Blueberry days

There’s something about growing blueberries facing your kitchen door. They’re in a large pot in the sunniest and most sheltered part of the courtyard and they are in direct view as I stand at the sink. I watch them grow and haven't had to net the fruit at all from the birds at all so far. I like this variety  called Duke, which I got from Sutton’s Seeds a couple of years ago and has been such a reliable performer.

 

Last week though,the number of blackberries on the bush started to decline rapidly. Who was the phantom blueberry picker? I managed to get proof... 

 .The culprit was none other than Jasper, my 17 month old grandson who was staying with us for five days. He loves blueberries and has them most days for breakfast either sprinkled on top of his porridge, or in a pancake. I caught him in the act and was worried that maybe he had eaten some which weren’t ripe.

 But oh no, he knew exactly which ones were suitable, and popped them into his mouth, one by one, hiding the evidence, yet still managing to look angelic. 

It became his morning ritual to go out with my daughter and pick his own blueberries for breakfast, and he’s been told that he can’t pick anything else in the garden and put it in his mouth. In the meantime, Jasper has learnt that you can grow what he likes to eat, and I’ve learnt that I need to order an extra blueberry bush to cope with the extra demand. I think he needs his very own blueberry bush too .

After all, it’s never too early to introduce a child into the wonderful world of grow your own., is it?

Rosemary - days of growing Miss Jessopp's Upright

I adore rosemary. In fact it's one of my favourite herbs and the first thing I see and smell as I walk from the courtyard into the garden..

I've only ever grown one variety and that's Miss Jessopp's Upright, which has grown here in my garden for the last twenty years or so.

Here she is, agrowing to nearly one and a half metres in height in her hey day, with pretty, light blue flowers in June and the beginning of July. Her stems stood erect and proud , with the outside stems just the right height for me to pick a sprig as I walked  past , crushed  the leaves and inhaled.


I use rosemary in so many recipes, many involving lamb, garlic and wine. My current favourite marries rosemary with leeks and chard, baked in cream - it's an absolute winner. I also use rosemary to give my hair an extra shine after shampooing and rinsing off the conditioner. I bung a large handful of rosemary stems into about a litre of just boiled water, then steep for about ten minutes. fish out the rosemary and throw over your hair as a final rinse.I've been doing it for years and my hair is very thick and soft, even if I can't get in to the hairdressers until 4th August to have it cut.


Miss Jessopp has not been looking her best for a number of years though. Neglect on my part I'm afraid, and although I've been picking it on a very regular basis. I didn't give her what she needed - a really good pruning. She's been very woody and leggy for ages.

Worse was to come, instead of carrying herself like that the upright and righteous Victorian spinster I imagine her to be named after, she lost her sense of poise. In fact. parts of her became prostrate, and she was looking such an unkempt raddled old dear.I had to put her out of her misery , and it was harder than I imagined. Her roots had grown deep and they were damned hard to dig out.

Mind you there's been lots of rosemary to preserve. A couple of huge bunches are handing from one of the old beams in my aged cottage to dry.

 I chopped four large bags of small rosemary prunings which are now in the freezer for the winter.

  I've also planted a trio of cuttings into a pot...and in a belt and braces move, I've put some cuttings into a jar of water near my windowsill and I'm pleased to say they've taken nicely.

So, Miss Jessopp's Upright will live on, but I also now fancy a trailing variety of rosemary to put in a rockery at the side of the cottage. if you've got any favourites or recommendations...please let me know....

Weekend walks every day during lock down

Each daily walk is different for my two terriers Boo and Eric. Some times I walk them, at others, my husband does.

If it's a normal working day for me, it can be a shorter walk, especially if it's raining or icy. It can be a very fast romp down the lane and through the village if I'm running late for work, and there's definitely not time for dawdling. Oh no.

Weekend walks are completely different of course. There's time  for them to stop and sniff and track.  For me there's time stop and stare...at the horizon, at the fields, at the sheep sheltering under the trees, to stop and talk to friends, both human and canine.

Now though, during lock down, every walk is like a weekend walk. When I would normally have been driving to work, a 45 minute trip each way,  now I can be taking my time, and my cue from Boo and Eric.

Sometimes they like to turn left out of our gate, sometimes right. I don't mind as there are beautiful views and things to delight any which way we all choose.

On a hot day, it's important to have some shade....the cool air along the track by the church is pleasing...

Further on, the small lane lane invites us upwards

to what my youngest used to call "the top of the world"

Not quite, but it is a wonderful view, which never fails to please me. There's something different to see here every day...it may be a buzzard, different animals in different fields, or new crops in the fields.

Sometimes  my wellies squelch through the mud, but this weekend the land is dry, the sort of  bone dryness which cracks the earth. I turn my face to the sun, inhale the fresh warm air and listen to birdsong.

Sometimes we press on, this time not....but there's still plenty of room for the dogs to scamper off , to run, to chase a stick or two or to investigate the hedgerow.

As we come down from the hill I see my friend's field, with its newly laid hedging,which frames a timeless scene....

In a few minutes I'm back in the village, where there's a traffic jam, or what passes for one, in our village.

Farmer Phil and Jane are walking her sheep to another field....and there's also time to stop for a chat.

Our world may have changed forever this year, but this conservation village that I love, doesn't change all that much. Farmers still walk their animals through the village, there's community, greenery, space to be and plenty of it. and now during lock down, I have so much more time to appreciate it.

As for Eric and Boo, they don't know what's happening in the world, all they know is that I'm working from home, am spending far more time with them, and there's time for weekend walks every day......

Foodie Friday - cooking a courgette kuku

For an easy lunch or perhaps a light meal in the early evening, sometimes my thoughts turn to a tortilla or even better, a frittata. I've always liked Nigel Slater's broad bean frittata recipe, but the other night, I fancied something different. I still wanted eggs though, and luckily there's no shortage of eggs in our village. Willie and Kate's hens at the end of our lane don't know it's lockdown, and haven't been put on furlough.

I sat at the kitchen table, with a glass of wine, having a leisurely look through some of my cookbooks and I found the recipe I wanted in this book., which I got last year when I began ordering a weekly box of organic vegetables ....

 I soon found a recipe for a courgette kuku. I'm all for a bit of alliteration in a title, so was intrigued and not knowing what a kuku was, I read on eagerly.

It's a Persian version of an omelette, cooked in a pan on top of the stove, with lots of herbs and flavourings. Sounded good, but  did I have all the ingredients?

I quickly scanned the fridge and my spice cupboards.Garlic yes, turmeric, yes, nutmeg, ground ginger, ground coriander and cumin all present and accounted for. I knew there were plenty of chives and mint (the herb that just gives giving)  in the garden  and a huge jug of flat-leaved parsley . I didn't have any dill but pressed on regardless...

I set to work.....

And hey presto, within minutes, there was a lovely dish served with a side salad, yoghurt and some turkish bread to mop of up the tangy lemon and mustard salad dressing.

And that's it...the recipe advises to wait at least five minutes  before serving ...and yes, fritattas and kukus are usually best served when they are slightly cooler.

 I was very hungry though, so ignored the advice , slapped the kuku on our plates and started eating! Delicious......

 This kuku was full of flavour yet not over spicy. My husband and I both loved it, and I will definitely make this easy recipe again and again, adding other vegetables possibly. Who knew I would love a kuku?

How to cook a kuku

You can find the recipe here on the Riverford website

https://www.riverford.co.uk/recipes/courgette-kuku

Meanwhile, there's lots of other recipes, perfect for this time of year, in the  Riverford Organic Farmers Spring and Summer Cooking with a veg box, written by Guy Watson with Kirsty Hale , Anna Colquhoun, Rob Andrew and other Riverford cooks. 

One of my favourite recipes from this book is fish, fennel and tomatoes in a bag which I cooked last week, and a  rosemary and chard gratin. Another few weeks and the silver chard  growing in my garden will be just perfect for that recipe again -  meanwhile I reckon it won't be long until I cook another courgette kuku......

Remembering VE Day

Yesterday was a special day here in the UK. There were celebrations as we remembered the events which took place seventy five years ago to mark the end of World War II in Europe.

Here in our teeny, tiny village there was no formal occasion in these COVID 19 times, but the bunting came out, as for all special events. We put up bunting on our very old garage which is too small to hold one of today's cars ..

and on our front door too.

A bit of bunting though was only a small gesture.  I can only imagine the joy, the relief , the giddy excitement of those celebrating the end of war after nearly six years of  families being torn apart , rationing, hardship and above all, loss on such a huge scale.

But I can't forget the stories of some living locally in 1945. They will forever be etched in my mind.

Five years ago, I was asked to make a series of stories commemorating VE Day for BBC Radio, stories of people's reminisces the end of the war. Yes, there were stories of street parties from those who were children at the time, but as I found out, some of the  adults had very mixed reactions to VE Day and how it affected their future.

People like Betty and Hans. A couple who were on different continents on VE Day, whose families had fought in opposing armies, and Hans had even been one of Hitler's bodyguards. Hans is now dead, but when I met them they were in their late eighties, a lovely couple,who were willing to take part in a recorded radio interview, but didnt' want  their photograph taken. Luckily I persuaded them and they posed outside by their shed - I love this photo...

 Terry Harrison and I both had tears in our eyes  as he  told me the story of his parents. They lived in a village in Leicestershire, and had five children. As the end of the war approached though, his mother was terrified of her husband coming home he didn't know there were two extra children in the family house. They were twins, and it was plain to see that he couldn't have been the father.

Ken Harrison was a widower when we met. He had been fighting in Germany but had been on leave as the war ended.Instead of being able to celebrate VE Day, he was on a train back to Germany ...but  managed to celebrate in a very different location.
















And I can't forget dear Ruth Tucker, a lovely lady in her eighties when we met. On VE Day she was a fifteen year German girl who had escaped war torn Berlin and was on the run to evade the advancing Russian forces when the end of the war came.


Below is the link to their stories, which have been saved for future generations. I would love you to hear them....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02qt7nz

Foodie Friday : Sunday roast chicken with pomegranate molasses

I've always loved food but as lock down continues, I can't stop thinking about it - what have I got in the cupboards, fridge and freezer ,and what am I going to cook today ?

Living four miles from the nearest shop in the middle of the countryside means I’ve always had to make sure we don't run out of stuff, but now of course during lock down, I'm only going out shopping about once a fortnight.

We're eating very well but I can’t get used to cooking for just the two of us. It  maybe less time-consuming, but I’m missing having my family around for late Sunday lunches and I miss the noise the laughter, the news and gossip around the table. I miss everybody greedily eating with gusto.

So what will I cook for Sunday lunch then, that first one after lock down when we can all be together again?

It's a roast chicken recipe from Joanna Weinberg in her book "How to feed your friends with relish" which was published by Bloomsbury in 2007.

Why everyone loves this roast chicken recipe

I know you're all probably thinking what’s so special about that, but this one is cooked in pomegranate molasses and my whole family love it. So much so my daughter had to buy her own copy of the book. Last week I even got a text from my youngest son asking for the recipe.

Here's a photo of one  I cooked last Sunday.

 You may think it’s a little black or even burnt in places, but don't worry, it’s the molasses which give it colour and make the skin so tangy and chewy. The meat inside is moist with a zinginess thanks to ginger. garlic and cumin.

But one good recipe does not make a great cookbook. Luckily, Joanna's book has many recipes|I turn to time and time again. One is Manuela's chicken with tarragon and cream which was the favourite for Joanna and her siblings when she was young. Manuaela was the family's Portugese housekeeper, the absolute saint who cooked every day for six children of different ages with different tastes .

There's plenty of other stories in the book, even  how Joanna first met her husband Ed, at a dinner she cooked.

I like a recipe book with context,  which draws you in to the authors life and Joanna's book does just that .She takes us to parties, barbecues , Sunday lunches, afternoon teas and meals around the kitchen table with her friends and family.There's also lots  of useful tips on how to create the perfect event and cater for most scenarios..

I feel as if I’m there with her in the kitchen before her guests arrive,  having a  good gossip and a glass of wine and then being in the middle of her gang eating supper. It's an addictive mix of recipes that really work and being part of the author's world , something which always sells food books to me.

So would you like the recipe ? Here it is then ...

Roast chicken with Pomegranate molasses

Ingredients 

1 red onion 

4 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses 

1 teaspoon of ground ginger 

half a teaspoon of ground cumin

1 clove of garlic pounded to a paste

1 lemon halved

 one medium free range chicken 

Method 

Preheat the oven to 220°C gas mark seven, and finely chop half of the onion leaving the other half intact.

Mix the pomegranate molasses,chopped onion ginger, cumin, garlic and a squeeze of lemon together in a small bowl and set aside.

Stuff the remaining half of onion in the cavity of the chicken along with both lemon halves.

When the oven is hot, roast the chicken  for 15 minutes , then remove it from the oven and slather the pomegranate mixture over the skin .

Reduce the oven temperature and continue roasting the chicken for 45 minutes the skin will look black and charred  but fear not it will be delicious. If the bird is larger it may need an extra 10 to 15 minutes cooking.

Remove  the bird from the oven, loosely cover with foil and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes before carving.

And there you have it....it's so very  easy to make.

Joanna Weinberg recommends cooking this as part of a Middle Eastern wintry Sunday lunch accompanied by saffron mash and chickpea stew. This works well, but is also good with potatoes dauphinoise and vegetables too. I think its perfect for spring and summer lunches with roasted asparagus, perhaps a carrot and and peanut salad, or a fruity couscous. Or with the following....

Yes, that's my wonky writing...and yes, I write notes in cookbooks.

"How to feed your friends with relish" is still available as an e-book I believe, but copies are still available on Amazon or in secondhand bookshops.

Joanna's second book, also published by Bloomsbury, is "Cooking for real life". I just wish she'd get her skates on and write a third.....will there ever be a third one though?

Days of sowing and growing peas and beans

There's nothing like picking fresh peas and beans from my garden or allotment. Popping a perfect pea into my mouth or crunching into a mange tout pea which you've grown is such a summer pleasure.

Yet last year I hardly grew any. My allotment lay unloved and my garden was neglected too, as most of my free time seemed to be spent working or in hospitals visiting my husband or looking after him in between hospital stays.

That's why this year; priorities when it came to sowing seeds, after tomatoes, were peas and beans.

This year, I got my order in early with the Real Seed Catalogue, I've been buying from Real Seeds in Wales for quite a long time off and on. To be fair, you don't need to place an annual order with them as you can save your own seeds from their heirloom and heritage vegetables.. 

This year though, I bought these.....

There hasn't been an inch of space on the dining room table since the beginning of March when I started off the tomatoes

I know you can grown peas and beans straight into the ground, but living in the middle of the countryside, I know from experience that  sowing into trays indoors gets far better results.

One of my long standing favourite pea is the rare yellow golden sweet yellow mange- tout pea . These peas grow tall and I've always grown them up a wigwam of canes, both on the allotment and in the courtyard facing my kitchen window. Their pale yellow pods almost become translucent in the direct sun, and they really are a talking point when people see them, both as they're being grown and  on the plate!

So, a very much tried,tested and loved variety of pea, and the first sowing is already growing in situ in the courtyard.

I've also ordered a semi dwarf pea called Rosakrone for the first time. It's always nice to try something new don't you think?

This is an unusual, very rare heirloom variety from Sweden. Apparently the red/pink flowers are very pretty, reaching around five feet in height, but I'm afraid if you want to buy some this year , you're too late - they're all sold out.

I shall try to save some seed for next year....

Onto beans, and broad beans are a favourite to sow early. I have tried sowing these in Autumn and overwintering them but it's such a hit and miss affair, I now wait. I sowed this first lot in early March and they're now in the garden growing very strongly. They're from Real Seeds again and they're called Aquadulce Longpod ...another  variety I haven't grown before. They're a dwarf variety, about three foot tall. I've planted them  in a small area just  behind the old privy in the garden, which earlier in  the week was a mass of nettles. I've dug and dug them out, and added some peat free compost, so am hoping for a good crop.

Of course it's too early to sow runner beans yet, but I'm looking forward to trying "The Czar"this year for the first time. You can either pick them as runner beans or can leave some to produce white beans for drying. I'm going to try them both ways. I couldn't resist opening the packet to have a sneaky peak at the beans....they're beautifully smooth and I do love a tasty, fat butterbean.

 As for climbing beans, I've still got about fifteen Mr Fothergill's "Cobra beans left from last year , which always do well so I will sow them at the end of this month.

I have already sown a tray of "Aquilon"dwarf french beans...a new variety to me from France.
On 1st April, I thought I would pop some in to see how long they take to germinate. They've absolutely romped away and will have  to go in the cold frame soon. There's plenty more to sow too.

To say I'm really pleased with the germination rate of all these varieties of peas and beans is an understatement  - so far, it's a whopping hundred per cent.

My mouth is already watering at the thought of all the broad bean frittatas, pea risottos, vats of french beans simmering in olive oil and tomatoes a la greque, and those first precious boilings of runner beans to come.

Now all I need to do is to first go and sort out the allotment ....