 01ece0a..4e7a0ce 100644
--- a/cmd/bull/mostrecent.go
+++ b/cmd/bull/mostrecent.go
@@ -3,39 +3,32 @@ package main
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
-	"io/fs"
 	"net/http"
 	"sort"
+	"sync"
 )
 
 func (b *bullServer) mostrecent(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) error {
 	// walk the entire content directory
-	var pages []*page
-	err := fs.WalkDir(b.content.FS(), ".", func(path string, d fs.DirEntry, err error) error {
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
+	i := newIndexer(b.content)
+	i.readModTime = true // required for sorting by most recent
+	var (
+		pages []page
+		readg sync.WaitGroup
+	)
+	readg.Add(1)
+	// one reading goroutine is sufficient, we only collect metadata
+	go func() {
+		defer readg.Done()
+		for pg := range i.readq {
+			pages = append(pages, pg)
 		}
-
-		if d.IsDir() || !isMarkdown(path) {
-			return nil
-		}
-
-		// save path and modtime for sorting
-		info, err := d.Info()
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		pages = append(pages, &page{
-			PageName: file2page(path),
-			FileName: path,
-			Content:  "", // intentionally left blank
-			ModTime:  info.ModTime(),
-		})
-		return nil
-	})
-	if err != nil {
+	}()
+	if err := i.walk(); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+	readg.Wait()
+
 	sort.Slice(pages, func(i, j int) bool {
 		return pages[i].ModTime.After(pages[j].ModTime)
 	})