Getting in a jam

A couple of years back I made some jam, in fact I made just over 10ltrs of jam...and, I'm still eating it today. Well, it is a preserve. This year I've had a glut of Strawberries, oh the trauma I hear you sarcastically cry, but you can only eat so many bowls of strawberries and cream...can't you. Anyway, I thought I'd make some more jam. When baking/making I like to try and cut down the amount of sugar I'm using, so I cut out a third of the sugar, and increased the fruit by a third, of course altering the recipe radically. Then, I washed the fruit when I shouldn't have, making the mix far too liquidy. Yup, you guessed it, what should have been a simple exercise soon turned into a proper mare, what could wrong, did. I cooked and cooked, and still the mix was failing the wrinkle test, and I cooked some more. Then I turned my back, distracted by Geoff, and boom, it began to stick to the bottom of the pan. Luckily I got to it quick enough to stop it burning, but only just, finally, in my haste forgot to skim it (although that wont effect the taste or quality). As I said, everything that could go wrong had (and everything I could do wrong I did), though at the end of it I still had some jars of jam. Lady luck smiled on me today, and no mistake.  

Down lotty

Geoff has restricted my movements somewhat, he's a ton of work, lovely, but it's like being under siege, you think you've got your defences set, only to find there are more weaknesses for your opponent to exploit than you ever imagined, and you're constantly playing catch up. That said, I've ensured I've got down on the allotment every day, well, you have too, if you're absent from the field of battle, nature will make you pay. Bless her, nature is relentless, and unforgiving if don't tend to her, one years seed seven years weed, and all that.  I've got half the dig-able plot open at the moment (the rest being covered), the onions, shallots, carrots, courgettes, runners, chard, tatties, Hamburg parsley (never grown this before) and leeks are all thriving, with a 9 tomato plants in the greenhouse along with peppers, chillies and cucumbers, and a fruit cage bursting with developing, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants. And I've a range of brassicas and beans still plant to plant. I love the realness of the lotty, the contact with the land and nature, and that timeless feeling you get from engaging in activities our ancestors have undertaken for millennia. Food don't taste too bad either.

Look at my nut sack!

Shame on you! It's not that sort of blog. No, the sack of nuts I was referring to, is this sack of Sweet Chestnuts. It's a mixed season, some trees good, some not so, even on individual trees there's quite a range in size. But the good sized ones are shop sized, though why people would buy an easily forage-able resource is beyond me. It was a seasonal tradition to go out Chestnut collecting when I was young. How disenfranchised we've become as a people from nature and her cycles and bounty. Anyway, I've postulated that the larger nuts are to be found around and just beyond the canopy's fringe. I reckon it's because they're big, when the case hits the ground they bounce out. It's not a 100% rule, but I'd say 70% of the good sized nuts I found fitted my hypothesis.  If you want some, get out there soon, the woodland folk are going through them at a pace, around some trees all there was to be found were gnawed shells.

1st Ramson flowers of 2016

Quarry Wood above Encombe House is carpeted in the lush green foliage of Ramsons, and though there were plenty of buds to be seen (and tasted, very nice too) throughout the wood I only saw one Ramson in flower. Still, it's only a matter of time and the woods will be awash in white fragrant flowers. I can't wait.

Spuds

All the work put in on the allotment has really paid off this year with good crops of most of the things sowed/planted. There have been a few disappointments but no out right failures and so many meals have been had to date that I've already easily recouped all my investment several times over.  This years spuds for example are the best haul I've had and with any luck will see us through several months. There's something real about growing or foraging your food, it reconnects you to something buried deep inside, something primal, something human and something we are increasing being discouraged from in favour of rampant consumerism to fill our needs. A few years back research undertaken in primary schools showed that many children couldn't identify vegetables nor did did they know where their food came from, an example being children who didn't know chips were made of potato nor that potato grew underground. How fucked up is that? really!

Lesser Burdock

You're seeing Lesser Burdock (Arctium minus) frequently at the moment in the hedgerows, sunken lanes and woodland fringes of the Chase. Their pinky purple flowers remind me of thistles. A valuable resource plant all parts are used for something and has both medicinal and culinary uses: Medicinally Burdock acts against bacteria and inflammation, is used to treat skin conditions, slows blood clotting, lowers blood sugars, reduces fluid retention, helps digestive disorders and that just scratches the surface.  The leaves are eaten raw or boiled as a vegetable through spring and early summer, whereas the root is collected in autumn and best peeled, julienned and boiled or stir fried. A valuable wild food resource, easy to identify and containing plenty of vitamins and minerals, including vitamins C, E and potassium. Now, have you ever tried to dig up a Burdock root? It's a proper bugger. The roots can be deep and well anchored, and in my experience found all too often in hard to dig soils.  A sturdy chisel ended pointy digging stick, metal tipped digging stick or spade are essential. I remember the first time we tried to collect roots, years ago over on the Purbeck coast, we tried just using sticks we found lying about and the whole exercise was arduous and lengthy.  Still, we learnt a lesson and I'm sure they tasted even nicer for the hard work employed in their retreaval. 

Go Sloe

The Blackthorns are hanging with immature berries, many of a very good size; it should be a good season. I'd better think about getting stocked up with gin and vodka.

Summer fruits

I saw and picked my first ripe Blackberries of the season today.  Quiet early I thought for Blackberries, though the berries I picked were on the whole sweet and juicy, a few were a touch tart but not that it made eating the fruits unpleasant. It was great taking in the Sun and some of natures bounty. One of the joys of walking is the opportunity to forage as you go, just pastime now, although part of our very existence for hundreds of thousands of years. Blackberries have been found in prehistoric contexts dating back 8000 years or more, it wouldn't have been so long ago that individual, family and community seasonal foraging activities would have been common. Though sadly our disenfranchisement from nature during the second half of the 20th century has meant it remains only as an echo, a shadow of what it was, pursued by a minority. They don't know what they're missing out on.  It may sound strange, but I get a real feeling of connection when engaged with nature in this way, a feeling of timelessness continuity, engaging in the same activities as my ancestors and their ancestors before them, doing something human.  As I said, people don't know what they're missing. 

Nuts

I can't remember such a promising year for Hazel nuts, it appears nearly every tree has a bumper crop of nuts weighing down their boughs and of a good size. This year for the first time we've got nuts coming on our garden Hazels and they've good sized nuts too; the oldest of our trees is about 6 years old and has now reached a fair size, say about 4m high, they can reach about 12m; though I'll have coppiced it before then. Left to grow naturally a Hazel has around an 80 year lifespan, although if coppiced you can extend that to several hundred years. I think the oldest in Britain is about 500 years or so old.  I said ' promising year' as it's not harvesting time yet and I don't like counting my chickens and all that. If it is good mind, I've got lots of ideas and things I want to try.

Give us today our daily wheat based products

Walking through bread basket fields today I had cause to think of how many of our daily ingredients we take for granted. Everything's changing and I don't think many people realize what that might mean. Climate change, falling bee populations, disease, all will have an effect on our food chain, it's reliability and productivity. Then I started thinking from a prepping angle. Take wheat here; we take wheat for granted, relatively new as it is (about 6000 years in these parts), it's a staple in many of our diets. Imagine it gone, or the systems which allow its industrial scale production being disrupted; no bread, no pasta and no pastry. What would people do, what would they eat? I thought, how would I grow wheat and how much would I need to grow? I have no idea about either. I then thought, even with my allotment and extensive foraging experience, how sad it was that I'm so removed from the food stuffs I consume and take for granted. So, next year I'm going to have a go at growing some wheat on the allotment, small scale obviously, but maybe a 4m square or something.

Wild Marjoram

The wheel turns and as it does so does nature, each point on the wheel of the year has its sights, its sounds or its scents. Now through the grassland scrub clearings and along the hedgerows it's the time of Wild Marjoram (Origanum vulgare). The scent of Wild Marjoram drifts on the air, such a well used herb in the kitchen, your nose easily picks it out. It's everywhere. The tightly closed purple buds are opening to reveal the pretty pink flowers; this is the perfect time to harvest Marjoram, just as the flowers are about to open. Of course I collected some, use it fresh or dry it for later; mines drying above me now, it would've been rude not to accept a gift from nature.  In a few days it'll be dried and in jars, ready to bring the taste of summer to meals in cooler seasons.

Jammin

I've been jammin, jammin, jammin, I hope you're like jammin too. Well, it is the season, for jam making that is. This year our allotment has so far produced bumper crops strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants (with blueberries and blackberries still to come). We've eaten fresh of plenty but what better way of extending our enjoyment than making jam and I have. I've made strawberry, gooseberry, blackcurrant, raspberry and mixed fruits, I've made just over 10ltr of jam so far.  Preserving's a great way to make the most of surpluses you grow or forage, as well as prepping skill, preserving would be essential for maintaining a supply of food all year round. One thing that struck me whilst thinking down this path was how many of our preserving methods require large supplies of processed ingredients such as salt, sugar and vinegar, all things I'd imagine would all but disappear with the collapse of society. Something for me to think about when planning for social collapse or a zombie apocalypse (which ever strikes first). Still in the meantime, whilst it's there in bountiful quantities, I'm going to enjoy my jam.   

Pignuts

The woodland fringes and meadow edges where covered with Pignuts (Conopodium majus) in flower today, once a favourite with children who'd dig for the sweet tuber or 'nut' which is similar to a sweet chestnut or hazelnut, it has all but been forgotten now as children find themselves increasingly disenfranchised from their natural world and from playing outdoors. The nut can be quite hard to recover as it's located at the end of a fragile and twisting root, though when a fair sized example is recovered it's well worth the effort and makes for a tasty treat; care needs to be taken when chasing the nut, the stem as mentioned can twist and the nut may not be where you think it is and if you break the stem you efforts may end in failure. I'm always cautious of members of the Umbelliferae family as it contains some poisonous members and you can easily misidentify which is which, although only the Pignut forms a tuber of this sort. The photo above shows all the parts of the plant; their white umbel  flower, their much divided leaves, the developing seeds, the long winding root and tuber. These nuts have always been a collected food source, being identified from prehistoric contexts Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age; their continuation in folk tradition up until recent times is testament to their value as a food source. 

Elderflower

The Elders are just beginning to come into flower, their Pungent aroma filling the evening air, the hedgerows and the woodland fringes. Such a versatile plant, Elder (Sambucus nigra) is a valued deciduous shrub and like so many much neglected today; the flowers are used to flavour teas, cordials and wine, you can also fry them in batter, whilst their berries* can be used for jam and wine. Various parts of the tree have been used in traditional herbal remedies for colds, coughs, respiratory infections and fevers. I must get some yeast and make a demijohn of wine this season. 

* It's been suggested that the berries can be mildly poisonous when unripe.

Apples

Small apples are forming on the apple trees over on the common; although there were plenty of sweet smelling blossoms, when the blossom withered so did many many of the shoots, as the tree was suffering some dieback due to a touch of Blossom Wilt. I was pleased today to see so many small fruits developing; the tree has suffered from vandalism and is weakened, more susceptible to disease and I was worried, as much for me as for the tree, as I'd had my eye on this tree as a source of apples to have another go at cider making with.

Norden ramsons

Long before you see Nordon Wood a growing sense of excitement rises in you as the smell of garlic intensifies as you approach; then with your first sight of the woods, so magical at this time, your heart and spirits soar; the Ramson carpeted woods are something else to behold. Nordon Woods range over quiet an area of the inland side of Knowle Hill, west of Corfe, and throughout Ramsons rule. We took some time out to rest whilst we picked a few leafs and flower tops for the pot, nibbling on a few flowering tops is we went; throughout, a chorus of birds filled the stands with their cacophonous songs, whilst grazing deer spied us uneasily from the woodland fringe as the woodland went about its business, lovely; a feast for all the senses.

The chickens are hatching!

Walking through Great Huntley Bank, the sites of last seasons Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) were clearly identifiable through their now bleached remains, either still clinging to their hosts or on the ground below. We'd hope that even though the season was still young, we might have come across some, although after an exhaustive search, covering a couple of miles of woodland, it appeared our search would be fruitless and forlornly we turned for home. The friend I was walking with is only back in the country for a couple more days, now living on the other side of the world; he and I had been regular foragers for years, since the late 80's in fact, before his move abroad and it would've been nice if he could've had the taste of home he'd been looking for. So, I asked for help from the woodland Goddess Flidais (pronounced Flee-dish or Flee-dash), offering to help her by collecting some bags of rubbish from the woodland in return; boom, 2 minutes later this fine clump of Chicken of the Woods. Now, some folk may say, 'yeah, that's just coincidence', but I'd like to think otherwise.  The fungi was harvested by my companion, with a big smile; whilst I duly got out a bag to collect any rubbish I saw, and it wasn't long before that bag was filling up. I still owe a few more bags, which I'll dutifully fill; if you make a bargain, you've got to stick to it.  

Three cornered leek

If you smell garlic in the woods around now it's more than likely to be Ramsons (Allium ursinum), though it could be another member of the Allium family, the Three cornered leek (Allium triquetrum) who also favour similar habitats, although they can also be found on road sides and in meadows. Like Ramsons, all parts of the Three cornered leek are edible, either fresh of cooked: the bulbs, stems, flowers and leaves. You wont mistake the Three cornered leek for the Ramson; the flowers are very different, as are the leaves; one notable identifying feature of the Three cornered leek is, as its name suggests, that its stem is concavely triangular in cross-section. It'll be found growing in lush dense clumps, often in my experience, more leaf than flower; they are a native of the Mediterranean and can become invasive, so you'll often find that in populated areas they've sprung up on commons or waste ground where some gardener has dumped them. As always, be sure you're 100% certain of what picking when foraging.

Gorse

Gorse (Ulex) can be found in flower at all times of the year due to the wide range of species in the thorny evergreen shrubs family. That said, this time of the year they come into their own as their flowers blaze across heathland, forest and headlands. As the weather warms so their coconuty scent fills the air. For all their thorniness they're quite a useful shrub: the flowers can be eaten, used in salads, added to herbal teas and used to flavour wine; gorse burns well and was used to fire bread ovens; the wood is durable and has been used to make forks and spoons. For years when we used to make flower wines, Gorse flower wine was a favourite. This time every year we'd make our way over the ridge above Kimmeridge where we'd collect huge quantities of gorse flowers. Small and fiddly, well protected by long and incredibly sharp thorns, no matter how careful you were your fingers would became painful pin cushions by the end of the forage. The wine was always worthwhile though, a fine flower wine; I must make some again.

First flower

We walked through a couple of miles of lush Ramson (Allium ursinum) carpeted woodland today and saw countless tightly closed flower buds developing, though only one opened flower throughout the entire walk. The band of woodland which extends and covers the length of the landward side of the Purbeck Hills between Rollington Farm and the cut through the hill at Ulwell has erupted with Ramsons and the smell of garlic rises wherever you put your foot. I'm uncertain of the rights of way, so we made our way quietly and deftly through the stands, following old foresters tracks were present of well used animal tracks if not. We hurried on our way, always alert, taking in all about us. There's a wild feel about the woods, they were obviously managed at one time and in places are being again, but a lot of them through neglect have returned to a kind of wildish state. Again today was another opportunity to extend my knowledge of the area, adding new places to my mind map. I always love that.

I tried a couple of developing buds whilst walking, being small they haven't reached their full strength yet, but still contained plenty of flavour and the promise of whats to come. Time to look out some recipes, it's shaping up to be a bumper year.