Allotment soc may issue by Ruth Tott

IN W

A GARDEN SMOKER WORTH OVER £1,100! P R AC T I C A L

I N F O R M AT I V E

INSPIRING

MAY 2015 | ISSUE 86

THE MAGA ZINE FOR HOME GROWERS, MAKERS AND PRODUCERS

SOWING SALADS YOUR GROWING GUIDE TO YEAR-ROUND GREAT SALADS

Spice up your Life THE BEST HOME-GROWN SPICES FOR UK GROWERS

Smoking & Curing EASY GUIDE TO TRANSFORMING PLAIN FOOD INTO GREAT FOOD!

Pallet Bench

STEP-BY

DIY SUMMER PROJECT

TEP GUIDE -S

Straw Beds EXTEND YOUR GROWING SPACE

PLUS

£3.95

FORAGER KIT – TOP GEAR TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR FINDS FORAGER’S RUNNER BEANS – YOUR TIPS FOR GETTING A BUMPER HARVEST

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EDITORIAL

Hello

WELCOME W

elcome to the May issue of Home Farmer â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a time when all the hard work of preparing your plot should be starting to pay off. But there is still much to do, with planting opportunities for the next couple of months if you really want to maximise the potential of your growing space. Judging by the feedback at The Edible Garden Show, there are still many more people coming round to the view that growing your own is well worth the effort, and fortunately that includes a lot of younger home farmers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; always a good thing, as we need the next generation and the one after that to continue the good work, and not just to continue, but also to bring new ideas and innovation, something which was much on show at Alexandra Palace. It was good to meet a number of you at the event, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s certainly always great to take home feedback, especially that gained from talking face to face. We look forward to seeing many more of you at The Royal Welsh Spring Festival and The RHS Malvern Spring Festival this month, and we shall now also be at the BBC Gardenersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; World Live event at the NEC in June, so please drop by. As for this monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s magazine, we are delighted to have a garden smokehouse and smoker kit worth over ÂŁ1,100 as a prize, which has been kindly donated by The Posh Shed Company (see page 88 for details). Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always great to take control over your own food â&#x20AC;&#x201C; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the first law of home farming, in fact â&#x2C6;&#x2019; but to be able to do it in such style, and in your own garden, will take

CLAIRE WARING

the pleasure to a new level, so get competing! Someone is going to win it, and it could be you, but your chances will be sorely diminished if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get your entry in. On the matter of smokers, we published a book called The Smoking & Curing Book some years ago, and one day we got a call from a chap who had bought it a few months earlier to say he was now supplying his own â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;productâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to a number of local restaurants and delis, and he was over the moon â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it had genuinely changed his life! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rather an uplifting tale from someone who tried and succeeded, and it reminds me of that old saying: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The harder I try, the luckier I getâ&#x20AC;?. In truth, the hardest bit is probably converting a shed into a working smoker, but someone out there is going to get that bit done for them. So good luck to all of you, and perhaps one of you, too, will turn it into a life-changing event, but if not, then we at least hope you enjoy some delicious home-smoked fare this summer courtesy of The Posh Shed Company and Home Farmer. PAUL MELNYCZUK Editor

Editor: Paul Melnyczuk paul homefarmer.co.uk

Contributors Caroline Pilcher, Cinead McTernan, Claire Waring, Dave Hamilton, David Winnard, Dot Tyne, Elizabeth McCorquodale, Heidi M. Sands, John Butterworth, John Harrison, Kate Collyns, LizzieB, Mark Abbott-Compton, Mike Clark, Mike Hedges, Seren Evans-Charrington, Terry Beebe.

Publisher: Ruth Tott ruth homefarmer.co.uk

Subscription enquiries Tel: 01772 633444

Home Farmer Magazine PO Box 536, Preston, PR2 9ZY Tel: 01772 633444 We welcome feedback and questions. Please email: ruth homefarmer.co.uk Home Farmer is copyright of The Good Life Press Ltd.

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VISIT THE WEBSITE: WWW.HOMEFARMER.CO.UK M AY 2015

Editor of Bee Craft magazine and an active member of The British Beekeepersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Association, Claire travels around the world championing the bee-keeping cause and is the founder of Bees Abroad, a charity set up to help communities in developing countries to expand their own bee-keeping activities.

DAVE HAMILTON Dave has written two books about eco-living and food growing: The Self-sufficient-ish Bible and Grow Your Food for Free. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s working on a third book about ruins. He lives in Somerset, teaches foraging and shares the parenting of his son Douglas.

HEIDI M. SANDS A former Lancashire lass now working on her family farm in North East Scotland, Heidi is the author of seven books, including the highly acclaimed The Horses of Appleby Fair. She writes about the countryside, horses, livestock and farming issues.

When you have finished with this magazine please recycle it or pass it on to a friend!

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If you are ha ving any diff iculty locating Hom e Farmer pl ease call 01772 6334 4 4 an d we will rush yo u a copy!

CON T EN TS

WHAT’S INSIDE? ontents 03 THE EDITOR’S BIT Paul ponders…

May iss ue c

06 NEWS AND EVENTS Home Farmer related news and events.

61 A SMALLHOLDER’S DIARY Dot Tyne’s diary includes preparations for the lambing course and the installation of solar panels.

10 IN THE KITCHEN GARDEN John Harrison’s COVER STORY seasonal round-up, and his top tips for great runner beans.

66 BUILDING A BEEHIVE ROOF AND FLOOR Claire Waring builds a flatpack beehive roof and floor.

15 SMALL-SPACE GARDENING Mike Clark’s ‘back to basics’ easy guide to growing spuds in tubs. 20 A SALAD FOR ALL SEASONS Kate Collyns shows how COVER STORY to grow fresh salad leaves all year round. 24 BRITISH SPICE Elizabeth McCorquodale COVER STORY grows exotic spices in the UK, and creates some mouth-watering spice rubs. 29 STRAW BALE GARDENING Mark Abbott-Compton COVER STORY creates a basic straw bale bed to extend his plot space – and even on hard surfaces! 32 DIY GARDEN PROJECT Create an attractive garden COVER STORY bench with storage using little more than pallets. 37 ORGANIC PEST CONTROL Mike Hedges tackles some principal pests that plague our plots, armed only with his organic principles. 40 ONE-POT WONDER Cinead McTernan prepares a delicious Blueberry and Rose Geranium Compote – all grown in one pot! 42 PRODUCT ROUND-UP Our pick of some of the latest gardening innovations for 2015.

58 THE AUSTRALORP CHICKEN Stunning in Blue or Black, the Australorp is officially the world’s best-laying pure-breed.

72 LIZZIEB’S MOBILE KITCHEN This month LizzieB visits Northumberland and prepares Pan Haggerty, Pease Pudding and Stotties. 44 MENDING A GATE Our fixer, John Butterworth, repairs a damaged gate using traditional mortise and tenon joints.

76 KOMBUCHA TEA It’s trendy and is said to be healthy, but what is it? Seren Evans-Charrington investigates.

48 FACT OR FABLE? Elizabeth McCorquodale tests the belief that watering in the sun’s heat can burn plants.

80 THE PALEO DIET The Paleo diet harks back to foods our ancient ancestors might have eaten. Dave Hamilton tests the logic.

50 SEASONAL FORAGING David Winnard reveals COVER STORY some of the equipment that helps him make the most of his foraged fare. 54 SUMMER POULTRY Summertime, and the poultry keeping is easy… if you follow Terry Beebe’s guide.

84 SMOKING AND CURING Caroline Pilcher looks at COVER STORY smoking and curing as a way of creating new and innovative tastes and techniques. 90 NATURE’S MEDICINES Seren Evans-Charrington creates an everyday medicine cabinet, with tinctures, salves and rinses made using natural ingredients. 93 KITCHENALIA Heidi M. Sands checks out the increasing popularity of kitchenware from both the olden days and the more recent past.

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M AY 2015

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HOME FARMER NEWS & EVE NTS

SHRINKING SELF-SUFFICIENCY ACCORDING TO THE Worldwatch Institute, in recent decades many countries have dramatically increased their imports of grain products, with seventy-seven countries importing at least a quarter of their requirements in 2013, compared to just forty-nine in 1961. The problem has come about as a result of a number of different factors: less available farmland, land degradation, ‘land grabbing’ for investment

purposes, biofuel and industrial agriculture, and reduced available irrigation – a study in 2012 found that 20 per cent of the world’s aquifers were being pumped out faster than they could be refilled by rainfall, many in major foodproducing regions. This has implications for food security. Worldwide imports of grain – the world’s greatest staple product – have increased more than fivefold since 1960, and at some point the demand

for imported grain will exceed available supply; in fact, some supplier countries are already experiencing difficulties in supplying home populations. Consequently, a number of countries could find themselves vulnerable to interruptions of supply as a result perhaps of drought, or even politics. The Worldwatch Institute recommends that an import

strategy should only be considered reluctantly, and agricultural land preserved. As an example, between 1982 and 2007, the US lost 9.3 million hectares of agricultural land to industrial development. It is also the world’s greatest ‘land grabber’.

LIGHT POLLUTION AFFECTS FOOD WEB SCIENTISTS AT THE University of Exeter have suggested that artificial light from street lights could be affecting interaction between insects and plant growth. Although the work is part of a longer-term study, initial findings indicate that

the effects of light pollution are more significant and widespread than previously thought. Tests on bird’s-foot trefoil – a wild relative of peas and beans – produced reduced flowering as a result of exposure to amber light, which

WIN A SUTTONS ‘STRAWBERRY FIELDS’ COLLECTION The Suttons ‘Stacks of Flavour’ range helps those with growing space, whether it be a balcony, patio or garden, to grow their own edibles. The beautiful personalised rustic crates

are a great way to create your very own portable mini veg garden outside the door. Bring on the creativity with ‘Stacks of Flavour’, but it’s addictive, and Suttons are giving away two prizes of their new and exclusive ‘Stacks of Flavour’ ‘Strawberry Fields’ collection worth £32 each. You’ll get attractive pink flowers and a continuous supply of sweet, juicy fruit right through from July to October for many years to come. The pack includes eight strawberry ‘Toscana’ plug plants, one three-slat crate (5.3cm × 36cm × 28cm),

mimicked newer LED street lights. Although still at an early stage, the research suggests that by lighting up our night-time environment we are unwittingly triggering complex effects on different stages of our own natural food web.

ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS

plus a liner and free personalisation. To win one, email your name, address and a contact telephone number to ruth homefarmer.co.uk, with the subject heading ‘STACKS OF FLAVOUR’. Details of your chosen personalisation – perhaps a name – can be provided once winners have been selected. All entries must be received by Wednesday 6th May 2015. To find out more about this exciting new range, visit: www.stacksofflavour.co.uk.

MEPS HAVE RAISED questions over endocrine disruptors – present in everyday products from toys and cosmetics, to pesticides, packaging and medical devices – which are linked to cancer, infertility and foetal and genital abnormalities. They claim the European Commission had a duty to identify and categorise these chemicals by December 2013 as a result of a resolution voted in March of that year, which sought to reduce exposure to them. As a result, the Council of Ministers is backing Sweden in taking the Commission to court as a result of its failure to act on the resolution. Recent data from New York University suggested that the effects of these chemicals could be costing well in excess of £100 million each year in damage to human health.

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RHS MALVERN SPRING FESTIVAL THIS YEAR IS the 30th anniversary of the RHS Malvern Spring Festival, and visitors can expect stunning show gardens and nurseries, alongside an abundance of gardening and food celebrities and experts. As the first major RHS event of the year, visitors are always guaranteed a horticultural treat, with garden experts, artisan food producers and celebrity chefs, and all in a spectacular setting. Among the familiar faces will be Carol Klein and Joe Swift from BBC’s Gardeners’ World, Jim Buttress from The Great British Allotment Challenge, and The One Show’s Christine Walkden, together with children’s gardening favourite Mr. Bloom and Blue Peter’s Chris Collins. Alongside the gardening talent will be chef Raymond Blanc, MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace, and Mark Diacono from River Cottage, together with local chef Rob Rees, who will preside over the event’s Kitchen Garden Hub. Set among the picturesque Malvern Hills, the Festival’s delightful show gardens have always been a popular destination for visitors and a platform for new gardening talent, but with an iconic Floral Marquee, too, which is home to eighty of the finest nurseries from the UK and abroad, the inspiration will be flowing. Stock up on old favourites or even new varieties launched at the event, and also get some hot,

PATERSON DEBATE CHALLENGE

green-fingered advice on how to make the most of them from Reg Moule at ‘The Potting Bench’. But RHS Malvern isn’t just for experienced gardeners; Get Going, Get Growing is back again to educate and inspire novice gardeners, with workshops and demonstrations hosted by Martin Fish, Chris Collins and Christine Walkden, while RHS Gold Medal winning designer Jon Wheatley will create not just one but three show gardens – a wild flower, kitchen and front garden. If you are not the gardener in your family, then there’s a really great ‘not-on-the-high-street’ shopping experience awaiting you on the Festival Green, where you can browse a wide range of arts and crafts or a tempting array

of specialist food producers, or just while away the day to the musical entertainment at the bandstand. There’s something for every member of the family, so get down to The Three Counties Showground for the 30th RHS Malvern Spring Festival from 7th–10th May 2015. For more information, visit www.rhsmalvern.co.uk, or call 01684 230127.

BEAVERS TO REMAIN ON RIVER OTTER IT HAS BEEN decided that a group of wild beavers – the first in Britain in over 500 years – will be permitted to remain on the River Otter in Devon. At present the group of four adults and three kits is being kept in an artificial lodge, but Natural England has issued a licence to Devon Wildlife Trust, granting them a five-year release into the wild on a trial basis. Exactly how the beavers arrived remains something of a mystery, but they have enjoyed overwhelming support from the local community, and David Lawrence, the farmer on whose land they appeared, welcomed their presence, commenting that they could relieve flooding and improve water quality.

M AY 2015

GREENPEACE HAS REACTED to claims by former Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson, that its antiGM stance will cost millions of lives, and has offered to debate the subject with him. He seems to believe that there is an unholy alliance between Greenpeace and the EU on the matter, and went as far as to say: “Do Greenpeace supporters understand that they are truly wicked? It is eco-terrorism. It is witchcraft.” Graham Thompson, responding for Greenpeace, said: “We do not practise witchcraft. Honestly. And we do not commit acts of terrorism – though we have been the victim of terrorism, when the French government bombed our ship and killed a crew member.” He then went on to say: “We’d be happy to debate with him, but for that debate to shed more light than heat, we’d need him to stick a bit more closely to the facts.” I assume that David Cameron is hoping Mr Paterson keeps a low profile during the forthcoming elections. Above: Photo courtesy of Policy Exchange.

HOME FARMER NEWS & EVE NTS

THE ROYAL WELSH SPRING FESTIVAL ’15 THE ROYAL WELSH Spring Festival is the UK’s largest event for smallholders and gardeners, and this year’s event on 16th and 17th May will build on the show’s earlier achievements. A celebration of rural life, the twoday festival has an action-packed programme of entertainment and educational activities, free workshops, displays and mainring performances, making it the perfect family day out.

The event is a great place to stock up on essentials, or to learn from the experts, and includes over 1,300 livestock, poultry and horses, hundreds of trade stands, the only Premier Open Dog Show to be held in Wales, children’s activities, food and drink, sustainable living, vintage machinery, an auction, country leisure, and much more – in fact, something for everyone, whatever your interest or passion.

Not one to sit on their laurels, The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society has introduced many new areas and events: a new dedicated smallholder centre in the South Glamorgan Hall; a new food and drink quarter in the purposebuilt food hall; a new location for the Sustainable Living section in the Clwyd Glamorgan Hall; a new Country Life section in the forestry area; a chance for the

THE WORLD’S ORIGINAL MARMALADE AWARDS MANY THANKS TO The World’s Original Marmalade Awards, and especially founder, Jane HasellMcCosh, for a great event on Saturday 28th February and Sunday 1st March. A record number of entries were received from around the world, and prizewinners were announced on the Saturday morning, with a question-andanswer session, where winners were subjected to questions from keen amateurs. The event also brought together people from the Seville orange industry, and it was

frustrating to hear that organic growers working to the highest standards now had to compete with companies that simply collected all the huge amount of fallen fruit from the streets of the town. There was also fascinating information about the early development of marmalade from food historian Ivan Day, and the presence of marmalade aficionado Paddington, and lots of different craft and food stands, made the event complete. It’s a great fund-raiser for charities, too, and a great promotion for both

marmalade and the remaining Seville orange producers.

WELLBEING FARM WINS CONGRATULATIONS TO The Wellbeing Farm (www. thewellbeingfarm.co.uk – featured in the May 2013 Home Farmer) in Edgworth, Bolton, which has won a successful bid to deliver experiences for individuals and corporates on behalf of national experience company Red Letter Days. After winning a business boost from retail entrepreneur Theo Paphitis, The Wellbeing Farm’s MD, Celia Gaze, was invited to pitch to Red Letter Days in Birmingham. She commented: “It’s hard setting

up a business, but setting up a business in a rural area is really tough, and it’s taken a lot of hard work to raise our profile. We are very pleased that Theo and Red Letter Days have recognised our hard work and will now help spread the word about what we do.” Anyone looking for a retweet from Theo should tweet him about their business on Sundays between 5.00pm and 7.30pm, and include the hashtag #SBS. Six lucky businesses are re-tweeted every Monday at 8.00pm, and are invited

to enter their profile on the new website. This is free of charge, and the new website is sponsored by Ryman Stationery, where Theo is Chairman.

kids to meet Tractor Ted; a dedicated craft and shopping area in the Montgomery Pavilion; equestrian competitions in the main ring; and a spring half marathon, together with a children’s athletics area. Visit www.rwas.co.uk/springfestival/ to find out more or to buy tickets online.

NEW BOOK Courtesy of Michael Wale: AN ANTI-GM BOOK by American attorney, Steven M. Druker, does not mince its words; even the cover declares: “How the Venture to Genetically Engineer Our Food Has Subverted Science, Corrupted Government, and Systematically Deceived the Public”. The book, launched in London, is the result of fifteen years of research and investigation by Druker, who brought a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which forced it to divulge its files on GM foods. Those files revealed that GM foods first achieved commercialisation in 1992 because the FDA covered up extensive warnings from its own scientists about the dangers, lied about facts, and then violated federal food safety law by permitting the foods to be marketed without having been proven safe through standard testing. Druker addressed the All-Party Agroecology Committee at the House of Commons, where he was supported by Dame Jane Goodall, who praised his book and said she was totally against GM on environmental and health grounds.

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M AY 2015

IN T HE K ITCHEN G ARDEN

ON THE PLOT s n a e b r e n n Ru This month John Harrison features runner beans, a staple of any complete kitchen garden “Button to the chin till May be in. Cast not a clout till May be out.” In other words, it’s wise not to trust the weather in May. I’ve been caught out a few times by a surprise frost at the end of the month. I remember the sinking feeling of seeing the late-evening weather forecast warn of a hard frost as I lay on the bed of a dingy hotel room 200 miles from my plot. Luckily for me, kind plot holders donated their spare plants to replace my frosted runner beans when I got back.

RUNNER BEANS Of all the vegetables we grow, I think runner beans are definitely the most British. Pop across the Channel to France and, apart from expat Brits, they haven’t a clue what you’re talking about, although I did come across one chef who considered them a ‘curious ancient vegetable’. It’s very odd, as runner beans originated in South America along with tomatoes and potatoes, which are all popular across Europe. Impress your friends with the obscure titbit that runner beans were naturally pollinated not by bees but rather by hummingbirds. Not that we’ve got many hummingbirds in Wales. Still, they’re an incredibly productive vegetable and freeze well, too. Incidentally, they can also be stored in salt, which was the usual way of storing them prior to freezers becoming common. I like to start my own runner beans off by sowing them 2.5cm deep in 8cm pots of multi-purpose compost at the beginning of May, with a view to planting them out towards the end of the month. The ideal temperature for getting them off to a great start is around 15°C, but try to avoid the temperature ever dropping below 10°C at night. They should begin to show

after 7–10 days, and be ready to plant them on about 3 weeks later. There’s a lot to be said for the traditional bean trench,

but they’ll also do very well in any soil that’s had some compost incorporated so it holds moisture. Prior to planting, apply a couple of ounces per square yard of a general-purpose fertiliser. You’ll have read that beans have nodules on the roots in which symbiotic bacteria fix nitrogen for the plant. The fact is, often (but not always) the plants develop those nodules, but even if they do they don’t provide all the nitrogen the large amounts of leaf growth require – hence the need for fertiliser. There are all sorts of ways to support the plants – single rows, double rows, or wigwams made with bamboo canes (this is the most popular way). I’ve even seen a

BREAKING WIND “Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I: But when the trees bow down their heads, The wind is passing by.” WHO HAS SEEN THE WIND? Christina Rossetti – 1830–1894 Growing as I do now, high above the sea in Snowdonia, and very exposed, has been a learning curve. Some of the lessons have been very expensive, such as placing my greenhouse in the wrong place and finding a storm had turned it into a surreal artwork of twisted metal and broken glass. You underestimate the wind here at your peril.

When I was growing in a far more sheltered spot in Cheshire, wind was rarely a major concern, but I did discover that sheltering plants from even mild winds could be beneficial. We know that leafy brassicas such as cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels

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Nonrunner!

Runner bea ns are defin itely most British of veg, but in the France they haven’t a clue what you’re talkin g about!

sprouts all like a firm soil holding them in place, but even then they’re susceptible to windrock. What happens is that the wind shakes and rocks the plant, breaking the critical tiny root hairs which absorb the nutrients that feed the plant. I realised that the plants in protective cages actually did far better than their counterparts outside, but it wasn’t just a matter of keeping the dratted pigeons and caterpillars from eating the plants – they were generally healthier and grew larger when they were protected from the wind. It isn’t that the netting stops the wind – it doesn’t. What it does do, though, is to reduce the force and speed of the wind, effectively stopping windrock, keeping out pests and creating a microclimate just a few

M AY 2015

Brassicas in an improvised protective cage.

Phil’s converted trampoline protective cage.

degrees warmer than the outside. A further benefit is the fact that netting doesn’t fight wind as a greenhouse or polytunnel would, so netting cages usually tend to survive storms and winds better. If you really want the very best brassicas, invest

in some windbreak netting and build a cage for them, or do as innovative Home Farmer reader, Phil Cane, did when his grandchildren grew up and no longer needed their trampoline – he used it to make a real Rolls-Royce of netting cages!

IN T HE K ITCHEN G ARDEN

very attractive sort of maypole arrangement, with a central pole from which strings were stretched to spikes in the ground. With double rows you will want about 60cm between the rows, and space the beans at about 15cm apart. Personally, I like wigwams, as they’re very quick and easy to erect – space the poles 15cm apart in a circle about 60cm across. Keep the ground weed free until the runner beans have taken off, when they’ll effectively shade out any weed growth. Keep them well watered in dry weather, and mulch with grass cuttings to retain moisture. Runners aren’t particularly troubled by slugs, but I scatter some wildlife-friendly ferric phosphate slug pellets around until they’re established. I’ve not tried them myself, but I’ve had good reports about sheep’s wool pellets as a deterrent to slugs, and they even act as

SOWING AND PLANTING IN MAY SOWING French beans, dwarf beans, radish, lettuce, radicchio, spring onions, carrots, beetroot, turnips, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, sprouts, kale, swede, parsley, cucumbers and sweetcorn. PLANTING Tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, sprouts, celery and celeriac.

a feed. They’re a bit pricey for me, but they’re certainly very organic. Once the beans hit the top of the poles, pinch out the leader to encourage bushing, and pick regularly before the beans start to form in the pods. Towards the end of August, choose the best plant or two and leave the beans on. Allow them to dry out, and store in a cool, dry place to provide free seeds for next year.

MY FAVOURITE VARIETIES ❋ ENORMA This variety has long pods – impress the other allotmenteers, and maybe take a prize at the horticultural show.

MAY TASKS ❋ Thin out seedlings to reduce competition. Eat any you remove as micro-salads. ❋ Prepare supports for climbing plants. ❋ Nettle or comfrey tea is natural and easy to make. A couple of handfuls in a bucket covered with water and then left to stand – ideally, with a lid on, as both smell bad – can be bottled after 1 month and used diluted to encourage plant growth. ❋ Water plants in the evening – especially hanging baskets and pot-grown plants – when it will have a better chance to work its way into the soil. Keep an eye open for slugs on the prowl. ❋ Keep plants under glass or plastic well ventilated and well watered. ❋ Hardening off plants is still essential in May, as temperatures can drop, especially during good weather! ❋ Weed as much as possible, especially during dry periods – it’s now ‘high season’ for weeds! ❋ Continue to earth up potatoes for a greater harvest.

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❋ RED RUM This is a modern variety that produces loads of smaller pods, and it’s disease resistant, although I’ve never found disease to be a problem with runners.

❋ PAINTED LADY This is great for the flowers – in fact runner beans were first grown as flowers, and people thought the beans were poisonous!

❋ SCARLET EMPEROR This heritage variety is also great for the flowers, and it’s a good cropper to boot.

❋ ACHIEVEMENT MERIT A reselection from ‘Achievement’, which yields well over a long season and has attractive red flowers.

❋ HESTIA This is a dwarf variety that crops well, despite being small enough to grow in containers. It has attractive flowers, too (pictured above).

John Harrison

SPECIAL BOOK OFFER

We’re now into the gardening season, so it’s really time to get your skates on if you’re going to pursue that New Year’s resolution of self-sufficiency. John Harrison’s special offer to veg growers, both new and experienced, combines the absolute best of both worlds – his own extensive expertise in a pocketsize, portable form, together with a generous selection of seeds courtesy of Suttons to put it all into practice. John will even cover the postage costs too. Visit www.allotment-garden.org/book/ to find out more and to chat online and exchange growing tips with other like-minded home farmers everywhere.

Here are just a few of the comments his popular books have attracted: A great value no frills book packed with knowledge. Written by a genuine kitchen gardener. As a horticultural lecturer this is one book I would recommend to those new to vegetable gardening. J. TRIM

The best-selling gardening book... information-packed and down-to-earth. THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

This book is a bit like having the most experienced veg grower from the local allotments in your pocket. WHICH? GARDENING

WWW.ALLOTMENT-GARDEN.ORG/BOOK/ VISIT THE WEBSITE TO DISCOVER A WORLD OF GROWING ADVICE

M AY 2015

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SMAL L-SPACE G ARDENING

SMALL SPACE uds! Big sp

Mike Clark continues his series on small-space gardening with a ‘back-to-basics’ feature on growing spuds in containers

rowing vegetables in pots is actually very easy, and anyone with just a doorstep can do it. If you are restricted for space, I guess you really have a choice between perhaps a couple of large containers or half a dozen smaller ones, but a lack of space should not prevent you from growing at least a little of your own food. It is, of course, really up to you, but different veg needs either more or less in terms of root space, so what you eventually decide to grow will probably influence your final choice of container. For example, potatoes need a big pot as a basic minimum requirement, and will

M AY 2015

produce at their best in something like an old-fashioned dustbin. At the other extreme, salad leaves can be grown quite satisfactorily in a big margarine tub, as long as you make enough drainage holes, and a cheap wooden tray about 60cm × 30cm can provide you with all the lettuce you and your family could possibly eat throughout the entire summer! Let’s take a closer look at potatoes, though. Last month I mentioned briefly that a couple of tubers can be started early indoors, in small pots on a sunny windowsill. This is well worth doing to get the earliest possible crop, but is certainly not essential. Chitted

tubers can be planted directly into their permanent final containers, but this last sentence hinges on three separate subjects – chitting, planting and containers. So let’s look in more detail at each one.

CHITTING This is the act of getting a tuber to sprout into growth before it is actually

SMAL L-SPACE G ARDENING planted. The first growth is produced from the energy stored in the tuber, so making this happen prior to planting simply speeds up the growing process. Set the tubers on a sunny windowsill in early spring – old egg cartons are ideal for the purpose, but make sure the eyes on the tubers are facing upwards. The eyes, from which the sprouts will develop, are generally at the opposite end of the tuber to where it was attached to the parent plant. By the time you are ready to plant them, you will have strong shoots developing, but handle them with great care, as these shoots can be very easily snapped off.

PLANTING This is straightforward enough. Half-fill your chosen container with compost – a loam-based one is best for the purpose – or a mix of garden soil and homemade compost. However, if you have access to neither, bought compost is fine, and the cheapest option is probably the contents of a typical growbag; you will

Above: Set the tubers halfway down the container. Left: Chitting seed potatoes with the eyes facing upwards.

need to add some general fertiliser, too, to give your spuds the best possible start in life. Set the tubers on the surface of your growing medium with the shoots facing upwards and cover with 5cm of compost. As they grow, keep topping the container up with more compost, just leaving the growing top exposed – this is called ‘earthing up’. Continue to ‘earth up’ until the container is filled to within

5cm of the rim. As the plant grows, the potatoes will then continue to form right up the buried stem, greatly increasing your yield.

CONTAINERS As discussed last month, containers can be whatever you have to hand, from a pot the size of an average pail (or even

EASY PEASY We looked at peas last month, so let me briefly return to them. Dwarf varieties of all vegetables are generally best suited to growing in pots, and seed companies have done great work to help us by breeding evermore dwarf varieties, and those which have now become known as ‘mini vegetables’. These have been bred specifically for growing in pots and containers, or in the confined space of a very small plot such as

those used in square-foot gardening – a technique which also seeks to make the most of restricted space by offering both a productive system and a reasonable range of different veg. But these varieties don’t have to be specifically ‘mini’ – just read the details in the seed catalogues, keep an eye out for the word ‘dwarf’, and check the claimed growing height in the description. As with potatoes, ‘early’ is another word to look out for, as early

varieties generally mature faster. As far as peas go, ‘Meteor’ is an early one, growing to about 45cm. My own regular choice is ‘Kelvedon Wonder’, also an early variety, which grows to about the same height. Of course, if you have shelter and a wall or fence to which you can fix either netting or a trellis, you can grow the taller varieties that way and train them to grow up it. As always, use your imagination, and don’t be afraid to try out different things, but make a note of what you did, and what worked and what didn’t, and learn from your notes to make next year even more successful. MIKE’S TIP! To make the best use of limited space, once you’ve planted the peas and built your support, sow some radishes around the edge of the pot. They will grow ever so quickly, and you’ll most likely have eaten them before the peas need all the room to themselves!

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“THE FIRST GROWTH IS PRODUCED FROM THE ENERGY STORED IN THE TUBER, SO MAKING THIS HAPPEN PRIOR TO PLANTING SIMPLY SPEEDS UP THE GROWING PROCESS”

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in bles asy, a t e e g g ve lly very have n i w Gro is actua u only p e o pots even if y r doorst and on you o it. d room an still c you

‘Swift’ potatoes.

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SMAL L-SPACE G ARDENING a pail itself) to an old dustbin. Always drill plenty of drainage holes in the base, and drainage will be helped if the container can be slightly raised above the ground – a couple of pieces of wood or bricks will achieve this. If you have some spare cash, you can buy bags specifically designed for growing potatoes – they are like smaller versions of the bags in which you get gravel from the builders’ merchant. These bags are constructed to be very stable when filled, so be wary of using just any old bag without support, as the weight is considerable. A strong bin-liner inside a heavy-duty cardboard box will work just fine. Just use your imagination, and improvise with whatever is to hand. Generally, I would put only a single tuber in a pot the size of a pail, and perhaps three, or even five, in a typical black plastic dustbin, as was common before the arrival of wheelie bins. There’s really no point in overcrowding your spuds, because the restricted space will simply reduce the yield from each tuber as they compete against each other for nutrients and water.

WHICH VARIETY? If you are new to growing your own, you might be bamboozled by the many pages of spud varieties in a typical seed

‘Red Duke of York’ potatoes.

catalogue. Potatoes fall mainly into three categories – earlies, second earlies and maincrop. Maincrops are generally grown in bulk, for harvesting and storing towards the end of summer. They require the longest growing season of the three, and more space to develop than either earlies or second earlies. Personally, I wouldn’t consider using a maincrop variety for container growing. Second earlies, as the name suggests, mature after earlies, so again need a longer growing season, but I would advise sticking to early varieties for container growing. There are many to choose from, but, for me, one variety stands out for two

reasons. ‘Swift’ is the fastest from planting to harvesting, with one supplier claiming it takes as little as seven weeks. I can’t comment on that, but even in the north of Scotland I have been eating ‘Swift’ within nine weeks of planting them, and two months is not long to wait for your first taste of an early tattie! The other reason is its compact nature – it has shorter foliage than most, and this is an advantage when growing vegetables in a group of pots. Taller varieties will cast more shade, and will generally flop over, damaging any other plants around them; the foliage of ‘Swift’ remains short and upright. However, if you are using a bigger container and want a heavier crop of larger potatoes which still have that ‘new potato’ taste, try ‘Lady Christl’, or one of my old favourites, ‘Red Duke of York’. In fact, try any variety once – that’s all part of the fun!

IN CONCLUSION… Once planted, just keep your potatoes watered, but never waterlogged. Don’t let them dry out either, and containers, especially smaller ones, are more prone to this on a hot, sunny day. Then, around two months from planting, turn out the pot and discover a real delight for dinner!

“…DIFFERENT VEG NEEDS EITHER MORE OR LESS IN TERMS OF ROOT SPACE, SO WHAT YOU EVENTUALLY DECIDE TO GROW WILL PROBABLY INFLUENCE YOUR FINAL CHOICE OF CONTAINER”

NEXT MONTH We’ll look at more kinds of veg that are suitable for pots, including dwarf varieties, ‘minis’, and other space-savers.

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UNDER COVER G ARDENING

SALADS d n u o r r a e all y Salad leaves are for life, not just for summer. Bring freshness, vitality and health to your dinner table all year round with delicious fresh salads grown under cover or on a windowsill, says Kate Collyns

e have come a long way since the days of limp ‘Iceberg’ lettuces and a sprig of parsley when it comes to salad leaves and garnishes. The mainstream salad revolution started with spicy rocket, then oriental greens such as mizuna came along, too, and gardeners haven’t looked back since. Colourful leaves and flowers that are packed full of flavour, texture and healthy vitamins and minerals aren’t just for chefs, though: with a little protection and planning, you can grow salads all year round.

SOWING Successional sowings mean that you’ll have delicious fresh salad leaves all year round, although you will find that many plants are cut-and-come-again and will continue to give you leaves for months. Sow ‘backbone’ salad leaves

such as a few lettuces every few weeks from February until September for a continuous supply. Sow plants for late-spring harvest from February onwards under cover, either in modules

SALAD LEAF VARIETIES A quick look through any seed catalogue will show the vast range of species and varieties of salad leaves available now. You can also throw a range of herbs and edible flowers into your salad bowl, too. Here is just an example of some beautiful and tasty mixes to grow through the different seasons.

SPRING ❋ Peas and broad beans (you can eat the young tender shoots, tops and flowers, then leave the plants to grow on; or grow them just for the leaves) – fresh pea flavour. ❋ Spinach, orache and amaranth – fresh green flavour. ❋ Rocket – spicy and peppery. ❋ Lettuce (‘Red Salad Bowl’, ‘Marvel of Four Seasons’) – fresh clean taste.

❋ Mizuna and mibuna – juicy and spicy. SUMMER ❋ Lettuce (‘Maravilla de Verano’, ‘Little Gem’) – crisp fresh taste. ❋ Nasturtiums (flowers and leaves) – peppery taste. ❋ Borage (flowers) – cucumber-like flavour. ❋ Chives (‘Staro’, garlic, both leaves and flowers) – mild onion flavour.

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or trays to plant out, or direct into the ground; and summer plants from March onwards. The hot months of midsummer aren’t a great time for sowing under cover, because any water restrictions and the changing day length will encourage plants to bolt and run to seed quickly. Sow plants for an autumn and winter harvest from August to October. As a rule, brassicas are quick to germinate and grow, and will need less time between sowing and planting (six to eight weeks) than slower-growing plants such as radicchio and endive (at least eight weeks). Once planted out (or direct-sown), brassicas and spinach will be ready to harvest quicker than others.

HARVESTING

Remember!

Colourful leaves and flowers that are packed full of flavour, texture and healthy vitamins and minerals aren’t just for chefs.

❋ Sorrel (French) – fresh lemony flavour. AUTUMN ❋ Mustards (‘Red Giant’, ‘Purple Osaka’) – hot and spicy. ❋ Lettuce (‘Little Gem’, ‘Redlo’) – fresh taste. ❋ Beetroot leaves (‘Bull’s Blood’) – dark beetroot-like taste and great colour. ❋ Endive (‘Markant’) – slightly bitter fresh taste.

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You can cut your salad plants whole (using a sharp knife or scissors), then pull them out and use the space for something else; cut them above the growing point and let them grow back; or pick off individual outer leaves and allow the small young leaves to grow on. Some plants (and people) prefer one method to another: nasturtiums are best picked individually and will grow on from spring until frosted, whereas some lettuce varieties are best cut whole, and many will grow back. Brassicas such as rocket, as well as spinach, will run to seed quickly in hotter months; to prevent this, keep plants well watered and cut off any flowering heads (and eat them!) to encourage more leaf growth. Harvest leaves in the cool of the morning or evening in summer, and use as soon as possible. Spritz the leaves with water and keep in the fridge until ready to use.

WINTER ❋ Chicory (radicchio ‘Palla Rossa’ – pictured right) – bitter taste and beautiful colour. ❋ Mustards (‘Green In The Snow’, ‘Red Frills’) – hot and spicy. ❋ Claytonia (summer purslane) – juicy fresh taste. ❋ Shungiku (chop suey greens) – edible chrysanthemum, gin-like flavour.

UNDER COVER G ARDENING

CUCUMBERS

PLANT CARE

Hardy plants such as brassicas, endive, chicory, chard, beetroot, claytonia, and some winter lettuces, will be fine grown in a polytunnel or greenhouse, or on a warm windowsill, even during really cold spells. If the temperature looks like it will stay below freezing for more than a few days, though, you can cover your leaves with some fleece to help keep them snug. Remember to check underneath regularly for slugs and mice, though (mice love chewing roots), and it’s best not to water over the top of the fleece in case it freezes on top of the plants and explodes the cells in the leaves, turning them to mush. Many leaves used in salads are from the brassica family, so if they are in the ground, check your rotations to ensure that you’re not growing brassicas in the same place year after year. Not only do these hungry plants consume lots of nitrogen from the soil, but plant-specific diseases such as clubroot can also build up. Try and group your salad leaves in rough family groups so that nutrient requirements are different throughout your rotation – for example, chicory is a deep-rooting plant that will search out minerals deeper down in the soil after brassicas grown in the same spot previously have fed off the top soil layers. Salad leaves in general like a light, fertile soil, so a covering of well-rotted manure or compost before each sowing or planting is a good idea. As a leafy plant, they also don’t like to get too hot or dry, so ensure they have enough water, but beware of overwatering and flushing soil nutrients away, especially in winter when fungal problems can occur due to low temperatures and light levels. If aphids are a problem, encourage ladybirds and hoverflies into your tunnel or greenhouse, and they will soon disappear.

Cucumbers like a bit of heat to get them going: sow them in pots with heat from the end of March; or if they’re in a cold greenhouse or polytunnel, from the beginning of April should be fine. They are quick to germinate and will be ready to plant out in your tunnel or greenhouse by the end of April or beginning of May, once frost threats have passed. If spring stays cold, though, cover them with fleece at night. Plant them about 30cm apart, and train them up strings or netting, using jute string to tie the plants to the support until they get the idea. Side-shoot the plants as they grow up until they are around head height. If your cucumber plants are not an all-female variety, you may need to nip off the male flowers, too (no fruit behind the flower), in order to concentrate the plants’ resources. F1 smooth-skinned varieties are very common and reliable, although expensive (such as ‘Paska’ F1, ‘Melen’ F1); but there are some excellent openpollinated varieties, too, such as ‘Marketmore’, that give good yields of thicker-skinned ridged cucumbers, which tend to be hardier and easier to look after.

Once they start fruiting (around July), cucumbers will need to be picked when full-size every few days. They are hungry plants, and a good dressing of well-rotted manure or compost before planting will help them thrive all season. A feed of comfrey or seaweed every few weeks in the summer also won’t go amiss, and if leaves start to look yellow, give them an extra boost with a nitrogen-rich feed such as nettle. Cucumbers hate being cold and wet, so if late summer is dark and damp, restrict the watering, and make sure ventilation is good, too, to discourage mildew and other fungal problems. Red spider mite can be a problem for cucumbers under cover – irrigating by sprinklers rather than drip-line deters them – so encourage wildlife to come in and take care of them for you (see my article in last month’s Home Farmer).

Side-shooted cucumbers.

A cucumber flower.

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M AY 2015

SPICES

A BIT OF ! e c i p s h s i t i r B

Elizabeth McCorquodale smashes the myth that you need an exotic climate to grow spicy ingredients, and serves up some of her favourite spice mixes

temperate spice garden might seem a bit of a contradiction, but there are dozens of spicy plants that will grow happily in our climate, and many more that will tolerate our summers and just need a little help to make it through the winters. On top of those are all the annuals that, as long as they have a bright sunny spot, will be just as happy here as anywhere else. Of course, when we are talking about growing spices I guess the first thing to sort out is what makes a spice, a spice. There is one school of thought that says a spice is a plant that is harvested for its flowers, fruit, seeds or bark, while a herb is grown for its leaves; but that doesn’t really hold up under scrutiny, and nor does the idea that a spice is always a tropical plant – there are just too many exceptions. For our purposes, a spice is a plant that imparts a spicy flavour; maybe a little heat; a bit of a tingle on the tongue; something striking, and perhaps a little out of the ordinary. Spices not only titillate our taste buds, they often awaken our sense of smell and excite us visually as well – the bright oranges and yellows can be startling as well as appealing, and those nosetingling scents that greet you when you walk into a spice kitchen are intoxicating and rather exotic. Many spices – real curry leaves, for example – are not much use when they are dried, as the flavours soon become dull and faded, but picked fresh from the plant they are sumptuous and delicious. There is a world of difference between the spices that you harvest and use fresh from the plant, and those that you buy in the shops – it is often the depth and strength of the spices that makes the final dish. Others, however, are often used in their dried form, but that doesn’t mean that they should be old. Spices, like anything else, have a shelf life, and the older they are, the less rich and

flavourful they will be. Time robs spices of their zing. Seeds can generally be dried and stored whole in a sealed jar out of direct sun. Dry your seeds by cutting the whole seed head, then enclose it in a labelled paper bag and hang it upside down. Give the bag a shake from time to time until all the seeds have been released, then blow away the chaff and transfer them to a jar. I never store herbs or spices in bags or bottles made from cellophane or plastic, as I sometimes fancy that I can detect an unwelcome whiff of chemicals on the produce. Glass is best. Some leaves and flowers are best cut and stripped from the branch, while others are easier to dry when still attached to the stem. Whichever you choose, harvest the leaves and enclose them immediately in a paper bag in an airy spot out of direct sun, then as soon as they are dry, pop them into a glass jar.

HARDY PERENNIALS ❋

SAFFRON (Crocus sativus) This is the most expensive spice in the world, and no wonder, as it is only the styles and stigmas (the female reproductive organs) of this autumnflowering crocus that are used. Plant the bulbs in late autumn 13–15cm deep and the same distance apart in a sun-drenched, very well-drained bed. Each bulb will produce only about four flowers, and each flower will produce only three stigmas. Harvest the stigmas the moment you see them, as they are very short-lived. Dry them quickly and pop them immediately into a sealed jar. While you wait for your saffron to begin producing, try growing safflower – also known as false saffron – an

annual with a bright-orange thistlelike flower. It has none of the saffron flavour, but the colour from the dried petals is often used as a substitute for saffron and turmeric. ❋

FENNEL (Foeniculum vulgare) This is grown in the spice border for its highly flavoured seeds, though its leaves are also highly flavoured. Use the seeds in any hot dish, and also afterwards to clean the palate and freshen the breath. Leave the stalks standing at the end of the season, as they make perfect winter homes for ladybirds and other garden ‘good guys’.

❋

MYRTLE (Myrtus communis) Also known as Corsican pepper, myrtle is prized for its berries. There is a lovely little variegated myrtle that is just perfect for the spice border, adding colour as well as the delicious scent of the flowers in spring, followed up with the little peppery seeds (use them as a change from pepper) in late summer and autumn. Pick and lay them in a single layer to dry, then store them whole for grinding later.

TENDER PERENNIALS FOR POTS Some of the spice plants that we can grow here require just a little extra effort, even if it is just lifting them and bringing them indoors to see out the winter, but that effort is well and truly worthwhile as long as you have a heated greenhouse or conservatory where you can store them.

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Spice mi xes

Once you have harvested your home-grown spices it is time to use them in some of the dozens of spice mixes from around the world. Carefully toast the seeds in a heavy frying pan for two or three minutes before letting them cool and adding them to the remaining ingredients. Grind all the dry spices together using a pestle and mortar, a large pepper mill, or a for-spices-only coffee grinder, then add any fresh spices such as citrus zest, garlic or ginger. The following are just a sample of my own favourites, and like all regional recipes, they have a hundred different permutations and variations! CHINESE FIVE-SPICE POWDER Sumptuous! 1 tbsp aniseed seeds 1 tbsp Szechuan pepper 1 tbsp fennel seeds ½ tbsp cloves 5cm cinnamon stick THAI SEVEN-SPICE MIX I have yet to find a Thai sevenspice mix with anything less than eight spices… that aside, this one (with no less than eleven spices!) is my own favourite. 4 tsp ground paprika 1 tsp ground turmeric 2 tsp black peppercorns 2 tsp coriander seeds 2 tsp fennel seeds 1 tsp mustard seeds 1 tsp cumin seeds ¼ tsp cayenne powder 12.5cm piece of fresh ginger Zest of ½ lemon 2 cloves garlic

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SPICES TURMERIC, CARDAMOM AND GINGER (Curcuma longa, Elettaria cardamomum and Zingiber officinale, respectively) These are all tender perennials that will happily grow in our summer gardens, but they are best grown in large pots to make moving them into the house or greenhouse in autumn an easy task. Repot them each spring, feed them well and then place them back outside in a sheltered, shady spot. Cardamom and turmeric (pictured above) are evergreen and quite beautiful, looking like very attractive house plants, though ginger will die down for a few months. These plants are all rainforest dwellers and need constant moisture and shelter from direct sun. Cardamom is a particularly rewarding plant to grow, as you can use the leaves shredded and tossed in all sorts of dishes, as well as the seeds. Ginger, of course, is an essential kitchen ingredient, and if you have the space you can easily grow enough to keep you in stem ginger all year round.

❋

❋ LEMON GRASS (Cymbopogon citratus) The leaf bases are the tastiest part of lemon grass, so encourage lots of quick, lush growth by feeding and watering well. The strappy leaves of this tender grass die back in winter, and watering should be reduced to a minimum until the weather warms up again in spring. ❋ CURRY LEAF (Murraya koenigii) This isn’t anything to do with the pungent, grey-leaved curry plant, Helichrysum italicum, that is often grown in cottage gardens. Murraya is the true curry plant, and it needs to be used either straight from the plant or very soon after, otherwise the flavour is lost. Use the leaves fresh from the plant, fried in hot oil and crumbled into your dish to release their flavour. You can increase your stock by separating suckers from the base of your plant when you repot each spring.

ANNUALS ❋

METHI or FENUGREEK (Trigonella foenum-graecum) This is currently enjoying popularity as a sprouting herb, and it has long been used as a green manure, but it is the seed for which it is most valued as a spice. To grow it for seed, sow it where it is to flower and leave the seed to mature on the plant. The seeds are an essential ingredient in many curry mixes, and they can be eaten toasted as a snack.

❋ CUMIN (Cuminum cyminum) This is a warm-weather Umbelliferae that likes a long growing season to mature its seed, so it is best started off early indoors and then transplanted outside when well established. Don’t be tempted to save space by transplanting seedlings – sow straight into pots to avoid disturbing their growth. Cumin must have a sunny spot or you will be wasting your time, but they are pretty and delicate, and while they may not be prolific producers, they are still well worth growing. ❋

❋

BLACK CUMIN (Nigella sativa) This is no relation to the other cumin. It is an easy-togrow relative of our cottage garden love-in-a-mist, which is very similar in appearance. This plant is the source of the black seeds that you see on naan bread, and it is used in many spice mixtures. Leave the flowers in situ until they are thoroughly dry, then cut the pretty seed heads and dry them upside down in a paper bag. CORIANDER AND CILANTRO (Coriandrum sativum) These plants are the essentials of the spice border, as both their seeds and leaves find their way into a huge number of

GROWING YOUR OWN You can read all about growing Szechuan pepper (pictured), chillies, horseradish and wasabi in the July 2014 issue or by visiting www.homefarmer.co.uk/growing-hot-and-spicy-plants/

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e nsiv e p x ly e ost it is on m is e s is th orld, a as of th n o w Saffr in the d stigm ocus r e c i a sp tyles n ering c s w o e l th mn-f d. autu are use that

spice mixtures. Although they are the same plant, different cultivars have been bred for their different uses. If growing for the leaf it is best to grow them as sprouts and enjoy them when they are young – no more than 15–20cm high – as the flavour can become unpleasantly strong in older plants. For seed, broadcast sow where they are to flower and enclose the seed heads in paper bags before cutting to avoid losing the precious seed on its way to your drying area. ❋ ANISEED (Pimpinella anisum) This is a terrific, easy-to-grow annual that likes a sunny, dryish spot. Use the seeds whenever a recipe calls for star-anise. It tastes strongly of liquorice and is refreshing and satisfying. This white, lacy-flowered Umbelliferae may need a little support in a windy spot. Harvest the seed as for coriander and the others.

YOU CAN ALSO GROW… Thai basil (pictured left), holy basil and cinnamon basil are all terrific additions to the spice border, and are all easily grown from seed. There are several oreganos, too, both hardy and tender species, but the tender Cretan oregano (pictured below), Oreganum dictamus, is a treasure, and the very hardy Oreganum ‘Hot and Spicy’ is particularly suited for the spice border. Then there are chillies selected for flavour as well as heat: the marvellous and surprisingly hardy, Szechuan pepper; the essential Kaffir lime, a tender evergreen that will happily live outside in the summer and inside in a cool, bright spot in the winter; and so very many more.

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Spice mi xes

CARIBBEAN MIX 2 tbsp coriander seeds 1 tbsp aniseed seeds 1 tbsp cumin seeds 1 tbsp mustard seeds 1 tbsp fenugreek seeds 1 tbsp peppercorns 5cm cinnamon stick A generous 5cm piece of fresh ginger, grated 2 tbsp ground turmeric

SPANISH MOOR MIX ½ tsp coriander seeds ½ tsp cumin seeds ½ tsp fennel seeds 1 tsp smoked paprika Pinch of salt 2 cloves garlic, grated 1 tbsp fresh oregano A pinch of saffron, soaked in 2 tbsp boiling water

FURTHER INFO For more examples of Elizabeth’s photography and articles, together with the books she has written, visit www.elizabethmccorquodale.com

M AY 2015

GARAM MASALA 5cm cinnamon stick 2 bay leaves, broken 3 tbsp cardamom pods 2 tsp fenugreek seeds 1 tbsp cumin seeds 1 tbsp coriander seeds 1 tbsp black peppercorns ½ tsp cloves 1 tsp mace

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BAL E BEDS

MAKE A BED ! s e l a b w a r t s h wit This month Mark Abbott-Compton combines bale beds with no-dig techniques to both extend his plot and use up non-productive space

have always enjoyed trying out different methods of growing vegetables, as I like to see if they will reach maturity for cropping quicker, give me better flavour, a larger yield, or perhaps significantly reduce disease. With this in mind I have been using bales of straw or hay for a number of years, either in which to grow crops, or as the framework for some quick-toconstruct and cost-efficient raised beds. In the particular method I’m about to describe to you I have combined the use of straw bales with the technique of creating a layered no-dig bed. Growing in bales has been around since the 1960s, and possibly longer, but I am a firm believer that by combining different methods we can create some great conditions that will help us get the best out of both methods. One of the great advantages of using bales is the

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speed with which we can create new beds, and just how easy they are to set up.

CONSTRUCTING A BALE BED – THE SIMPLE WAY For the most basic method we simply take four bales and create a square by simply laying them on the ground with their corners overlapping. You can either use the bales positioned on their flat edge with the bale string running around the outside edges, or on their sides. There is little difference in my experience, although you will get a much deeper bed if you place the bale on its edge, and this also takes up considerably less space. To increase the size of the bed you just use more bales. You can scale up to two bales wide and four or five bales long, but this is the largest practical size for

working on easily – after that you tend to have to walk through the bed rather than around it. Once we have created the outside of our bed, the open space in the centre becomes our future growing space or bed, and the next step is to put several layers of wet cardboard in the bottom of this bed, followed by 15cm of manure. We then start to create alternate layers of brown and green manure, just like a compost heap. The green layers can be cut nettles, but ensure you do not have any roots, or grass clippings. A good idea, if you are short of green layers, is to sprinkle coffee grounds between the layers of manure, as this creates a great growing environment. If you have any manure that’s not yet well rotted, put that at the bottom of the bed, and by the time the feeding roots reach it, some of the heat will have dissipated.

BAL E BEDS If you are constructing your bale bed in the winter, a good idea is to fill the bed with the contents of your compost heap. Turn it so that the top of the compost heap becomes the bottom of your growing bed, and most of the already composted material sits at the top of your growing bed to serve as the actual growing medium. What we are actually doing with this method is rather like sheet composting within a closed space. As we get halfway up the bales, we need to use well-rotted material, and our final layers can either be spent growbags or very well decomposed garden compost, as this is our growing medium in which our young plants or seedlings will eventually be planted. A great advantage of this particular method is that due to the physical depth of the bed, we can create them on hard surfaces such as rocky ground or concrete, and they will still give us a fantastic crop. This, therefore, allows you to utilise unused or difficult-to-use space for vegetable production very quickly when needed.

Bale beds will also hold large amounts of water, which is always readily available to the plant roots. Then, as the bed decomposes, it generates heat too, which helps to warm up the bed and gives a boost to our plants, which will in turn give us earlier crops and, in my experience, higher yields, as the plants don’t get as stressed as they might do by a constant cycle of drying out and then getting soaked.

PREPARING AND PLANTING THE BALE BED Once you have constructed your bale bed, if you intend to actually plant into the bales themselves, you will need to water them thoroughly so that they can start to heat up. A word of warning: don’t attempt to water the bales and then move them, as they will be incredibly heavy. Always water them in situ! If you do intend to plant into the bales themselves, you will need to charge them with fertiliser. This can be done by either watering them with a soluble fertiliser for 10–14 days, or you can use urine,

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO BUILDING A STRAW BALE BED

1. Start with four bales and create a square.

2. Create alternate layers of brown and green manure.

4. Plant either courgettes or squash after the broad beans, because they will positively thrive in this type of bed.

3. Halfway up the bales you need well-rotted material.

5. As the bale decomposes you can try for potatoes.

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which works brilliantly, especially when combined with the aforementioned coffee grounds. This combined source of nitrogen provides some really great growing conditions when used with straw or hay beds. After the fertilising period you can then plant into the bales themselves, but as bale beds are never going to be the most attractive beds to look at, I recommend that you plant into the vertical sides; this is a most effective way of both increasing growing space and covering them, and is certainly a more productive alternative to concealing them with low, woven fence panels.

POSSIBLE CROPS TO GROW IN A BALE BED

FURTHER INFO If you would like more information on growing using just the bales, there is a written report that can be found at www.learn-how-togarden.com/bale-bed. There are also many videos and tips on a wide range of seasonal gardening tasks on Mark’s website. Visit www.learn-how-to-garden.com to find out more.

M AY 2015

If I were constructing a basic fourbale bed in order to make the most productive use of space, I would use it for growing beans up a wigwam – thus really maximising my return – and then plant nasturtiums into the bales. Nasturtiums make excellent companion plants and they also taste great in salads, with the leaves adding a mustard-like flavour. During the course of maturing, nasturtiums produce a mustard oil that insects love, and they will actually seek them out in preference to most vegetables. For this reason I always use nasturtiums as a sacrificial plant on my allotment. If you have prepared your bed early in the year, broad beans will be a perfect choice because they will fix nitrogen into the soil as they grow. Summer savory would probably be my ideal choice as a companion plant to grow with broad beans in the bales. It is not widely grown, but is a strongly aromatic herb that prevents the aphids from smelling the beans, and it’s also a perfect herb accompaniment for most bean dishes, too. I would then recommend that you plant either courgettes or squash after the broad beans, because they will positively thrive in this type of bed. After a season, the bed does start to look quite scruffy as the bales decompose, but the entire bale bed can then be incorporated into your compost heap, or you could grow parsley or chard in the bed over winter, and in the second season you could extend its life by planting some potatoes into what will, by now, be a collapsing bed; however, that doesn’t have to stop it still being productive! Potatoes will fare exceedingly well in the rich soil, and when cropped you will be left with some really fantastic compost to top-dress your other beds.

HOME FARMER DI Y

BENCH & BOX IY AD t c e j o r p pallet

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Here’s a great step-by-step DIY project from some Australian home farmers, which shows how to build a handy bench and storage/planter box using pallets TOOLS ❋ Claw-hammer ❋ Pinch bar ❋ Tape measure ❋ Pencil ❋ Woodscrews (nominally 28mm) ❋ Drill ❋ Pre-drill bit (nominally 3mm) ❋ Impact driver ❋ Phillips bit

MATERIALS ❋ Pallets in reasonable condition SAFETY EQUIPMENT ❋ Safety glasses ❋ Ear defenders, or earplugs ❋ Gloves

This project was first published in the Australian magazine, Home Grown. Visit www.homegrownmagazine.com.au to find out more.

M AY 2015

HOME FARMER DI Y

BUILD YOUR OWN GARDEN BENCH AND STORAGE BOX

1 Select 6 uniform pallets and disassemble them using a clawhammer and pinch bar, retaining the top slats and underside gluts. Remove the nails with the claw-hammer and select the best uniform slats. 2 Measure the width of the slats. The box will be 5 slats high, so 5 × the width of a slat = Length 1 (L1). Cut 10 slats into 20 equal pieces at D1 – Piece A. (01) 3 Align 5 × Piece A side by side and flush at the ends. Use another Piece A to mark 1 slat’s thickness around the entire perimeter. (02) Measure between the lines across 5 slats = L2.

Cut 2 slats into 4 equal pieces at L2 – Piece B. 4 Align Piece B inside the marked perimeter across the slats on one side. Pre-drill and screw it in place. Repeat on the other side to create the box front. (03) Repeat Steps 3 and 4 to create the box back. 5 Stand the box front up vertically. Starting from the bottom side, screw through a face of Piece A into the edge of Piece B. Stand the box back up vertically and repeat. (04) Repeat until 5 high. Repeat on the other side. (05)

6 Lay the box on its side. Measure between both Piece B = L3. Cut 2 slats into 4 equal pieces at L3 to create 4 × Piece C. Screw Piece C flush to the top and bottom of Piece B on both sides to create a lip for the top and bottom. (06) 7 Stand the box upside down. Measure between 2 sides = L4. (07) Cut 5 slats in 10 equal pieces at L4 to form the box top and bottom rails – Piece D. Screw 5 × Piece D to the edge of the internal cleats to create the bottom. (08) Turn the box upright. 8 Take L3 minus 20mm = L5. Cut 1 slat into 2 equal L5 – Piece E.

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11 Align flush and screw through 1 × Piece G to Piece H. Repeat at the other end. Balance the 3 remaining Piece Hs between and screw to Piece G. (13)

14 Measure from the underside of the benchtop to the bottom of the box = L7. Cut gluts at L7 to form 5 end rails. Screw 5 end rails to BT cleat to create BT Leg. (16)

12 At the other end, mark 1 glut thickness across 5 benchtop rails. Align flush and balanced in the middle and screw through 1 × Piece G to this line across the 5 benchtop rails. (14)

15 Measure the underside of the benchtop between the Piece G cleats. Cut 1 glut to this dimension to form Piece I. Using 2 × the remaining Piece Fs, screw through the centre of each Piece F into Piece I to create a bottom ‘I’ brace. (17)

Align the 5 remaining Piece Ds together. Screw Piece E balanced across 5 slats, stepped in 50mm from each side. Repeat at the other end to create the box top. (09) Using an 18mm core drill bit, drill out a semicircular finger hole in the centre front of the box top. (10) 9 Measure the external side of the box = L6. Cut 3 slats into 6 equal pieces at L6 to form 6 × Piece F. Select 4 × Piece F and screw them together to form 2 × L cleats – Piece G. (11) 10 Select 5 uniform gluts. Cut at the desired bench width to form 5 benchtop rails – Piece H. (12)

M AY 2015

13 Measure from the bottom of the box to the top of the second highest slat. Screw from inside the box, so the top of the benchtop is flush to the top of the second highest slat on the box. (15)

16 Screw the bottom of the ‘I’ brace to the bottom of the box side and the bottom of the benchtop leg ends. (18)

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PEST CON TROL

DAMAGE limitation

Ants milking ‘honeydew’ from greenfly. Photo © RHS/Michael Ballard.

Mike Hedges of The Organic Gardening Catalogue looks at organic ways of dealing with some principal pests that plague our plots

or any organic gardener the principal mindset should be about preventing bad things happening in the first place, thereby preserving and encouraging a healthy, balanced ecosystem, and fortunately most pests are actually lunch for something else. This article looks at some common garden pests and how they can be kept at bay, or how their effects can be minimised.

SLUGS AND SNAILS These are the number one garden pests, and tender seedlings are often at risk, but not all slugs are bad! Many larger slugs feed on organic matter such as dead leaves, manure and even dead slugs, and can be important in your compost heap. Under threat are beans, carrots, celery, lettuce, peas, potatoes and strawberries. Where possible, raise them in trays, pots or modules, then transplant strong sturdy seedlings with a greater chance of surviving being nibbled.

M AY 2015

❋ BARRIERS These are usually copper, in the form of adhesive tape, rings or impregnated mats. When a slug or snail comes into contact with copper, it gets a tingle from a small electric charge in the metal and retreats. Alternative barriers such as Slug Gone wool pellets or other granular and/or moisture absorbent materials make it uncomfortable for slugs to cross.

❋ REPELLENTS Grazers G2 is a relatively new calcium-based repellent sprayed onto foliage, making it unpalatable for slugs without affecting the taste. ❋ PREDATORS Hedgehogs, frogs, toads, some birds, slow-worms and ground beetles all help keep slug numbers down. Rake over soil in winter, turn over logs and large stones, and remove fallen leaves to expose slug eggs. ❋ IF ALL ELSE FAILS Anti-slug nematodes, ‘Nemaslug’, are a very effective biological control that seek out immature slugs in the soil and cause them to stop feeding. On the surface, use traps baited with beer or molasses, or protect areas with Advanced Slug Killer – pellets which only kill slugs and snails and won’t leave harmful residues. These methods will not harm creatures that feed on the dead slugs.

PEST CON T ROL

BLACKFLY

Left: Blackfly. Photo © RHS/Andrew Halstead.

The most common black aphid, Aphis fabae, is attracted to the fresh young growth of bean plants, and feeds on the sap. They multiply quickly, and a single female can start an infestation. Plants can become stunted and weakened, leading to poor growth and pod set. Under threat are broad beans, French beans and runner beans. Blackfly live over winter on host plants such as Philadelphus, Viburnum and common spindle (Euonymus europaeus), ), so avoid growing beans in close proximity to these. ❋ BARRIERS Protect by growing plants under Enviromesh, although this can become less practical for climbing and runner beans. Once flowering starts, remove the mesh to allow pollination; however, by this time natural predators will be active and help keep things on an even keel. ❋ PREDATORS Ladybirds, hoverfly larvae, lacewing larvae and several parasitic wasps ❋ COMPANION PLANTS Blackfly enjoy feeding on nasturtiums and poppies, so plant some near your beans to entice them away. ❋ IF ALL ELSE FAILS Remove by hand − gently rub your fingers over affected stems. Sprays based on pyrethrum, fatty acids or vegetable oil can be used, as they are naturally derived and leave no residues. They work by physical action on contact, but have a limited period of activity, so several applications may be needed.

GREENFLY Greenfly suck the sap out of plants and leave sticky secretions that can lead to fungal attacks, which stunt and distort growth. Some aphids carry viruses such as mosaic virus – a problem in courgettes, cucumbers and beans. Many plants are under threat − greenfly can be found on leaves and fresh growth.

❋ BARRIERS Grow under Enviromesh, either as a tunnel with hoops, or laid loose over the crop. ❋ COMPANION PLANTS AND PREDATORS Lacewings feed on whitefly and are attracted by dandelion, yarrow and Shasta daisy. Set up a habitat for lacewings to overwinter.

❋ PREDATORS As for blackfly. ❋ IF ALL ELSE FAILS As for blackfly. The biological control, Aphidius, can also be introduced into greenhouses or polytunnels.

CABBAGE WHITEFLY These small, winged insects, Aleyrodes proletella, feed on leaves and growing shoots of brassica plants, secreting sticky ‘honeydew’ that develops sooty mould. Whitefly can become a problem if they get out of hand, or if they get into the edible parts of the plant, particularly when they become blackened. Under threat are Brussels sprouts, cabbages, calabrese, cauliflowers and kale. Healthy plants with balanced nutrition will generally survive small populations of whitefly. Always remove all parts of the plant after harvesting, then compost to break the life cycle. Look for eggs on lower leaves and remove them. Hose down plants to wash away honeydew and mould, or hoover up adult whiteflies with a hand-held vacuum cleaner!

❋ IF ALL ELSE FAILS Control remedies for blackfly have some effect, but it is more difficult to ensure contact, as whiteflies take to the skies when disturbed.

GLASSHOUSE WHITEFLY A different species of whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum, which thrives in warmer temperatures, sucking sap, weakening plants and secreting honeydew. Under threat are cucumbers, melons, tomatoes and peppers. ❋ PREDATORS The best control is to introduce the parasitic wasp, Encarsia formosa, to the greenhouse. It lays eggs in young whitefly, killing them in the process. ❋ IF ALL ELSE FAILS Use yellow stick traps to lure whitefly away from plants. Control remedies for blackfly will have some effect, but it is more difficult to ensure contact, as whiteflies take to the skies when disturbed. Left: Cabbage whitefly. Photo © RHS/Neil Hepworth. Below: Use yellow stick traps to get the whitefly.

❋ BARRIERS Protect by growing under Enviromesh – it allows water and light to penetrate, but small insects cannot get through. It also warms the soil, but unlike fleece cover, it can be left on during warm weather.

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Left (inset): Cabbage root fly. Photo © RHS/Andrew Halstead. Below (inset): Cabbage caterpillars. Photo © RHS/Andrew Halstead. Below: Carrot fly damage. Photo © RHS/Tim Sandall.

and cabbage moth, Mamestra brassicae, can completely strip leaves and shoots from brassicas. Inspect the underside of leaves for eggs, and remove by hand. If you see damaged leaves, seek out the culprit(s) and pick them off. Under threat are broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, calabrese, cauliflowers, kale and kohlrabi. ❋ BARRIERS Growing under Enviromesh or butterfly netting will stop adults laying their eggs. ❋ REPELLENTS Grazers G3 is a new development similar to the slug repellent, and it is sprayed onto foliage, making it unpalatable for caterpillars without affecting the taste.

CABBAGE ROOT FLY The larvae of this fly, Delia radicum, feed on the roots, causing plants to grow slowly, wilt and die. Root crops are damaged by the tunnels that are eaten through them. Under threat are cabbages, cauliflowers, Brussels sprouts (and other brassicas), oriental greens, swede, turnips and radishes. ❋ BARRIERS Prevent flies from laying eggs in the desired place by using a collar around the stem at soil level. These can be purchased, or home-made using carpet underlay or roofing felt. Crops can also be protected by growing under Enviromesh. ❋ PREDATORS Biological control: use Nemasys Fruit and Veg Protection nematodes, which seek out the larvae in the soil, stopping them from feeding.

CARROT FLY These little flies, Psila rosae, are attracted to the scent of carrots and other root crops, and they

M AY 2015

lay eggs on them. Larvae hatch out and burrow into the roots, leaving a network of blackened, decaying tunnels, and roots become susceptible to secondary fungal rot. Under threat are carrots, parsnips and celeriac. Carrot flies are attracted by scent, so keep soil firm around young plants, especially after thinning. Sowing from mid May onwards can avoid the worst of the problem. ❋ BARRIERS Protect with a mesh barrier constructed as a fence, as the carrot fly cannot fly higher than 45cm. Growing carrots in a raised, mangerstyle planter such as a VegTrug should keep them safe. Crop rotation is important to avoid attacks by flies hatching from overwintering larvae or pupae. ❋ PREDATORS Biological control: use Nemasys Fruit and Veg Protection nematodes – see CABBAGE ROOT FLY.

CABBAGE CATERPILLARS Caterpillars of large and small cabbage white butterflies, Pieris brassicae, Pieris rapae,

❋ IF ALL ELSE FAILS Nemasys Fruit and Veg Protection nematodes stop caterpillars feeding, and kill them without harmful residues.

IN CONCLUSION… There are many more pests, but general principles are the same, and with planning you can prevent many problems without chemicals. The organic approach takes time and patience, and setbacks are to be expected, but in my experience, problems reduce as the health of your soil and ecosystem are developed and nature gives you a helping hand.

KEEPING IT NATURAL The Organic Gardening Catalogue is committed to providing the best solutions and new developments to help gardeners grow organically, and promotes organic gardening practices without the use of chemicals. All purchases help fund the work of Garden Organic, the national charity for organic growing. For more information, visit www.OrganicCatalogue.com, or phone 01932 253666.

T HE ONE- POT GOURME T G ARDENER

GROW& COOK t wonder! a one-po

Cinead McTernan shows how you can both grow and cook a recipe together, and the proof is in the pudding – a delicious Blueberry and Rose Geranium Compote

lueberries make a beautifully coloured compote, and their subtle sweetness is enhanced by the delicate lemon-rose scent of the geranium leaf. They look great in a container, too: the textured leaves and soft-pink flowers of the geraniums contrast nicely with the blueberry bushes, which look striking in autumn with their fiery foliage. Place them near the house or on a patio. This compote is certainly a godsend to have in the refrigerator, ready for you to create delicious dishes at the drop of a hat: simply pour a few generous spoonfuls over granola for a morning treat; spread it luxuriously in the middle of a sponge cake; or swirl it through thick vanilla or Greek yoghurt for a popular pudding.

THE ‘POT’ RECIPE REQUIREMENTS 1 × blueberry ‘Sutton’s Early’ 1 × blueberry ‘Sutton’s Late’ 2 × rose geraniums (Pelargonium ‘Graveolens’) 1 × 50cm-diameter container Ericaceous (acid) compost General organic vegetable fertiliser

GROWING THE PLANTS IN LATE SPRING 1

Fill the container with ericaceous compost – blueberries are lime-hating plants – and position it in a sunny, sheltered spot. If the pot is in partial shade, the blueberries will fruit later and will not put on such a show of autumn colour; also, the rose geranium will not have such a strong scent. In late spring, after the risk of frost has passed, plant the

blueberries on either side towards the back of the container and space the geraniums at the front. Water regularly – if you can use rainwater collected in a waterbutt, all the better, because tap water is often alkaline or ‘hard’ and raises the pH levels of the compost, adversely affecting the blueberries. Feed with a liquid fertiliser for lime-hating plants during the growing season. Take care that birds do not beat you to the crop – you might need to net the container.

Both the rose geraniums and blueberries are perennial, so you can keep this container going for several years. They do need to be protected from winter cold and wet: bring the pot under cover, if necessary.

TIME TO HARVEST Using early- and late-flowering blueberry varieties extends the harvesting season from midsummer to early autumn. The rose geranium leaves may be picked throughout the season; you can also use the edible flowers as decoration for summer dishes from mid to late summer.

BLUEBERRY AND ROSE GERANIUM COMPOTE INGREDIENTS

SERVES 2 300g blueberries 6 rose geranium leaves and a few flowers 6 tbsp water 1 tbsp caster sugar

METHOD 1

Put the blueberries, rose geranium leaves, water and sugar in a heavy-based saucepan and heat gently whilst stirring. When the water starts steaming, turn down the heat and leave the berries to simmer and burst gently. When the blueberries have softened, remove the rose geranium leaves and allow the blueberries to cool.

Serve with a yoghurt as a healthy breakfast or pudding, and garnish with a few geranium flowers.

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a r t x E

Cinead McTernan is the author of One-pot Gourmet Gardener: Delicious container recipes to grow together and cook together, in which she shows how you can grow all the ingredients for entire tasty dishes in just one single pot. The book contains twenty-five contemporary and classic recipes, all arranged according to event: picnics, snacks, main courses and puddings. With recipes ranging from a refreshing chilled Gazpacho and a tasty Courgette and Fennel Tart, to summer puddings and a Pimm’s Jelly, One-pot Gourmet Gardener is a fun way of approaching growing and cooking for both novice and more experienced gardeners. Priced at £16.99, the book is published in hardback by Frances Lincoln, has 144 pages and is illustrated throughout with photography by garden and food photographer, Jason Ingram. Thanks to Jason Ingram (www.jasoningram.co.uk) for the photographs in this article.

“THIS COMPOTE IS CERTAINLY A GODSEND TO HAVE IN THE REFRIGERATOR, READY FOR YOU TO CREATE DELICIOUS DISHES AT THE DROP OF A HAT” M AY 2015

PRODUC T RE VIE WS

WHAT’S

HOT FOR THE GARDEN?

Home Farmer spent a day at the Barbican looking at the new products for the garden for 2015. Here are some of our favourites

GARDEN ON A ROLL Plantsman Antony Henn’s Garden On A Roll delivers everything you need to create that perfect border, including the plants, a biodegradable paper plan, pegs, fertiliser, an instruction DVD, a pair of gloves and a hand trowel. There are nine different styles of border available, as well as a thematic ‘celebration’ border, making it an ideal anniversary present, perhaps.

HERB DRYER

Price: from £77 (according to the size of the roll) Tel: 0800 170 1711 www.gardenonaroll.co.uk

BEEPOL HIVE This hive comes in two sizes of colony – the Lodge and Hive for smaller gardens, and the Villa and Hive for larger gardens. The hives are made from timber and contain UK native species of bumblebee. Both designs are long lasting and can be reused with new Beepol colonies each year. The ‘pack’ includes a voucher for live

native bumblebees to be delivered when available in Year 1, a well-designed wooden lodge including ventilation, incorporated ‘anti wax moth’ device, and brass clasp hook to secure the lodge lid.

This dryer is ideal for drying all your herbs, fruits, chillies and mushrooms. Arriving in a tube, it’s easy to assemble, with wooden supports made from salvaged rubber wood and three washable unbleached cotton sheets (racks). The herb dryer measures 38cm × 38cm, stands 36cm deep, and can be used indoors all year round, or outdoors on sunny (but not windy) days. Price: £29.95 (and costs nothing to run!) Tel: 01963 363809 www.netherwalloptrading.com

Price: £154.95 (Lodge and Hive), and £180 (Villa and Hive) Tel: 01284 830400 www.dragonfli.co.uk

FISKARS POWERGEAR™ SECATEURS The entire Fiskars range is impressive, but these are certainly not just any old secateurs, and almost feel as if they have a hydraulic system embedded in the handle – they are a joy to use, and a real godsend for anyone with arthritic fingers. As you apply pressure on the handle to squeeze and cut, the lower handle turns naturally with your fingers, effectively

doing the job for you. This rotating handle motion eases the pressure on joints, and provides immense cutting power for a standard-sized pair of secateurs. The blade is also replaceable, making them a good long-term investment, too. Price: £29.95 Tel: 0115 927 7335 www.fiskars.co.uk

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SUTTONS STACKS OF FLAVOUR In association with James Wong, the Suttons ‘Stacks of Flavour’ concept is aimed at the urban gardener. The ‘stacks’ are portable rustic growing boxes, which, like Lego, can be added to and built up as your garden and gardening knowledge grows. To go alongside these stacking boxes there is a full range of seeds and plants from the range, selected exclusively by James, together with instructions and growing ‘menus’. (See page 6 for more details and a chance to win ‘Strawberry Fields’ stacks of flavour.) Price: £22–£38 (complete with veg) Tel: 0333 400 2899 www.suttons.co.uk

POND IN A POT We are particularly taken with the ‘Pond in a Pot’ kit. This is a great concept and comes with everything you need to set up the small pond in your garden, or on your patio, to create a feature in just minutes. The kit comes with a base unit (in black or white) and a fibreglass planter measuring 72cm in diameter and 34cm high. You also get all the accessories you will

VITAX 6x FERTILISER

need to get going, including aquatic plants – choose from plants that attract wildlife, plants that thrive in shady areas or sunny areas, or plants that will survive all year long. Price: from £129.99 (extra charge for a pump) Tel: 0118 903 5210 www.primrose.co.uk

READY-SEEDED BEE MAT

ROBOMOW

This is an easy-to-lay, blue, biodegradable mat measuring 200cm × 50cm that can be cut to any size, and it’s impregnated with a mixture of annual and perennial flower seeds with an 80% germination rate – all perfect for pollinators. Readyseeded Bird and Butterfly mats are also available.

Robomow would suit any gadget-loving gardener with disposable income. Watching it in action, it almost seems to have a personality, and I’m sure you’ll eventually catch yourself talking to it – which, incidentally, you can do (via an app on your smartphone), to guide it round trickier bits, send it back to base, or change its operating times. Other than that it just gets on with the business of mowing the lawn.

Price: £7.95 Tel: 0114 281 4242 www.spear-and-jackson.com

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Vitax now have a concentrated chicken fertiliser, which is sterilised to eradicate pathogens and weeds. The fibrous, organic content conditions the soil, bulks it up and promotes healthy growth. One sack is equivalent to six sacks of typical farmyard manure. The 6x range also offers easy-to-spread pellets – ideal for smaller spaces and hanging baskets – which can be used when planting or as a top-dressing. The pellets are 100% organic, and are safe around children, pets and wildlife. Price: around £10 for 8kg and up to £20 for 20kg Tel: 01530 510060 www.vitax.co.uk

Price: from £1,149 (lawns of around 300m2) Tel: 01483 516633 www.witt-ltd.com

FIX ING ST UFF

REPAIRING e t a g n e d o o w a Like domestic science, woodworking was a skill we were once all taught at school, using ‘joints’ rather than screws and nails to make and fix stuff. This month John Butterworth uses these same essential skills as he repairs a wooden five-bar gate

his is another piece in our ‘fixing stuff’ series, and it’s a fairly common one on farms and smallholdings – a damaged fivebar gate – although the skills involved in fixing such a problem should be equally useful for any keen gardener or DIY’er. I know it’s a fairly common occurrence because I’ve got two gates that our grazier’s calm, friendly Highland cows have broken over the last twelve months, and it can’t be just our farm, can it? Anyway, the bull decided he wanted to go into the next field, and a mere gate wasn’t going to stop him. He tried to jump it and broke the top two bars. If you can repair a gate, you could potentially make one from scratch, as we have to cover making the mortise and tenon joints, which is the only tricky ‘woodworking skills’ part really, but the wood and preserver cost so much that I’m far from convinced that you could make one for less than the price of a factory-made gate. I suppose that’s because they buy timber in such bulk. A mortise and tenon joint is a common way of joining two pieces of wood together – a ‘mortise’ being a slot cut in one piece (for example, there’s a mortise cut in the upright), and the

‘tenon’ in this case is the wooden tongue cut onto the end of the top bar that fits into the mortise, as you’ll see in the picture (below left). You’ll need a spanner, a sharp saw, a mallet and chisel, and a drill with various sized drill bits. So, on with the repairs…

THE DAMAGE Here’s the wrecked gate (main pic), brought into the tractor shed to dry out for a month or two. The top bar is about 12ft long, and is made from 3 × 4 softwood, which has broken clean through near the non-hinged upright. Two of the diagonals – the ‘tenons’ of which are supposed to locate in a slot (the ‘mortise’) underneath the top rail – have come right out. The secondfrom-top bar is also broken through, but this is much lighter 3 × 1 softwood. New timber just to replace these two bars costs about £40, so timber to make a whole gate would set me back more than the £100 or so that the gate cost! As a rule of thumb, when buying timber, guess a high price, then expect to pay about 50% more.

DISMANTLING THE GATE Dismantling is pretty tricky, as gates are built (mantled?) to stay together – mad cows permitting! The cross-rails are bolted to the five bars, so these bolts can easily be removed. The mortise and tenon joints are helpfully not glued on this gate, but they are fastened with ‘star’ or ‘Brudaw’ dowels, which are the very devil to take out. It took me half an hour of searching on the Internet to find out what the blighters were actually called – searching for ‘cross-shaped fixings’ got me nowhere.

JOHN’S TIP! If you have to tap out a stuck bolt with a hammer or mallet, slacken but leave the nut on to avoid damaging the end of the threads. Tap it loose, then take the nut off and pull the bolt out. These star dowels are often found in window frames, too, so you’ve perhaps come across them. I tried drilling them out, which made a mess but kind of worked, and punching them through with a metal punch (below middle), which kind of didn’t. The problem

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“DISMANTLING IS PRETTY TRICKY, AS GATES ARE BUILT (MANTLED?) TO STAY TOGETHER – MAD COWS PERMITTING!”

M AY 2015

! e t No

ate e a g wood k a m he uch, could but t You scratch, ost so m uld c from reserver e one wo p d and ory-ma t a fac eaper. be ch

FIX ING ST UFF

seems to be that they are a softish aluminium alloy, so although a sharp metal drill bit chews them out reasonably well, the punch ends up bending them. On the broken timber bars, the easiest way was to simply chisel away the wood, as the bars were scrap anyway, exposing the star dowels, then I pulled them out with pincers. Rather than make a similar mess trying to drill yet more star dowels out in the hinge-end upright, I sawed through the tenon (above), then drilled, and finally chiselled out the wood of the old tenon with a sharp wood chisel (above middle).

COPYING THE OLD TIMBERS The next step, whatever the broken bits are, is to copy the joints in them onto your replacement timbers. In my case, the big top bar has three big mortises (slots) in it to take the tenons of the cross-rails, and a tenon at each end, which will locate into the uprights at either end of the gate. Mark it out so the new piece will have mortises in exactly the same position as the old piece did – the little ‘X’s show which part of the wood is to be cut away (below), and which will be left behind! I measured the mortises in the uprights to

make matching tenons on the new top bar. Once it was marked out as shown, I selected a ‘flat wood bit’ to drill out the mortises by matching one up to the tenon on a cross-rail (below middle). These bits can be purchased in sets (below right), which are an excellent way to make sure you can find the right size, and that they don’t get the edges blunted by rattling about amongst other drill bits. Mark the depth of the old mortise, then mark the flat bit

with a piece of tape so you drill to the same depth. Use a drill stand for this, especially if the mortise is near the edge of the timber, or you stand a good chance of going ‘off-vertical’ and drilling through the side of the joint. If you already have a power drill, the cheapest option is to get a stand for it – less than £20 on eBay (above). Drill adjacent holes the full length of the mortise, but don’t go right to the end of the slot – leave about 1/8in, so that when you chisel out the wood you can lever against it with the chisel, if needs be, without crushing the wood at the end of the mortise. Chisel that bit out last, and the resulting mortise will be nice and square (above right). Cutting the tenon is much easier. Simply cut either side (across the wood grain) of your marked-out tenon with a sharp saw, then cut along the grain with the saw, too, if the saw is sharp enough, to cut the tenon out. Otherwise, if the grain of the wood is nice and straight, once you’ve cut across the grain you can use a mallet and chisel to cut the tenon out, as it’s much less hard work than

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sawing along the grain. The timber I got for the second bar down, which was also broken, was slightly oversized. The original bar was the same size as the mortise slots in the uprights; with the new piece, I had to cut a tenon on each end to make it fit.

ASSEMBLY Now that I’d made the new timbers look just like the old ones, with mortises and tenons cut in just the same places, it should all fit together. I had to remove all the star dowels in one of the uprights so I could pull the two uprights far enough apart to slot in the new cross-bars. I also had to modify one tenon by cutting the corner off it, as the original curve on the old tenon was there for a reason – to match a curve in the original mortise. This is because factory-made gates have their mortises cut out by a milling machine, not some poor lackey with a mallet and chisel, and the circular cutter must, of course, leave a curve at each end of the slot that it cuts (below).

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I inserted both new bars, locating the cross-rails into the mortises (below middle) as we went along – a two-person job if ever there was one. Instead of using star dowels, which I’d rather fallen out with by this time, I drilled holes right through the joints, then used hardwood dowels, which I dipped in waterproof glue and then tapped into the holes (above right). When the glue had dried, I cut them almost to size, then sanded them down flush. The next stage was to put the hinge hanger back on. The hole in the upright was still extant, but the two holes in the top bar needed drilling. I find that drilling from each side is best, as the two holes meet in the centre and align –

otherwise, if you drill from one side, it’s very easy to miss the hole in the hanger on the other side (below). Drill new holes for the cross-rail bolts where needed, then put the bolts back in and tighten the nuts up. Finally, apply lashings of wood preserver, turning the gate upside down to get it to run into the mortises, even if you’ve used ‘tanalised’ timber. I’ve found that tanalising is not what it once was, as wood treated with the new arsenic-free version doesn’t last half as long. Why on earth would they drop arsenic from the recipe? Political correctness gone mad? I’d have hung the finished gate in its original position to show it to best effect, but, sadly, the field was still not fit to take the tractor on after the wet winter, and it weighs too much to carry far by hand!

G ARDEN FAC TS AND FABL E S

WATERING ! n u s e h t f o t in the hea Elizabeth McCorquodale checks out the accuracy of the commonly held belief that watering in the midday sun can actually scorch your plants

hear it all the time: don’t water your plants in the heat of the day or they’ll get scorched – it’s those little water droplets! I have heard this and read about it time and again, but I have never seen it, so is it actually true?

THE THEORY Any child who has ever discovered the power of a magnifying glass knows that it takes only a minute or two to make a satisfying mark on the surface of a leaf. It is well known that those little curved droplets of water, if left to sit on a leaf, can act just like miniature magnifying glasses, intensifying the sun’s rays and scorching the leaf. Obvious, isn’t it? The evidence is all around: you see a new-laid lawn being watered in the heat of the midday sun, and a day or so later you see that same lawn looking brown and sad. African violets on sunny windowsills always seem to have a few brown circles on their leaves, and delicate new plants often have brown marks on their margins or a silvering over their leaf surfaces. The obvious culprit has to be the visible one, doesn’t it – water on their leaves on hot, sunny days?

THE TEST To test the theory I made up four groups of identical plants. Each of the groups was made up of four plants selected for their different leaf textures: oriental poppy seedlings, sage, sweet pea seedlings and cardamom (a lover of natural shade). I placed two groups in full sun in my greenhouse, and two groups in full sun outdoors.

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Next, I pinched a sample leaf from each of the plants to use as my control specimens. Using a fine rose, I watered the greenhouse groups, one lot with tap water and one lot with tap water mixed with foliar feed (made up according to the instructions on the packet to test whether the salts in the foliar feed could be a problem); could they ‘burn’ the leaves, just as a concentrated dose of urea salts will burn a patch of grass? When all the leaf surfaces were covered with a suitable layer of droplets, I went outside and did the same to the outside groups, watering one with tap water and one with foliar feed. Then I went off and had some lunch and left the sun and the water to do their wicked best (or worsed!).

THE TRUTH… OR NOT After two hours, of all the sixteen plants, only one had suffered any damage to its leaf surface – a couple of small spots on one hairy leaf of a poppy that had been left outside

and watered with tap water. The damage was minimal, and though it could conceivably be significant for something heading for the show bench, the damage was negligible and certainly not detrimental to the health of the plant. There was no damage to any of the plants that had been watered with the foliar feed – so the nitrogen salts clearly had had no effect; and none of the plants that were in the greenhouse had suffered any damage either – so greenhouse glass wasn’t a factor. My control specimens, however, had not fared quite so well. In fact, once I had the angle and the distance sorted out, it became as easy as pie to scorch the leaves, proving that the leaves themselves were susceptible to scorch – just not usually from droplet magnification. So, why should that one hairy leaf be more susceptible to scorch when watered in sunlight? The answer, if you think about it, is dead simple. As I discovered when trying to burn something with a magnifying glass, it is necessary to hold the glass at just the right angle, and at a very specific distance away from the target. If you rest the glass right on the surface there is little or no magnification of the sun’s rays, and therefore little or no burning. Hairs on the leaf, however, can hold a water droplet above the leaf surface – just enough, in some cases, to allow the sun’s rays to be magnified. The results are quite conclusive: it is only when a water droplet is held away from the leaf by leaf hairs that there is the opportunity for the leaf surface to heat up and burn... but even then, only sometimes, and only in some cases.

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“…LITTLE CURVED DROPLETS OF WATER, IF LEFT TO SIT ON A LEAF, CAN ACT JUST LIKE MINIATURE MAGNIFYING GLASSES, INTENSIFYING THE SUN’S RAYS AND SCORCHING THE LEAF. OBVIOUS, ISN’T IT?”

ELIZABETH’S GOOD WATERING GUIDE ❋ Watering plants during the day will not lead to scorching of the leaves. ❋ It is always better to water a plant that is in need of water, no matter what the time of day or how bright the sun might be. ❋ Lawn scorch is caused by poor leaf to root ratio, where the roots cannot take up enough water to satisfy the water requirements of the leaves – and despite midday watering, not because of it. ❋ Delicate seedlings or plants recently taken from a shade house and placed in full sun may need time to acclimatise and thicken their cuticle (the leaf surface) before being able to tolerate midday summer sun, with or without water on their leaves!

M AY 2015

SE ASONAL FOR AGING A digital pasteuriser. Photo courtesy of Vigo (www.vigopresses.co.uk).

ESSENTIALS e d a r t e h t f o he tools T

David Winnard looks at four items that have helped him to both forage and enjoy the seasonal fruits of his labour throughout the entire year

his month it should be all hands on deck for the foraging community. There really is so much out there to forage and use which you should be constantly picking, eating or drying! In fact, with such an abundance of things to forage, the question is not so much what to pick, but rather how to make the most of this ‘time of plenty’. Perhaps with this in mind, a few people got in touch with me recently to ask what they really need to make a memorably successful foraging year – not books and jars, etc., but rather what you actually need while out and about, or to make the most of your finds once you have returned home: tools that really will help you at the foraging front line, and, perhaps more importantly, equipment that will help ensure you make the most of your finds over the whole year. Consequently, this month I am going to share with you the gadgets that I literally cannot be without as a committed forager – the tools that make

foraging easier, and the equipment that I regard as foragers’ must-haves. But let’s put all this into perspective first, though – you do not need anything other than yourself (and perhaps a few trusted field guides) to enjoy foraging. All you need to do is take yourself into the woods, the hedgerows, the meadows, and even the parks, and you will find plenty of stuff to forage. But what if you want to preserve your finds, to make them last longer, and to enable you to fill your store cupboard full of wild produce that will drastically reduce the amount of mushrooms and greens you either grow or perhaps buy? In my experience, the typical humble forager is usually pretty thrifty. Take this

month, for example: I have been collecting birch sap with which to make a few things, but am I buying expensive gear to filter this out from the tree? No, of course not! A bit of hosepipe and a used 5-litre bottle of water will do just fine, so don’t get me wrong – foraging is not an expensive hobby! However, in this issue we are going to look at a few gadgets and tools that will help you to pick, preserve and pressurise your valuable findings.

MUSHROOM KNIFE (ABOUT £10–£20) They may call them mushroom knives, but in all honesty I use mine for picking

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just about everything. Whether I am picking mushrooms or wild garlic, my process is the same – cut them just above the ground to get as little soil on them as possible. Infection from soil, not poisonous flora, is probably the main contributor when it comes to suffering minor health problems such as tummy upsets when foraging. Consequently, ensuring there is as little as possible on your finds is key to remaining healthy. The beauty of the mushroom knife is the simple fact that it makes picking stuff easier, and when you put your finds in the basket they then require very little in the way of cleaning, as you will already have removed the dirty stuff, but if there is still some soil on them you can use the brush on the other end of the knife to clean them up – the ideal way of doing so, too, as mushrooms shouldn’t be cleaned under water, as they will absorb it and become very soggy. This simple bit of kit is incredibly useful, but do be careful when using it, as it is – and needs to be – very sharp!

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RAPID INFUSION KIT (ABOUT £30) Boys and their toys, eh? This is probably the most exciting and ‘show-stopping’ piece of kit I use for foraging, and it always impresses my mates when I get it out of my bag to use. So, what exactly is it? Well, basically it is a bottle which can withstand high pressures. You simply fill it with a liquid of your choice (vodka, gin, water), fill it with berries or leaves (sloes, nettles, blackberries), and then screw a N2O canister in the top (they use it for whipping cream) and fill it until there is no room for any more gas. This forces the berries and liquid to infuse, and, theoretically, you can create sloe gin in around five minutes…

SE ASONAL FOR AGING

yes, five minutes, rather than three months! But does it work? Well, the answer is really both yes and no. It definitely does infuse the ingredients, but the sloe gin I have made with it is nowhere near as good as using the traditional method. However, what it is both good and useful for is seeing if infusion will work – for example, getting some sweet cicely leaves and infusing them quickly in some gin to see if you are in the right ballpark. I can even take it out with me on a walk and try it there and then. It really works best with ‘soft’ stuff, so you would not want to use roots etc. in it. Personally, I love using it in summer, by getting some water and some mint from the garden and making a lovely refreshing drink. I also use it for making a quick elderflower drink, and it is lovely, but whilst it is very quick and very easy, it is never as good as making it the oldfashioned way. It does, however, have its place in my foraging kit, although I will still be making my liquors in the tried and tested, old-fashioned way. You can buy the gas canisters cheaply online – N2O (nitrous oxide, or laughing gas) for infusing, or CO2 (carbon dioxide) for fizzing up your drinks. Both cartridges work out at around 20p each.

DEHYDRATOR (ABOUT £40–£300) Possibly the single most used tool in my foraging kit, a dehydrator warms your finds up slowly (usually either mushrooms or herbs) and dries them out so that there is no moisture left in them. In the case of mushrooms, this means that they will last (if stored correctly) for around two years, and

the same goes for any dried herbs you make. Dried mushrooms go a long way, too; in cooking they can be used in all sorts of dishes to add a little extra flavour, and it does not take them long to rehydrate, absorbing the liquid they are in, whether it is water (boring), veg stock, or something more exciting – I rehydrate some of mine in foraged liquors for a special boozy fry-up some mornings! Whilst you can eat fresh mushrooms all the time come autumn (and spring and winter, too, for that matter), any excess that you cannot eat can be dried, stored and used for the rest of the year. My own list of dried mushrooms in the pantry includes Porcini, St George’s mushrooms, Wood Hedgehog, Jelly Ear, Amethyst Deceiver, Meadow Waxcaps and many more. I never buy mushrooms from the supermarket these days, as I have so many in the cupboard. But it’s not only used for mushrooms – I also dry wild herbs (lots of wild garlic) and fruit (especially apples), so the dehydrator really does do a lot of work in my kitchen, and it makes sure that many of my finds are preserved right the way through the year, filling the pantry with ease. The simple one I use, which cost just £40, has no temperature control or timer, but it does the job. You can get all-singing, all-dancing ones, but you will have to pay a far greater price.

PASTEURISER (ABOUT £195) This is a new toy in my collection, and something I have wanted for quite a

FURTHER INFORMATION David Winnard runs foraging and wildlife photography courses. Visit www.discoverthewild.co.uk to find out more about his activities.

while, but have only just got round to purchasing quite recently (pictured top, page 50). It should revolutionise my apple season! Every year I get about ten binbags of apples from the local trees, and I always have to think what to do with them. There are only so many apple pies and crumbles a man can take, and the solution usually comes round to cider (you know me – surprise, surprise!). To be honest, though, making cider is a bit of a pain for me, and I admit I am not really into ‘brewing’, although I do love my apple juice. So now, after juicing and bottling the apple juice, I can simply shove the bottles into the pasteuriser and, hey presto – apple juice with no additives, that will last me a year, all hand-picked, local and made by my own fair hands. In fact, some apples actually taste better as juice once they have been pasteurised, and after a bit of experimenting you can quickly find the best trees for making the best juice. Unpasteurised, the apple juice lasts for only a couple of days in the fridge, but this bit of kit allows me to fill my pantry up with so many litres of apple juice that I couldn’t possibly drink it all myself, and will probably give it away to friends. You can actually do a variety of different fruit juices, and even bottled fruits. It’s a great bit of kit, and one I always look forward to using. If you don’t have one, you could, instead, create a double water-bath for pasteurising in a pan. I have done this before, but the trouble is that unless you have an immense pan, you cannot pasteurise big bottles, but the pasteuriser can, and can do around thirteen 750ml bottles at once.

IN CONCLUSION… So, there you go, a quick look at a few gadgets that will help you to both forage and store your finds properly. We will look at a few other effective preserving techniques later in the year, as there are certainly plenty of different ways to use your foraged goodies! In the meantime, keep foraging, and keep safe!

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POULT RY

HENS’ NEEDS r e m m u s d spring an for

Terry Beebe considers some essential but occasionally overlooked requirements for keepers during the pleasant spring and summer months

pring and summer offer longawaited relief from the cold, wet misery of winter. We can all look forward to drier, warmer weather, and being able to enjoy our chickens in a far more comfortable environment. In fact, keeping any sort of animal in summer always seems a lot easier, but don’t get too complacent and forget the problems that can occur even when the sun is shining. Enjoying your birds is very important, especially when they come into lay and egg production rises, and as the breeding season begins, with hopefully many successful hatches. The rearing

of chicks is a great time, and seeing a mother hen running around followed by her fluffy offspring is priceless – enjoy it while it lasts, because they’ll soon no longer be chicks. Warmer weather brings with it some very pleasant times, but always bear in mind that there are certain problems very much associated with the rise in temperature, and these include a possible running out of drinking water, excessive heat, insect infestation, rodents and other predator problems, and also trying to go away on holiday. Of course, the last one should never be a problem, and won’t be if you take

action early enough. In fact, sorting out all these problems is simple and easy as long as you don’t forget your ongoing responsibilities as a keeper.

WATER We live in a particularly rainy part of the world, so it is perhaps ironic to have to point out that water is essential for all birds, and especially chickens. They need access to water all year round, but especially during the warmer months. Make sure you have a water drinker with sufficient capacity to provide your birds with enough water

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A large drinker (and feeder) will give you greater flexibility, but don’t regard them as an excuse for missing visits!

six hens should be fine with a 10–20-litre drinker, and this should give them enough water to last for two days. This is, of course, an approximate example, but I am aiming to err well on the side of caution. Drinkers can be bought with up to a 30-litre capacity, so most eventualities can be covered, but don’t regard a larger drinker as a reason to shirk your responsibilities as a keeper – a larger capacity of water, if not replaced regularly, can become infected in warmer weather.

EXCESS HEAT

to last them until the next time you are able to refill it. Whatever happens, water needs to always be available – birds can become dehydrated very quickly and the problem can become a serious health issue over just an afternoon. If you want to go away for a day, or perhaps even a long weekend, then buying a larger drinker is a sound investment. The size will depend on the number of birds you keep and the temperature, but as a rough example,

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In addition to water, shade is also very important, and from both rain and sun. Cover provided by trees, bushes or a purpose-built shelter will all be effective, as will giving birds access to beneath the coop. Inside the coop may be an improvement, too, but it could be very warm without all-round ventilation. In very hot countries they provide fans, but I don’t think that is really necessary here, as we only get odd times when the heat becomes really excessive – if you decide to fit one, make sure it is inaccessible to the birds to prevent injury.

INSECT INFESTATION Insects are always a problem, but it gets a lot worse in warm weather. Flies, lice and mite are the main problems. There is not a lot you can do

about the flies except try and keep the coop as clean as possible and use a good fly trap to at least reduce numbers. Lice and mite, however, can be very serious, but both can be controlled, although they are impossible to prevent or eradicate completely from the coop. A regular and thorough cleaning regime is essential, as is using certain types of treatments that will keep insects under control. Poultry Shield, BioDri and Diatom are products for use inside the coop, and they work incredibly well together if sprinkled under the bedding and around the edges of the coop. BioDri helps to keep the coop fresh and dry, while Poultry Shield and Diatom are effective ways of killing and controlling red mite. Remember that mite control is an ongoing treatment and is only effective if repeated regularly – mite breed in such immense quantities during warmer weather that by the time you have eradicated the adults there is a new generation, and the process starts all over again.

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POULT RY

FEATHER PECKING This is a serious problem, and one that can lead to cannibalism and bird deaths. There are different causes, but the main ones are overcrowding and boredom – both are easily preventable by giving birds sufficient space inside the housing, especially on warm nights. A supply of calcium and vitamins will also help, and you can kill two birds with a single stone (metaphorically speaking!) by using special nutritious hanging blocks, which will also stimulate and distract birds.

RODENTS AND PREDATORS Rodents are a major hazard for poultry keepers all year round and need to be controlled. Setting traps and putting out

s t c a f n e k Chic

❋ Chickens need water constantly. ❋ Chickens need a good daily feed, so do not allow feed to go stale. ❋ Do not overcrowd your birds – this can result in pecking and ultimately cannibalism. ❋ Proud gardeners and chickens are definitely not a good mix. ❋ Always make sure that someone visits your birds regularly. Not having them sealed in securely overnight could cost you your flock. ❋ Given sufficient water and food, they will survive if you don’t visit for a day, but try to arrange cover. And if a single egg gets broken during your absence, you could have a bout of egg-eating, too!

❋ Provide plenty of shade for your birds, whether under trees or a man-made structure. ❋ If you do have cover provided by a friend, make sure you bring them back a present.

SO, WHO IS THE REAL PREDATOR? We often regard chickens as prey animals, and we seem to forget that the chicken is itself a predator and a descendant of the velociraptor seen in the film Jurassic Park. Anyone who has seen a chicken eyeing up a veg patch or fighting with other members of the flock over a worm will understand this. The original Jungle Fowl, from which all chickens derive, survives on vegetation, insects and even small mammals, although it is clearly not a predator in the same category as a fox, but chickens will kill and eat small animals such as a mouse, if given the chance. They are definitely not the lovely and cuddly creatures that many people believe them to be, and are one of nature’s great survivors. If you were only six inches tall you would definitely not

want to encounter even your tamest chicken! A chicken can single-handedly destroy a garden; the images you might see (or rather imagine), of birds walking around a lovely, well-kept garden are deceiving. If you are new to chicken keeping and a proud gardener, you have two options: keep them in a run, or fence your plants off – be they veg or flowers – behind a ‘Stalag’ of chicken wire. If ever you want an unkempt garden clearing, just add some chickens to the scene and they will clear large amounts of unwanted vegetation; this can be very helpful on occasion. The tilth of the soil they leave behind is fantastic, and the worms they eat in the process will do them considerable good. Just be aware when

A Hamburg chicken tucking into a mouse.

you are digging the garden, as they have no fear when there’s a chance of a worm, and they will virtually sit on the blade of the spade, even as you are using it!

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POULT RY poison are the only ways to do this, but make sure the poison is only accessible to the rodents and not your chickens or any other wildlife. If left to their own devices you could find yourself overrun very rapidly during spring and summer.

GOING AWAY – WEEKENDS AND HOLIDAYS For many, summer is a chance to go on holiday, and the excitement of an occasional weekend or odd day away can be an extra bonus, but you will need someone you can trust to look after your birds. If you are lucky enough to have family or good friends nearby, then there is usually no problem, but finding people who are prepared to look after birds can be difficult. Begin searching for your

Make sure everything is in good condition for your apprentice. They will not be available next time if they find this!

The

BRITAIN’S R ARE BREEDS

AUSTRALORP This month Terry Beebe features the Australorp chicken, which originated in Australia

eveloped for egg production in the 1920s using the Black Orpington, the Australorp is perhaps not strictly a British breed, but is an excellent layer of tinted to brown eggs, and holds the world record for egg production – 364 eggs in 365 days! Smaller and neater than an Orpington, the Australorp is also a suitable meat bird. The stock used in its development was imported from England between 1890 and the early 1900s. Breeders crossed them with the Minorca, White Leghorn and Langshan to improve utility features, and there are reports of Plymouth Rock bloodlines used, too. The emphasis was on creating a top-class utility breed, which first became known as the Australian Black Orpington, although it could easily have become the Austral, as the term ‘orp’ was seen as looking backward to the breed’s ancestral lineage. By the time the breed was launched internationally in the early 1920s, the name Australorp was already in use, and in 1929 the breed was admitted to the Standard of Perfection.

BREED DESCRIPTION The Australorp has a carriage that is erect and graceful, with the head carried well above the level of the tail line, and they are also a very active bird. The body is deep and broad, showing a greater length than depth, and the back is broad across the shoulders, with a sweeping curve from the neck to tail. The breast is full and rounded with a long straight breastbone. The wings are carried closely and are compact, being covered on the ends by the saddle hackles. The tail is full and compact. The head is fine, with a rounded skull, and the beak is slightly curved, strong and medium in length, and the eyes are prominent. The comb is single, and while being medium in size, is erect and evenly serrated, carrying four to six serrations, with the blade tending to go downwards without touching the neck. The face is fine in texture, clean and free from feathers and wrinkles. The ear lobes are small and elongated, and the wattles are medium in size and rounded at the bottom. The neck is fairly long, while being gradually curved outward at the rear and widening at the shoulders.

The legs are medium in length, rounded at the front, while being spaced wide apart, and the hocks are covered by the body feathering, with shanks and the feet free from feathers or down and with four toes. It is a heavy, soft-feathered breed, and the colour variations include Black and Blue. The eggs are tinted to brown.

WEIGHTS ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋

Cock: 3.85–4.55kg (8½–10lb). Cockerel: 3.40–4.10kg (7½–9lb). Hen: 2.95–3.60kg (6½–8lb). Pullet: 2.50–3.20kg (5½–7lb).

FOR Active and fast growing; excellent egg layers; calm and friendly, making good pets; live happily in runs, although they prefer to free range; not good flyers, so fencing doesn’t need to be particularly high; hardy and can stand cold weather.

AGAINST Not prone to broodiness; heavy for children to pick up, so a bantam version

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apprentice well before you go away, and consider paying them, or at the very least letting them keep any eggs. If you do have a financial arrangement with them it is often better than simply relying on a friend, which can become regarded as taking them for granted if it happens too often. Make everything as easy as possible, with water and food being easily accessible, and a larger supply will take a little heat off them if they end up with other unexpected chores on their plate. If it is their first time deputising, then a written list of things to do will also be very useful – it may all be familiar to you, but to a nonkeeper it can be quite confusing. Leaving birds without any care is not acceptable, especially if it is for a few days

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or more, and you could be breaking the law if the birds come to harm as a result of neglect. Having someone to ensure they are OK when you are away, to lock them in and let them

out, and to top up feed and water is all that is needed. Birds are always better off secured in at night and let out in the morning, and this is really best done by a person. There are, of course, automatic pop-holes that open and close using a timer, and they work perfectly well, although I always prefer to check that all the birds are actually inside. Feeding can be taken care of by using a large feeder with sufficient capacity to keep the birds fed for the required period, and this applies to drinkers, too, although water goes off quicker than food, especially in warm weather. Larger feeders and drinkers will, however, be greatly appreciated by guest keepers, who may only have to carry replenishments every two days rather than daily.

BREEDING BLUE AUSTRALORPS

might be more appropriate; very active – need security, but not high fencing.

EGG PRODUCTION The egg-laying performance of Australorps first attracted world attention in 1922–23, when a team of six hens set a world record of 1,857 eggs at an average of 309.5 eggs per hen during a 365 consecutive-day trial. These figures were, of course, achieved without the lighting regimes of the modern intensive shed. Such performances brought orders flooding in from England, the US, South Africa, Canada and Mexico. Today, a well-looked-after Australorp should lay about 250 eggs per year.

The slate-blue colour is the result of an incompletely dominant gene, hence mating a Blue male to a Blue female will not result in all Blue offspring, but rather 50% Blue, 25% Black and 25% Splash (a pale grey with darker grey coloured feathers randomly distributed over the bird). For exhibition purposes, Blue to Blue matings result in the best laced and most evenly coloured birds, but there is considerable ‘wastage’, with twice as many birds needing to be hatched as for a true breeding colour. This probably accounts for the small number of breeders of this colour, although self-Blacks always do better on the show bench. However, for the utility owner, the fact that differently coloured birds can be bred from the same pen may be an advantage. Other combinations can also be used to produce Blues: Blue-bred Black (i.e. a male from a Blue × Blue mating) to Splash will give all Blues; Splash to Blue will give 50% Blue, 50% Splash; Black to Blue will give 50% Blue, 50% Black; Splash to Splash will give all Splash; and Black to Black will give all Black. However, a Blue or Splash colour should never be mated to a pure Black, as it will dilute the undercolour and could cause other white or pale feathers to appear.

FURTHER INFORMATION Contact the Australorp Club secretaries, Ian Simpson and Louise Carpenter on 01636 814958.

M AY 2015

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V IABL E SEL F-SUFFICIENC Y

A WAY OF LIFE er’s Diary A Smallhold

Dot Tyne’s diary entries for February include the installation of solar panels, vehicle trouble,, preparations for the lambing course, course and sorting out freezers 1ST FEBRUARY

7TH FEBRUARY

It was a quiet day, with the younger members of the family having extended lie-ins. Spent some time digging in the garden this afternoon.

Had another firewood chopping session this afternoon – split a few oak logs that have been seasoning for a couple of years. They were a nightmare to work with but should burn long and slow. Also split a load that Tim and Iestyn cut from the woods, mostly larch and pine. The girls carried it and stacked it all – a real family effort.

2ND FEBRUARY A bit of snow this morning. Went in the van to check the twin-bearing ewes and almost failed to get up the hill, even though there was very little snow on the road. Also found the gate had been left open. I couldn’t see any hoofprints going through the gateway, so it looks as if we were lucky and all the sheep stayed in. Driving back down the hill again was very interesting – slid most of the way, just bumping on the bank at the side of the lane to slow me down. Put a fresh bale of silage in for the store cattle. Snow was all gone by lunchtime. Had a phone call to confirm that the technicians are coming to fit the solar panels tomorrow. 3RD FEBRUARY Tim and I worked on fitting ceiling boards in the back porch of the extension. The chaps arrived to put up the solar panels mid afternoon (they had driven all the way from Essex!) and had the job finished by just after dark. 4TH FEBRUARY Spent the morning trying to get the communication system for the panels set up so that they can start generating, but ultimately failed. It seems we need an additional piece of kit to make it work, so we will have to wait for this to be sent.

M AY 2015

8TH FEBRUARY

Put feed blocks out for the twinbearing ewes, and Tim started tidying up the pile of builders’ rubbish in front of the extension. Made bread this evening. 5TH FEBRUARY Another bale of silage for the cattle – they are gobbling it up pretty quickly at the moment. Sorted out a load of scrap wood and split it up for kindling… masses of it! Pheasant pie for dinner – the last one for quite a while now that the pheasant season has closed. 6TH FEBRUARY It was a beautiful sunny day, which I spent mostly in the garden, digging. Tim collected a load of animal feed this morning and took advantage of the good weather to carry on with the muck-spreading this afternoon.

Started tidying up the loganberry bushes. Every year they get away from me and need some serious sorting out ready for the new growing season. The fact that we haven’t been able to cut the grass (weeds might be a more realistic term) between the rows for ages due to a broken strimmer hasn’t helped! Checked the sheep – found a poorly ewe, so she was brought home. Decided to dry off Bluebell, as she isn’t giving much milk now. She’ll be milked alternate days for the next week or so to discourage milk production. 9TH FEBRUARY The ewe I brought home yesterday died overnight. I’m not sure what was wrong with her. Tim was away most of the day at a Royal Welsh Spring Festival meeting, so I took advantage of the peace and quiet to get a load of paperwork done. Tomato soup for dinner, with home-made focaccia loaves. They were absolutely delicious. 10TH FEBRUARY Checked all the sheep, and Tim did

V IABL E SEL F-SUFFICIENC Y

some tidying up in the cattle-yard, as the muck was getting out of hand. A local dealer came to look at the two heifers we want to sell – offered us £900 for the two of them, which was not a great price, but to be honest they are nothing special. It was a fair offer, so we accepted it. Now we need to arrange a pre-movement TB test. The equipment we needed to make the solar panels work finally arrived in the post today, and all are now working correctly. Went online to register for the Feed In Tariff scheme. Tim took silage out to the singlebearing ewes. We had toad-in-the-hole for dinner.

putting up ceiling boards in the back porch. Only one left to do. Sorted out one of the freezers, which needs to be emptied and defrosted before we can put this year’s lambs in it, or kill the pigs. It is quite full, so rearranging it all is going to be a bit of a challenge. 13TH FEBRUARY Tim took feed to the twin-bearing ewes this morning. Sorted out some more troughs and carried them to the hill, where the single-bearing ewes are grazing, so I can feed them tomorrow.

11TH FEBRUARY It was a very cold and grey day. Checked the sheep and put a feed block out for the single-bearing ewes. Had a visit from a lady who is leading a ramble in the next couple of weeks – she wanted to check the route over our fields. A wise move, as the route through the wood can be a bit tricky at times. If only all walkers were as considerate.

14TH FEBRUARY Tim milked Bluebell for the last time today, as the milk yield had dropped right away. Fed the single-bearing ewes. I will need to try and feed them at a regular time each day so they get into a routine – knowing when to hang around and wait for their grub. 15TH FEBRUARY

12TH FEBRUARY Checked the sheep and put another energy block out for the twin-bearing ewes, and retrieved the silage bale we put out for the ewes a few days ago. They are not eating it, so rather than waste it, we carried it to the cattle, which are less fussy than the sheep, and then put out a fresh bale for the ewes. Spent a while repairing feed troughs and took them out to the twin-bearing ewes, ready for when we start feeding them concentrates in the next day or two. The main bunch is due to start lambing in a month, so it is time to raise their level of nutrition a bit. Spent another hour or so

Fed the sheep and got all the daily

No waste!

Sometimes ewes can be very fussy when it comes to eating silage, so, to avoid wasting it, we give it to the cattle instead.

chores finished, then spent the afternoon shearing the ram lambs and the two senior tups that we will be selling this autumn. They seem to get bigger and stronger every year, and as a result Tim has a lot of bruises, especially on his shins. 16TH FEBRUARY Did the daily round of feeding the ewes, and took another bale of silage to the ones bearing singles. Spent some more time sorting out the freezers. 17TH FEBRUARY Weaned the heifer’s calf today, as she’s looking rather thin now. Moved the calf round to one of the pens in the cowshed, where she will have the company of Bluebell and Buttercup. There was a bit of bellowing from both cow and calf this evening, but not enough to keep anyone awake overnight! 18TH FEBRUARY Got a couple of large bags of raspberries out of the freezer with the intention of turning them into jam. Jam making is definitely not my strong point, so I was relieved, and rather pleased, to get a decent set on it. The calf and its mother are still calling to each other. 19TH FEBRUARY Tim went off to another meeting, so I had to do all the sheep feeding, but he had time to do the other animal jobs before he left. Made another batch of raspberry jam from frozen fruit, and this lot was better than the stuff made yesterday. With the benefit of hindsight, the previous batch would probably be best described as ‘soft set’. Also took 6lb of blackcurrants from

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“ KILLED THE LAST TWO LAMBS FOR THE FREEZER, AND LEFT THEM TO HANG FOR A FEW DAYS BEFORE CUTTING”

M AY 2015

V IABL E SEL F-SUFFICIENC Y

the freezer and used them to start off two gallons of wine. Made bread, choc-chip muffins and cheese scones, and had roast mutton for dinner.

on the van, so took it in to be fixed – typical that both vehicles should be out of action at the same time!

20TH FEBRUARY Gathered the later-lambing group of ewes off the mountain and brought them home ready to be pregnancy scanned in the next day or two. Gave a fluke dose to those we know are certainly not in-lamb and turned them back to the hill. The Land Rover has suddenly started making a squealing noise, so I took it to the garage to be looked at. They very kindly lent me a car to get home again. Tim set the mole traps, as the little critters are making quite a mess. Spent a bit more time clearing the freezer – found a pair of ducks, which we had roasted for dinner. 21ST FEBRUARY My turn to be away at a meeting today, so the rest of the family dealt with the arrival of the scanning man. Of the ewes that we brought home, all were in-lamb, bar one; and the rest were all singles, bar two, which are carrying twins. They also found three ewes that we had marked as lambing late, which are actually going to lamb with the main bunch next month. Killed the last two lambs for the freezer, and left them to hang for a few days before cutting.

23RD FEBRUARY Checked all the sheep, fed the ewes, then gathered in the late-lambers. Weighed them all and administered a fluke dose. We do have a liver fluke problem on our land and the doses don’t seem to be as effective as they used to be. It is possible that the fluke are developing resistance to the doses we are using. We will have to speak to the vet about this after lambing and perhaps get some tests done. Got another load of blackcurrants out of the freezer to make jam. It was a dismal failure – no sign of setting at all! Labelled the jars as blackcurrant syrup – I’m sure it will be delicious on ice cream. Finally finished emptying the freezer, so turned it off to defrost. Made bread. 24TH FEBRUARY Cleaned out the freezer, cut up the lamb carcasses and bagged them, then started filling it up again. Made goat curry for dinner using a very elderly piece of meat that had been hiding for years at the bottom of the freezer – with plenty of spices, it was fine.

It was really nasty weather today, so I didn’t feel too guilty about not doing an awful lot! Did a few things that needed to be done with the blackcurrant wine, and took the girls swimming. Also having trouble with the clutch

26TH FEBRUARY Loaded the two heifers and delivered them to the chap who’s buying them from us. The weather was decent, so we also loaded up the shearling rams and took them to a field that has been rested since the autumn. They looked a bit bewildered initially, but soon settled down. We’ll keep feeding them for the time being, so they won’t suffer a check to their growth after turn out. Did a lot of cooking and baking – started preparing the food for the lambing course, which is quite soon now. 27TH FEBRUARY The day was quiet, as Tim was away on his course. Did all the sheep feeding and Iestyn did the milking and fed the cattle and pigs. Did a load of baking today – made bara brith, but forgot the sugar! Not to be recommended. 28TH FEBRUARY

25TH FEBRUARY 22ND FEBRUARY

If the weather’s good, we’ll turn them out tomorrow. Tim caught a couple of moles, so moved the traps to a new location. Tim’s attending a three-day deerstalking course later this week, so he spent the evening studying. Not sure why, because there’s no deer around here! Leek and potato soup for dinner.

Had a VAT inspection this morning – luckily the man from HMRC seemed happy enough with what we are doing. Fed the sheep and collected a load of feed. Gave Heptavac-P boosters to the sheared ram lambs (I ought to call them shearling rams now they have been clipped) and to the two older rams.

Tim was away again today, and I spent most of the day catching up on paperwork. Sausages with roast veg for dinner. Did another load of baking and made a batch of bread. For some reason I can’t fathom, the top fell off one of the loaves when I turned it out of the tin.

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M AY 2015

BEE- K EEPING

YOUR HIVE s e h c u o t l a n fi e Th Claire Waring describes the construction of a hive roof and solid floor

ast month we put together a National brood box from a flatpack. To complete your hive you need a queen excluder, an inner cover, a floor, and a roof.

QUEEN EXCLUDER You will have to buy a queen excluder; you can choose either a flat metal or plastic one with slots, or a framed wired excluder consisting of parallel wires. The slots and spacings between the wires are large enough for worker bees to pass through, but are too small for the queen and drones, thereby confining them to the brood box and preventing the queen gaining access to the supers, where she could lay eggs among the honey storage cells. The drones are excluded simply because of their size.

INNER COVER You are probably best buying your inner cover, although it can be made relatively easily. You need a sheet of waterproof ply the size of the hive cross section. Cut one or two feed holes towards the centre that will take Porter bee escapes for when you want to use it as a clearer board. Glue and nail fillets to one side only. These need to be one bee-space (6–9mm) deep. For a ‘top bee-space’ hive this is placed flat side down over the brood box/super. For a ‘bottom bee-space’ hive, put the fillets underneath to give the bees a space over the top of the frames.

FLOOR Many bee-keepers now use an openmesh floor consisting of a framework, over the centre of which is fixed metal mesh. The holes are too small for bees to pass through, but debris (including

varroa mite) falls through, either onto a tray which slides in underneath or onto the ground. The gap under the mesh is too great for any live mites to climb back into the hive. I have not found anyone selling a flat-pack, open-mesh floor, so you will have to buy one that is already made up. Prior to open-mesh floors, beehive floors were solid. You can still buy them in flat-packs, and they are probably the easiest hive part to assemble. The floor is made of several flat pieces of wood grooved where their faces come together. Thin strips of wood slide into the adjacent grooves to give a tongueand-groove set-up. Two side pieces have wide grooves to take the floor boards, but make sure that both go the right way round. The grooves are generally offset, so there is a deep side and a shallow side. Do a dry run and put the floor pieces together, fitting them into one of the side pieces. Some manufacturers make the floor slightly longer than the sides. If the extra extends out at the front, it provides a mini alighting board, but if it extends out at the back, the ledge catches the rain, which may eventually rot the back of the floor. If you don’t want the floor

! e t No

are oof ed r d nr r an floo wester eed r u If yo e from o not n do so n d d ma r, they you ca wish. t ceda ing, bu oil if you t trea linseed with

to stick out, plane it off once you have completed the assembly. This time, we used water-resistant, Cascamite powdered resin wood glue – a powder mixed 2:1 with cold water. Mix up sufficient and stir well to smooth out any lumps. Wash out the container when you have finished – any leftover glue that has set will peel off. Excess glue can be wiped off with a damp cloth. Spread glue down the groove in one of the side pieces. Insert the first floor section, with the groove towards the centre of the floor. Insert the second, which is grooved on both edges, then push the ‘tongue’ down the resulting groove. Do the same with the third section, making sure the grooves match up. Repeat this with the other side piece, and the floor is now rigid. Next, nail the side pieces to the floor from the outside, using the longest nails in the pack. Either line up the nails by eye or run a pencil line down the outside and follow that. There are two fillets – one square, which blocks the back of the deep side of the floor. There are small rebates in the deep side of the side pieces at the front of the hive. The entrance block fits into these and is prevented from disappearing inside. Glue the fillet and fit it flush with the ends of the side pieces. Nail it with the middle-length nails. Nail through the side piece into the fillet at each end and also through the fillet into the floor boards. The thinner fillet blocks the space underneath the entrance, i.e. at the opposite end and on the other side. Glue and nail this in place in the same manner. The entrance block now fits into the rebated end of the side pieces at the front of the floor. If using a shallow floor, simply turn it over and rotate it through 180°. You will need to find a couple of suitably sized pieces of wood if you want to reduce this entrance

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“IF THE METAL IS NOT PRE-PUNCHED FOR THE NAILS, YOU CAN DO IT WITH A FINE DRILL OR BY PUNCHING JUST THROUGH THE METAL WITH A LARGER NAIL”

M AY 2015

BEE- K EEPING to stop robbing – broken frame bottom bars usually fit. Wipe off any excess glue with a damp cloth, then you have made your floor.

STEP-BY-STEP ASSEMBLY GUIDE

THE ROOF The four sides of the roof are dovetailed and fit together to make a square or rectangle (depending on the hive design). Two sides have a ventilation channel cut away in the middle – these go on opposite sides and face outwards. Glue the touching parts of the joints, and fix with a nail to hold them together. Repeat with the other three corners. The top of the roof is formed with a square/rectangular sheet of plywood or composite board, with ventilation channels cut away on two opposite sides. These will be covered with wire mesh so bees and wasps cannot gain access. Spread glue on the top of the side pieces – the ones where the channel has been cut out. Place the roof top over the sides, making sure the channels match up. Square up one side and nail it in place. The vertical sides can be adjusted so they are square to the roof top, then nail them in place. Nail either side of the channels. Now, nail through the dovetail joints from both directions. As the roof is lifted off the hive by the bottom edge and usually turned over while holding the side, make sure the bottom dovetail sections are nailed firmly to strengthen them. The four fillets now fit inside the roof. Glue one wide side that is going against the roof sides, and the narrow side going against the roof top, and fit all four in place. Then, making sure they are tight into the corner, nail them in place. Finally, cover the roof top with the metal sheet. This will be bent to shape, and the corners cut and overlapped. When you nail the metal in place, these overlaps should move into position. If the metal is not pre-punched for the nails, you can do it with a fine drill or by punching just through the metal with a larger nail. Secure all four sides of the metal and wipe off any excess glue with a damp cloth. If your floor and roof are made from western red cedar, they do not need treating, although you can do so with linseed oil every year if you wish. If they are deal or another softwood, paint them with special hive paint available from equipment suppliers. Congratulations! You have now completed your hive.

The parts of a flat-pack floor.

The floor boards with the ‘tongues’ in place.

Gluing the groove in the side piece.

Fitting the floor sections into the groove.

Inserting the ‘tongue’.

Putting the other side piece in place.

Lining up the nails so they drive into the floor sections.

Gluing the deep fillet on one side.

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Nailing the deep fillet to the floor section.

Nailing through the side piece into the end of the deep fillet. Note that the fillet is flush with the end of the side piece.

Nailing the shallow fillet. Note that the floor sections protrude in front of the entrance.

The finished floor with the entrance block in place.

The mesh-covered ventilation channel in the roof top board.

Pushing the corner joint together.

Securing the joint with a nail to hold it in place.

Marrying up the sides and the roof top board, making sure the ventilation channels coincide.

The roof top nailed in place.

Nailing the roof fillets in place, tight into the corner.

Nailing the metal in place.

The finished roof.

M AY 2015

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M AY 2015

L I Z Z IEB’S K ITCHEN

NORTHUMBE R This month LizzieB’s roadshow hits Northumberland, where she prepares traditional fare, including Pan Haggerty, Pease Pudding and Stotties

otted with ancient castles and forts, Roman ruins and the now wonderfully restored Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland is rich in history and legend. Stunningly beautiful with its wild untamed countryside and traditional seaside villages, to me it is one of the most dramatic and interesting counties, although I may be slightly biased, having been born there. The local cuisine is wide and varied, from the fresh oysters and kippers on the east coast, to the Cheviot lamb, potatoes and cheese produced inland. The recipes this month are all part of the cultural heritage of this most northerly of English counties.

SINGIN’ HINNIES These northern griddle cakes are called Singin’ Hinnies, because when they cook they sizzle on the hot griddle and sound like they are ‘singing’. Well, that’s the official version; however, I prefer the urban myth that they got their name from a housewife who, when cooking a batch for

tea, was repeatedly asked by her children if they were ready to eat. Her final reply was: “No, they’re just singing, hinnies.” – ‘hinnie’ being a term of endearment for a loved one. Similar to Welsh griddle cakes, these are made without sugar, with the fruit acting as the sweetener.

INGREDIENTS

MAKES 6 225g self-raising flour 25g butter, cubed 25g lard, cubed 75g currants 1 egg, beaten 1 tbsp milk A pinch of salt

METHOD 1 2

Put the flour, salt and fat in a large bowl and rub together to make a breadcrumb-like texture. Stir in the currants, then add the beaten egg and the milk, combining everything well until the mixture comes together to form a soft, sticky dough.

Tip out onto a floured surface, gently knead to form a smooth ball, then pat out until the dough is a little over 1cm thick. Cut out rounds from the dough using a 9cm cutter and cook on a preheated and pre-oiled griddle for 3 minutes each side until golden brown and cooked through. If you don’t have a griddle you can use a well-seasoned, pre-oiled frying pan.

Singin’ Hinnies are always best served hot straight from the pan and with a dollop of butter.

LIZZIEB’S TIP! Singin’ Hinnies also freeze really well. Allow them to cool completely and then package each one between layers of greaseproof paper, wrap in a freezer bag and freeze. They will keep for up to 6 months. To serve, simply reheat from frozen in a warm oven for 3–5 minutes.

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E RLAND NOSH

50g butter 80g strong mature cheese, grated 4 rashers smoked back bacon (optional) 200ml chicken or vegetable stock A pinch of salt and ground black pepper

METHOD 1

PAN HAGGERTY This is a heritage dish that was a staple across the North, and it made an economical and tasty one-pan supper dish. There are similar meals in many countries, which often originated as a means of using up leftovers, including ‘pytt I panna’ in Sweden, ‘hash’ in America, ‘colcannon’ in Ireland, and ‘rumbledethumps’ in Scotland. Today, however, most of them are usually produced using quality fresh ingredients, to be enjoyed in their own right rather than as a means of using up leftovers.

M AY 2015

Northumberland Pan Haggerty was traditionally made with just potatoes, onions and cheese, but I have added some smoked bacon to one of the layers to make an extra-tasty treat. If you are a vegetarian you can simply omit the bacon.

INGREDIENTS

SERVES 4 500g potatoes, peeled and finely sliced 2 onions, finely sliced

Preheat the oven to 190°C and melt half the butter over a low heat in a heavy-based, ovenproof pan or casserole dish. 2 Fry the onions gently for about 5 minutes until softened and starting to colour, then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and place to one side. Melt the remaining butter in the pan and add the potato slices. Fry them for around 5 minutes until they are beginning to soften, but be careful not to break up the slices in the pan. When ready, remove the pan from the heat and take out the potatoes carefully with a slotted spoon. Season them and place to one side.

L I Z Z IEB’S K ITCHEN 4

Layer the base of the cooking pan with one-third of the potato slices, then top with one-third of the sliced onions and sprinkle with one-third of the grated cheese. Repeat the layers of potato and onion, add the bacon slices, then cover with a further onethird of the cheese. Finally, layer the top with the remaining potato and onion and cover with the remaining cheese. Carefully pour over the stock and place in the preheated oven. Bake for about 30–40 minutes until the potatoes are tender, the liquid is fully absorbed and the top is golden.

LIZZIEB’S TIP! Once you have peeled and sliced the potatoes, place them in a large bowl or pan and cover with cold, salted water until ready to use – this will stop any discolouration. Drain and pat them dry on absorbent paper prior to frying.

“THE LOCAL CUISINE IS WIDE AND VARIED, FROM THE FRESH OYSTERS AND KIPPERS ON THE EAST COAST, TO THE CHEVIOT LAMB, POTATOES AND CHEESE PRODUCED INLAND”

KIPPER FLORENTINE Kippers were created in Northumberland, and much of the east coast is dotted with villages and towns with traditional kilns, which are still used today to smoke the fish. This is a quick-and-easy recipe that gives a great twist to the traditional Eggs Florentine.

INGREDIENTS

SERVES 2 200g kipper fillets 120g fresh spinach A knob of butter 2 eggs, poached 2 slices thick white bread, toasted

METHOD 1 2 3

Rinse the spinach, drain well, then place in a pan and cook over a gentle heat to wilt. Stir in a generous knob of butter and mix well. Place the kipper fillets in a bowl or jug and cover with freshly boiled water for 2 minutes, then remove and pat dry.

4 To make the Florentine, take a slice of freshly made toast, top with half the warm buttered spinach, top with half the kipper fillets and then finish off with a fresh poached egg per person. 5 Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

HOME-MADE PEASE PUDDING Pease Pudding is a traditional northern accompaniment. Although also eaten in other parts of the country, northerners are extremely proud and territorial about their own version of this split pea paste. Home-made Pease Pudding is completely different to shop-bought or, heaven forbid, the tinned versions. Made fresh, cooked in a tasty stock and mashed with a generous dollop of butter, this really does make the perfect accompaniment to serve with slices of gammon or ham, and unlike in the rhyme, you can eat this straightaway.

INGREDIENTS 200g yellow split peas, pre-soaked overnight

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NORTHUMBERLAND STOTTY The Stotty – or Stottie Cake – is known as an oven bottom cake, the name deriving from the cooking process, where you would leave the bread to cook in the bottom of the oven. These dense, chewy bread buns are classic Northumberland fare and make a great sandwich bun, which was traditionally filled with ham and pease pudding.

INGREDIENTS

750ml water 1 onion, diced 1 carrot, sliced 1 garlic clove, whole 1 bay leaf 1 tsp whole black peppercorns 50g salted butter

260g strong white flour 1 tsp salt 4g fast-acting dried yeast ½ tsp sugar 25g lard, cubed 75ml warm water 75ml milk

METHOD 1 2

Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl, then rub in the lard. Add the warm water, milk, sugar and

3 4

yeast in a jug, then stir well and leave until frothy. Once the yeast mixture is frothy, add it to the large bowl and mix together well until a firm dough forms. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, then place in an oiled bowl and cover with greased cling film. Leave in a warm place to rise until the dough has doubled in size. Tip out and knead again, then cut into 4 pieces and pat out each portion until it is roughly 15cm wide and around 1cm deep. Prick the top with a fork, place on a floured tray and put on the bottom shelf of a preheated oven set at 200°C, then cook for 30 minutes. Do not open the oven. After 30 minutes, turn the oven off and leave the bread in the oven for a further 15 minutes.

METHOD 1

4 5 6

Drain the pre-soaked split peas, rinse well with fresh cold water, then place in a large pan, add the chopped onion, carrot, garlic clove, black pepper and bay leaf and cover with the water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a rolling simmer and cook for 90 minutes until the peas are soft. A white foamy scum will float to the top throughout the cooking – remove it by skimming the top with a spoon. Remove from the heat, drain off any remaining liquid, then remove the carrot, bay leaf and onion. Transfer the peas to a blender, add the butter and blitz until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

M AY 2015

FERMEN TAT ION

KOMBUC KOMBUCHA ? g n i w e r b s ’ t a h W Seren Evans-Charrington continues her fermenting fad with Kombucha, an ancient Chinese technique that is nearly as old as Nicholas Parsons!

ombucha is the beverage the ancient Chinese called the ‘immortal health elixir’. It’s been around for more than 2,000 years, and whilst it comes with a long list of potential health benefits, I must confess that on first sight it is a little scary. The first time I ever saw Kombucha brewing was when I paid my friend Layla a visit, and next to her kettle was a large jar with what I thought looked like some sort of alien fungi floating in dirty dishwater. When I asked what this dubious-looking jar was, she laughed and said, “It’s a Kombucha plant my friend gave me, but I can’t bring myself to drink it and haven’t the heart to kill it either”. I must confess that it took a few years from my first sight of Kombucha to get into this form of fermentation. Kombucha is made from sweetened tea that’s been fermented by a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast known commonly as a SCOBY, but referred to by some as the ‘mother’ because of its ability to reproduce, or sometimes a ‘mushroom’, due to its appearance. The SCOBY bacteria and yeast eat most of the sugar in the tea, transforming it into a refreshingly effervescent, slightly tart, fermented (but mostly non-alcoholic) beverage that is relatively low in calories and sugar.

Before starting my Kombucha brewing journey I had read up on the health benefits of this elixir and came to understand that it contains glucosamines, which are important in maintaining joint health, as well as being a probiotic beverage that has a myriad of benefits, including aiding digestion and boosting the immune system. However, Kombucha’s greatest health benefits are contained in its ability to detox the body. Not only is it rich in many of the enzymes and bacterial acids your body produces and uses to detox your system, thus reducing the strain on your pancreatic load and easing the burden on your liver; but it is also very high in glucaric acid, and recent studies have linked this with helping to reduce the risk of developing cancer and other diseases. At the time of ordering my first SCOBY, a detox was in order, so I decided to give it a go. The SCOBY arrived in the morning post in its sealed package of brown liquid. When I opened the package and removed this rubbery, spongy culture, I wondered what I had let myself in for. However, I brushed aside my squeamish apprehension, and I am glad I did, because from my very first taste of home-brewed Kombucha I was hooked on the process, and now have three SCOBIES brewing away happily.

KOMBUCHA – THE FIRST BATCH YOU WILL NEED ❋ A Kombucha SCOBY ❋ 6 tea bags – I used a simple black organic tea, but whatever type of tea you use it is imperative that all brewing is done using a base of ‘real’ tea, be it green, black, white, etc. Do not use tea with added oil such as Earl Grey ❋ 200g granulated sugar ❋ 2 tbsp cider vinegar ❋ Glass container or jar of some description – a 2-litre Kilner-style jar is ideal for the brewing process ❋ Tight-weaved cotton or muslin cloth and a rubber band to cover your jar – important, as fruit flies love the smell of brewing Kombucha and can appear from nowhere

SEREN’S TIPS! ❋ Kombucha brews best at a

constant room temperature of 20–23°C – an airing cupboard or similar is ideal.

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❋ Make sure everything is very

clean when handling Kombucha. It’s a living culture and a complex system of bacteria and yeasts, so you don’t want to risk contaminating it. Use freshly cleaned hands, sterilised jars, and clean non-metallic implements. ❋ Always remember to retain 200ml of the prepared brew as your starter for the next batch.

M AY 2015

❋ Use your plain-brewed

Kombucha as a natural pesticide. I use Kombucha in a spray bottle to deter ants and greenfly.

METHOD 1

Begin with the naming of the SCOBY, although in households where there are no young children, this stage can be skipped. However, giving it a name helps to remind you that this is a living organism that

needs to be treated with respect. My first SCOBY is called Keith, after my tea-drinking dad – the children’s idea, not mine, honest! To make the tea base, boil 1 litre of water in a large saucepan, then remove from the heat. Add the tea bags and the sugar, stirring until it has dissolved, then leave to steep until the water has cooled. Once the tea is cool, remove the tea bags and transfer the sweetened tea to your glass container. Stir in the starter tea. This makes the liquid acidic, which prevents unfriendly bacteria from taking up residence in the first few days of fermentation. For your first batch of Kombucha, use 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar, but for subsequent batches use 200ml of Kombucha from the previous batch as a starter. Gently slide the SCOBY – lightest side upwards, if you can see a difference – into the jar using wellscrubbed, clean hands. The SCOBY will float, sink or suspend itself somewhere in between – all good signs. Cover the mouth of the jar with a few layers of muslin secured with a rubber band. 5 Find a suitable spot for your container – somewhere out of direct sunlight but in a room with a relatively constant temperature. Ensure that the spot you choose will allow the jar to remain undisturbed. Leave to ferment there for 7–14 days, checking the process periodically. Take a look at the darkness of the tea when you first put your Kombucha culture into it, then note how the liquid changes colour over the passing days. The colour will change, to a degree, and the liquid will become slightly cloudier. 6 After 7 days, pour a very small amount into a glass and have a sip. If the brew tastes fruity and not tea-like, it’s ready, but if not, leave it for 1 more day and try again. The Kombucha should be a balance of sweet and tart. As you get more experienced you will come to learn the brewing duration that best suits your palate. Before removing the SCOBY, prepare and cool another pot of strong tea for your next batch and, with clean hands, gently lift out the SCOBY and set it on a clean plate. As you do, check it over and remove the bottom layer if the SCOBY is getting very thick. Pour the fermented Kombucha (straining, if desired) into sterilised

FERMEN TAT ION

bottles using a small funnel, along with any juice, herbs, or fruit you may want to use as a flavouring (see the recipes below), leaving about 1.5cm of headspace in each bottle, then refrigerate. The longer you leave your bottled Kombucha in the fridge, the fizzier it becomes; I usually leave mine for 1–3 days, and it is advisable to drink it within 1 month. Begin the process all over again, this time using retained brew as the starter instead of cider vinegar.

SEREN’S SCOBY TIPS! ❋ It’s not unusual for the SCOBY

to float at the top, bottom, or even sideways. ❋ A new cream-coloured layer of SCOBY should start forming on the surface of the Kombucha within a few days. This usually attaches to the old SCOBY, but it’s OK if they separate. ❋ The SCOBY will grow with each brew, gradually getting thicker. You can leave them like this and occasionally peel off a layer from the bottom and discard it, or you can separate them and either pass the new SCOBY on to a friend or start your own Kombucha ‘farm’, with several batches brewing simultaneously. ❋ You may see brown stringy bits floating beneath the SCOBY, sediment collecting at the bottom, and bubbles collecting around the SCOBY – these are all normal signs of a healthy fermentation.

GINGER ZINGER My favourite way of flavouring Kombucha is with fresh ginger – it’s really refreshing and a great pick-me-up drink.

RECIPES FOR FLAVOURED KOMBUCHA

INGREDIENTS

Use swing-top bottles for each recipe, although it is not essential for any nonfizzy recipe such as that using purée or mashed berries. The number of bottles will, of course, vary.

METHOD

Freshly brewed Kombucha Fresh root ginger (1 grated tsp per bottle) 1 Scrub the ginger clean, then grate it finely – you don’t need to peel it. 2 Place 1 teaspoon of grated ginger in each bottle. 3 Pour the fermented Kombucha (straining, if desired) into sterilised bottles using a small funnel and leave about 1.5cm of headspace in each bottle. Store the bottled Kombucha at room temperature out of direct sunlight and allow 2 days for a secondary fermentation. 4 After 2 days, refrigerate for at least 4 hours to chill it.

The Kombucha will keep in the refrigerator for several weeks. You can strain the Kombucha again as you serve it to remove any bits of ginger pulp.

FRUITY KOMBUCHA If you don’t care about fizz and want to enjoy it sooner rather than later, mash or purée some berries, then stir it into your brewed Kombucha and enjoy it right away – this is by far the sweetest option. If you want a less sweet fizzy drink, add the fruit for a second fermentation as detailed in the recipe below.

RASPBERRY KOMBUCHA I find that raspberries are delicious in this recipe, but blueberries work well, too. It is a favourite with my children, as they get to devour the remainder of the punnet of raspberries, and they also like the fizzy drink that results from it.

INGREDIENTS Freshly brewed Kombucha 8–10 firm raspberries per bottle (either frozen or fresh)

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METHOD 1

Place the raspberries in sterilised bottles. Fresh or frozen raspberries can be used in this recipe, but if using frozen, place them in the bottles whilst still frozen. Pour the fermented Kombucha into the bottles using a small funnel, leaving about 1.5cm of headspace in each bottle. Store the bottled Kombucha at room temperature out of direct sunlight and allow 2 days for the secondary fermentation. After 2 days, refrigerate the Kombucha for at least 4 hours.

Raspberry Kombucha will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week.

KOMBUCHA SALAD DRESSING If you want a quick-and-easy salad dressing, simply combine 1 tablespoon of fermented Kombucha with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, then season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Whisk together and adjust the seasoning accordingly.

AND FINALLY… I hope that you will soon discover the fabulous joy of fermenting your very own probiotic-rich Kombucha tea, but be warned – this fermenting malarkey is addictive!

PLEASE NOTE ❋ DO NOT expose your SCOBY to contact with metals, as it will weaken

the SCOBY and taint the Kombucha drink, although you can use metal kettles or saucepans to boil the water. Use plastic utensils whenever you come into contact with the Kombucha. ❋ DO NOT drink Kombucha if you are diabetic without seeking the opinion of your doctor, and if you are on any heavy medication, seek professional medical advice on whether Kombucha is suitable for you.

M AY 2015

T HE PAL EO DIE T

CAVEMAN n e h c t i k e h t in Dave Hamilton checks out the ultimate retro-diet based on the eating habits of our cavemen ancestors – although, being chased by mammoths is apparently optional

any fad diets come and go – they can rise to prominence as a result of celebrity endorsement or claimed scientific research, only to disappear again when a new diet knocks them off their pedestal, or the scientific community finally debunks the claims. The Paleolithic diet, or Paleo diet, as it is commonly known, has emerged over the last ten years – or the last few hundred thousand years, depending how you look at it – and shows little sign of disappearing. Its roots can be traced back to the 1975 publication, The Stone Age Diet by Walter L. Voegtlin, but it is over the last decade that it has gained momentum after being popularised by the American scientist and writer, Loren Cordain, in his 2002 book, The Paleo Diet.

WHAT’S IN Grass-fed meat, meat from birds, and wild-caught fish Offal meat Vegetables Fruits (although some will limit consumption) Certain tubers, such as sweet potatoes and yams (again, some will limit consumption of these) Lard, coconut oil and olive oil Fermented foods (sauerkraut, Kombucha, etc.) Honey (in small doses)

Nuts

Left: Prime grass-fed rib. Below left: Ginkgo biloba is one of the oldest known trees. The fruit has long been used as a medicine and food.

Part of the appeal of this diet is its simple premise that we evolved to eat certain foods, so it stands to reason that those same foods will be the most beneficial to us. More specifically, this means we should be eating the same foods that our ancestors ate during the Palaeolithic period, some 2.5 million to 20,000–30,000 years ago.

SO, WHAT’S IN AND WHAT’S OUT?

WHAT’S OUT Sugar Processed foods of any kind Legumes Grains

Potatoes Sunflower oil, or oil made from grains and seeds Overly salty foods Dairy (high-fat or fermented dairy is sometimes eaten by lacto-paleo/ followers of Paleo 2.0) Fruit juices Alcohol

The Stone Age, or Palaeolithic period, was a time before farming, so advocates of the Paleo diet aim to avoid any type of food from the modern era. As there is actually very little evidence to say for certain what our ancestors did eat, what to include in the diet is open to wide interpretation. This has led to many variations of the diet, with some avoiding dairy products altogether, whilst others will include high-fat dairy products such as butter, or fermented dairy such as yoghurt. All seem to agree on one thing – the diet is a very meaty affair, including especially meat from birds and grass-fed ruminants such as beef, goat and mutton. Most vegetables are in, with the exception of potatoes, which not only emerged in Peru after the Palaeolithic era in 8000–5000 BC, but also contain high amounts of natural starches. Similarly, modern carbohydrate-rich grains such as wheat, oats and barley are all out.

THE ACTUAL PALAEOLITHIC DIET So, how accurate is this picture?

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“PART OF THE APPEAL OF THIS DIET IS ITS SIMPLE PREMISE THAT WE EVOLVED TO EAT CERTAIN FOODS, SO IT STANDS TO REASON THAT THOSE SAME FOODS WILL BE THE MOST BENEFICIAL TO US”

M AY 2015

T HE PAL EO DIE T

Above: Photo courtesy of www.outback2basics.co.uk.

Well, considering the Stone Age ended some 22,000 years ago – approximately – the evidence is somewhat scarce as to what our ancestors might have eaten, as already mentioned. We do know that pretty much all of their food would have been hunted or gathered rather than grown. This presents a particular problem for modern followers of this ancient diet. From my own personal experience as a forager, I know that, except in peak season when fruits, nuts, roots and berries are abundant, it is very hard work to get all your energy from foraged food. Functioning as a tribe it may have been somewhat easier, as different tasks, such as hunting, gathering and processing, could have been ascribed to different members of the tribe. In modern society, however, with bills to pay and jobs to go to, as much as we might like to experience it, this lifestyle will always be somewhat impractical. In fact, at best, foraged plant food can really only serve as a top-up rather than as the sole focus of a diet. It would also be difficult to hunt or catch all the required meat and fish, so, alongside the fruit and vegetables, they are inevitably bought in supermarkets, shops, markets or other outlets – a considerably lower input of energy than would have been required by our Palaeolithic ancestors. The trouble with all these modern equivalents is that they also aren’t quite the same as the food that would have been available back then. A paper printed in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition states: “…game and wild plant foods contain less fat, more protein, more roughage, and more micronutrients per unit weight than do foods typically selected from the supermarkets.”

WHAT DID CAVEMEN REALLY EAT? Another flaw in the diet is clear evidence suggesting that the food ‘choices’ early man would have had to make would often be far from palatable to our modern Western taste buds. In his book, The Paleo Diet, on which the diet is based, Cordain only drew on evidence from two tribes, and even then, for only a month. This was only a small sample and didn’t account for many regional or seasonal differences in diet. To gain a wider perspective on the matter, we can draw parallels with modern hunter-gatherer tribes, and evidence from recently urbanised tribes in North America. Some of the foods eaten by these tribes include: ❋ CHYME Eaten by Inuit people, the semidigested contents of animals’ stomachs – especially reindeer – would have been a valuable source of nutrients and fibre in an otherwise meat-based diet.

❋ INSECTS Insect eating is common in most cultures except our own. There is strong evidence to say that bugs would have made up a significant part of our ancestors’ diets. ❋ INNER LAYER OF TREE BARK Certain tree species, including members of the pine family, have an edible cambium layer – the soft inner layer of tree bark. This would have been eaten by North American tribes.

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In short, our ancestors would have eaten whatever they could get their hands on – insect larvae, small birds, rodents, lizards, and probably even a limited amount of grain in the form of grass seeds. Even today, in times of extreme hunger, there is little that is literally ‘off the menu’. The diet could even have included toxic roots and tubers such as that of the arum lily, which would possibly have been left in a stream for days to leach out the poisonous chemicals. We can be sure that both the plant and animal foods they ate would have been much more varied, and possibly more nutrient-rich than the limited number of foods available to us today.

CRITICISMS OF THE DIET One of the main criticisms of the Paleo diet is the fact that there simply haven’t been enough large studies to know if it is beneficial or not, and some even claim it could be potentially dangerous. In a study carried out by the U.S. News & World Report, a panel of experts actually put the Paleo diet in last place, questioning its safety and effects on weight loss and heart disease. The British Dietetic Association (BDA) advocates an adapted version of the diet without the exclusion of certain food groups such as legumes, wholegrains and dairy produce. They also suggested that the diet lacked variety. If not followed properly, the Paleo diet can become very much meat dominant, containing less plant fibre in the form of fruits and vegetables than is actually advisable. This has not only been linked with incidences of bowel cancer; the American Health Association has also warned that limiting plant-based foods “may raise blood pressure by reducing the intake of calcium, potassium and magnesium, while simultaneously increasing sodium intake.”

SO, SHOULD YOU GO PALEO?

? t i y r t u o y d l Shou

❋ IT ELIMINATES PROCESSED FOODS By their very nature processed foods are high in trans-fats, sugar and/or artificial sweeteners, salt and emulsifiers, alongside chemical preservatives. ❋ IT CONTAINS LESS SALT No salt is added to the diet. High salt intake has been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, stomach cancer, osteoporosis, obesity, kidney stones and kidney disease.

❋ IT INCREASES YOUR FEELING OF FULLNESS Gaining most of your energy from protein leads to increased satiation, or feeling full. If you aren’t hungry you are less likely to have unhealthy snacks. ❋ IT INCREASES ENERGY Another benefit from eating less refined carbohydrates is a levelling out of insulin levels, which may increase energy levels. ❋ IT CAN INCREASE FIBRE INTAKE If enough fruits and vegetables are eaten, the diet can be high in fibre. ❋ IT REDUCES RISK OF ILLNESS AND DISEASE Although this is debatable, with only anecdotal evidence, advocates of the diet claim they have fewer coughs and colds, and with less sugar in the diet the risk of diabetes is greatly reduced, too, if not eliminated. One of the main benefits of the diet is the fact that it is simple to follow – nothing needs to be weighed or measured, and the choices available are clear and straightforward.

overlooked is the amount of exercise our ancestors would have had in the course of a typical day. Physically, their lifestyle would have been extremely demanding, and they were also far more muscular and leaner than we are today. Their diet may well have been just one small part of a healthier lifestyle, and the BDA says it may actually be better to mimic the activity

levels of our Stone Age counterparts, rather than their diet. With such limited data available regarding both the true nature of the actual Palaeolithic diet and the safety and effectiveness of its modern interpretation, the jury must remain out as to whether it will be beneficial to follow or not, although certain aspects of it are without doubt fully in tune with modern thinking on pursuing a healthy lifestyle.

There is no doubting the fact that many aspects of the Paleo diet are very beneficial. Eliminating processed foods, cutting out sugar and minimising salt intake can only be a good thing. Increasing wild foods and wild meats, whenever possible, will also have benefits. However, one thing that is often Right: The diet would have ranged from the luxury of mulberries (right), to the desperation of hogweed (far right).

M AY 2015

FL AVOURING AND PRE SERVING

HOTuct& COLD ion An introd o smoking! t Smoking and curing food was once essential for survival in the days before refrigeration, but today it has become an effective way of adding taste and flavour, says Caroline Pilcher

moking is the process of flavouring and preserving food – usually meat, fish and cheese – by exposing it to smoke from burning or smouldering material, usually wood. Smoking lowers the moisture content, which in turn inhibits the growth of harmful bacterial micro-organisms. It also seals the exterior with a hard, golden-brown film and prevents contamination from airborne organisms while the seal remains intact. Food, by its nature, begins to spoil as soon as it is harvested. Different countries and cultures developed different methods of smoking food, usually determined by their climates and geography, and while different woods impart different flavours, all these variations in method were born of a common need to preserve food. Different cultures preserved their own local food, and as cultures met, techniques were no doubt exchanged. In her book, Practical Food Smoking – a comprehensive guide, Kate Walker suggests such a flow of ideas when she states that it was possible that coastal regions became known for better quality meat over winter, and through observation and experimentation it was realised that washing meat in seawater rather than water from rivers aided preservation by bringing salt into the equation. Examples of smoked and cured foods are found in all ancient cultures. We cannot know how they came into being, but can presume that the methods were the result of hard-won

experiments born out of necessity to survive, and were shaped by local climate, geography, seasonal change and available resources. In recent years there has been a slow return to these same principles of locally sourced and locally produced foods.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HOT- AND COLD-SMOKING The basic difference between hot- and cold-smoking is the temperature. Cold-smoked products are placed in an unheated chamber, with smoke pumped in from an external firebox, while hot-smoked products are smoked in the same chamber as the burning wood. Thus, with a coldsmoke you are imparting flavour, and with a hot-smoke you are flavouring and cooking simultaneously. Cold-smoking is undertaken over a longer time period than hot-smoking and is used for food that either doesn’t need to be cooked, such as cheese, or food that you plan to cook at a later date; hot-smoking is used for food that will usually be served immediately. Cold-smoked meat will need to have been cured beforehand to ensure it is protected from any microbial growth, as the combination of temperature, lack of oxygen (which is displaced by smoke) and the natural low acidic characteristic of meat creates the perfect environment for bacteria to flourish. There are plenty of guidelines in books and online

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about methods of curing, optimum temperatures and the ideal duration of cold-smoking for different types and amounts of meat, and depending on the curing method used, some products can be kept safely for months or even years without refrigeration.

COLD-SMOKING AND CURING Curing is basically the addition of salt (or salt and a mix of other ingredients) to the meat or fish to be smoked, and curing when coldsmoking is important for two reasons. Salt inhibits the growth of microorganisms by drawing water out of the foodstuff by osmosis. It also imparts flavour, and in some cases colour, to the item being smoked. Adding flavour by curing can be an essential part of cold-smoking, as the temperatures required are not always high enough to convert the oils in the smouldering wood into a gas or vapour to impart flavour into the item being smoked. Broadly speaking, there are two methods of curing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; wet-curing and dry-curing. In wet-curing, brine is used, and in dry-curing the ingredients are massaged into the meat. Get to know your curing ingredients, as not all salt curing prevents bacterial growth. Anyone just starting out is advised to use ready-made mixes, and to get to know their salts by reading the chemical breakdown of salts. Those with the least magnesium sulphate and least calcium chloride are the ones to head for, as these elements attract moisture from the atmosphere â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the very thing you are seeking to avoid.

M AY 2015

There are many ready-made mixes available, and plenty of guidelines out there to help you learn about different types of curing and the amount needed for particular weights and types of meat. Then, as you gain confidence in your salting knowledge, you can have fun experimenting with adding herbs, spices, sugar, alcohol, tea leaves or any number of other ingredients that you think will add a nice twist of flavour to your food. Always keep notes on your smoking processes: keep lists of types and amounts of ingredients added to a particular cure so you can reproduce it if it proves popular, but also conduct shelf-life tests so you know if a particular combination of curing ingredients significantly alters the shelf life of an end product.

QUALITY IN SMOKING You definitely get back what you are prepared to put in when smoking food â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the better quality the equipment and ingredients, the better the end result. This applies in particular to the quality of meat and fish you smoke. Know the provenance of your meat, where it was raised and what it was fed on, and even when it was slaughtered, as all of these elements are essential to producing a healthy end product. Smoking works as a preservative and imparts flavour by reducing moisture content, and salting or curing is an important part of this process, also reducing moisture content through osmosis. There are, however, certain conditions

FL AVOURING AND PRE SERVING under which osmosis may not take place: perhaps an animal has been fed certain chemicals that may remain in the meat once osmosis has drawn out the moisture content, or perhaps it was slaughtered too young or under unnecessary stress – both can affect the chemical make-up of an animal’s cells, in turn affecting the process of osmosis. Of course, these were not aspects that concerned our ancestors, when meat was killed on a small scale, but they are an issue in today’s global market, where we cannot always know or trust the history of our food.

WOOD FOR SMOKING A fundamental part of smoking is experimenting with the foodstuffs you smoke, the length of time you smoke items for and the wood you use. Wood can be used in pellet, chip, shaving or dust form, and you can even use your own wood, which adds to the ethos of producing local food. Steer clear of treated timber, as the chemicals could have health implications. Some people also recommend that softwood be avoided, as it can be very resinous and, while not harmful, may impart a bitter taste. When considering wood, bear in mind the type, moisture content, the size of shavings or chips, and the burning method. Different woods impart different flavours, and a quick Internet search will find lists of trees and their ‘preferred’ smoking uses. Alder is apparently the traditional choice in Europe, while in North America, hickory and mesquite are more commonly used, but there are no hard and fast rules. It’s likely that, traditionally, whatever wood was to hand was used to smoke whatever food was available. In Iceland, for example, dried sheep dung was used in coldsmoking, so the possibilities are endless! It’s also important to pay attention to the moisture content of wood, as you don’t want it to be too wet or too dry – too dry and your shavings will catch fire; too wet and they won’t even begin to smoulder. This is all part of the fun of learning, and you will soon find out just how much to dampen any dry chippings or shavings, or where the best storage place might be to ensure your wood is in the optimum condition for use in your cold-smoker. Pay particular attention to moisture levels if you harvest your own wood; wood containing sap will obviously add moisture, and can impart a bitter taste. It all comes down to personal taste, but if you don’t like the result of using

“EXAMPLES OF SMOKED AND CURED FOODS ARE FOUND IN ALL ANCIENT CULTURES”

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resinous wood, you need to source your ‘own grown’ wood in winter or early spring before the sap rises. The basic rule with regard to size of shavings, chips or chunks is that the lower the ratio of surface area to weight, the less well the wood will smoulder. A solid log will burn and smoulder less readily than if it were turned into dust, as the surface area has increased, allowing oxygen to circulate more readily than if the log remained in solid form.

CURRENT SMOKING TRENDS

! t i e Smok

ss of proce ing e h t v ing is reser Smok ing and p to smoke it r g flavou y exposing moulderin s b food urning or ood. w b from l, usually ia r mate

M AY 2015

Hot- and cold-smoking were once confined to meat, fish and cheese, but today professional and amateur chefs and food aficionados are smoking pretty much anything that can be consumed in order to impart deeper and subtly different flavours. Anyone who watches MasterChef will have seen contestants producing individually smoked dishes that bring an element of theatre as well as new flavours to a dish. In fact, many top restaurants now use cold-smoking techniques on all sorts of foods. The trend is increasingly towards smoking foodstuffs that will be used in a recipe rather than the end product itself: vanilla pods and other spices for inclusion in custard, for example, can be smoked; flour for bread making can be smoked; seeds and nuts can be smoked; and chefs now smoke lobster shells and other shells to make bisques or oils. David Wykes, the chef-owner of Verveine in Milford-on-Sea, is at the forefront of this culinary revolution and believes that at the end of rationing after the Second World War, and with the arrival of supermarkets, we turned our backs on cold-smoking, as it represented a technique that linked us to a feeling of austerity and strife. He advocates cold-smoking as a way of imparting flavour rather than simply as a means of preserving food, and says the possibilities for fun and experimentation are endless. He is no doubt right. Heston Blumenthal’s oak-smoked salt flies off the shelves at Waitrose, and there’s a chef who smokes yoghurt to use as a dressing for a light summer salad, while a bartender in America allegedly smokes water to refreeze for some bespoke cocktails. A certain Britishbased vodka distillery also reports huge demand for its smoked vodka (the key ingredient in a smoked Bloody Mary), and chef, David Wykes, is experimenting with hay-

Smokers A smoker can be as simple as a cardboard box with a metal dustbin containing embers, which is linked by a metal flue. Once the smoking has ended, the cardboard box is then composted. You could also do your smoking in an outdoor barbecue with the lid sealed. If you are a little more ambitious you could create a smoking box or use a small shed fed from a metal bin – perhaps even the same bin you originally used to smoke in a cardboard box. For cold-smoking you would need to reduce the temperature of the smoke entering the chamber, or your cheese would simply melt – the easiest way of doing this is to extend the flue so that the smoke cools down in transit. Or, alternatively, you could enter our competition to win a super, Posh Smoke House from The Posh Shed Company. For more details see page 88.

smoked ice cream and infusing brandy with cigar smoke for what he calls the “ultimate digestif”. For the amateur, smoking will be a process of trial and error, but as confidence and knowledge increase, there is endless fun to be had, and, of course, the thorough certainty of the provenance of one’s food.

! g n i k o m S COMPE T I T ION

YOUR CHANCE TO WIN THIS FABULOUS, NEW GARDEN SMOKEHOUSE AND SMOKER KIT WORTH OVER £1,100 FROM THE POSH SHED COMPANY

The Posh Smoke House allows you to cold-smoke: a process of flavouring and preserving food by exposing it to smoke created by a burning or smouldering material, usually wood. The most common foods to be smoked are meat, fish and cheese, but ingredients for making drinks such as tea or beer can also be smoked. The possibilities really are endless! This new smokehouse from The Posh Shed Company is made from the highest quality treated timber and is finished with a cedar shingle roof in keeping with the company’s style. It measures 1,750mm (h) × 1,000mm (w) × 650mm (d), and the door has a height of 1,300mm, which provides plenty of access room. “Knowing where our food comes from and how it is produced is fast becoming a key purchasing decision for many people. Growing our own food is one way of ensuring we know exactly where it has originated from, and it was because of this that we wanted to create the Posh Smoke House,” explains Richard Frost, CEO of The Posh Shed Company. “Our Smoke House will allow customers to create their very own smoked fish, meat or cheese in their back gardens, and you cannot get more local than that!” adds Richard. For further information on the new Posh Smoke House, as well as other products from The Posh Shed Company, call 01544 387101 or visit www.theposhshedcompany.co.uk. www.theposhshedcompany.co.uk

TO ENTER ONLINE, VISIT WWW.HOME F 88

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WIN! HOW TO ENTER… To enter, answer the following questions: What is the roof of the smokehouse made from? What are the dimensions of the smokehouse? Also, finish off the following sentence: The first thing I would smoke in my new Posh Smoker would be… Send your answers on a postcard to: ‘Garden Smoker Competition’, Home Farmer, PO Box 536, Preston, PR2 9ZY. Please remember to include your name, address and contact details, too. All entries must arrive no later than July 31st 2015. The lucky winner will be notified in early August and will be announced in the October issue.

E FARMER.CO.UK/POSH-SMOKER-COMP M AY 2015

NAT URE’S MEDICINE C ABINE T

HEALING with herbs

Seren Evans-Charrington creates a home-made medicine cabinet using rinses, salves and tinctures prepared with herbs and other natural ingredients traditionally associated with healing

hen putting together a first-aid kit, it is all too easy to just think about plasters and bandages, and when stocking the medicine cabinet, to reach for the paracetamol and acid reflux remedy. But what about soothing, natural remedies to ease sickness, an infusion for a grazed knee or a bee sting, or a soothing salve for chapped hands? With just a few herbs and some natural ingredients it is easy to create a natural medicine cabinet that can help to alleviate common ailments. Not all remedies have to be purchased from the chemist’s or health food shop, as many are very quick and simple to create at home, and this is my guide to creating and stocking a do-it-yourself natural medicine cabinet.

MARIGOLD RINSE Marigold rinse is an invaluable natural treatment for all manner of skin ailments. For centuries, pot marigold has been cultivated for its soothing antiseptic and anti-fungal properties, and in history the healing properties of marigold were so highly regarded that Henry VII even

recommended using it to cure the plague. As a parent in the modern world it is certainly well worth making a marigold rinse for the treatment of eczema, roundworm, athlete’s foot, insect stings, sore skin and inflammation.

RESCUE SALVE

INGREDIENTS

150ml olive oil, or almond oil 1 tsp dried echinacea root 2 tbsp dried comfrey leaf 2 tbsp lavender seeds 1 tbsp dried calendula flowers 1 tsp dried yarrow flowers 1 tsp dried rosemary leaf 25g beeswax, grated

125g fresh marigold heads (or 50g of dried) 570ml boiling water

METHOD 1 2

Place the fresh or dried marigold heads in a large jug and cover with the boiling water. Leave to cool, then strain into a bowl.

Once made it will store for 1–2 weeks in the fridge. For the treatment of minor wounds such as cuts and grazes or sore skin and eczema, bathe the affected area in the marigold rinse or apply with clean cotton wool. To treat conditions such as inflammation or insect stings, mix the prepared marigold rinse with an equal quantity of cider vinegar and apply with clean cotton wool.

I have used this salve to treat just about everything from nappy rash to cuts, stings, grazes and irritations.

INGREDIENTS

METHOD 1

Infuse by placing the oil and all of the herbs into a double boiler, then heat over a low heat for 3 hours until the oil is very green. Allow the oil to cool, then strain out the herbs by pouring through cheesecloth or a fine strainer. Let all the oil drip through and then squeeze the herbs to get any remaining oil out. Discard the herbs. Heat the infused oil in a double boiler with the beeswax until it has completely melted and both ingredients have combined.

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! t c Fa

e ling hea old wer e h t ig y, mar at istor In h erties of rded th ended a m prop hly reg recom gue. n ig a so h y VII eve e the pl r r Hen it to cu g usin

Traditional remedies

If you can’t wait for the SOOTHING THROAT TINCTURE (see overleaf) to be ready, you could try the following old folk remedy for curing a cough: “Put the hair of the patient’s head between two slices of buttered bread and give the sandwich to a dog. The animal will therefore catch the cough and the patient will lose it.’’ An old folk remedy that was known in Northamptonshire, Devonshire and throughout Wales. Alternatively, if you are looking for a time-worn cure that is effective, you could try the following remedy for coughs and sore throats: “Take one cup of honey, half cup vinegar, one small teaspoonful cayenne pepper.’’ The Farmer’s Advocate, London, Ontario, 1876. If the thought of preparing these home remedies has itself given you a headache, then a rosemary oil scalp rub will be very effective at chasing it away, and a simple cup of calendula tea will also be helpful, but if you’re feeling brave, you might like to try this eighteenth-century recipe: “For the megrime in the head; take goat’s dung and mix it with vinegar of the squils and anoint the head and temple therewith or this, frankinsence, mirrh and an egg beat them together and apply it to the head and temples.” A Book of Simples, London, c.1750.

Creating a natural medicine cabinet doesn’t have to be complicated. Simple and quick remedies such as combining half a teaspoon of turmeric powder with warm milk to alleviate cold symptoms means that your kitchen, as well as your garden and hedgerow, can become your pharmacy.

M AY 2015

NAT URE’S MEDICINE C ABINE T 4

Pour into a screw-top glass jar and store in a dark place until needed.

A little will go a long way, and I find this is good to keep in the first-aid kit.

SOOTHING THROAT TINCTURE At the first hint of a sore throat or cold I take a teaspoon of this tincture, and it is very effective at soothing hoarse voices, coughs and sore throats.

INGREDIENTS 1 tsp dried echinacea 1 tsp dried ginger 1 tsp dried elderberry 1 tsp dried thyme 1 tsp dried mint 100ml water 100ml food grade liquor such as vodka or brandy – it must be at least 40% alcohol

HOW Serve LONG IS chilled. THE SHELF LIFE?

METHOD 1

2 3 4

Combine all the dried herbs in a jug and pour over 100ml of boiling water to help draw out the beneficial properties. Transfer to a dark glass jar, then add the liquor. Seal with an airtight lid and leave to sit for at least 2 weeks, before straining and bottling. Store in a cool, dark place – I make it once a year and always have enough to last at least the year.

LEMON BARLEY WATER I always have a packet of pearl barley in my medicine cabinet for

those times when my children get diarrhoea or sickness. It’s great for rehydration, and I’ve found it useful for travel sickness as well.

INGREDIENTS 125g pearl barley The grated rind of an unwaxed lemon Water (see below for the quantity) Honey (to taste) – optional

METHOD 1

Cover the pearl barley with water and bring to the boil. 2 Strain, then return the barley to the pan and add 850ml of cold water and the lemon rind, then simmer gently until the barley is cooked – top up with water as required. 3 Once the barley is cooked, leave to cool, then strain off the liquid and sweeten with a little honey, if necessary.

Store any dried herbs in a cool, dry, dark place – a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid or a brown paper bag are both popular ways of doing it. Herbs stored properly will generally be good for 1–2 years from the harvest date, depending on if it is a fragile leaf or flower (1 year), or a root or bark (2 years). High quality essential oils will keep indefinitely, except for citrus essential oils. Citrus oils have a 1–2-year shelf life on average. Medicinal oils and infused oils have the shelf life of whichever oil has been used for the infusion. For example, olive oil has a 1-year shelf life, so a good rule of thumb is that the oil will expire 1 year from the date of your infusion. Herbal tinctures or alcohol–water extracts, when stored properly in a brown bottle in a dark, cool, dry place, can last up to 2 years.

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COL L EC TIBL E S

POTS ’N’ PANS kitchenalia and other

Requiring only a modest budget and a degree of initiative, collecting ‘kitchenalia’ has become both a hobby and a way of adding character to the kitchen. Heidi M. Sands explains

t’s become very fashionable to collect old kitchenware, but how do you go about starting your own collection? What is there to collect? Where do you find items, and how might you go about displaying anything you have? It can become a fun (and quite addictive) pastime, and some items can even be quite valuable. If you visit any of the UK’s stately homes and are lucky enough to be able to view the kitchens, you will no doubt have admired old-fashioned jelly moulds, blueand-white tableware, heavy-bottomed copper jam pans, baking tins and kitchen scales. They are all attractive items in their own right, but put a few together in the proper setting and they will become an eye-catching talking point. We might not have kitchens like those in stately homes, but we can still have a display, no matter how small, of things once used in the kitchen by our mothers and grandmothers. Some of us might actually have a few items that have been passed down from previous generations of cooks and housewives: cookery books, mixing bowls or glassware. I’ve been lucky enough to inherit a quantity of

M AY 2015

Above: Hornsea Pottery makes a lovely collection. Top: Kitchen scales are a much-sought-after collectible.

Hornsea Pottery; it’s something I cherish, not only for the memories it affords me, but also for its striking looks. I’ve also been able to add to it for a few pounds with a lucky find in a charity shop. If you have your own favourite kitchen items such as teapots, rolling pins or kettles, then you might want to begin by collecting these items and sticking with a single collection. On the other hand, you

might want to populate your kitchen with collectible items in place of their modern counterparts. Collectibles can, of course, still be used, although you might have to take more care with them than you otherwise would, by washing and drying them properly, but if things are not too old or too precious, then there’s no real reason why they shouldn’t be used in the manner in which they were intended. A kitchen is a workroom – the heart of the home in fact – and the items within it are the tools of the trade. Older collectibles, however, may well have a rich and unique history of their own. Some might only have been available for a short period of time, and others might have been purely novelty items. One group of items that has become highly collectible is dairy utensils, which range from buttermaking equipment such as wooden butter pats, to 1930s and 1940s butter churns, featuring red, egg-shaped tops on their lids. Butter curlers make lovely small items to collect and look well displayed on an old-fashioned kitchen dresser. Cream and milk receptacles are other dairy collectibles, and they may hark

COL L EC T IBL ES

! r e b m e m e R

da spen o t e v nt n’t ha ild a dece and o d You e to bu y shops ood it n g fortu ion: char ops are t h collec d-hand s ings. h n seco to find t s e c pla

“A KITCHEN IS A WORKROOM – THE HEART OF THE HOME IN FACT – AND THE ITEMS WITHIN IT ARE THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE”

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s ’ r o t c e l l o C A Thoughts!

You can still pick up a bargain. These Pyrex bowls were bought at a car-boot sale for just £1.

M AY 2015

The time for finding that longsought hidden gem in a charity shop is drawing to a close, as more and more charity shops become switched on to eBay and Etsy. I have a sneaking suspicion they reserve the ‘good stuff’ for online bidding, and who can blame them? They are trying to get the most for the charity pot. This doesn’t stop it from being annoying, though! Still, it’s worth paying them a visit – you can still get the occasional fab item. I’ve also found established, larger carboot sales are populated by traders who govern their pricing according to eBay. These same traders go round other stalls buying up bargains early in the day, so it’s worth getting there very early. I also blame programmes like Flog It!, which have people going round antique fairs, often paying crazy money, which falsifies the market. But you can at least haggle face to face with stallholders, which you can’t if bidding online. A note of caution when bidding online: you can get caught up in an adrenalinefuelled bidding war. Set the maximum you are prepared to pay, then walk away. Finally, I ‘collect stuff’ because I really love the items. I don’t collect because I think it’s worth anything – let’s face it, a lot of 1950–1970s stuff still hasn’t reached fever pitch price-wise, so it’s a matter of just a pound or two really. But as I use a lot of what I collect, it’s important that I like it, and this way it’s a matter of subjective taste rather than Miller’s Antiques Price Guide. I am thrilled with some large, gaudy, 1970s yellowand-green flowered curtains recently purchased from eBay – Marks and Sparks, fully lined, excellent condition, full drop to the floor, ‘cheap as chips’ to buy, and absolutely perfect in my ‘sewing room’. But oddly enough, my passion for these over-the-top 1970s drapes doesn’t seem to be shared.

COL L EC T IBL ES

back to the mid 1800s when dairies first began to deliver milk to homes on a large scale. Milk bottles began to emerge in the early 1900s, replacing old-fashioned billy cans, or milk cans, which were put out on doorsteps and the like, to be filled by the milkman from his large churn. Egg-related kitchen collectibles are often pretty, as well as desirable, and can be used for purposes other than their original ones – for example wirework egg baskets once used to hold a number of eggs can be utilised to hold plant or floral displays. Tins are often collected by enthusiasts, and these include biscuit tins, tea caddies, cake tins, early crisp tins and other storage vessels, some with named promotional materials on them. Promotional items also come in other guises; if you can find them, cardboard boxes that once contained dry kitchen goods make good displays, as do metal signs once used inside shops to promote the goods on sale. So, where will you find collectible items if you aren’t lucky enough to have inherited them, and what might you have to pay for them? As mentioned before, charity shops are a possibility, as are second-hand shops, with cake

Above: An old butter churn. Right: More unusual old dairy items can sometimes be found at farm sales.

tins generally selling for between £5 and £45, depending on the type of tin and its condition. Nutcrackers, tin-openers, corkscrews or other similar small items sell for around the same price. Other places to find kitchen collectibles include antique shops, car-boot sales, online, and my own particular favourite, farm sales. Farm sales often reveal some surprising finds, including larger items such as kitchen dressers, food safes, pine cupboards, kitchen tables and chairs. Prices can be variable, with desirability being the biggest driving force. Small items such as early glass and pottery bottles can sometimes be purchased for little more than a few pounds. Laundry items such as washboards and hand-fed mangles make good items for display in larger areas such as porches and hallways as well as in commercial premises such as public houses and hotels. These can range from as little as £30 up to £200 for the more desirable items.

If you are looking to kit your kitchen out with Belfast sinks and slate cooling shelves, then good places to look are salvage yards and the like. It’s amazing what you can find there, and prices still tend to be reasonable, and negotiation is encouraged. Plate-drying racks and free-standing kitchen furniture, used before fitted kitchens became the norm, are sometimes still to be found in auction rooms. However, you may be up against dealers in such situations who will know the value of these items and often have a buyer lined up before they begin to bid. The ultimate kitchen collectible has to be the Aga-, Rayburn- or Hamco-type cooker, especially the older ones. These may be solid fuel or might have been converted to oil. If you are considering buying what is generally viewed as an iconic addition to your kitchen, be prepared to pay in the thousands for it. There may be cheaper options available, but ensure that these are in working order or can be refurbished. Parts may be difficult to come by and specialist fitters will usually be needed. Whatever kitchen or culinary items you choose to collect, you should display them with pride – most will have been well loved or used by their previous owners, and they deserve our respect. Far left: Old-fashioned kitchen collectibles can often be found at farm sales. Left: Pottery bottles can sometimes be bought for just a few pounds.

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O C I AT I O

ASSOCIATIONS

NOT JUST FOR SMALLHOLDERS! Smallholder Associations are a great way to meet like-minded people, share ideas, gain access to training, and in some cases share equipment. In almost all cases you don’t have to be a ‘smallholder’ to become a member. Membership can be anything from £10–£20 a year. Please note: WHERE POSSIBLE WE HAVE INCLUDED TELEPHONE NUMBERS. However, phone numbers are not always readily available – this is not because the organisations do not want you to contact them, more it’s because the role is voluntary, with the people often doing a full-time job elsewhere. If any group listed below does have a phone number and we’ve not listed it, please email ruth@homefarmer.co.uk with a membership contact number so that we can include this in the future. Although these are smallholder groups, most of them welcome anybody with a genuine love of the countryside. Our thanks go to Richard Thompson for the listings. Please follow Richard’s blog (Small Plot, Big Ideas) for inspiration http://smallplotbigideas.co.uk/. Please remember to mention Home Farmer when contacting these organisations. Many thanks. BASH – BIGGAR AREA SMALLHOLDERS A group of like-minded people all of whom work the land in some way. The smallholdings they run are diverse: some are small, others quite large; some grow only vegetables, others have significant amounts of livestock. www.bashsmallholders.co.uk. CENTRAL SCOTLAND SMALLHOLDERS’ ASSOCIATION The CSSA are a group of aspiring and existing smallholders who get together to share knowledge, experiences, and to socialise. www.smallholders.webs.com. CHESHIRE SMALLHOLDERS’ ASSOCIATION A dynamic and enthusiastic group of small-scale and hobby farmers, horse enthusiasts and countryside lovers. www.cheshiresmallholders.org.uk. (CASP) CORNISH ASSOCIATION OF SMALLHOLDERS AND PRODUCERS This is a group of smallholders and craft producers in the south-west with the aim of bringing support to each other and a shared outlet for the fine produce and crafts that are produced and sold locally to ensure quality and fair prices. www.cornishassociationsmallholdersand producers.co.uk. For membership enquiries telephone 07886 839785. CORNWALL SMALLHOLDERS GROUP A group with members mainly in the Western half of Cornwall, with interests including all forms of livestock, orchards, veg and soft fruit, woodland, and the cooking and processing of produce. Meetings are held monthly, usually on the first Thursday of the month, with talks and discussions in winter and visits to members’ holdings and elsewhere in summer, with home produced food and drink a key feature! Website is undergoing a revamp. For further information contact 07794 978693. CUMBRIAN SMALLHOLDERS A facebook group which provides a place to meet other smallholders, share information, advertise stock for sale and appeal for items wanted. www.facebook.com/groups/ cumbriansmallholders. DERBYSHIRE SMALLHOLDERS’ ASSOCIATION Derbyshire Smallholders’ Association was formed by a group of like-minded people with the aim of providing the opportunity for fellow smallholders, and those with just an interest in smallholding, to network and to pass on skills and information. www.derbyshiresmallholders.co.uk. For membership enquiries telephone 07871 189889.

DEVON ASSOCIATION OF SMALLHOLDERS (DASH) DASH was established in 1986 to serve the needs and interests of smallholders and those planning to undertake any kind of country living. www.devonsmallholders.co.uk. DYFED SMALLHOLDERS’ ASSOCIATION Est. 1986, the DSA is open to anyone in S.W Wales who enjoys a rural way of life. Monthly mtgs covering a wide range of topics + soc. events, farm walks, workshops & support from fellow members. www.dyfedsmallholders.org.uk. EAST ESSEX SMALLHOLDERS’ GROUP A group of micro farmers who operate different size ‘smallholdings’; some of them have a few backyard chickens, maybe grow a few fruit or vegetables, while others may have a pig, small herds/flocks, sheep or even a cow. www.eastessexsmallholders.org.uk. EAST RIDING SMALLHOLDERS’ SOCIETY A society of smallholders, ‘home’ farmers, small-scale agriculturalists, horticulturalists, self-sufficiency enthusiasts and country crafts people who have rural interests or are motivated to make productive their own small portion of the Earth’s surface. For membership enquiries please telephone 01757 638155. FENLAND SMALLHOLDERS’ CLUB The Club was originally started as a goatkeepers’ society in the early 1970s and has gradually transformed over the years into the more general smallholders’ group it is today. We have regular monthly meetings and a wide range of interest/training groups, including Gardening, Craft, Pigs, Home Butchery and a Blokes’ Baking group. Our membership is mainly drawn from the geographical area of Fenland encompassing North Cambridgeshire, West Norfolk and Lincolnshire, but also includes members from the wider area. www.fenlandsmallholders.org.uk. Tel: 01945 773929. GUERNSEY SMALLHOLDERS’ ASSOCIATION The Guernsey Smallholders’ Association is a practical and social club, which forms a network of people who can offer each other advice, support and help, and which also facilitates the exchange of produce, skills and ideas. www.guernseysmallholders.weebly.com. HERTS & ESSEX SMALLHOLDERS AND GARDENERS The group holds informal friendly meetings once a month, and members have a wide range of expertise on smallholding and gardening issues. www.hertsandessexsmallholders.org. Tel: 01279 815044.

KENT SMALLHOLDERS The group was formed in 1987 by Hadlow College, to whom they are affiliated. They hold monthly meetings at the college with like-minded people who enjoy the countryside and the rural way of life, which is their only criteria for membership. www.kentsmallholders.co.uk. LINCOLNSHIRE SMALLHOLDING AND SELF-SUFFICIENCY CLUB The purpose of Lincolnshire Smallholding and Self-sufficiency Club is to bring together like-minded people within Lincolnshire who are interested or involved in any aspect of smallholding or self-sufficiency. www.lsssc.org.uk. Tel: 01205 290829. MONTGOMERYSHIRE & DISTRICT SMALLHOLDERS A friendly group of like-minded people who meet on a monthy basis, with guest speakers on a variety of subjects. New members and visitors are always welcome. We meet at Cobra Rugby Club in Meidod (Sat Nav SY22 6DA). Tel: Barrie 01691 648406 Email: mmrjd£btinternet.com NORFOLK SMALLHOLDERS’ TRAINING GROUP NSTG was set up in the late 1980s by a group of volunteers and now has members all over Norfolk (and beyond). www.nstg.org.uk. Tel: 01953 483734. NORTH SHROPSHIRE AND BORDERS SMALLHOLDERS’ GROUP A friendly group with varied interests – from window boxes to acres. Welcomes new members to their monthly meetings. www.northshrop-smallholder.co.uk NORTH YORKSHIRE SMALLHOLDERS’ SOCIETY This group was set up to help the smallholders of North Yorkshire and the North of England. www.smallholder.org.uk. NORTHUMBRIA SMALLHOLDERS’ ASSOCIATION A group of like-minded people from the north-east of England who enjoy the countryside and all that goes with it. The group formed following a smallholders’ course at Kirkley Hall College. www.northumbriasmallholders.co.uk. ROMFORD SMALLHOLDERS’ SOCIETY They run a very large and popular allotment site in Romford and have been providing allotments for over one hundred years. www.romfordsmallholders.wix.com/ growyourown.

SCOTTISH SMALLHOLDERS’ ASSOCIATION The Scottish Smallholders’ Association has been established for over 15 years. They are a small group based in the south-west of Scotland, and their aim is to share knowledge, experience and ideas about smallholding, and they welcome anyone with shared interests. SEVERNVALE SMALLHOLDERS’ ASSOCIATION A group of people whose main interests are: flora and fauna, the environment, conservation and organic growing. www.severnvalesmallholders.org.uk. SHROPSHIRE SMALLHOLDERS’ GROUP A non-profit organisation providing members with information and mutual support on all aspects of smallholding, including animal husbandry, growing fruit and vegetables, and general smallholding interests. www.shropshiresmallholdersgroup.org. SMALL FARM TRAINING GROUP The Small Farm Training Group (SFTG), based in Sussex, aims to enable members to learn better farming, smallholding and horticultural skills. Members are enthusiasts who want to know how to care for land, livestock and equipment in an efficient and professional manner. www.sftg.co.uk. SOMERSET SMALLHOLDERS’ ASSOCIATION The association was set up more than thirty years ago to bring together folk who have an interest in rural activities. Whether you have a flowerpot or a farm, you are welcome to join this friendly group of Somerset-based working smallholders. www.somersetsmallholders.org.uk. Tel: 07758 827869. SOUTH WEST WALES SMALLHOLDERS A facebook group page for all those who have a smallholding in SW Wales. You can advertise items for sale, or appeal for wanted items. www.facebook.com/ groups/218380055007087. STAFFORDSHIRE SMALLHOLDERS’ ASSOCIATION A small but lively group of families and individuals who share an interest in the small-farming way of life. www.staffsmallholders.info. Tel: 01889 881377. SUFFOLK SMALLHOLDERS’ SOCIETY A non-profit group of like-minded people interested in smallholding, self-sufficiency, allotments, fruit and vegetable growing and animal husbandry on a small scale. www.suffolksmallholders.co.uk. Tel: 01449 711178. WEST SUSSEX SMALLHOLDERS’ CLUB A friendly smallholders’ support group serving West Sussex, East Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire. www.westsussexsmallholdersclub.org.uk. Tel: 01293 863508.

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Ne xt Month GO-TO HERBS

We raise herbs above the level of mere bit part players in the kitchen garden and give them their rightful roles as stars.

THE TASTE OF HONEY We look at the effect of the bees’ diet on the taste and colour of their honey.

MAKING SEED MATS AND TAPES Seed mats are sprouting up everywhere and offer an alternative to sowing, pricking out and resowing for the hard-pushed gardener.

MAKING WIGWAMS With beans and sweet peas ready to climb, it’s time to make your bean supports.

GOING FLORAL We feature recipes from past eras, including Violet Syrup, Rose Petal Cream and Primrose Cake.

WARTIME DRINKS Frugal and healthy drinks, including Swede Juice, Dandelion Coffee and Blackberry Leaf Tea.

THE BBQ We look at using a BBQ to slow-cook and smoke your food.

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