* Lovely Greens *

Home-made Wines and Liqueurs by Ambrose Heath

2012-03-10T16:41:00.001Z

I was delighted when my friend P stopped by yesterday with a few older books she thought I might like. She was certainly right in that regard, especially considering that one of the books was an older guide on making homemade wines and liqueurs. In fact, the title of the book is indeed: "Home-made Wines and Liqueurs" and was written by a fellow named Ambrose Heath.

I've never heard of the author before but it seems that he was a well known British food writer in the first half of the 20th century. He published a number of books and articles under such titles as "Good Food on the Aga", "The Good Cook in Wartime" and "Dishes Without Meat", which must have been quite avant garde when it was first published in 1940.

The book I've been given is quite small and under a hundred pages in length and can easily be thumbed through and read in half an hour or so. And what I really like about it is the simplicity and uniqueness of the instruction. In fact, he distills the entire wine-making process down into eight pages at the beginning then goes on to list individual recipes for various country wines and liqueurs throughout the remaining pages. The recipes in themselves are often a paragraph or two in length and not only introduce unusual ideas such as Sage and Wheat wines but sometimes even bizarre steps such as putting a slice of toast spread with yeast (Marmite?) into the must for Gorse wine.

Things have been quiet in my kitchen on the wine making front over the last few months since the cold isn't really conducive to the process. With our warmer and lighter days creeping back I've decided to start my first batch of wine in the next couple of weeks - so this book really has arrived at an opportune time. Its unique recipes have inspired me to try a few different varieties this year and I thought I'd share some of the recipes with you as well ~ Enjoy.

Blackcurrant Wine

Gorse Wine - note the toast step

Lemon Wine - perfect for those with a handy lemon orchard ;)

Nettle Beer - probably use a quarter the amount of dried Sarsaparilla

Loganberry Wine - will need to try this one with my own berries

Apple Wine - one of my favourites

Rose Hip & Hawthorn Wine - one to make in the autumn

Ginger Pop - can be made in a day!

My Manx Beeswax Lip Balm is now on Sale online

2012-03-09T15:29:00.004Z

For those interested in trying out my handmade beeswax lip-balm, I've placed it for sale on Etsy - simply click the below button which will take you to my shop. I'm very pleased to be making this product and have already received very positive feedback from my customers. Though I'm using other local beekeeper's beeswax to produce my balms for now, I'll be using my own from my first hive by the end of the summer. That will be an exciting time and I hope to use the proceeds from my lip balm sales to invest into more hives and thus into doing my part to continue the beekeeping tradition on the Isle of man.

This handmade lip balm has been created using local Isle of Man beeswax combined with rich Shea Butter and satiny Sweet Almond Oil. It is a balm that feels silky and moisturising on your lips yet is durable enough to last for long periods between applications.

Beeswax naturally protects the lips from loss of moisture yet allows your skin to breathe, unlike conventional lip-balms which use petroleum based ingredients. Beeswax even contributes to the healing of chapped, broken or infected lips due to it's anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties. Thus it can be effective in helping cold sores and other lip injuries to heal.

Shea Butter is a highly moisturising oil that naturally contains sun-screen properties. Sunburns can easily occur on the lips in all types of weather and will not only cause the lips to become swollen but is a leading cause for lips to break out in blisters and sores.

The beeswax in this product is produced by non-commercial honey bees on the Isle of Man. We're a special place in Europe and the world since our bee population is very healthy and free from Varroa - a killer of bee colonies around the globe. By buying this product you're supporting local small scale beekeepers and contributing to an industry that will probably play a large role in honeybee conservation in the future.

*No artificial ingredients*
*Hypoallergenic*
*Handmade*

Early March Sowings

2012-03-08T09:55:00.000Z

I'm about to head out of the house to man my stall at the Farmer's Market today but thought I'd put up a few photos of what I've been up to in the last couple of days. It's now a week into March and the beginning of the seed sowing rush is on. I've sown Brussels Sprouts, Echinacea, Rudbeckia, Thyme, Basil, Oregano, Sage, and a few other types of veggies and flowers. I've started quite a bit of each with the idea that I'll be selling my extras on at my stall on Thursdays.

As you can see from the above picture I had a little gardening helper as well - Louis is fascinated with my gardening activities and follows me around the garden. He's also been known to help dig holes and not for the usual cat purposes either.

The seedlings I sowed in early January are all doing well and my seed-sown onions have grown to about 5 inches tall. I spent the good part of an hour this week pricking each of the tiny seedlings out of their communal tray and into individual modules. The'll continue growing in these trays until I plant them out in their final positions in about six week's time.

The tomatoes are coming up a charm and it looks like I'll have quite a few of them to sell at my stall this spring and summer. I'll only need a handful myself and hope I can find some good homes for the rest of them. I'm thinking of selling them at 50p per seedling when they've put on some height - does that sound like a decent price to you?

The ginger has finally broken a bud along it's side and it looks as if I might be seeing some green leaves before long. This is pretty exciting for me since it's my first year growing ginger and I thought I might have done something wrong when it didn't sprout for the first two months.

The leek seedlings are still in their original tray but I'll be pricking them out into modules tomorrow. These are Autumn Giants and they should eventually reach a good couple of inches in diameter. I hope to get some massive ones out of this batch as well which I'll enter into the Eastern Young Farmer's show at the end of the summer. I've got to live up to my promise of giving the usual suspects a run for their money!

If you're out and about today, please feel free to drop by my stall from 11-3pm; in addition to my handmade soaps I've also baked fresh blueberry muffins this morning and have an array of moist chocolate, carrot cake and vanilla cream cupcakes. I've also made my 'famous' chocolate chip cookies and some divine Lavender biscuits - my husband is sitting here waiting for the leftovers this afternoon.

Have a great day everyone :)

Manx Wildflower Guide

2012-03-06T22:16:00.001Z

A good friend of mine is coming to visit in April and so I'm trying to plan some fun outings around the island for us. One of the ideas I have is to take some walks to local landmarks such as the "Real" Fairy Bridge and perhaps to one of the ancient wishing wells which are peppered across the island. In spring the glens on the Isle of Man are filled with the vivid colour and scent of wild bluebells and I truly hope we have some sunny days so we can be outdoors to enjoy them.

I don't know about you but while I'm traipsing around the countryside I like to look at the plants and flowers that I pass by and try to identify as many as I can. As well as edible greens, I also tend to pick anything interesting and unfamiliar to take home and identify. Now with my work on building a wildflower meadow at the allotment I'm even more interested in learning the names of our own local wildflowers. And with my friend being a biology teacher, I thought that maybe I could put together a little identification exercise for when we're out on our little scenic adventures.

The "Real" Fairy Bridge...opposed to the modern one on the main road to Castletown

While I haven't been able to find a comprehensive guide to Manx wildflowers I have come across a document which lists our local varieties out in plain text. Using it as a reference, I searched online for pictures of the listed flowers in order to compile some visuals. I've also added a few varieties of flowers you see growing wild but which aren't considered native, such as Fuschia and Bergenia.

The pictures in the below post aren't all the images I've collected so far and are certainly not representational of all wildflowers on the Isle of Man. But they're a good start and I thought I'd share them for anyone interested in trying to identify flowers themselves. I'll follow this post up in some time with even more but hope this will give anyone interested in local Manx flora a good place to start.

If you have any specific questions on Manx wildflowers, I urge you to get in contact with Andree Dubbeldam who runs the Wildflowers of Mann project. He's our local expert and will be able to give you much more information than I'm able to. And if you're interested, he also offers volunteer opportunities to help out in his work in Manx wildflower conservation.

Clockwise from top left: Field Mouse Ear, Common Fumitory, Bell Heather and Gorse

Clockwise from top left: Speedwell, Birds Foot Trefoil, Meadow Sweet and Wild Crocosmia

Clockwise from left: Purple Loosestrife, Lesser Celandine and Pearly Everlasting

Clockwise from top left: Fuschia, Hogweed, Bergenia and Yellow Field Poppy

Clockwise from top left: Tormentil, Wall Pennywort, Dog Rose and Elderflower

Clockwise from top left: Ragged Robin, Knapweed, Red Valerian and Campion

Clockwise from top left: Yellow Bedstraw, Tree Mallow, Foxgloves and Alexanders

Happy flower hunting :)

Car Boot Sale...without the Car Boot

2012-03-04T16:47:00.000Z

What a satisfying day! I spent this afternoon hawking household items at a car boot sale sponsored by the Spring Chicks, a local Womens' Institute group. I've been rummaging around the house for days looking for unneeded bits and bobs and am pleased to say that not only have I cleaned the house but I've made some cash 'to boot'. Sorry, I can never resist a pun ;)

I'm still amazed at how much stuff we still have in our house though, even after several clean outs. But I'm even more amazed that there are so many people out there wanting to buy it. In fact, the event was supposed to begin at noon but there was already a queue at the entrance by 11.30! In the end I sold a couple of boxes of items that included a beat up carpet for £3, two mirrors for £1 a piece and a score of DVDs at £3 a pop. All those little sells did add up and even after paying for my table fee and buying a pair of sneakers (brand new!) I still took home £50. I say that's cause for celebration - or at least a good bit of Sunday relaxation.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend :)

March in the Allotment

2012-03-02T21:33:00.000Z

Another balmy pre-spring day and I spent it at the allotment, catching up on work and checking to see how everything has grown so far this year. Though it's only the beginning of March, the daffodils and cherry blossoms are in bloom and birds are singing cheerfully in the trees. Plants that have lain dormant over the winter are beginning to perk up and new green is visible across not only the allotment but the entire island.

I spent the first hour or so hand pulling weeds - in particular creeping buttercup and dock, our resident allotment plant pests. The dock grows roots literally as thick as carrots and it's common to hear allotmenteers complaining among themselves about how it's a shame they're inedible - I count myself in that group as well. Creeping Buttercup is a type of quickly spreading ground cover and it literally covers the earth, making it impossible for anything else to grow. Again it's inedible and so it's into my black bin bag 'o nasty weeds with it as well.

Melissa Balm / Lemon Balm / Bee Balm

At the seed swap last month a friend gave me a box of seedlings - one of woad as well as about six of Melissa Balm. Both were very much appreciated since I use the natural colour in woad to tint some of my soaps and I enjoy Melissa Balm tea above almost any other herbal infusion. It works well with Chamomile and both have a calming and almost sleepy effect after a cup or two.

Wild Rocket / Arugula

Last year was the first that I've tried growing Rocket, known as Arugula in the States. It was great but then began to self-seed in July so I thought the plant was finished. It's a good thing that I left some of it in situ since I've now realised that it's a perennial. I have about six decent sized plants which I've moved from their original row to new places both at home and in the allotment. I love a bit of Rocket mixed in with my salad but have some delicious recipes that use it mixed with warm rice, quinoa and other ingredients. In fact I think I have enough growth already to be able to harvest a few handfuls now.

Red Gooseberry and Loganberry canes are breaking out in leaf

The berry canes I planted are doing well and their fleece protection has successfully shielded them from those few frosty days we had last month. The raspberry has yet to produce foliage but both the Red Gooseberry and Loganberry have ventured a few green leaves. Loganberries always remind me of my grandmother and hot summer days picking tart purple fruit that stained my fingers. I remember my first attempt at making wine was with her loganberries...funnily enough I was only about seven or eight and thought that drinking wine was gross. That didn't last long!

Two varieties of garlic: Marco and French Thermidrome

The garlic has done exceptionally well over the winter and is growing tall in these early days of sunshine. Some people do plant their garlic in the spring but by putting them in late in the autumn you'll be assured of large plump bulbs by the end of the summer.

I've planted two varieties this year and nearly triple the amount I put in last season. I use a lot of garlic in my cooking and dislike having to rely on buying it from the shop. Nearly all the garlic sold in the UK comes from China, having both massive food miles as well as questionable quality. You do find garlic from Spain and France in the shops as well and I'm having to rely on that supply for the moment since I've run out of my own stock. Fingers crossed that my five rows will be enough to last us for the next year.

The first shoots of rhubarb

The rhubarb is coming up strong but I'm kicking myself for not dividing two of the other three crowns. It's too late now but I can see that they look a bit overcrowded even now - it could mean that they'll produce masses of small stems this year as one of my others did in 2011. No matter, they're still delicious and will be perfectly suitable for wine making. My rhubarb wine last year was amazing (if I may say so myself) and I plan to make much more of it this year. Who would have thought rhubarb wine could taste so delicious?

The globe artichokes have survived the winter

Both my Globe Artichokes and my Welsh Bunching Onions have come through the cold months strong and lush. Both are now preparing for warmer days by putting out new growth. I'm still amazed that globe artichokes do so well this far north but I imagine that their survival is due more to our island's micro-climate than to their hardiness. They'll be coming into their prime this year and so I'll be fetching them down more compost and manure in the days to come.

Welsh bunching onions are a new variety I began growing last year. They're essentially enlarged green onions that are not only perennial but produce masses of baby onions throughout the year. They're prolific and can also be counted on for oniony greens for most of the year. I've already given some extra plants to one friend at the allotment and promised some to another who came down to look at my plot today. Gardening on your own can be a fulfilling hobby but what I love about being in an allotment is the opportunity everyone has for sharing plants, knowledge and friendship.

Perennial Welsh Bunching Onions

Peeling back the plastic to find blanched dock

Another big task I had for the day was pulling back the black plastic we laid down on one of our vacant plots. We plan on digging up this newly exposed soil and turning it over to potatoes - but I think we'll be busy digging out all of the dock first. That weed is definitely resilient! We've had that plastic down on the land since last September and while everything else has died and broken down, the dock has merely sent up blanched shoots. Given the chance it will throw out huge green leaves and set seed in no time.

I ended my day by having a look at our wildflower meadow and taking a close-up picture of some of the seedlings. I'm pleased to say that the entire plot is beginning to put on more height and hopefully it will continue to do so until May when we mow it for the first time. Mowing will help kill off any competing weeds and grasses and force the plants to put more energy into their roots rather than in flowers. We need the plants to strengthen themselves this first year so that they can go on to be healthy plants in the years to come.

A close-up of the seedlings in our wildflower meadow

It was a lovely day to be out and I have to say that spring has definitely sprung on our little rock in the Irish Sea. I hope you too have been able to enjoy some early spring sunshine but if you're still in the grips of winter, don't despair, warm days are just around the corner.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone :)

Great Day at the Farmer's Market

2012-03-01T18:13:00.000Z

I'm knackered but happy that everything went so well today at my first Farmer's Market. The day was balmy and spring-like and there was a good showing of people who stopped by to have a look at the newest stall holder's wares. I went into the day with low expectations of sales since it was my first time and the weather might not be conducive to outdoor shopping. But I was happily surprised to sell as much today as I had at my Christmas Market stall - Yay! :)

Lovely Greens soap on display

In addition to my cold-process soap I also had small displays of two other products I plan to start selling more of this year: beeswax lip balm and handpainted stones. The lip balm is made from local Manx beeswax, shea butter, sweet almond oil and nothing else. It's nourishing, light on your lips and has natural sunblock properties...I love it. My handpainted stones were also very popular at the market and I hope to make more with Manx themes such as local wildlife, symbolism and landmarks depicted on them. I think they'll go down especially well with our tourist crowd which begins arriving in May.

Handmade Manx Beeswax Lip Balm

Some really lovely people also stopped by and had a chat with me as well - some were market regulars I was later told but one lovely lady and her husband turned out to be followers of my blog. She bought a few soaps and told me of her interest in making soap too, though she was a little fearful of dealing with lye. If you're like her and would like to have a hand at trying some simple soap making I'd suggest that you begin with using 'Melt-and-Pour' soap base. You literally melt the base then add extra ingredients such as fragrance, colour and herbs before you pour it into moulds and allow it to harden. It's easy and will give you all the fun of making soap without the riskier elements such as handling lye or having to get your ingredients or temperature right. A good source of Melt-and-Pour in the UK is the Soap Kitchen and in the US it's Brambleberry - I've made those names into links to their websites.

Flat beer for my Beer & Almond Soap

Since I sold so much today I rushed home to make another batch of soap - this one 'Beer & Almond' scented. I really need to step up production in the next week so that I'll have plenty of stock on hand for both my weekly stall as well as for some other events I have lined up. It takes four weeks for my soap to cure so there's a lot of waiting between now and the time I'll be selling today's batch. I have plenty still to sell but if my sales continue the way they've done today I can see myself making soap a lot more often than I do now!

It was a good day but I'm looking forward to kicking back and enjoying a glass of wine now - homemade of course :) Tomorrow is going to be another tiring yet fulfilling day but this time I'll be working at the allotment. We're building a communal shed in the next couple of weeks and a massive fallen tree branch needs to be moved and cut up. That makes for a convenient source of material for a Hugelkultur experiment so watch this space.

Fridge Voyeurism

2012-02-28T18:43:00.000Z

Call me crazy but I've decided that in addition to handmade soaps and seedlings that I'd also like to try my hand at selling food items at my farmer's market stall. I love cooking and already make quite a haul of jams, jellies and chutneys throughout the summer so thought what the heck, let's see what's entailed in getting licensed to sell them to the public. Emailing the Manx government, I found that the the first step to this is having an official come out to inspect where I'll be preparing the food: my kitchen. I've booked this inspection to happen tomorrow.

I stress over tests and inspections and though my kitchen is kept tidy I decided I needed to do a full clean of the room today - top to bottom. I can't help it but I'm imagining a tough old bird walking in with white gloves and sharp eyes searching out any place where there could be dust or germs. The cat's out of the bag - I'm neurotic (husband rolls eyes).

While I was wiping down my refrigerator I decided to take a picture to shock my non-European readers. In fact ten years ago I'd probably have been shocked myself to think that there are people out there who have what essentially is a mini-bar (sans booze) in their kitchen. For goodness' sake, I have relatives that that two or three massive American fridges and never seem to find room for everything. Though I don't doubt that there are bottles of ketchup in there from 1987.

What I can say after adjusting to a smaller space is that not only do we assuredly pay less money for electricity but that the food we eat is much fresher. Because there isn't as much space, you're really forced to eat what you have in there in order to make room for more. That's okay with me because the fresher the food the better the flavour and the healthier it is for you - that goes for meat and dairy as much as for fruit and vegetables.

The downside to small fridges includes having to get creative with how to chill large items like picnic sized bowls of slaw or potato salad. It also includes having to go to the shop fairly regularly - I go once or twice a week. I see that as a downside not because I don't like going, I actually enjoy my 'gathering' excursions, but because of the petrol needed to get there and back on a regular basis. When you're paying the equivalent of about $8.89 per gallon of petrol it's prudent to watch how you use it.

Anyhow, back to my afternoon's labour. Everything is as clean as a whistle and the floor is freshly swept - I think I'm ready for that inspection now. If only she'd arrive before my husband manages to mess up my hard work with toast crumbs and wet teaspoons peppered across the work top. Men!

You're never going to believe this but in that little space between this paragraph and the last I had a friend stop by who apparently knows the lady coming to inspect my kitchen tomorrow - that's the Isle of Man for you! He's assured me that she's lovely and won't give me too much hardship, thank goodness for that. I think I can relax now...

Have a great day everyone and I hope my dinky fridge will have given you something to think about or in the very least a good laugh :)

Vitamins as Medicine

2012-02-27T20:57:00.000Z

I celebrated my first day of kicking the cold with an outing to see Rebel Cinema's screening of the film 'FoodMatters' at the Northern Lights Community Centre. The film was touted as "an eye-opening documentary that'll make you think again about what you eat, by lifting the lid on how the food we eat can help or hurt our health. Nutritionists, naturopaths, doctors, and journalists weigh in on topics organic food, food safety, raw foodism, and nutritional therapy." It sounded interesting especially considering that my husband and I are really trying to make positive diet changes in our lives which include organic produce and ethically raised protein.

My impression of the film was that it presented very good arguments and evidence for its points, but that it was a soap-box for Raw-Foodism more than anything. On a more intriguing note, it did present arresting evidence that nutritional therapy using high doses of vitamins can cure human disease.

I and probably you have seen articles and even television documentaries that set out to debunk the idea of vitamins as medicine. Or even state that taking over the recommended daily allowance is dangerous. But I know personally that at least one vitamin can have unbelievable effects after seeing my husband suffer severe and recurrent migraines for years. For a long time he simply treated the pain of the migraines with over-the-counter pain medication. Then we figured that his food intolerances might be the root cause of the attacks. After removing suspected trigger foods from his diet the headaches got a bit better but still cropped up from time to time. Then randomly he came across some information on how doses of vitamin B2 can nip migraines in the bud - whether taking it regularly or by simply popping a couple at the onset of the headache. Growing up with a conventional belief in modern medicine it sounds ridiculous - but it works.

The film presented evidence that extremely high doses of vitamin C have been linked to the full recovery of cancer patients - in one independent study, 50% of the terminally ill cancer patients put on extreme doses of the vitamin survived - and not only did they survive but they stayed cured rather than contracting the disease again like so many other survivors do. I haven't back checked all the facts presented in the movie but I'd say that if it's not going to kill you (and high doses of vitamin C will not) then why not try it - especially if you've got no other real options.

The other vitamin focused on in the film was Niacin, known also as vitamin B3. The film claimed that high doses of it have been shown to essentially cure clinical depression. Indeed the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilson, cured his own depression using Niacin and afterwards tried to have it integrated into routine AA therapy. Unfortunately the idea was quashed by conventional doctors who were already involved in the organisation. Again, it's another vitamin that isn't going to kill you so you really have nothing to lose. In fact, you don't even need to take the vitamin in pill form; one of the doctors interviewed stated that the amount of niacin in two handfuls of cashew nuts would be enough to relieve depression in many cases. If you consider that known side-effects of Prozac include self-harming and suicidal tendencies then I'd try the cashews first thank you very much.

I'm curious to know if there are other people out there who have had any success with using vitamins as medicine - or even if their attempts have led to naught. What are your experiences?

Sick Day

2012-02-24T10:18:00.001Z

I've been almost bragging to friends that I haven't been sick this winter...I really should have knocked on wood! On Monday I started feeling a bit off and by Tuesday I was suffering from a full blown cold - sore head, sore throat, congested chest and lack of energy. I must have picked up something other than seeds at the event on Sunday.

So what was supposed to be my first Farmer's Market day yesterday had to be cancelled. It was a real let down but there was no way I was getting out of bed let alone try to hawk personal care products - I'm sure everyone would have kept a wide berth of me in any case. I do look forward to next week though and hope that I'm feeling better by then. In the meantime I'll be sipping on tea with honey and guzzling my herbal cough medicine - who ever heard of one that tasted good?

I won't be up to much today but felt that since I was stuck indoors that I'd start working on a little project inspired by crafts found on Pinterest - rock paintings. I've always enjoyed painting but have generally done it on flat surfaces such as watercolour paper or canvas. It's a different experience to paint on something textured and three dimensional and I'm pretty much hooked to say the least.

One of my favourite pieces I've painted recently was one of a butterfly. I'm not certain which one it is - maybe a Monarch? It got me to thinking that it might be fun to paint local butterflies to not only have a fun day being creative but to become more familiar with the ones I see in the garden. I've put a little collage of the main types found on the Isle of Man and will be working from those images (see below).

I think everyone loves butterflies (other than those pesky white ones who ravage brassica) but I wonder how many varieties can average people identify. Do you know many?

Seed Swap Success!

2012-02-20T17:56:00.000Z

As you can see from the new seeds I have laid out in the above photo, yesterday's first Gardeners' Social and Seed Swap event was a huge success. I took in about the same amount of seed packets as I brought home but scored some fantastic finds: Goji berries, Woad, several varieties of Spinach, Radiccio, Aubergine (Eggplant), Scorzonesa (Black Salsify), a variety of herbs and flowers and quite a few others.

At the end of the event there were quite a few packets of seeds left lying on the stations and so while cleaning up I put them all into a bag and took them home as well. There are tons that would have filled the rest of my seed requirements for this year and I'm kicking myself that I put in a seed order at all. I think what I'll do with them is leave them in our allotment shed which will be built by the end of next month. That way anyone from the site can have a rummage through and pick ones out that they need.

The event itself was fabulous! It did start off fairly quiet and I was initially worried that we wouldn't have many people show up. Then all of a sudden we had a seed scrum on our hands - albeit a very well mannered one :)

Since I nor any of the others involved in planning the event had experience running a seed swap before we assumed that gardeners could chat to one another and swap seeds one to one. The trading areas we set up were really to encourage people to come to a particular place in the room to see if there were others who wanted to trade items. What happened in actuality is that people came and plopped all their seeds, spuds, sets and seedlings down on the tables and then rummaged through the seeds which were already there. It was like a free rummage sale and everyone seemed to have a great time looking through the items and picking up what they liked. I couldn't get close enough to get a good picture of the peak trading time but the image above shows what the trading looked like generally throughout the event.

While I was shooting around the room selling raffle tickets and chatting with visitors I also had a brush with local fame by way of Simon Clarke from Manx Radio. He took the above picture of me with my camera (which I sent off to him today) and sat me down to record a piece for his 'Countryside' show tomorrow morning. I really hope he edits it as promised since I had a complete brain fart after one of the questions he asked. You know when you're already going a million miles an hour and then you start babbling on about something and lose your train of thought? Imagine doing that while you're being recorded! Eek.

In any case, I'm pleased that we've received so much support and coverage for not only the event but for all the allotments on the island. Since our local government's re-organisation and budget cuts have happened we haven't had the support we need. The Allotment Forum was originally a group of allotment representatives who met on a quarterly basis to discuss planning issues and other business among ourselves but also with reps from the government. Sadly, we haven't had an official meeting in nearly a year so it's up to us to keep the contact growing and promote our 'Grow Your Own' cause. Without the enthusiasm and energy from allotmenteers throughout the island our little group would have withered away a long time ago.

After the event I spoke to Amanda Griffin, one of the organisers of the Jurby Allotment and our resident Permaculture guru. She's been waiting to do a seed order until after the event and was elated to find everything she needed yesterday. That will save her about £40 overall and will ensure that seeds that might have been left in cupboards and garden sheds will have a chance to grow. Amanda isn't alone though since I probably saved £20+ myself and others saved even more. With times getting tougher for people the world over, it's great to be able to organise an event that saves people this kind of money. The figures expand when you take into account the amounts they'll eventually save on all the fruit, herbs and vegetables they'll be able to grow for themselves, rather than purchase from the shop.

With the success we had yesterday there's no doubt in my mind that we'll make sure a Seed Swap happens as an annual event. And in light of our initial amateur success, I really encourage other gardeners, allotments and growing groups to organise one of your own. It's a chance to meet up before the growing year, save some money, re-home unwanted seeds and take home ones you're excited about. The main things I've learned from our first run and research into other seed swaps in the UK are:

1. Don't be too strict with how seeds are swapped - people will find their own ways of doing it if given the basic idea. Our trading areas for 'Vegetables', 'Fruit' and 'Flowers and Garden Plants' were enough to get the ball rolling. Next year a section for 'Herbs' might not be a bad idea though.

2. Make the event as affordable as possible - people want to swap seeds mainly as a way to save money. We made our event free to attend but to pay for the cost of hiring the room we held a raffle which many people contributed to by either bringing in raffle prizes or by purchasing tickets. The proceeds easily covered our expenses.

3. A cosy atmosphere and the possibility of buying a drink make swapping all the more fun. We held our event in a community club that had an open fire, comfortable seating and a fully stocked bar. Other alternatives for venue could be at a private home or even at a local pub.

4. Don't require people to show up with seeds in hand since this discourages beginner gardeners. Instead ask people to offer 50p or some other small amount to the person with seeds that they'd like. If everyone lays their seeds on the table like they did at our event, you can ask that they make a small donation of the same amount to the organisation. This happened spontaneously for us when several people came up to me with money for seeds that they wanted. These small donations could go toward paying for the room hire or for other projects in your organisation.

5. Make sure you have enough people to run the raffle, sign-in sheet or facilitate swapping. Though I managed to get all the seeds I wanted I had to go at the very end since I was so busy. I think one of my friends who was manning the sign-in desk was also swamped with what she was doing and might not have made it over to the stations very often.

6. Advertise Advertise Advertise! A journalist friend wrote us an article for the local paper and several of us printed and posted flyers at local businesses and garden centres. I also emailed the heads of many of the gardening organisations on the island asking them to send provided information and a digital flyer of our event to their members. Through all of this work we were then approached by Manx Radio to do a spot on the event about two weeks ago. This has helped to not only create more awareness about the Seed Swap but also got me in touch with several people who would like to have an allotment themselves.

7. Lastly, have an absolute blast! Gardening can be a solitary hobby but when we all get together it can be be a great time chatting about the last growing season, invaluable tips for the year to come and even make beekeeping buddies such as I found yesterday.

I hope these tips help and if you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comment section below or email me directly.

Little Job for the Weekend: Sowing Tomatoes

2012-02-18T15:24:00.000Z

I've only planned one little gardening job this weekend:sowing tomato seed. I haven't had much luck with tomatoes in the last two years but ever the optimist I'm trying again and hope to squeeze a few good plants into the conservatory. Growing them outside this far north is really just a waste of time though; if they do end up growing well, by the time they form fruit the plants will be wasted away by Blight, the bane of Solanaceae growers in the British Isles.

So you might look at the above picture and wonder why I've sown so many, if I only plan on growing a few. The reason is that as of the 23rd, I'm the proud owner of a weekly farmer's market stall where I plan to sell handmade soap, lip balms, miscellaneous crafts, preserves and seedlings. So all those little seeds that germinate into little plants are going to be sold at my stall sometime in the next few months. Wish me luck and do come visit me Thursdays at Tynwald Mills if you're on the island :)

Back to sowing now... Though two of the varieties of tomato I grew from packaged seeds, the last variety is from seeds I saved from last year's crop of 'Yellow Stuffers'. An organic variety, they grow into large fruit which are relatively hollow - perfect for stuffing. And with them I've tried a new technique for saving tomato seed that I found out about last year. Following up on a tip from a fellow allotmenteer, I scraped the tomato seeds out of the fruit and onto a paper towel. By letting the seeds dry onto the towel, you can save yourself the hassle of cleaning the goo from the seeds and can simply plant the seeds, paper and all, into potting compost the next year. The person I got this advice from has been saving her seeds like this for years and it never fails.

Saving tomato seeds in a paper towel

The other thing I have on this weekend is tomorrow's Gardeners' Social and Seed Swap at the Laxey Sailing Club. I've been promoting it quite heavily over the last couple of weeks and hope that my recent interview on Manx Radio as well as a journalist friend's newspaper article will bring in a good crowd. I'm really looking forward to it and hope it will be the beginning of a yearly event! If you're local and interested in attending please check out the below flyer and show up at the club from 3-5pm tomorrow.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Great Expectations meets £11 Free-range Shoe Leather

2012-02-14T12:20:00.001Z

Like many people over the last few years, my husband and I have been waking up to the horrors of modern food production and trying to do something about it, beginning with what we eat in our own home. We organically grow a good bulk of our own vegetables, buy our eggs from a local free-range chicken farm, cheese from the island's dairies, and try to always purchase local meat, which is to our knowledge all free-range. But while beef and lamb are quite easy to get a hold of, we've had more difficulty in acquiring chicken. Since there are no local commercial chicken [meat] farms we've settled on the idea of buying free-range chicken shipped over from Cumbria. After all, we can see the point of origin across the sea on a clear day...

So it was with delight that I recently found a small scale supplier of chicken who sold direct from their farm-shop here on the island. Driving there on Saturday was a bit of a trek but the thought of being able to buy local meat from happy animals who spent their days with sunshine on their back and grass under their feet made it all worth it. Even the £11 price tag for a whole bird was acceptable when I imagined the succulent and nearly guilt-free meal we would make of it.

I knew something was different about this chicken from the moment I took it out of its packaging. Though it was a good size, the breasts were longer and thinner than we're used to and the smell of it reminded me of butchering chickens at my grandparent's house. You don't get that with meat purchased from the supermarket; I suspect that they hose it down with anti-bacterial cleaning agents which removes the smell of innards and blood. In any case, I rinsed it and prepared it as I've done for all the other roast chickens that came before. After a stint in the oven I took out a delicious smelling and well browned bird that would be served up with roasted potatoes, kohlrabi and carmelised brussels sprouts. It was a proper Sunday dinner...at least until we took our first bite.

We tried to convince ourselves that the reason the meat was so difficult to chew was because our bird was really athletic. It was so pleased to have a pasture to roam in that it did laps around the fence, racing with the others. Ours was obviously the most dedicated of the runners since he or she had muscles of steel. My husband managed to finish three quarters of his portion but I couldn't even get through a single breast. There's something very wrong about having to chew through what should be tender meat with the force needed to eat rubber.

In reality, we don't know if the bird had spent too much time in the freezer or if maybe it was a stringy old rooster that had escaped the reaper's scythe time and again. What we do know is that we're not planning on buying £11 shoe leather ever again. And so I've learned my first lesson which will hopefully lead to me being a more discerning Locovore - simply being local doesn't always equate to quality.

Last night as I stewed what was left of the carcass and meat into a hearty noodle soup I thought about what a disappointment our experience had been. For us, eating local is not just about supporting farmers, saving the planet and to upholding ethical standards. It's also about eating healthy and delicious food! So it's difficult to swallow an expensive food option which is obviously inferior in quality. Though I hope that someday I come across another local chicken producer whom we can trust it's back to Cumbrian chicken for this household.

Make Baileys at Home

2012-02-10T16:32:00.001Z

What's the most fun way to spend a rainy day? Making booze! At least if you're one to indulge in it...
If not, turn away now before you're corrupted ;)

After making Kahlua last month I've been meaning to try re-creating Baileys as well. Seeing as this is my first time making it I began by searching for recipes online. There are literally dozens of them out there and all seem to differ just a wee bit from each other. Some have egg, others call for almond extract but all of them call for some basic and similar ingredients: condensed milk, cream, whiskey, chocolate, vanilla and coffee. And while I can't say that the recipe I've chosen tastes exactly like the original Baileys I can say it's a close match...maybe slightly more alcoholic though which isn't such a bad thing.

Just like the Kahlua recipe, Baileys turns out to be dead easy. Making it reminds me of whipping up a cocktail rather than something used as a base for cocktails. I don't even have to give you any directions other than to say to dump all the below ingredients into a bowl, or better yet a blender, and to whisk/blend until it's completely incorporated. That's it. Once you do this you can funnel it into empty bottles and keep it in the refrigerator for up to two months. I won't ever be able to confirm that expiration date though since it's highly unlikely that it's going to last out a couple of weeks at my house.

Homemade 'Baileys'
Makes about 1 bottle

1 cup Double Cream (Heavy/Whipping)
400ml (14oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk
1-2/3 c Whiskey (preferably Irish)
2 Tbsp Chocolate Syrup
1 tsp Instant Coffee
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/4 tsp Almond extract

...As stated above, simply blend thoroughly and enjoy. Chin chin!

PS - The recipe I used can be found at this link.

Beekeeping in the Rain

2012-02-08T10:51:00.002Z

My first hive arrived a few weeks ago and with its scent of brand-new cedarwood was reborn my enthusiasm for beekeeping. From that day I began re-reading my course book,'Bees and Honey' by Ted Hooper, and started looking at events that the Isle of Man Beekeepers were planning for the upcoming year. I was also happy to receive the offer of a nucleus of bees this spring which could make starting out much easier than having to capture a swarm. A nucleus is basically a queen plus a few hundred workers who form the heart of a fully grown hive. But even if this nucleus doesn't work out, in a way I'm fascinated by the idea of collecting a swarm. I like the idea of capturing and providing for a colony of bees already searching for a new home.

So with this fresh burst of energy, I responded to an email sent out to the association looking for volunteers to help move some hives. Looking for more practical experience I eagerly emailed back offering my help. The day scheduled for the move was last Saturday the 4th and though we've been enjoying bright skies and mild weather ever since, the weather decided that day to let us have a month's amount of rain in a twelve hour period. You can't really tell from the photo above but everyone was soaking wet though not in the least bit miserable. I wasn't much help that day other than assisting in opening an overgrown gate, but it was still fun to be out and around such enthusiastic and experienced local beekeepers.

If you haven't read one of my past posts on honey bees before then I should tell you that the Isle of Man is one of the most special places, in Europe and the world, to keep bees. We are free of both Varroa and many other diseases that affect honey-bees worldwide and so have healthy and thriving populations hives peppered throughout the island. Having also recently read the book 'A World Without Bees' has made me all that more aware of how lucky we are to be a haven for bees during times of Colony Collapse Disorder and related global honey-bee disappearances.

Maintaining this healthy status is extremely important to not only local beekeepers but to the entire community and so it means that we don't allow bees or second-hand equipment to be shipped here. Because of these beekeeping regulations, acquiring second-hand materials and bees is a local venture which is best begun by becoming a member of the Isle of Man Beekeepers. Offering a beginner's beekeeping course at the beginning of every year, the association encourages people to keep bees for themselves and educates them on the art of beekeeping both in general and more specifically on our island. By becoming a member you also have access to the advice and support of a friendly group of both beginner and experienced honey-bee enthusiasts. These are the people who will help you to find the right equipment, track down honey-bees and help you along your path to becoming a confident and competent keeper of bees.

If you are interested in beekeeping on the Isle of Man, you can contact the Isle of Man Beekeepers directly by following this link. They welcome inquiries and are an invaluable source of information, whether you're looking to keep bees for yourself or just wanting to learn more about beekeeping on the Isle of Man.

Valentine's Day Apple Pie

2012-02-06T12:09:00.000Z

There are more creative ways to tell someone you love them than a meal out on the busiest restaurant evening of the year. Staying home and celebrating Valentine's Day with a special home cooked feast is one of them - especially if the regular cook gets a break! Even though my husband will be preparing dinner for us that evening, I'm going to spare him a little stress by making the dessert beforehand. And I think a delicious Valentine's themed Apple pie served with old fashioned vanilla ice cream and pink whipped cream will fit the bill. The traditional apple pie would be nice on its own but using natural colouring to tint the apple filling a deep red and using heart shaped pieces to build the upper crust will make it more festive.

Valentine's Day Apple Pie
Makes one

Pastry for a 2-crust pie:
2 cups Multipurpose Flour
140g Butter
1 tsp Sea Salt
10 Tbsp Water

Filling:
1/3 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/4 cup White Sugar
1/4 cup Multipurpose Flour
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
Dash of Sea Salt
8 medium Apples (or however many small ones you need) - peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 cup Cherry juice
2 Tbsp Butter

1. Prepare the pastry: cut butter into the flour and sea salt, using a pastry blender or crisscrossing two knives, until the particles are the size of coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the water over the mix and mix it in with a fork or spoon - basically you want to incorporate it well enough so that there aren't any pools of water lying in the bowl. Use your hands to squeeze the mixture into a ball of pastry, making sure to get all the bits clinging to the side of the bowl. The consistency of the dough should be similar to play-dough so if it seems dry or the mixture won't form a ball then add a bit more water.

2. Divide the pastry ball into two then take one the pieces and roll it out onto a floured surface into a circle about two inches larger than your pie pan. Then place the dough into your pie pan - an easy way to do this is to roll the dough around your rolling pin and then unroll it out over the pan. Firm the dough down into all the corners and crevices and then press the edges of the dough around the edge of your pie pan. Trim the excess dough from the edges but leave around 1/2" so that the crust doesn't shrink into the pan during the baking process.

Half of the pie pastry pressed into the pie dish

3. Blend the excess dough into the other half of dough you have remaining and roll it out to the same size as the first. Use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out as many pieces as you can. Then roll the excess dough out again and use the cutter to cut as many more as possible.

4. Preheat your oven to 180°C/360°F Conventional or 160°C/320°F Fan

You can measure how many small apples you'll need by placing them into your pie dish

5. Prepare your apples if you haven't done so already and then pour the cherry juice over them. You could probably use another natural red colouring such as strawberry or beet juice instead. Stir the apples well - but gently - and allow them to seep in the juice until your oven has fully heated up (about 20 minutes). Come back to stir the apples every couple of minutes to distribute the colour evenly.

Colouring your apples naturally with cherry juice

6. Drain the juice from the apples and set aside. Now in a separate bowl, mix the filling's flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until it's an even consistency and has no lumps. Pour this mixture over the apples and coat them well and then pour the mix into your pastry lined pie pan. Press the apples down so that there aren't any prominent pieces sticking up. Now dab the butter in tiny pieces all over the top of the filling.

The filling placed into the pie dish

7. Using your heart-shaped pieces of pastry, place them on the apple filling starting from the outside of the pan and moving inwards. The pointed ends of the hearts should face inside the pie rather than outside. You can leave small gaps between the hearts if you'd like but I choose to cover as much of the top as possible - the crust is my favourite part! When complete, place one last heart over the centre to finish the design and pop the pie into the oven.

The heart-shaped pastry pieces are layered onto the top of the pie

8. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the crust is a lovely golden colour and filling is bubbling up. The butter in the pastry should be enough to brown the crust nicely but if there's only ten minutes left in the cooking time and the crust isn't brown enough, melt some butter and paint it over the hearts then continue to bake the pie for the remaining time.

9. Serve warm with ice-cream if desired but it will be a bit messy until you've given it time to cool. The image above is of pie that's fully cooled and the heart-shaped whipped cream can be made by ladling cream into your heart-shaped cookie cutter directly on the pie. If you'd like to achieve a light pink whipped cream such as I've made, whip 1/2 cup of double cream with 1 Tbsp of cherry juice or better yet, a cherry liqueur such as Kirsh. Enjoy your Valentine's Day treat ~

The pie as soon as it's been taken out of the oven

February at the Allotment

2012-02-02T17:20:00.003Z

All I seem to hear in recent weather reports is talk of 'The Big Freeze' and Siberian Snowmageddon marching a path straight for the British Isles. But when the sun is bright and the temperature generally about 4°C it seems preposterous that extreme frigid weather could be on its way. February does tend to be the coldest month of the year though so I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised if we get hit with a proper taste of winter before spring is officially on us.

Saying that, time is running out for planting up soft-fruit bushes if you have that in your gardening plan. It certainly wasn't in mine until last week when I came across some extraordinarily cheap bare-root plants at my local supermarket. Now I admit that buying good stock is probably best but at £2.50 a plant I couldn't resist snapping up a Red Gooseberry as well as Raspberry and Loganberry canes. Though the plants I brought home were produced by Wilko in Poland, all seem to be good standard types so fingers crossed they do well.

Raspberry Polka - This variety is known for extra large fruit which look DELICIOUS in photos online. Berries grow on first year wood so the only pruning that needs to be done is a savage cut of all canes down to the ground each winter.

Red Gooseberry Hinnonmaki Red - A self-fertile variety with extreme resistance to mildew, which is apparently its arch nemesis. It's also a very beneficial plant to have around if you want to encourage and feed honeybees which great seeing as my hive will only be about fifty feet away. Gooseberries are relatively new to my palate so I'm looking forward to experimenting with this year's juicy fruit. Gooseberry wine anyone?

Loganberry - Loganberries are a modern cross between a blackberry and a raspberry and have only been around for about 130 years. The cane I bought seems to be the original thorny variety that I can remember growing at my grandmother's house. Unfortunately it will be another year before I can harvest any berries since they only grow on year old wood.

Since I already have two redcurrant bushes in one of my bottom beds I decided to plant my new bushes there as well. I began the operation by unwrapping the canes from their plastic wrapping and putting them in a bucket of water. This will re-hydrate the roots before planting and so ensure that they have a better chance at surviving. While the plants were soaking I dug up a Cape Gooseberry bush I had in the same area and replanted it with some compost into a slightly better spot a couple of feet away. That gave me room to dig three more holes into which I dug in more compost and well rotted farmyard manure.

After 45 minutes in the water, I planted the Raspberry and Loganberry along the bottom of the bed, where I plan to place posts and training wires for both of them to grow on. The Gooseberry went above them about 4.5 feet away. It won't need training so I'll leave it there to merrily bush away and offer the Cape Gooseberry a bit of extra protection from our predominant westerly winds (check out my leaning towers of sprouts and broccoli in the below photo to see what the winter wind can do!). A generous drink of water and dollop of farmyard manure around each plant and they were all settled down in their new beds. I also covered them with horticultural fleece after the below picture was taken just in case we do get some freezing weather. Both the Loganberry and Gooseberry have already begun sprouting leaves and I don't want either of the plants to be damaged by the cold and frost.

After the rest of my plot chores were finished I had a stroll over the wildflower meadow to have a look at how things are progressing. This mild winter has been great for our little seedlings and many of them are leafy and strong and just waiting for a good drop of warm sunshine to shoot up and flower. I really can't wait to see how the patch looks - especially with my bees buzzing around collecting nectar.

And lastly I wanted to give an update on the seeds I sowed inside a few weeks ago. The leeks and onions are up and nearly an inch tall already - I'm fascinated with how quickly they grew and am really looking forward to planting all three varieties out in the garden in late March. Still no sign of ginger shoots coming up though so I'm thinking that I might move the pot out of the conservatory and into a warmer part of the house. Ginger seems to re-shoot every spring though so it could be that it senses that winter isn't quite over yet.

Have you been out pottering around recently? And do you have any personal advice on growing soft fruit? I'd love to hear from you :)

The Gardeners' Social & Seed Swap Event

2012-01-27T10:11:00.000Z

I'm really pleased to invite you to the Gardeners' Social and Seed Swap which will take place on Sunday, February 19th from 3-5pm at the Laxey Sailing Club. I along with officers from the other allotments on the Isle of Man have planned this fun afternoon of meeting other gardeners as well as giving you the chance to take home some new seeds for free. The text in the above image is a bit small so I'll post it below. If you have any questions whatsoever please leave a message on this post or email me at the below address. Please spread the word to family and friends who might be interested in attending and feel free to print out this flyer to post on community boards.

Gardeners’ Social & Seed Swap
Sunday February 19th, 3-5pm
Free Entry

Whether you’re a hardy allotmenteer or grow flowers and
veggies at home, you’re bound to have a few extra packets
of seeds lying around. The Gardener’s Social is your chance
to trade some of those seeds, sets, crowns or shoots for
ones you might fancy a bit more. This is an opportunity to
save some money and maybe try something new!

Even if you don’t have seeds to swap please join us
for a an afternoon of meeting other gardeners and
chatting about all things green and growing

How it works:
1. Show up with seeds to swap (labelled in envelopes/bags)
2. Move around the room and swap your seeds directly with other
gardeners. If you don’t have something to swap, make them an offer.
3. Have fun and feel encouraged to try new varieties

A raffle will be held to support the costs of the event. You
can help by purchasing tickets and/or bringing along a small
item as a prize. We thank you in advance!

To be held at the
Laxey Sailing Club
On the Quay, Tent Road
Laxey, Isle of Man

...with plenty of parking
along the promenade

Hosted by the IoM Allotment Forum
For more info please email: lalaa@manx.net

How to make Herbal Lip Balm

2012-01-22T16:38:00.001Z

In case you hadn't realised, it's that chapped and cracked lips time of the year again. With more and more of us venturing outside to potter around in the garden it's likely that lips will become sore, flaky and even erupt into sores if they're stressed too much by cold temperatures and wind. Though many might resort to over the counter lip balms such as Chapstick and Carmex, people are catching on to the fact that both contain Petroleum Jelly. Though used for decades as a topical ointment, petroleum jelly is literally made out of petrochemicals...the kind of stuff you might put into your car's engine or use as fuel for your gas stove.

Not only is the thought of smearing this stuff onto your lips an unappetising thought, but using it on your skin often causes the very symptoms it claims to help. If that's not enough to convince you, there are also concerns that petroleum jelly contains carcinogens which could be linked to breast cancer. And they want you to apply that to a place where you will obviously be ingesting some of it?

There are safe and natural lip balm alternatives on the market so you'll have options if you choose to buy some. On the other hand, lip balm is incredibly easy to make at home and a nice way to spend a half-hour or so on a Sunday afternoon. All you really need are two basic ingredients and some optional additives to make a natural and professional looking product. Making lip balm for yourself is a great way to screen ingredients but it could also be a fun activity to do either alone or with your kids.

Herbal Lip Balm
Makes one small 3g container

1 tsp Beeswax - You can buy this online, from a local beekeeper or potentially from a health store.
2 tsp Liquid oil - it can be ordinary vegetable oil but it's best to use a lighter type such as Grapeseed or Sweet Almond oil. I use Sweet Almond oil in this demo.
Contents of one tea bag - this adds a subtle flavour and scent and could also provide additional skin protection. I've used Chamomile tea since it is known to rejuvenate the skin and because I enjoy the soothing scent.

1. Place all of your ingredients into a make-shift double boiler. Double boilers are essentially pans placed into another pan of boiling water. It's a way to melt ingredients without exposing them to direct heat. For this recipe you don't want to use a nice pan or container though since beeswax can be difficult to clean off completely. I've used an old thermos cup placed in a small pan of boiling water. A butter knife slid through the handle helps keep the cup in place.

2. Simmer the water in the outer pan and melt the oils until they are both liquid. Leave them simmering for about ten minutes to allow them to infuse a bit more with the chamomile tea.

3. Take the cup out of the water and pour the contents through a fine mesh strainer placed over your lip balm container. Again, don't use your best strainer for this project due to the possibility of beeswax clogging the mesh. Once all the liquid has passed through you'll have a lump of tea leaves sitting in the strainer - use a finger to squeeze all of the oil out of it and down into the container.

4. Allow the oils to solidify - for this small batch it will only take about five minutes. After it's hardened, your lip balm is ready to be used. It will be quite firm but just run your finger over it a few times and you'll have enough of it for a single application.

If you'd like a bit more of a gel consistency to your lip balm then add more liquid oil and even a bit of honey. You can also mix in some of your lipstick or coloured oxide if you'd like to tint it. Please note that while a couple drops of essential oil will scent the lip balm, it won't provide any flavour. But if you pair mint tea with a drop of mint essential oil in this recipe, you'll be able to get both the scent and taste. Alternatively, you could add a drop or two of Eucalyptus essential oil which would be breathed in and help with congested sinuses and chests.

Happy Making :)

PS - Beeswax is best cleaned off of pans and implements by melting with boiling water. But don't drain the water off in your sink since that beeswax might clog up your pipes.

January at the Allotment

2012-01-17T14:16:00.000Z

It's been quite a bit colder over the last couple of days - around 6C/44F - but it looks like it's going to be warming up again by tomorrow. It's bizarre to think that this time last year we had snow on the ground and wind blasting the house. Today we have lawn daisies and primroses blooming in hedgerow and my container of spring bulbs should be blooming within weeks. Whether this unseasonably warm weather is due to climate change or the heat of the gulf stream flowing around the island is up to debate. What is clear is that if we've been given some early sunshiny days, we shouldn't waste them by being indoors.

So it was in good spirits that my muddy wellies walked me up to the allotment on Friday, with a battery powered radio, a thermos of green tea and a garden fork in hand. I spent a good part of the afternoon digging over a couple of beds, checking the compost heap and dividing one of my rhubarb crowns that was getting out of hand. It was wonderful to be outside enjoying the spring-like air. How could anyone have the January blues when the birds are singing and the sun is on your back?

Winter is really a slower time in the garden - more for tidying up and getting on with construction projects than actually growing. So while I was digging over my last bed I amazed to see tiny celeriac seedlings hidden under the shadow of my purple sprouting broccoli. I'm sure they must have sprouted late last summer and have been hiding out ever since. That just goes to show how mild our winter has been so far! I gently dug up the seedlings and moved them over to another bed to see if they'll grow on to nice juicy roots this summer. Though it could all be in vain since celeriac is a biennial and so goes to seed in the second year.

The last of the kohlrabi was brought in last week

As far as veggies ready to harvest, I still have several rows of green onions weathering it out in addition to a couple of kale and brussels sprouts plants, purple sprouting broccoli and two rows of kohlrabi. The kohlrabi are fairly hardy but I decided to bring them all in last week since their bed needed digging. There are a few bigger ones which I'll dice up and roast but the others are smaller and more tender so I'll look for other ways to prepare them. I also took home some green onions which will be going into our supper tonight.

The most strenuous tasks of the day was dividing up one of my rhubarb crowns. They're only two years old but have gotten a big big for their bed already. The crown on the downward side of the bed receives quite a bit of nutrient-rich runoff and so was particularly large. It suffered from its success last year and instead of producing fewer large stems it popped out masses of stems about the diameter of a 5-pence piece (the same size as an American dime). These tiny stems and masses of leaves crowded each other out and caused quite a bit of rot under the plant. By dividing the crown in two and moving one half elsewhere on my plot I hope to rejuvenate it. The rhubarb wine I made last year turned out to be quite a hit so I'll be using all the surplus I can spare to make even more this summer.

Dividing rhubarb is done in the winter and generally when the crown it's about five years old. Rhubarb is divided in order to make the plant smaller and to give it more space, thus encouraging new healthy growth. You literally wrench the crown apart either in two or three pieces and then plant them back into the ground in different areas. If you don't want more rhubarb then there are usually people who would be happy to take a bit of crown off of you - if you don't know anyone directly, try giving it away on Freecycle or to a local gardening group.

To divide the crown you first dig it out of the ground which is no easy task and will result in quite a few of the rhubarb's great roots breaking. Don't worry about it though since the plant can withstand quite a bit of harsh treatment. Next you set the crown right side up on the ground and thrust two garden forks into the centre of it, back to back. Push the forks apart and the levering action will rip the crown in two. Do it again for any larger pieces and plant the individual chunks up in their new areas. As long as there are some reddish buds at the top of the crown it will survive and go on to grow another large plant.

Wrenching the rhubarb crown apart with two garden forks

Close-up of half of the original crown which is ready to be replanted

I probably won't be spending that much time up at my plot in the coming week since there's really not much to do now. Instead, my husband and I will be focusing on building four raised beds in the back garden and filling them with compost in time for spring. I'm SO looking forward to having some convenient space at home for herbs, lettuces and other bits and bobs that I can nip out and pick when needed. I'm also organising an island-wide seed swap event for next month and am really looking forward to meeting up with the heads of the other allotments on the island for a planning session and chat. Gardeners need a meet-up every now and again to get all geeky about growing :)

So how about you - are you working on anything in the garden at the moment? How have the temperatures been for you this winter? I'd love to hear from you :)

Ginger and Alliums - First Sowings of the Year

2012-01-11T14:58:00.001Z

I can't believe that I spent today sowing my first seeds - it's so exciting that the new gardening year has begun! It's only January but it's been so warm that we've been working with windows and doors open and even my early flowering bulbs have been tricked into thinking that it's Spring. Though this weather is a bit worrying, considering that a cold snap could easily happen in the next couple of months, I decided to chance starting a few seeds a bit early. But by keeping them all snug inside the conservatory I hope they'll thrive and not be set back by any forthcoming wintery weather.

Some of the seeds I sowed today were inspired by a competition I entered last year, the Eastern Young Farmers Show. Though I was pleased with my performance, seeing some of the entries of massive leeks and onions got me to thinking. I bet I could give these farmers a run for their money! Since then I've spoken to several gardeners as well as done a bit of internet research. What I've found out that it's not how you grow your vegetables but also the varietie you choose to grow. For example, your run of the mill onions may plump up and attain decent size, but if you're growing for competitions it's best to grow an 'Exhibition' variety such as 'Mammoth Improved'. You also need to start your seeds very early - the onions I sowed today could have even been sown last month but I put it off while we were celebrating the holidays. I've never started seeds this early before so fingers crossed it all goes well. I also hope that these giants taste as good as they look...I'd hate to devote even a little bit of space to them if a paper award is all they're good for.

In addition to the exhibition leeks and onions I also sowed a small tray of 'Golden Bear' onions for strictly culinary use. If my onion seed experiment is a success, I'll invest in heritage variety onions next year and attempt to save seed from now on.

The last seeds I sowed were two small pots of Melons 'Emir' - aka Cantaloupes. I attempted growing them last year but our growing season was short and wet and they weren't able to deal with the conditions outside. I hope that by starting them extra early, and by repotting them on to larger and larger pots, that I'll have at least one strong and sizable plant to put out in early summer.

The last thing I planted today was Ginger - something I haven't considered growing before now. But it was too good a growing opportunity to pass by when I spotted the rhizomes for sale at B&Q yesterday. Though it's possible to grow the plant from ginger purchased at the shop, it's more than likely that the root has been sprayed with an anti-sprouting agents to discourage growth. Quite a few 'Fresh' vegetables, including potatoes, sweet potatoes, shallots, garlic and onions are sprayed with this chemical so watch out if you're trying to reduce toxins in your diet. It's also something to consider if you're attempting to use vegetables from the shop to grow in your own garden. Though sprayed potatoes can sprout and grow, there is a chance that the actual plant will be weakened and not perform very well.

Planting the ginger was easy enough - the instructions called for potting it up under 2cm of multi-purpose compost and allowing it to grow indoors at least until summer. During that time, green leaves will shoot up and the rhizomes will begin to grow roots. Though they advise that it will be possible to then transplant the entire thing outside come warmer weather, I think I'll just grow it on inside in a large tub. Growing it in a tub will make harvesting the rhizomes a lot easier and it actually looks like quite a nice plant to have indoors.

Ginger growing in a tropical environment

So now I've got onions, leeks, melons and now ginger tucked up in compost in our conservatory. I'll be eagerly anticipating any visible growth in the coming weeks and also be out preparing the garden and allotment for spring. I've got so many plans and ideas and can't wait for truly warm weather to return!

How to make Kahlua - Everyone's Favourite Coffee Liqueur

2012-01-06T16:57:00.001Z

I love flavoured liqueurs...Baileys, Tia Maria and Kahlua are all among my favourites. The only thing I don't like about these creamy, tipsy, girly drinks is their price - they're all about £14 a bottle now. Five years ago I wouldn't have batted an eyelid as I popped them into my trolley and swished my way over to the till. But times have changed and sometimes if I want to enjoy a bit of luxury without feeling guilty then I have to figure out how to make it myself - and on a budget.

What I've found out is that most food and drink can be made easily, cheaply and a heck of a lot more wholesome than anything you can find in the shops. Now I'm not going to proclaim that a boozy treat like Kahlua could ever be wholesome but it is so easy to make that a five year old...err 18 year old...could do it. And by varying the ingredients slightly, you can customise it to suit your own taste - more or less sugary, alcoholic, vanilla or even coffee flavoured.

Once prepared, Kahula can be mixed with milk and ice for a delicious and boozy kind of iced latte - I'm currently enjoying the one pictured above so please excuse me for any spelling mistakes ;) You could even go the full mile and make your own Kahlua, Baileys and Grand Marnier and layer them for probably the best B-52 you've ever MADE. Or why not plan on preparing a few bottles in time for a party? In any case you'll be saving quite a bit of money while having a load of fun!

Homemade Kahlua
Makes almost 3 - 75cl bottles

4 cups Boiling Water
2 cups Dark Brown Sugar
2 cups White Sugar
1/2 cup Instant Coffee - Regular or Decaf depending on your preference
1 Vanilla Bean
3 cups Vodka - this is about an entire 70cl bottle
3 clean and sterilised bottles - old wine bottles with screw tops are perfect

1. But your sugars into a heat-proof bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Stir the mixture until all the sugar is dissolved then add your coffee. Stir again until this is dissolved then cover your bowl and allow to cool until it reaches room temperature.

2. Once cooled, slice your vanilla pod and scrape the gooey insides out with a knife and place it in the bowl. Pop the rest of the beans into your bottles.

3. Pour the vodka into the mix and stir gently. Then, using a funnel, pour the coffee liquor into the bottles and seal. If any of the black vanilla is stuck to the bottom of the bowl just spoon it out and into the bottles as well. Store your homemade Kahlua in a dark place and ideally you'll want to wait about two to three weeks before drinking it. This is to give the flavours, especially the vanilla, time to meld before drinking it. But if you absolutely can't wait that long it's fine to drink immediately ;)

PS - Remember how I mentioned that a bottle of Kahlua costs about £14 at the shop? If you make it at home you end up spending about £4.50 per bottle.

The sugar placed in the bowl while the kettle is heating up the water

With the sugar now dissolved in the water, you mix in the coffee granules

Once the sugar-coffee-water has cooled, you split and scrape your vanilla bean into the mix

Then you pour in your vodka and funnel the mix into bottles

Food Security on the Isle of Man

2012-01-03T17:42:00.004Z

After our long Christmas holiday I decided to venture out and do a bit of grocery shopping and errand running this afternoon. Now though the weather was windy, the temperature was warmer than usual and the sea didn't seem as rough as on stormy days past. Even so, the local amenity site, where I'd hoped to drop off all of our holiday recyclables, was closed due to the weather. As I performed my three-point-turn to perfection I wondered why on earth a little bit of wind would be any reason to close the site. It's not as if there weren't a nice cosy office there for the recycle guys to sit in and enjoy a nice cuppa. Pulling back out onto the road I then remembered that a friend of mine told me that this morning's Steam Packet ferry crossing had also been cancelled due to the weather. This is probably the tenth time that this has happened in the last six weeks and it's really been a pain for people travelling back and forth as well as for businesses who rely on shipments of goods being brought in on time.

A bit peeved off over not being able to offload a boot full of empty bottles, cans and gift wrap, I headed up to Shoprite to pick up groceries. Though it was fortunately open, on closer inspection all was not as it should be. While stocks of most tinned and dried foods were plentiful, some items such as fresh herbs, milk and cream were conspicuously missing. Then walking to the back of the shop I was shocked to find the bakery area nearly devoid of fresh bread, pastries, muffins, scones and everything else you'd expect to find there. Sure we've had some holidays recently and sure a single ferry had to be cancelled today but the items that were missing were mainly products produced on the island!

Shortly before the holidays, Manx Radio's Talking Heads show hosted a discussion on this very topic: Food Security on the Isle of Man. Ironically enough, I was listening to it while driving back from another dead-end amenity site trip. Due to nearly a week of cancelled ferry crossings, the community was in the grip of panic buying. Our single Tesco was mobbed and emptied of fresh produce, and milk, meat, bread and toilet paper was also in short supply. Even I who keep a well supplied kitchen was a bit concerned - though we grow quite a lot of our own veggies we are by no means self-sufficient when it comes to the bulk of our diet. What on earth would we do if we couldn't buy goat milk or holiday sweets?! ;) Well, there was a bit of hysteria going around at that time and I'd say most people were getting wound up over having a lack of food choice rather than lack of food. Even so, some very important issues were raised:

1. Bread wasn't able to be made because yeast shipments hadn't come in for the Ramsey Bakery. Say again? The main bakery on the island that 80% of the community relies isn't yeast sufficient? It's possible for bakeries to replenish their own stocks of this ingredient every day from their own product and I'd have thought that it was cost effective as well. Bread is the Staff of Life and if we rely on outside shipments of yeast for its production then the food security of this island is dire indeed.

2.The main dairy enterprise on the island, the Isle of Man Creamery, relies on shipments of plastic containers for dairy product packaging. If the ferry is cancelled and the containers don't come in on time, it means that milk can't be distributed to the shops. Considering this, wouldn't a permanent packaging solution be more efficient as well as beneficial to the goal of island wide food security? Why not bring back glass milk bottles and put in place a system for them to be cleaned and reused time and again? Deposits could be paid on the initial bottle(s) and as long as you returned your empty ones with you when you shopped then you could get away from any additional bottle costs. Heck, maybe the bottles could be produced on-island, thus creating more industry.

3. There is a thriving beef and lamb industry on the Isle of Man but unfortunately many of the animals are shipped off-island to be slaughtered and processed and then shipped back to be sold. This is due to the high costs of using the Isle of Man Meats Plant, our local government-subsidised abbatoir (slaughter house), and the fact that it has no competition on-island. Though it's unethical to stress the animals out with a sea voyage of doom, it's shameful that the local abbatoir isn't serving the needs of the farmers - thus forcing them to have to ship the animals away. Interestingly enough, I was supposed to be part of a group taking a tour of the abbatoir in November. On the day of the tour I received notice that it had been cancelled then a few days later while inquiring into the cancellation I found out that all the Directors had been sacked. Considering this as well as the fact that plans for a new abbatoir have been submitted we might see some positive changes in this industry the years to come.

4. Stocks of food are kept at minimum levels. This is true of shops the world over but it's especially critical in a place that is reliant on food being brought in on a boat subject to 'acts of God'. What you see is what you get when it comes to what the supermarket has on sale. It's worrying to also learn that Manx livestock are subject to the same issues as people - most of their grain is sent in from abroad and shipments are affected by the same weather conditions. Wouldn't it make more sense to create secure stockpiles for people and animals both? Fresh food obviously is affected by long term storage but stockpiles of grain wouldn't be a bad idea in my book.

There are plenty of positive things to say about food production on the Isle of Man but it's during times of stress that these enterprises come under scrutiny. A few missed sailings is really nothing to worry about in the long-term but it does bring up the question of what could happen if we run into greater challenges. Some people choose to put their heads in the sand on this matter but I think it's a really precarious way to live your life. The saying goes that the average nation is three meals away from revolution. And while a single person might not be able to do much about the food security of an entire country, they are very much able to do something about it within their own family and local community. Learning to cook the essentials, connecting with others who produce or just keeping a couple of weeks supply of food at home can help. So while I can't say that I grow and mill my own wheat (yet!), I can say that because I bake my own bread that I won't need to join the crowd of people scrounging for that last loaf on the shelf today.

My December has been all about...

2011-12-28T18:29:00.000Z

Looking outside and seeing a climate and landscape that looks more like late October than nearly January. At least the holly seems to know what time of year it is...

Bringing some of that holiday greenery inside to make handmade decorations has made our home all the merrier. This handmade centrepiece was the finishing touch to our Christmas table decoration.

Lovingly decorating our tree and then having to pick up all the ornaments off the floor and move them higher and higher and out of the reach of pesky little kittens ;)

Buying and eating LOTS of chocolate. I also did attempt to make chocolate truffles but the mixture was far too runny. If anyone has a good recipe to share I'd really appreciate it.

Seeing my first Panto ever - which was great! I've lived in the UK for donkey's years but somehow never got around to going to one before. The best part of the show was seeing an allotment friend star as the evil vampire granny! We'll definitely be making a matinee show with the Peel Pantaloons a yearly Christmas tradition.

Sharing the fruits of the year's labour with friends :) This hamper was filled with Elderflower wine, handmade soaps, a dark-sugar and almond scrub, Oatmeal and currant biscuits (cookies), Spicy Green Tomato Chutney and some of my handmade elderflower and white grape jelly.

Enjoying the encroaching darkness with cheerful Christmas lights. It's now past the longest night of the year but it's still as black as midnight by 5pm. A bit of colour and cheerful holiday vibes help to brighten up these dark days.

Relaxing in front of warm crackling fires with my little family. There's nothing that says 'home' on a cold winter's evening than the comforting light and warmth that comes from an open fireplace.

Collecting and sending Christmas cards... With many of our loved ones living scattered across the world it's just wonderful to receive a physical reminder of their love and friendship. I also received a lovely present of some sweet pea seeds from The Weaver :)

Every cook has a signature dish for the holidays and mine has become a luscious Pecan pie. We've just finished the last two slices so it will be another year or so before we tuck into this special treat again. That's definitely something to look forward to :) Tip - if you're making it yourself, make sure to toast the pecans before you put them in the pie. I have no idea why so many recipes omit this step.

Catching up with friends over tasty food, holiday music, warming drinks and great laughs!

Seeing our little kittens enjoy their first Christmas. Of course they don't realise what all the fuss is about but they didn't mind getting their favourite toy from Santa: a loo roll. They gleefully ripped their way through it, leaving a layer of white shreds all over the living room carpet. I think we're the only ones on the Isle of Man who had a white Christmas ;)

Getting up to the allotment to pick Brussels Sprouts then taking them home and cooking them up with entire packets of bacon. How can I have ever not loved these fine veggies?

Making soap and small crafts and hosting my first market stall...what an absolute blast! I really look forward to expanding into more local events next year as well as putting more of my products up for sale online. I had such a great time sharing what I do and chatting with those who stopped by the stand. Just lovely :)

I sincerely hope you've also had a wonderful December so far and wish you the very best for a happy and joyous New Years celebration!

How to make a Christmas Centrepiece

2011-12-22T15:51:00.000Z

Christmas dinner is only days away and while the food and drinks are nearly sorted, I've been a bit lax on my Christmas decorations so far this year. This is due to both preparing for my Christmas market stall as well as to some naughty overgrown kittens who insist on tearing down anything dangly! Needless to say, the squirt bottle hasn't been gathering any dust but still our Christmas tree ornaments have all slowly migrated to the top of the tree.

Though I've been catching up by decorating the dining area in fairy lights and small Christmas ornaments, I wanted to decorate the table with a festive yet green holiday centrepiece. Green meaning lush and verdant but also green in the sense that it was something that wasn't manufactured in China or shipped here from Sweden. And wanting to keep in the spirit of making it myself and on a budget I set out to construct it using what I already had in the garden.

Nearly everyone has a bit of green that they can scavenge for this project - whether it's pine cones from the park or holly from the hedge. There's really no need to buy any of the 'organic' bits unless you live in the heart of the city. Just walk around your available green spaces with a basket and some secateurs and snip bits of this and bits of that, keeping in mind the proportions of colour and texture that you're trying to achieve in your final piece. And if you don't already have a bit of wire (preferably green) around the house, you can head down to your local florist and ask to buy some off of them. I paid 5p per 12" piece of the thin wire and for the coil of thicker wire about £3.

Christmas Wreath Centrepiece

Materials:
4-5 bundles of greenery: holly, pine, cyprus, ivy, box, etc.
7-10 thin yet flexible sticks about 18" long - willow or hazel work really well
Florist wire - a thin gauge wire is required but a second thicker gauge wire for the frame is also great. Cut about ten 3"-pieces of wire, five of each gauge if possible.
Wire cutters - though scissors will cut the very thin wire
Secateurs - to cut and trim branches
A thick and tall candle - to place in the centre of the wreath
Two curious cats - optional

First you'll need to bend your 18" long sticks around in a circle to make the wreath's frame. Stagger them about three inches apart though so the ends aren't all aligned in one place. If you don't stagger the sticks then you might be left with a frame with one side that's a bit chunkier than the other. Using the 3" pieces of the larger gauge wire, begin securing the sticks together until you have a symmetrical circle. Once you're satisfied with the shape, take your secateurs and trim off any stick ends that are jutting out. Keep the secateurs close to the frame and cut at an angle.

Now make a small bouquet of your green material leaving the longer pieces in the back and keeping the finer and more colourful bits in the front. You'll have enough greenery in your bouquet when the circumference of it is similar in size to the circumference of your frame. With a piece of the thinner gauge wire, tightly secure this bouquet onto the wooden frame.

You'll need to repeat this bouquet-making and securing step all around the frame until it's fully fleshed out and you're happy with the final design. Try to tuck the ends of your bouquets under the last one placed on the frame in order to keep the wreath's width even. The last step is merely going over the wreath and incorporating additional bits of greenery into places that look a bit thin or that need some colour. Use more of the florist wire to attach these pieces but try to disguise it with your greenery as much as possible.

And there you have it: a lovely and easy-to-make centrepiece for Christmas dinner. Once all the materials were gathered it literally took me about five minutes to make so I plan on making another one tomorrow as well as scaling up for a larger one as a wreath for the door. In all I'll have paid about £5 for my materials and have three gorgeous decorations to greet our guests with on Christmas day.

Happy crafting :)

Christmas Market Round-up

2011-12-19T14:45:00.000Z

The craziness and excitement of preparing for my first Christmas Market is over - and to a resounding success! My last week of designing, printing and attaching labels and packaging, ordering materials, sewing ornaments and table-cloths and general running around like a maniac is over. You really can't underestimate the amount of work you have to put into a small business - especially if you plan to do and make everything yourself.

But it all paid off in the end and despite the bitter cold and low levels of foot traffic I did really well. I went into this first venture with modest expectations but couldn't help but hope for some decent sales. My hopes came true and I was able to sell twice as much as I originally thought possible. It's really encouraging since I also decided to rent a stand at a new Christmas market on the less-popular end of the Douglas shopping strip. Considering this, I really think I'll do even better at some of the larger and more established events.

Though the event went along smoothly, I did learn quit a bit about both manning a stand and getting to know my target market. Firstly, it's ideal to have two people at the stand - if you're planning on being there for more than three hours you'll need someone to chat to as well as to man the fort while you nip away to find a loo. While my lovely husband was there to help me out this time, I did incur some sales damage when I left him alone behind the stand. Nothing scares away little old ladies than a big guy in all black with a dark beanie. How bizarre it must have been for them to see such a character behind a feminine display of handmade soaps! We laughed about it when I came back but I think I need to partner up with another lady for future events ;)

I also found that my target market turned out to be much more defined than I thought it would be. My intent is to create handmade soap with high quality natural ingredients for a feminine and low-cost luxurious experience attractive to women of all ages, especially those in their 30-60s. But from my first sales event I'd have to say that women on the lower end of that spectrum either cruised right on by or stopped to admire and have a smell but usually left empty handed. However most of them had small children with them though so I'm imagining that either management of the brood or economic circumstance impacted sales at this end. It's women with more personal time and disposable income who I need to focus on.

While I made mainly large bars of soap, I did also make two other smaller sizes which I priced lower than the larger ones. The idea was to make some variations in size that would appeal to women not wanting to spend as much or who wanted to try a variety of soaps without investing in larger bars. My biggest surprise of the day was to find that the smaller soaps were in no way more popular. Why this is, I can only guess... But it does make my life easier in knowing that I don't have to make and package as many smaller soaps in the future!

The last lesson I learned was to simply focus on one type of product rather than try to branch out too much with other items. In addition to my soaps I also had plush handmade Christmas decorations and catnip toys made out of the same festive material. I sold two of the ornaments and none of the cat toys - in fact, I don't think anyone even cast a glance over to the basket of little catnip filled bags. Oh well...my friend's cats are going to have a merry Christmas at least!

Lovely Greens at the Christmas Market

2011-12-13T15:51:00.000Z

Busy busy bee...that's been me for the last week. For the first time ever I'll be manning an event stand to sell my own goods. Even though it's just a small table and only for a single afternoon, there's plenty to prepare. Aside from making and labeling handmade soaps I've also been trudging through the joy of sorting out cosmetic safety assessments, insurance, accounting templates and all sorts of tedious yet necessary tasks. I've also had two Christmas events to coordinate over the weekend, including our annual allotment Christmas party as well as an island-wide allotment lunch and panto. It's been a blast though and we've had a great time catching up with friends :)

The event I'll be at this weekend is called the Christmas Emporium which is a new Christmas market currently open on Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons running up to the 25th. Situated on Castle Street, it's been drawing crowds of shoppers with festive music, a carousel, mulled wine and small producers hawking their wares from outdoor stands. I've booked myself half a table (about 1.5m/5ft wide) and will be selling not only handmade soaps but also some hand-sewn Christmas crafts.

I've made a variety of soaps over the last five weeks or so including Lavender, Sunshine (Calendula, Citronella & Melissa Balm), Kitchen (Woad, Rosemary & Tea Tree), Spicy Provence (Madder and Alkanet Root with Geranium and Lavender), Honey & Almond, and Christmas (Madder root, Cinnamon, nutmeg, fir & Balsam). You should just smell the aroma coming from the kitchen...mmmmmm :)

So if you're on the Isle of Man, please stop by for a chat this Sunday the 18th. My stall will be alongside Grand Designs near the carousel and I'll be there from 12-4pm. If you're far far away but are interested in buying some of my products, I'm opening an Etsy shop and eventually my own website in the next few months.

In the meantime, I wish you all the very best for your own holiday parties, feasting and crafting. This is certainly one of the best times of the year!

Handmade Lavender Soap

Handmade Calendula, Citronella & Melissa Balm Soap

Willow Weaving Course

2011-12-08T18:17:00.000Z

This is very tempting... Should I or shouldn't I? Hmmmmm...

Liebster Award

2011-12-06T17:25:00.000Z

I've just received a Liebster Award from Dani at Eco-Footprint South Africa. Dani writes about homesteading in an arid climate, using green energy such as solar ovens and making low-impact and cost effective products at home. We've been following each other's blogs for about six months now and though I haven't told her yet I'm hoping to visit her the next time I'm in South Africa. Cheeky me ;)

A Liebster Award is given out by bloggers to other blogs that they enjoy reading. It's a great way to help readers find relevant links to new information and people as well as just being a bit of fun. As mentioned in a past post, it can be difficult to find quality material out on the blogosphere so little events like this can definitely make a difference.

The rules of the award are simple: once you receive it you must pass it on to five other blogs that you enjoy and also give a mention to the person who awarded you in the first place. For me it's difficult to choose just five but here are some of the many on my favourite blogs list.

In no particular order...

Potager Y @ Japan
Vegetable gardening in Japan... Lrong grows about 40 to 50 types of vegetables, and about 20 types of fruits in his potager-garden. It's interesting to see him growing such a mix of both western and Asian produce as well as have a peek into his unique gardening experience.

Star Haus
I originally found Luz.e.H's blog Wee Waldorf on Pinterest but by that time she'd stopped blogging on that site and started up another blog called Star Haus. Like me she enjoys making beauty products, home crafts, great food and spending time with her family.

Green Bean Chronicles
Self-described as urban homesteader, green mom, avid knitter, and one bad mother clucker. Her writing style is quite entertaining and as a Virgo I love her use of tidy lists ;)

Path to Self-Suficiency
Heiko and his wife live in Italy where they try to grow and forage for as much of their own food as possible. I've finally learned what Coltsfoot looks like thanks to his recent wild-food quiz :)

New Domesticity
A blog I've recently come across and one whose subject matter is very close to my heart: modern home-making. The blogger Emily Matchar is also in the process of writing a book on the phenomena of modern, educated women reviving “lost” domestic arts.

Rendering Beeswax

2011-12-02T17:31:00.003Z

A couple of weekends ago I went to a beekeeping sale at a private residence with the aim of picking up some inexpensive equipment and maybe even a complete hive. Forcing my husband out of bed on a Saturday morning, I had it timed so that we arrived exactly at 10am - when the sale was scheduled to begin. Unfortunately, everyone who was interested in scooping up a deal arrived about half an hour earlier than us and claimed everything of interest. What a disappointment! But the seller took pity on me and send me home with a small tub of beeswax as a consolation gift. Though melted down from its original state, it had yet to be fully cleaned and rendered. It presented an excellent opportunity to get some practice in for next year when I hope to be processing my own beeswax.

Now if you recall from an earlier post on the Isle of Man Beekeeper's Honey Show, you'll remember that I mentioned a lovely gentleman beekeeper named Mr. Mills. He was definitely the dominant force at the event and won awards from everything from his artwork to frames full of honey and bowls of pure filtered beeswax. It turns out he decided to come to the beekeeping sale as well and in friendly conversation gave me some valuable advice on how to clean the beeswax.

Beeswax lining some hive frames and pure filtered beeswax at the Honey Show

But before I get to that, you're probably wondering what rendering beeswax is all about. Beeswax is a waxy substance that honey bees secrete from glands on their body and use to mould into a structure called comb. It's in this comb that they lay their eggs, nurture their young and store their food - pollen, nectar and honey. They also use it, often in conjunction with propolis, to fill any gaps or holes in their hive which might allow drafts or invaders in. In an average hive harvest, a beekeeper may be able to collect between three to eight pounds of beeswax which can be melted down and used to create new hive foundation or household products such as furniture polish and beauty creams. However, beeswax in its raw state is full of impurities such as dirt, bee parts and waste from the bees' everyday living. Though bee hives are generally kept very clean, there is a certain accumulation of material very much in the same way as dust or occasional grime can be found in a relatively clean home.

A close-up of unfiltered beeswax

Rendering beeswax is usually a two-step process: water-filtering and then screen filtering. Though I have yet to do the first step myself, theoretically this is what you do: place your beeswax in a vat of simmering water for about thirty minutes - this melts the wax and helps separate it from the impurities. After thirty minutes you gently tip the water out of the pot, passing it through a couple of layers of muslin to catch any stray bits of wax and of course the 'gunk'. Hopefully at this stage your pot will be filled with golden beeswax which you can either leave in the pot or pour into other containers, depending on your method for step two. I think that the beeswax I was given had gone through this stage and was simply ready to be filtered a second time. It had been poured into a plastic tub and while the wax hardened, all the remaining dust, dirt and grime sank to the bottom. So while the top of the beeswax looked clean, the bottom was a filthy layer of material which needed to be removed.

Simple equipment for rendering beeswax

Now Mr.Mills told me his secret to creating his beautiful cakes of beeswax was to heat the wax and pass it through lint - fuzzy side up. I assumed he was speaking of dryer lint when he told me this but thought to do a bit of internet research first just to make sure. It turns out that many beekeepers use surgical lint when rendering their beeswax. Thank goodness I looked it up! Seeing as I didn't have any in the house I thought back to what else Mr. Mills told me and I recall him also mentioning using tights as a filter. Visions of him covertly rummaging through Mrs. Mills lingerie drawer came to mind. It turned out that I had some I no longer used as well as a coincidentally matching single sock whose mate had disappeared some time ago. In my hunt I also found a paint mask that I thought might work as a filter for wax as well. My idea was that I'd use all three at the same time.

My next step was finding an old tin can, cleaning it and taking the bottom off so that it had both an open and bottom end. Using an old can opener I then punctured two holes at the top of the can through which I could pass a bit of string (tights) through as a handle. Leaving the top open, I placed the mask over the bottom then pulled the foot part of my tights up and over the can then put the sock on over the tights. With the broken-up beeswax placed inside the can, my homemade filter was ready to go.

Creating a homemade filter

Beeswax will burn and/or turn dark brown if it's heated to temperatures over 75°C (167°F) so the idea was to dangle the can over a silicone baking mould in the oven at 70°C and allow the wax to filter and drip through as it melts. Unfortunately my triple filtration system was a bit too much since after five hours in the oven nothing had even begun to come through - despite the delicious honey aroma wafting through the house. Conscious of the energy I was wasting by leaving the oven on for so long I decided to remove a couple of layers. Taking the mask and sock off and scraping the wax back into the can I then placed it back in the oven with only the tights as a filter. Three hours later and the beeswax had melted and passed through leaving only a bit of wax and dark material behind. The melted golden liquid inside the silicone mould was still transparent at that point but after spending the night inside the oven it solidified into a gorgeous golden slab.

Now today it's on to the fun part - what to make with it? :)

Heating beeswax in the oven and allowing it to drip through the filter

The fully cleaned beeswax

The beeswax taken out of the silicone mould

Gardening Monthly - November

2011-11-29T16:01:00.000Z

It’s late in the season to finish up with autumn digging but there you have it, the last week of November and my final allotment bed has just been dug. Whether due to miserable weather or conflicting plans I just haven’t been able to get up and finish the job. But even gale-force winds couldn’t stop me this week and I tackled my furthest bed with a garden fork, a thermos of hot tea and a firmly anchored safety line so the gusts wouldn’t carry me off the side of the hill. Well maybe not the safety line, but I certainly could have used one!

Though it’s less than a month away from official winter, I do have quite a bit of veg still standing up against the elements. Brussels sprouts and Purple Sprouting Broccoli are holding up well as is the Kale which has been very handy as a late season green. Some of the Perpetual Spinach and Swiss Chard are also trucking along and two rows of Kohlrabi are sitting nicely and just waiting to be snapped up for hearty December meals. All in all quite a good amount of veg to keep us happy, healthy and involved in the garden over the cold months ahead.

Even so, most of my beds have now been cleared and forked over and they’ll be lying quiet under their blankets of seaweed or manure until late March. Four months seems like such a long time but thoughts of next year’s planting season and harvest are already on my mind, even more so with the dangerous pile of seed catalogues on my desk. It’s scarily easy to spend a small fortune on seeds and sundries, and looking at my current seed inventory I know that I need to create a solid growing plan for next year and make sure that I use as much of what I already have before making more purchases.

The best way for me to get my head around the next year’s planting is to review the last harvest – thinking about what grew well, what we enjoyed eating, and if there was anything new that I’d like to try out. I then move on to actually drawing out my allotment beds and planning what I want to put where, also considering crop rotations, crop height and position of the sun. This way it makes my garden much easier to visualise and keeps the amount I want to grow more realistic. My plan might be revised two, three, or a dozen times over the winter but at least I have an initial idea and can work on from there.

CW from top left: Pink Fir Apple Potatoes, French Bean Cosse Violette, Quinoa Temuco and Spaghetti Squash

My best vegetables this summer were the ones that thrived in damp and cooler temperatures. While the rest of the UK seems to have had a few heat waves, we on the Isle of Man enjoyed highs of about 15°C. Needless to say, some of my crops didn’t do so well. Sweet -corn and tomatoes performed miserably and my climbing French beans didn’t even begin producing until early September. I figure that the only thing you can do is trudge on and wish for better weather next year – and perhaps research some hardier varieties, just in case.

This year I tried several new types of fruit and veg, some of which were real winners. I was very impressed with Quinoa ‘Temuco’ and found that it does quite well in wet and windy weather, though it’s really meant to grow in a warmer environment. It’s a grain we’ve come to use regularly so it’s definitely made the cut. I'm also crossing my fingers that my three Cape Gooseberry bushes will survive the winter. Though they didn’t produce many ripe berries this year, I’m hoping they’ll do much better in some proper summer sunshine. Other successes were Spaghetti Squash which grew mountains of delicious golden fruit, Gherkins which made crisp pickles, and Brussels Sprouts which I was surprised to find really tasty. But experimenting sometimes leads to crops which you’re happy to have tried out but not planning on growing again. Such is my experience with Strawberry Spinach, an unusual green related to wild plants such as Lambs Quarter. It’s unique and grows prolifically but I found the thick stems and small leaves too fiddly, and its spinach-flavoured strawberries not the most palatable of fruits.

Some new varieties of plants that I’d like to try growing in 2012 are actually not for eating but rather for naturally colouring my soaps. I’ve begun using both woad and madder root powder for blue, green and pink colours and want to have a go at growing and processing these botanicals myself. I have a good sized bed behind the house that I’m setting aside for them and with any luck will be able to self-source most of the product I’ll need for next year. And as for new veg, I’ve decided to give up my ordinary green beans and go with a purple-podded variety whose pods will be easier for me to spot against dense green foliage. I’ve also tried some strange and knobbly potatoes given to me by a friend this summer and am officially converted. So it’s out with the King Edwards as main-crops and in with Pink Fir Apples.

With the wind whipping outside and the rain beating against the house it’s hard to imagine days of soft golden light and green leaves pushing up from the soil. But winter is really just a blink of the eye and I know that spring planting will be here sooner than I can imagine. Because I’m the type of person who enjoys an organised garden, growing new plants and saving money I’ll be spending these cold and dark days continuing to reflect on my past growing year and planning for the next. Come warmer days I’ll be prepared and excited to dig in for another bountiful year at the allotment.

Home Economy: Wine Making

2011-11-23T12:54:00.003Z

I've siphoned and corked twenty-four bottles of wine this week - twelve of blackcurrant, six of rhubarb and six of elderflower. It's hard to decide which of the three is my favourite but if I had to I'd choose the Elderflower. An open glass of it will waft the aroma of June blossoms from across the room and the taste is as crisp as an autumn morning - a delicious combination to say the least. While the blackcurrant was always going to be a winner the rhubarb also turned out to be surprisingly tasty. The smell and flavour is reminiscent of rhubarb and there's a little oxalic acid kick in the after taste just as you would have with eating a rhubarb crumble. My husband suggested putting sugar in it to make a drink - not a bad idea I think. A bit of mulled rhubarb wine anyone?

Though I do admit to enjoying a nice glass of shop-purchased Malbec from time to time I have to say that I enjoy my country wines just as much. The flavours are unique, rarely to be found commercially and the pleasure of making it myself adds to the enjoyment I feel when having a glass. But another added benefit is cost.

On average we probably go through about a bottle of wine a week...sometimes more and sometimes less depending on time of the year. At between £5.50-7.99 per bottle that totals up to a considerable £350 ($545US) per year. Ouch! So I wanted to work out exactly how much it costs me to make a bottle of wine myself and compare it to the cost of puchasing bottles at the shop. By costing out the equipment I use I hope to also help those of you who are interested in taking up wine making yourselves. The costings below are for standard home production of wine using glass demi-johns, which hold approximately six bottles of wine each. Though I already had some of the things I've listed below, I've added in their prices as if I were starting off this year with all new equipment. There are quite a few more ingredients and pieces of kit that are nice to have but not essential - these include hydrometers, wine thiefs, wine finings, professional wine labels, wine presses, and so much more.

A Basic Yearly Wine-making Budget

Glass demi-johns - free; scavenged from the amenity site and can be used many times over. If you can't find any of these for free then they can also be purchased from wine-making suppliers for around £7.
Plastic airlock - £0.80 X 2 = £1.60
Bung for airlock - £0.40 X 2 = £0.80
Bung for after fermentation - £0.40 X 3 = £1.20
Yeast Nutrient - £2.70; Vitamins and minerals that wine yeast needs to survive. Most country wine bases don't have enough to keep them happy so you'll need to add a bit of this at the beginning of fermentation.
Packets of yeast - £1.05 X 9 = £9.45
Siphoning Hose: £4.95
Corker: £16.99
Corks: £8.00; £4 for 30 at my local health food store but you can find them slightly cheaper online.
Bulk white sugar - £14.79 for 12.5kg at the local cash-and-carry. Prices will vary depending on whether it buy it online or at a shop.
Pectolase: £2.20; This removes the pectin from your wine which is important in wines that include fruit like apple and blackcurrant. Without it your wine will be opaque and a bit more like cider. I'm including this because I think it's important for wine but I can also see the argument that it's not essential.
Fruit, Veggies and Berries - £29.75; Some of mine came free since I either grew or foraged it but I did spend some money on the blackcurrants I picked from a PYO farm (£10), Ginger (£0.50), Apples (£4), Melon (£0.75) Pears (£1), Lemons (£3), pure Grape juice (£6) and Pineapple Juice (£4.50). The amount you'll spend in this area will vary depending on what types of wine you choose to make and if you have your own produce to use. I also like to scout the discount veggie display at my local grocery store for deals - over-ripe fruit is perfect for wine making. This year I've made the following types: Apple, Apple and Pear, Blackcurrant, Elderflower, Grape, Melon and Ginger, Parsnip, Pineapple and Rhubarb.

There are various other bits of kit that I used as well but am not counting them since I already had them and am sure you will probably have too: funnel, large spoons, cutting boards, knives, pans, fine-mesh strainer, tubs, cloth kitchen towels.

So let's say in total I've spent £92.43 this year on wine-making supplies. £92.43 divided by the number of bottles of wine I'll have (54) is £1.71 per bottle - opposed to the average of about £6.50 in the shop.

Taking into account the purchase of equipment this year, which will serve you well for years to come, the cost of making wine goes down to $66.89. This will work out to about £1.24 per bottle of wine - which I'm actually paying myself. And if you are able to source all your own fruit, berries and vegetables your cost will go down to an astounding £0.69 per bottle. You can't beat that! But as mentioned before, wine making is a fun hobby and one that you can chat to others about, refine over years and enjoy with friends. Let me tell you that anyone who makes their own booze is going to be the star of the party :)

Isle of Man Beekeepers - 2011 Honey Show

2011-11-20T20:19:00.000Z

The Isle of Man Beekeepers hosted their annual Honey Show last weekend and there was no way that I was going to miss it. Though I haven't yet acquired a hive of my own, I'm keen to gather advice and ideas before I begin next spring. There are a few younger members in the association but the people most involved in events such as the Honey Show are beekeepers with years, if not decades, of experience - both in handling honey-bees but also in making useful products out of the three main hive products: Honey, Beeswax and Propolis.

The main product exhibited at the Honey Show was obviously honey...lots of honey. Rows of it in varying shades of amber and gold were proudly displayed for the benefit of both judge and peers. These jars of liquid sunshine represent the culmination of a full year's work - from keeping the bees well taken care of over winter, feeding them when their food stores were low, inspecting and managing the hive over the spring and summer and finally uncapping the comb and extracting the honey in the autumn.

It's fascinating to note how different some of the shades of honey there were and to know that it's primarily to do with their forage. For example, pollen and nectar collected from heather tend to give honey a much darker colour and thicker consistency from honey which comes from the forage of mixed flowers and trees. And while honey from hives placed in rapeseed fields is generally of a lighter colour anyway, it also tends to go opaque and almost white since this type of honey crystallises easily. This tendency to crystallise can also make it difficult for beekeepers to extract since it can harden in the comb - I've even heard a beekeeper once expressing gratitude that we have very few rapeseed fields on the island.

Golden jars of delicious Manx honey

First prize for a display of 12 1lb jars of honey

But honey that crystallises in the jar is not an issue at all and actually quite nice to eat. It's very spreadable in that state and can also be returned to a clear and runny version of itself by placing the jar in a warm place such as a window sill or even a cardboard box with a lightbulb inside - a tactic that one of our local beekeepers employs. I'm sure that there are people out there who have probably come across crystallised honey in a shop or even in their own cupboards and thought that it's gone off. But do stop before passing it by or throwing it out! Honey has one of the longest shelf lives of all foods and apparently pots of it found in ancient Egyptian tombs have been found to still be edible after thousands of years. And if you're skeptical of that factoid, do note that the conventional expiration date of pure honey can be 20+ years.

Crystallised honey

But the show didn't stop at honey - there are so many things that you can make with hive products and many of them were there on display. Beeswax candles, furniture polish and even paintings had their own categories as did honey-based cough syrups, wines and confectionery. You could also expand out into creating all sorts of useful household and beauty products which include soap, creams, crayons, cordials and propolis tincture, which is a little-known and expensive health product which is used in the treatment of colds, flus, sore-throats and mouth ulcers. Though I hope to experiment with my own products when the time comes, I'm really very interested in using beeswax in handmade and unscented soap. Beeswax has such a lovely natural honey colour and smell but it also has qualities that help to create a harder and longer lasting bar.

Some of the many products which can be made from your hive harvest

A beautiful display of natural beeswax

Honey can also be used as a sugar replacement in most foods - even when making jams and jellies. Though pure honey is expensive in the shop, it's relatively inexpensive to produce if you are keen on keeping bees. Just imagine what you'd be able to cook on a regular basis with an average of about fifty pounds of honey a year per hive: honey cakes, candies, cough-drops, bread, cordials, dressings, marinates... all of course leaving plenty of honey for toast and tea. There were a variety of dishes presented at the show but the one which caught my eye was Janet Thompson's Honey Ginger cake, it really made my mouth water! I had to leave shortly after the awards ceremony so I'm still wondering if I missed out on tasting it with the drinks that were being prepared as I left. But in any case, I've definitely been inspired to try making one myself!

Baked goods made with honey

Preserves made with honey

In all it was a wonderful show filled with so many interesting personalities...from the polished politician to the quirky grandpa of a beekeeper. The energy was high and it was clear that everyone was having a marvelous time, this being definitely one of the most anticipated beekeeping events of the season. It was also lovely seeing all my instructors from the beekeeping course and to see them all do so well in each competition - Cilla Platt and Janet Thompson well deservedly won time and again for their entries. My interest and enthusiasm in sorting out my equipment to begin next year was renewed and promises of instruction in the fine art of beeswax cleaning and even possible sites for hive placement have sweetened the deal. I hope that by this time next year I'll also be entering my honey into the show...as well as my handmade soaps :)

Mr. Mills showing off his gorgeous honey-comb...there's about four pounds of honey in that frame!

One of those Weeks...

2011-11-18T09:37:00.000Z

Ever had one of those weeks that you just couldn't pull away from paperwork and drudgery? That pretty much sums up this last one for me... The good news is that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I'm so happy that I'll be able to get away from my computer this weekend and finally be able to spend some time outside. We've got a few things planned but the highlight will be the chance of buying a couple of bee hives from a retiring beekeeper tomorrow. It's a shame when someone has to give up one of their passions, but at the same time I look forward to walking into some good quality equipment at hopefully bargain prices.

The other exciting bit of news this week is another one of my 'finds' - a very solid wood desk that I found down at the amenity site last weekend. We've been looking for a garage work bench for awhile now but the shops I've approached have given me prices ranging from £60 to over £100 for their least expensive options. Seeing as we were hoping to pay less than £50, this desk is not only well under our budget (being free!) but sturdy enough to provide years of use. Maybe I'll have my chicken coop finished by spring after all :)

Homemade Sourdough

2011-11-14T17:31:00.000Z

The sourdough starter I made back in June is still going strong, even with a couple of long stints of living at the back of the fridge. The smell has definitely matured into what I'd describe as a warm yeasty wine and the flavour has only grown more delicous as time has gone on. I'm feeding my starter about once a week now - either directly after using some of it for bread-making or sometimes by just replacing half of it with new feed (whole-meal flour and water). When I'm planning on not using it for awhile I put the starter into the fridge where the yeast's metabolism will slow down and I'm able to leave it for up to a couple of weeks.

Sourdough bread is a great alternative to conventional bread for a number of reasons: firstly, the wild yeast and bacteria that make up your sourdough starter create a bread that's more nutrient rich and digestible than bread made from ordinary dry yeast. Sourdough is also a cost-effective option since if you treat it well, you can keep the same batch going for life thus saving money spent on store-bought yeast. Sourdough bread also has a unique tangy flavour and chewy texture that goes well on its own but is even better when used to make a sandwich or as a base for bruschetta.

The one real downside of sourdough is the time it takes you to make a loaf of bread. Making a loaf using dry yeast purchased at the shop takes approximately three to four hours start to finish. Sourdough yeast works at a much slower rate and so a finished loaf will need about twenty-four hours in total. But don't let that put you off! Most of that time can be spent sleeping or engaged in other activities. When I'm making bread I plan on staying home and catching up on folding laundry, bottling wine or any number of other things on my to-do list.

Sourdough Starter

Sourdough Bread
Makes two loaves

To make the sponge:
1 ladle (about 1/2 cup) Sourdough Starter
625 ml warm water
500g Strong Bread Flour

To make the dough:
The sponge you made overnight
600g Strong Bread Flour
25g Sea Salt
1 Tbsp Olive oil

The first step in making a loaf of sourdough takes place the day before you plan to bake it. You measure 500 grams of bread flour with 625 grams of warm water along with a ladle full of your sourdough starter into a bowl. Then mix it well, cover the bowl with an air-permeable layer, such as a cloth, and leave it in a warm place overnight. While you're sleeping the yeast will be actively multiplying and by the time you wake up the entire mixture will essentially be a fresh batch of sourdough starter - technically called a sourdough sponge.

The Sourdough Sponge...after sitting in a warm place overnight

You then mix into this sponge 600 grams more flour as well as the sea salt and olive oil which will then transform it into a dough. Knead it as you would any other bread dough - the only difference between this dough and others is that it is much wetter so flouring your hands and work surface are important. But after the kneading is complete the dough should be elastic, shiny and pliable and can be fairly manageable without leaving your hands covered in goo. Now form your dough into a round ball, tucking any loose ends underneath; pour about a half teaspoon of olive oil on top and gently rub it all over the surface of your dough - this will help keep the dough from drying out.

The wetter than usual dough

Kneading the dough

Rinse out your mixing bowl and fill it with hot water - leave it for a few minutes or until the heat has been absorbed by the bowl. Pour out the water, wipe the bowl down with a clean kitchen rag and oil the bowl with about a teaspoon of olive oil. Put your dough inside the bowl and place a damp kitchen rag over the top before placing it in a warm area of the house and allowing the dough to rise. After an hour, dump the dough out onto a clean work surface and punch it down flat with your fingertips. Form it back into a ball and place it back into the bowl with the damp cloth over it - leave it to rise for another hour before punching the gas out again. You'll need to repeat this step four times.

Allowing the dough to rise

After the fourth rising and punching is complete, take your dough out of the bowl and divide it in two. There are numerous ways to shape a loaf but sourdough generally doesn't have the strength to hold itself up that well so I personally wouldn't bother trying to do anything elaborate. This time I simply rolled one piece up into a ball and put it into an oiled bowl. The other I flattened and rolled up like a swiss roll, pinching the seam together and pulling the ends under the loaf before placing it into an oiled baking tin. Now put both of these containers of dough into a plastic bag, which helps keep the dough moist, and place them back into that warm part of the house to rise. This final rise will take anywhere from four to eight hours depending on a number of factors but mainly on the temperature of your home, how active the yeast is and how large you want the holes inside the bread to be. Ideally you want the dough to at least double in size.

Dividing the dough and moving to smaller supporting containers

How the dough looks after it's final rise

When you think the dough is nearly ready, pre-heat your oven, a baking tin and a shallow pan placed at the bottom of your oven to 250°C/480°F. You'll also need get about a cup of water boiling in the kettle and fill a clean food-safe spray bottle up with some cool water. When the oven has reached the correct temperature, slash the top of the dough in the tin a few times - this will allow it to expand easier when it's baking. Now take the pre-heated tin out of the oven and up-end the dough from the bowl on top. It's quite possible that the dough will flop out and go relatively flat - don't worry about this at all. Slash the top of this dough as well but rather than parallel lines cut a single shallow square into the top as this will help keep the loaf in a rounder shape. Now place the bread tin on top of this baking tin, spray both loaves lightly with water and put the whole thing into the oven. Pour the boiling water into the pan you set at the bottom of the oven then close the oven up and bake for ten minutes. The steam from the water will help set the crust and keep your loaves moist as they bake. After ten minutes, turn the temperature down to 180°C/350°F and keep baking for another 35 minutes. Take the bread out of the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before slicing.

~ Enjoy

Sourdough made in a bread tin; check out the top-most image for how a freestyle loaf looks

Yorkshire Puddings

2011-11-12T12:19:00.000Z

What Sunday roast would be complete without light as air, gravy smothered Yorkshire Puddings? A British favourite, they are created from a basic batter which when baked at high heat expand up into crispy puff-ball like side dishes complete with a hollow centre. Traditionally served with roast beef or lamb and with accompanying gravy, they are a staple of the British weekend experience. Though many people opt to buy them frozen and heat them up in the oven they're really very easy to make and I really encourage everyone to try it at least once. I guarantee that if you try the recipe below you'll be not only astounded at their simplicity but also their divine taste. As with anything these days, shop bought is generally lower in quality and flavour than anything you can make at home!

Though essentially simple to make, it literally took me several years to discover what I consider to be the easiest and best recipe for Yorshire puddings. And to be perfectly honest, my first couple of tries were disasters - though I blame my old oven for that! I've found that the important tricks of the trade are in the pan you choose to make your puddings in, the correct ratio of ingredients, having a very hot oven and being quick in filling the pans.

Though other Yorkshire Puddings you might have had or seen resemble perfect little cups, you'll notice that mine are much puffier and somewhat asymmetrical. No matter that, they are absolutely delicious and in my opinion unequaled in flavour and texture.

Yorkshire Puddings
Serves 4-5

4 Eggs
Equal volume of flour to eggs
Equal volume of milk to eggs
Pinch to 1/4 tsp Sea Salt - depending on preference
2 Tbsp Roast drippings or Olive Oil

1. Though many people will want to accompany their Yorkshire Puddings with roast, it is very easy to make a vegetarian version using olive oil and serve them up with a lovely mushroom gravy. For those who are making the carnivorous version, the first step you'll need to do is prepare your meat and begin roasting it in the oven.

2. Crack your eggs into a glass measuring cup and measure the volume - in this case my four eggs equal about 3/4 of a cup. Eggs come in many different sizes so measuring them initially will ensure that you have the proper amounts of flour and milk in your recipe.

3. Now place your eggs with equal volume of milk (3/4 cup in this case) into a mixing bowl and add the sea salt. Whisk thoroughly and then leave to stand for ten minutes.

4. Gradually add the same volume of flour (3/4 cup in this case) into the mixing bowl and beat again until the batter resembles thick cream. If there are any lumps remaining that you really can't get out then pass the batter through a fine-mesh strainer/sieve. Now leave the batter to rest at room temperature for at least thirty minutes - longer if possible.

5. When your roast has hit about 60-65°C/140-150°F, take it out of the oven, pour off the drippings and then insulate the roast with tin foil. It's residual heat will continue cooking it for the next ten-twenty minutes out of the oven and will also give you time to prepare your gravy and Yorkshire Puddings.

6. Crank the heat up on your oven to 230°C/450°F - but no hotter since the fat might burn at higher temperatures.

7. Using an ordinary muffin tin, pour about 1/4 tsp of fat or oil into each cavity. If you only have enough drippings left to make the gravy then just use olive oil like I've done this time. When the oven has hit the desired temperature, place this pan into the oven to get the fat/oil super hot and slightly smoking. It will take around a minute or two so hang around the oven and keep an eye on it.

8. When the oil is smoking hot, quickly, but safely, take the pan out of the oven and fill each cavity about 1/3 of the way full with your batter and quickly place the pan back in the oven. If you're taking pictures like I have for this blog post you really have to move like superwoman!

9. Leave the batter to cook and puff up for about twenty minutes using a conventional oven or as little as ten to fifteen minutes with a fan assisted oven. They should be deep golden brown on top and not deflate so much when taken away from the heat. And while they're in the oven you should have enough time to whip up a rich gravy and steamed veggies and towards the end of the time you can slice your roast as well.

10. Serve the puddings up on a plate with slices of roast, veggies of your choice and with a rich gravy over the top ~ Enjoy :)

Preparing the roast with herbs and a bit of olive oil if the cut is lean

Ingredients for the Yorkshire Pudding batter

Leaving the batter to sit for 30+ minutes

The finished roast...and drippings

Filling the muffin tin with oil and/or fat

Pouring batter into the hot and smoking oil

The result: a dozen Yorkshire Puddings

Colouring Soap Naturally: Woad & Madder Root

2011-11-09T15:11:00.000Z

When making soap I like to keep the ingredients as natural, local and earth-friendly as possible. I generally choose to use essential oils rather than fragrance oils and try to source local products such as rapeseed oil and herbs. Though one of my greatest challenges is finding natural ways to colour my soaps without using artificial ingredients.

Conventional soaps are coloured with an assortment of chemicals - even some which are coloured "naturally" are often tinted with pigments such as oxide powders which are created in the laboratory rather than mined from the earth. I'm not sure which one of those sources is worse though! Other conventional colouring methods include the use of liquid dyes, micas and even food colouring - all of which can produce lovely soaps but are not necessarily ingredients you want to put on your skin.

There are lovely herbal and flower infusions (teas) that can help give colour to your soap base though: I use goldenrod and calendula for yellows and alkanet for violets. Honey added into your lye water can give a warm camel brown and chai tea leaves can bleed into beautiful brown specks throughout your bars. But the biggest challenges for me are are blues and reds.

This week I've experimented with two new natural colours which haven't quite given me the tints I was originally after but still led to shades which I think are beautiful. The two new ingredients are woad and madder root powder.

Woad and Madder Root powders

Woad has been used for hundreds of years in the dyeing of cloth and wool and even in native British tribal decoration. Remember when Mel Gibson painted his face blue in Braveheart? That's woad! It keeps secret its vibrant blue personality as a plant though - it looks rather like goldenrod and extracting the blue powder is a time-intensive process. Even so, a textile artist in our allotment grows some on her plot and I've already purchased seeds to grow my own next year. For the soap, I added about 1/8tsp of woad powder to a 400g recipe which uses oils that are primarily yellow. Though I'd hoped to get a blue out of that I was instead rewarded with a gorgeous green-blue - obviously due to my oil colour. The soap that I allowed to go through gel phase turned out much deeper in colour than the non-gelled but I think I can find purposes for both shades. To get a more blue colour I imagine that I'll just need to up the amount of woad powder.

Madder has also been traditionally used in the dyeing of wool, but in achieving a crimson red. I have some seeds for this plant as well but am a wee bit hesitant about sowing it in my garden due to tales of its invasive habits. The roots of the plant are what provide the colour and when ground up they can either be used to infuse oils or be added in to the soap recipe directly. I opted for the second method in my experiment and ended up with a soft feminine pink for the un-gelled soap and a deep salmon colour for the gelled. This time I used 1/4 tsp of the powder and added it to the soap before trace. Though the un-gelled soap was a bit sticky in getting out of the mould, if I'd have left it another day or two it would have come out whole.

I'm quite happy with the results of both these natural ingredients and will definitely be adding them to my must-haves for soap making. If you come across any and want to give it a go I'd love to hear about your experiences as well!

Woad and Madder plants

Early November in the Allotment

2011-11-07T18:17:00.000Z

Today's clear sunny skies meant that I just couldn't wait to get up to the allotment and do some work. With my trip to London last week and fairly constant rain over the last couple of months it's meant that only about three-quarters of my plot has been dug and prepared for winter. The other quarter still has a bit of veg growing on it or represents the bottom bed which was taken over by Jerusalem Artichokes. My main tasks of the day were to dig out as many of these roots as possible in my effort to eradicate them completely and to plant next year's garlic crop.

Over the weekend I bought six garlic bulbs which will hopefully grow steadily throughout the next eight months and bless me with about fifty of the same by about next July. Three of the bulbs were of the Marco soft-neck variety, which is known for its distinctive strong flavour and great storage capacity. The other three are the hard-neck French Thermidrome, which is a bit milder in flavour but has much larger cloves which will be great for roasting.

Garlic Marco and Garlic French Thermidrome

Garlic can be planted out either in autumn before the first frost, or in spring after the last. It's best to plant it in the autumn if you live in colder climates so the garlic has a head start on growth and can be harvested earlier in the year. The Isle of Man has a very mild climate and so planting directly into the soil is the best option for me. But if you tend to get a lot of sub-zero temperatures you might be better off growing it in modules in a greenhouse or a cool room in the house. Come spring, these can then be transplanted outside into the garden.

To plant garlic, break the seed bulb into individual cloves and plant these an inch deep into well-drained soil. Cloves should be spaced about four inches apart, with the tapered end pointed up, and in rows at least six inches apart - wide enough to get your hoe through to weed them. Before a few weeks are out, the garlic will put up small green leaves rather like a spring onion. These leaves will stay quite small until the warmer days of spring arrive when they will shoot up quickly. Garlic, like all Alliums, does especially well if top dressed with wood ash so save it up over the winter and sprinkle it lightly over the soil in early spring. Garlic is ready to harvest when the green leaves begin to die back and at this point carefully dig them up and allow them to dry in the sun for a couple of days before bringing them inside.

Spacing the garlic cloves out in their rows

If you've ever tried Jerusalem Artichokes, also known as Sunchokes in the States, you'll be amazed at how such a delicious and nutty flavour can come from such a knobby and humble root. I love them made into a rich, creamy soup but they are also great roasted or even mashed in with potato or swedes for a lovely side-dish. So I should be happy that they've invaded a bottom bed in my allotment, right? Well I would be if it weren't for their rather noxious effect on my digestive system which results in my husband's preference to sleep on the sofa rather than endure methane-enhanced sleep!

All kidding aside, they can give you quite uncomfortable and appalling gas so if you've never tried them before, don't even consider it on a first date or before going to your child's flute recital or even worse, a job interview. While there are people who can easily process the Jerusalem Artichoke's carbohydrate, called inulin, it is a bit like Russian Roulette so try it at your own peril.

So it is with sadness that I'm giving up on growing this delicious tuber altogether and today I spent a good couple of hours digging this year's crop up and sifting tiny pieces of tuber out of the soil. Guaranteed I haven't gotten it all but once any remaining roots begin to sprout next year I'll locate and destroy them. In the meantime I have two huge carrier bags bursting with tubers and I seriously have no idea what to do with them. I'd LOVE to eat them but I'm not even going to go there unless I somehow find a way to limit the windy weather.

If you have any suggestions on I'd love to hear back from you :)

Jerusalem Artichoke tubers at the base of the plant

Some of today's Jerusalem Artichoke harvest

Homemade Kefir

2011-11-04T12:23:00.000Z

Yesterday a friend passed on to me half of his Tibetan Milk Mushroom, otherwise known as Kefir or milk grains. This fungus is the basis for the creation of the Kefir drink, a type of lightly carbonated and tangy fermented milk which can be found in many health food stores. Most people have heard of it or tried it before, whether it was in a bottled drink from the shop or from a mango lassi at your local Indian or Middle-Eastern restaurant.

Kefir is probably the easiest and most inexpensive probiotic food to make at home and I'm so glad that I was fortunate to know someone who could pass me on some of their milk grains. Being that it is a live organism makes it relatively difficult to transport or to buy online. But since the fungus will double in size every twenty days it's quite easy to pass it on to a friend each month. I have a couple of people in mind whom I think would really enjoy making Kefir themselves and I look forward to sharing it with one of them in a few weeks.

So other than as a culinary treat would anyone ever regularly drink Kefir? As I found out, there are numerous health benefits of incorporating it into your diet which include boosting the immune system and helping the body to fight off allergies and food intolerances. It's also used in the treatment of metabolic disorders, atherosclerosis, tuberculosis, cancer, poor digestion, candidiasis, osteoporosis, hypertension, HIV and heart disease (link). The main way it works is by increasing the amounts of beneficial flora in your stomach and intestinal tract which in turn enable better digestion and better disease resistance. Did you know that 80% of your immune system is in your guts? This means that by eating healthily, lowering the acidity of your body and taking care of your intestinal flora you are helping to beat off most of those nasty diseases and viruses before they have a chance to make you sick.

What's also interesting is that the fungus converts the sugars (lactose) in the milk into lactic acid, making the resulting thick drink easily digestible to those who are lactose intolerant. You can't beat having such an delicious and healthy drink to keep you fit and active throughout the year, especially during the winter when so many people come down with colds and flus.

How to Make Kefir

Ingredients: Kefir Fungus and whole milk. The milk can be of any variety really and while my friend makes his with cow milk I've just made my first batch with goats.

Kefir is made in a fermentation process that takes up to twenty-four hours. You start with your approximately half to 3/4 a cup of fungus thoroughly rinsed with clean cool water. Though many people use tap water it's probably better to use filtered or spring water since the chlorine in municipal water won't be that great for your little fungus friend.

Never allow the fungus to touch metal - it will kill it. So always use plastic or glass containers, strainers and implements when handling it.

Place your fungus, which will now resemble cooked cauliflower, into a clean container and pour whole milk over it - use between half a pint and a quart. Now cover it with an air-permeable layer, such as a cloth or even a fine-mesh plastic strainer, and place it in a relatively warm place in the house. After twenty-four hours the fermentation should be complete.

Now using your fine-mesh plastic strainer, separate the curd from the liquidy and thickened milk drink. Set your drink aside and then rinse your fungus again and repeat the same process. Doing this you can have fresh Kefir everyday! And not only can you drink it straight, which is probably the most healthy way to take it, but you can also use your remainder in cooking and as a basis for smoothies.

The Kefir after the twenty-four hour fermentation process

Straining the milk from the fungus

The strained but un-rinsed Kefir fungus

The fungus placed back with new milk for tomorrow's Kefir

Ancient Homemaking...at the British Museum

2011-11-02T15:27:00.000Z

I've come to realise something this week: the so called drudgery of modern housekeeping is nothing compared to the real physical labour endured by people in the past. And I'm not even speaking of people from the 19th century, who I think must have had it easy in comparison, but to those living a thousand or even more years ago. Some of us look back in horror at a time when electricity had yet to be discovered and homes weren't equipped with running water or modern appliances. But just try to imagine growing low-yield grain and then grinding it into flour with stones or to have to make your own needles before you even got to sewing. Or just think that the only place you could store your food was in ceramic or wooden containers or in small pits in the ground. Life in those times must have been exceedingly difficult and after a visit last week to the British Museum my respect for our ancestors has definitely been raised a notch.

1st Century Roman Britain: Three pins and four needles, made of bone and bronze

The British Museum contains ancient yet ordinary household items ranging from a 1.8 million year old stone chopping tool to medieval bowls and gardening implements. But probably the most prolific items come from the Roman occupation of Britain in the first to fourth centuries. Comparisons can easily be drawn between the introduction of new technology and culture to Britain by the Romans and a similar process that occurred when European settlers began the colonisation of the Americas. In pre-Roman times, people lived in round, single-roomed shelters, used bronze and bone for tool-making and primarily ate roasted meat and coarse grains and breads. Though things didn't change overnight for most of Britain's people, the Romans were the ones who initially introduced them to iron tools, exotic spices, olive oil, fine wines and even advanced construction and engineering.

Though the conquest and occupation must have been a terrible experience for ordinary individuals, the overall effect of it on a cultural scale was one that probably made life easier. While metals before the occupation, such as bronze and gold, were used in the creation of status and religious objects, the introduction of iron by the Romans provided a new medium for the creation of superior tools and implements. The Romans even brought with them different styles of cooking, such as using a grid-iron, new utensils and cookware and even higher yielding crops which enabled better nutrition.

200 BC - 50 AD Britain: Mystical Celtic objects including a 'mirror' and divining spoons

9500-9000 BC Syria: Grinding Stone

But I wonder how much the average 'house-wife' and farmer, or slave for that matter, truly benefited from all this new technology. Did it cut down on the hours they spent on tasks or did it actually create more time for even more work? And while some might argue that on a modern level we've only increased our work load with household gadgets, you have to admit that our type of house work is probably a lot less strenuous than its equivalent in the first century. Researching further, it comes as no surprise to me that the average life expectancy during this period in time was only twenty-six years.

1st-4th Century Roman Britain: Iron Knife, Pestle, Emmer Wheat, Mortaria and Oyster Shells

All of this leads me to thoughts about modern 'Self-Sufficiency' and the ideals and dreams of living a more traditional lifestyle. But what does that really mean? As far as I can tell, most families who decide to go this direction find out that it's a lot harder work than they could have ever imagined - even though most of us haven't given up on electric powered grain mills or petrol powered automobiles just yet. It's fascinating that so many people, myself included, are interested in reviving parts of the lifestyle that our grandparents, great-grandparents and ancestors gave up so willingly. It's such a paradox that people in the past seemed to always look to new materials, new ideas and new technologies to better their lives where the current trend is to down-size, simplify and cleanse our lives of 'things'. Whether it's a reaction to financial collapse and unemployment, a rejection of the 8-6 work day or the beginning of a Post-Consumerist (or Post-Petroleum) era, people and families around the western world are looking to the past for a better life and perhaps even a way to survive.

Close-up of Emmer, an ancient form of wheat

Visiting the British Museum was an amazing way to spend a morning, not only for the enjoyment of looking at wonderful and beautiful objects but also because a look around can also help us to understand our past. Spending time examining artifacts without the voice of a a documentary narrator taking away from a personal experience really helps you to think about what you're seeing. And it also makes it easier to draw your own conclusions about what they mean to yourself, the world around you and to humanity past and present. While the objects contained in a museum can't tell us exactly what life was like in the past they can give us a glimpse of bygone eras and even the people who lived in them. And maybe sometimes they can also tell us whether we're making the same mistakes made in the past or perhaps choosing to better our lives by trying something different.

1st-3rd Century England: Spoons and knives

1st Century Roman Britain: Farming tools including hoe and clamp-on horse shoes

75-25 BC Britain: Bronze pan which may have been used to prepare wine

1090-900 BC Ireland: Flesh hook; 800-650 BC England: Sheet-Bronze Cauldron

50 BC - 50 AD Britain: Shears (Scissors)

4th Century Roman Britain: Grid-iron which was used over hot coals

3rd-4th Century AD Roman Britain: Food storage container (Amphora)

Happy Hallowe'en

2011-10-31T17:53:00.001Z

London was fantastic but I'm glad to be back home in time for Hallowe'en (and my husband's birthday)! Several pumpkins and squash have been brought into the house and I've been deliberating for the last couple of weeks on how I wanted to carve mine. I finally settled on the idea of a haunted house for my extra big Pumpkini and for leaving the other uncut and on the table as decoration. My husband's pumpkin was a no-brainer really - he loves the Nightmare before Christmas :)

Hallowe'en is celebrated on the Isle of Man but it has been integrated into the equivalent Manx holiday, called Hop tu Naa (Hop-too-nay). Predating Hallowe'en, Hop tu Naa celebrates the beginning of the Celtic New Year. In the past boys with staffs and jack-o-lanterns made of turnips would jokingly terrorise the neighbours and be rewarded with herring or some other bite to eat. There were other superstitious customs involving a lot of silent eating, walking backwards and prophesying but these days the celebrations are generally fairly tame with the usual fancy dress and candy associated with the American holiday.

Though we've had tons of kids trick-or-treating in years past, we've only lived in our village since February of this year and so weren't quite sure if we'd receive any tonight. Being positive, I did go through the trouble to make nearly two dozen chocolate cupcakes just in case. Sadly, we haven't had a single festively dressed child come to the door! It's a bit of a disappointment but I suppose the plus side is having all those cupcakes to nibble on over the next couple of days. And besides, they might just be a wee bit scary for the little ones anyway ;)

Our 'Jack' and haunted house jack-o'-lanterns

The fun part!

What do you think...too scary?

London calling!

2011-10-30T10:50:00.000Z

I've been in London since last Wednesday but haven't been able to post anything on here until now. The reason being that I wanted to surprise two friends who are also visiting and arrived only yesterday. Friends from Germany that I haven't seen in years just so happened to 'accidentally' bump into me at a cafe near St Pauls. The look of disbelief on their faces was priceless and definitely worth the radio silence. So far we've had a great time catching up, eating Indian food, disturbing the neighbours with SingStar and now planning a lovely afternoon in the city.

I'll be back on the island tomorrow and just in time for Halloween - see you then :)

Cadeaux Française

2011-10-26T14:41:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I met the loveliest lady and her husband who over coffee told me all about their summer home in France. The photograph they brought out was breathtaking - it really was everything you imagine when you picture a rural French cottage. Cute shuttered windows and lush vines growing against a traditional whitewashed façade. Then beyond the cottage were two paved patios and an extensive lawn with peach, apple and walnut trees. And then how lucky was I to be sent home with some walnuts from their own tree and preserves made by their French neighbour? What a generous and personal gift - Merci Beaucoup :)

Mulled White Wine

2011-10-23T11:35:00.001+01:00

Mulled wine...I can't think of anything more cheerful to sip on when the weather gets chilly and the nights start drawing in. And while I promised myself I wouldn't make my first pot for at least another few weeks I couldn't help but break the rules. I think I can get away with it though since instead of using a traditional rich red wine I've made it with white - using a bottle of parsnip wine I put down last winter. It's sweet, spicy and the rich aroma of cinnamon and cloves can't help but bring back memories of snowy nights and holiday music.

Mulled wine is a traditional drink that I associate with enjoying outdoors at German Christmas Markets. At the beginning of every December, communities all across the continent decorate their streets with twinkling white lights while vendors and musicians fill the night air with holiday tunes and the sweet scents of sweet toasted almonds, roasted chestnuts and steaming 'Glühwein'. Open everyday in the weeks leading up to Christmas, friends meet regularly at these markets to warm up with a hot drink and chat themselves merry. It's a wonderful way to enjoy the Christmas season.

For me today's mulled white wine is just a taste of holiday fun to come. It's also a great way to use up a bottle of wine I find a bit too sweet to drink chilled. For most people the thought of making wine from parsnips can sound bizarre, but they truly make one of the smoothest and sweetest dessert wines you've ever tasted. Its distinctive flavour is one well known to English country folk and it is still one commonly made by the small producer. But if you don't have a bottle at hand, try this recipe with a more conventional white wine.

Mulled White Wine
Makes 2-3 servings

1 75cl bottle of white wine (Parsnip wine is optional)
2 cinnamon sticks
10 cloves
3 long strips of Orange (or mandarin) peel
3 long strips of Lemon peel
Up to 3 Tbsp of dark brown sugar or molasses (Optional)
Orange slices and additional cinnamon sticks (Optional)

1. Collect all your ingredients together and keep them at hand. You can choose to use a zester to remove the peel from the lemon and orange peel or just use an ordinary peeler to take larger strips as I've done.

2. Put everything except for the sugar/molasses into a pan, cover it with a lid and then warm it over medium heat for 15 minutes. Make sure it's steaming but does not reach a boil.

3. Turn the heat off after the 15 minutes is up but leave the pan where it is for an additional 30 minutes. The spices and fruit will further infuse the wine during this time. Taste after this infusion time is up and sweeten to your taste with the sugar and molasses. I didn't actually add any sugar to my own pot since the wine was sweet enough but if you use a dryer wine you'll definitely need it.

4. Ladle into mugs, add a cinnamon stick and slice of orange and serve with a slice of orange on the lip of the mug. Enjoy ~

The required ingredients for Mulled White Wine

Beginning to heat up on the stove

The finished drink

Some great blogs to follow...

2011-10-21T18:18:00.004+01:00

One of my favourite things about Blogger is how easy it is to follow other people's blogs. Whether using the dashboard or opening the feed up in Google reader, it's a wonderful way to keep up with the latest posts of sites you follow. With this tool not only can you easily control and gain access to information interesting to you but also get to know other people across the world with similar interests, ideology or professions. It's essentially an ingenious way to create your own personalised newspaper with entries from your favourite blogs as the headlines.

Still, I have gripes with the service... One of the major ones being the absence of any true search capability and the difficulty in discovering other blogs. The ones I've come across so far have been through Google searches, which are sometimes like looking for a needle in a haystack, or by scouring the lists of blogs that my favourite blogs follow. But every now and again one of these favourites will do a post on sites they recommend and I've been able to find so many wonderful articles and bloggers this way. So I thought I'd do a post as well and hope to introduce you to some of the ones I follow. I've chosen ten today but there are so many more that I hope feature in the future.

A Small Holding

I'm incredibly inspired by Mo and Steve and their small holding adventures. Not only do they grow their own veg and raise their own meat and eggs but they also skillfully prepare and preserve their harvests. They're both practical and down to earth and I've enjoyed every post they've put up - especially the ones featuring their rare breed pigs.

Northwest Edible Life

Being born in the Pacific Northwest and having lived in Seattle for five years, I'm captivated by the urban homesteading movement currently happening there. Erica's blog is one among dozens of homesteaders and crafters in Seattle but definitely one of my favourites. She introduces quite a few clever gardening ideas, recipes and thrifty crafts in addition to her posts on the economic and environmental issues in America.

Design*Sponge

I have this site bookmarked under 'Inspiration' and this is definitely the place I come to time and again to be inspired. Posts of beautiful home and furniture make-overs, DIY decorating and even delicious recipes make this one of most popular design blogs of all time. They've also recently come out with a book which is on my Amazon wish-list.

The Cottage Smallholder

Fiona and Danny Nevile's intention with their blog is to: 'share their journey towards their goal of partial self sufficiency. It is such a satisfying, old fashioned endeavour that provides moments of glowing pride alongside the occasional smelly disaster.'

They blog on a variety of topics including chickens and ducks, recipes, their dog, gardening, foraging and their experiences in going back to the land. I find Fiona's casual writing style enjoyable to read and take joy in catching up with their exploits over a morning coffee.

Eco Footprint ~ South Africa

Dani is a keen homesteader and an expert solar oven chef and offers a variety of recipes to download as well. I love visiting her blog to follow her African adventures and endeavours to become self-sufficient and off-grid.

The Crunchy Chicken

I've only just begun following Deanna Duke but love her writing and her feisty points of view. Another urban farmer from Seattle, she is quite well known in American green circles and is currently writing a book on toxins in the environment, the effects on the body and how to eradicate them. Her blog covers all types of environmental issues as well as her experiences of farming in the city.

The Weaver of Grass

The Weaver describes herself as a farmer's wife living on the Eastern edge of the Yorkshire Dales with her husband and a young border terrier. She shares tales of living on and near working farms, livestock and wildlife, hearty food, her life in the country and her love of literature.

A Woman of the Soil

Elaine is a charming lady who often visits here on Lovely Greens. She is a passionate gardener and the images of her beautiful garden are a feast to the eyes. She often shares growing useful tips as well as her gardening successes and failures, which we can all learn from.

Blomsterverkstad

Blomsterverkstad is a site I visit for a bit of garden design eye-candy and creative inspiration. It's owner, Minna Schmidt, is a blogger turned professional flower photographer who creates beautiful decorations and arrangements with flowers. She writes mainly in Swedish but fortunately for us non-Swedes she always includes a little blip in English. This is what Minna says of her blog:

Wreaths, flower decorations, flea market finding, crafts, creative people - things I'm surrounded by in my everyday life as a professional flowerphotographer and stylist. Welcome to my world!

NieNie Dialogues

NieNie is Stephanie Aurora Clark Nielson, a lovely lady who survived a plane crash and burns to 80% of her body. If you ever need a pick-me up or have a bad day just read her blog. Her positive and uplifting posts on her marriage, her gorgeous kids and her life in general can't help but put a smile on your face.

Though mainly secular in her posts she does sometimes write about her Mormon faith. It's helped her through her health and family struggles and it's clear that it's a major part of her life. It's not in your face though so please don't be put off if you're not of the LDS-persuasion.

I hope you enjoy these blog-picks and I'd love to hear what you think of them. And if you could pick just one blog that you would like to share with the world, what would it be?

October in the Allotment...

2011-10-19T12:51:00.002+01:00

Preparing the allotment for winter has been on my mind these past few weeks but it seemed that something else always came up: bad weather, poorly kittens, or other items on my lengthy to-do list. So when yesterday dawned bright and sunny I hopped into some old jeans and wellies and struck off to get some work done - neverminding the gale force winds!

It was a great day to be out - puffy white clouds whipped by at hypersonic speeds and the crisp wind dried the grass enough to sit on during my few coffee breaks. Though some might find it lonely being the only person at the allotment, I enjoy being out in the fresh air with the only sounds and movement being the grass and trees rustling in the wind.

I haven't spent much time at my plot lately other than occasionally popping up to dig Jerusalem artichokes or to harvest kohlrabi or kale. And as a result my allotment has been steadily going the way of ancient ruins with weeds popping up in the beds and grass taking over the stone pathways. Seeds that may have lain dormant for months or years are making use of these last sunny days to establish themselves before winter and it's a never-ending battle to keep them down to a manageable level. Another worry of mine is soil erosion over the wet and stormy days ahead - with my plot situated on a slope in a natural wind funnel means that all the goodness I've put into the earth can easily be washed down the hill and into the glen below.

Fortunately, my allotment-pal Steve came to the rescue with several trailer loads of seaweed. Using it as a mulch will not only help keep weeds at bay but will keep much of the soil from eroding away. And if that wasn't enough, the seaweed will break down over the winter and replenish the soil with micro-nutrients and organic matter. Mulching with seaweed is a great way to create a more balanced growing medium, especially if it's not quite time to manure it.

Working the soil and then applying seaweed
Using seaweed as mulch couldn't be easier - there's no need to wash it and if there are only annual weeds in your beds you simply spread the seaweed on top and the lack of sunlight will eventually kill them off. Unfortunately my plot is afflicted with both dock and new zealand flatworm which means that some seedlings must be dug out and disposed of and the soil must be manually turned to aerate it. A bit more work on my part but I'd much rather get my exercise that way than heading to a gym.

By the end of the afternoon I'd hoed, dug and raked three beds and spread seaweed over them about four inches deep. Any plants still growing in the beds have simply been mulched around for now but when they've finished I'll simply pull them out and tuck the surrounding seaweed over the bare spot.

Three beds sorted...
After the hard labour was finished I had a bit of a walk around the site to see how everyone else was doing. There's still a lot growing, including lettuces, cabbages and even dalias and sweet peas. But much has already died down and brown withered stems or dark earth have replaced the crisp greenery of summer. An exception to this is the wildflower meadow which seems to be humming along. The sprouts of grass are now about an inch tall and the tiny wildflower seedlings have also put on a bit of mass in the last week. But I really hope that they put on a bit more before the cold comes a-biting.

There's still tons to do at the allotment in the coming weeks but a sense of quiet has taken over the site and there's no doubt that the season is coming to a close. Yet while some gardeners might feel a bit of a loss at this time of the year I'm quite happy to enjoy these days of squirreling up inside by the fire and tucking into hearty food. All good things must come to an end but sitting here enjoying my steaming cuppa I'm content in the knowledge that warmer days will be back soon.

Seedlings popping up from the wildflower meadow

Spicy Green Tomato Chutney

2011-10-17T16:06:00.002+01:00

I took advantage of the sunshine yesterday to do a bit of yard work - raking up fallen leaves, moving container plants and tidying up what veg and herbs I have at home. It's sad to see the end of the growing season here already and especially after such a grey and wet summer. But deny it or not the last of my courgettes and tomatoes have been picked and the plants have been tossed onto the top of the compost pile.

This year the outdoor tomatoes were fairly unsuccessful with the plants putting on a good show of green leaf and stem but very few ripe fruits. Instead I'm left with a sizable bowl of green tomatoes and a question of what to do with them. But not all is lost - green tomatoes can be delicious, whether they're fried up American style or made into a sweet yet sharp chutney. But it's the latter that I've chosen to make - not only will the chutney be preserved for up to a year but a Ploughman's lunch of warm homemade bread, cheddar cheese, pickled onions and green tomato chutney is one of the tastiest ways to enjoy a cold winter's afternoon. The below recipe is one of my own and includes garlic and dashes of black and cayenne peppers to add a wee kick!

Green Tomato Chutney
Makes about three 450g jars

500g Green Tomatoes, chopped (skinning is optional)
500g Red Onions, chopped
75g Raisins (or Sultanas), chopped
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/8 tsp Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Sea Salt
250g Dark Brown Sugar
500ml Malt Vinegar

1. Place all ingredients into a stainless steel pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and then simmer uncovered for an hour.

2. Spoon the chutney into warm, sterilised jars and seal the lids on. Label them when cool and store in a dark cupboard. Refrigerate the jars once opened and try to use it within twelve months.

Chopping the tomatoes

Mix all the ingredients together and bring to a boil

Chutney after an hour of simmering

Rose-hip Hairs...aka Itching Powder

2011-10-16T17:04:00.000+01:00

I gathered another load of rose-hips on Friday and processed them into tea over the weekend. When making tea it's not such a big deal to leave the seeds in so it took me a lot less time than when making rose-hip powder a couple of weeks ago. What I wanted to point out this time though is the amount of itchy hairs that have been removed versus how much tea you'll end up with.

Rose-hips have a delicate fruity taste that I find delicious on a cold day. But when making it yourself you really have to beware of the tiny hairs that line the inside of the fruit and often times cover the seeds. These hairs are literally itching powder and let me tell you that they're uncomfortable enough when they come into contact with your skin, let alone ingesting them!

Fortunately they're quite easy to remove once the rose-hips have been thoroughly dried - simply pulse the rosehips to a coarse texture and then sieve them out using a fine-mesh strainer. Tossing and rolling the pulse around for about a minute or so will allow the hairs to easily slip through the mesh, leaving the majority of your tea inside.

Rose-hip hairs

For the Love of Books

2011-10-13T16:14:00.001+01:00

During yesterday's blog-reads I came across a post on a DIY decor project which I'm still feeling a bit thrown off by. The 'Book-end' project entailed gluing together old books, attaching them to existing metal book-ends and then spray-painting them black. But though the project was a clever idea and resulted in attractive objects, it came at the expense of crossing the line between style and substance. It's one thing to give an unused product a second life but another to in the process destroy all its original purpose. It makes me sad to think that someone would sacrifice good old classics such as Treasure Island and The Yearling simply for the sake of stylish decoration.

I think the blog post really hit home because of a recent save on my part of several classic books found down at the local amenity site. I loved them immediately and was amazed that anyone would toss out gems like Alice in Wonderland, Quest under Capricorn and that previously mentioned title, Treasure Island. I scooped them up as soon as I saw them and have to say it never crossed my mind to do anything with my 'new' books other than to read and display them in the bookshelf.

Cicero once said that 'He who has a garden and a library wants for nothing'. Though I think that there might be a few other things to add to that list I understand what he was trying to say. Together they bestow sustenance to the body as well as the soul and where one provides fuel for life, the other helps grow the seeds of imagination. A respect for books can only come of that - both for their contents as well as their physical form.

Creating an Allotment Wildflower Meadow

2011-10-12T10:01:00.010+01:00

The first sprouts of our future allotment wildflower meadow popped their heads out of the soil over the weekend. Tiny and perfect with their fragile baby green leaves and representing more than sixty varieties of flowers and grasses, these tiny seedlings will germinate and grow for the next month or so and then bunk down over the winter as small plants. Once the warmer days of spring arrive they'll shoot up like rockets and if all goes to plan we'll have an insect-friendly patch of willowy grass and cheerful blossoms by next summer.

Wildflower meadows are becoming quite the rage these days with both gardeners and farmers the world over. Delightful in their sweet-shop-like variety of colour and scent, they are low-maintenance, attract beneficial insects, and help promote plant diversity. They can also be an eco-friendly yet practical way to seed fields used as pasture or left fallow. Being that their only essential care factor is that they are grazed or mown a couple of times a year makes them ideal for grazing animals or for harvesting as hay. And with so many varieties of grass, clover and succulent petals they must make for contented livestock as well as healthy wildlife.

Wildflower and grass seedlings

Though pastures surround our allotment and cows are frequently seen eye-balling our cabbages from over the fence, there is no intention on our side to ever invite them in to our own meadow. Our goal is to instead create a habitat for wildlife, especially insects beneficial to organic gardening. Restricting the use of pesticides and herbicides in our allotment makes for healthy produce but much more work on the gardener's part. Fortunately, having insects such as ladybirds, hoverflies and honey-bees about can help take the load off. Their munching of aphids and other free-loaders as well as pollination of crops makes them a welcome addition to any garden. It's also our intention to begin introducing bee-hives to our site next year and providing them with a source of nectar rich forage has been a driving factor to the creation of a wildflower meadow.

We began our project last autumn with a visit from Andree Dubbeldam, the Project Manager for the Wildflowers of Mann division of the Manx Wildlife Trust. I and another allotment committee member met him at our site to give him a tour around the areas we were considering planting up and to try to absorb as much of his knowledge as possible. It was really helpful having him there in person and he provided us with much needed and specific advice such as instruction on how to go about preparing the land, sowing the seeds, and aftercare for the mature meadow.

It can take anywhere from 1.5-2.5 years to achieve a successful meadow so we began early this year with digging over the first of hopefully many such plantings. The trick to making sure that the seeds get off to the right start is to sow them in nutrient-poor soil - this is so they have a fighting chance at out-competing whatever was growing there before. Seeing as the best time to sow a wildflower meadow is the autumn, we took Andree's advice and planted the entire area with potatoes in April. Not only did they break up the soil and shade out weeds but they are such hungry feeders that they definitely helped in leeching nutrients from the soil. Using this method we were also rewarded with loads of spuds to take home.

Sowing our wildflower mixes into quadrants

After the potato harvest we dug the site over again, broke up any large clods and then raked the soil to a fairly fine tilth. Then one warm evening in the last week of September the three of us who helped with the project met and sowed the seeds into quadrants. After quite a bit of research and deliberation with other committee members I ended up ordering four different meadow mixes from Nicky's Nursery in the UK: 'Old English Country Meadow', 'Butterfly Meadow', 'Cultivated and Wild Flower Butterfly Nectar Plants' and 'Clay Soils Mixture'. The 'Old English Country Meadow' mix we sowed as-is in two of the quadrants and the other three were mixed together and sown into the rest. The ratio of flower to grass seed was different in the two final mixes and it will be interesting to see if it grows differently next year.

In the distance...Steve and Mark raking the soil

I'm probably over-optimistic at this point but I can already imagine bumble bees flitting from blossom to blossom and the many textures of grass moving in a light breeze. I also haven't failed to notice that there are some interesting herbs and flowers in the mixes which might be interesting to take small samples of to try myself. In any case I'm glad the hard work of digging and raking is finished and now it's just a matter of waiting for nature to work her magic. Whether all the seedlings make it through the winter or not, I'm sure that next year will bring with it a colourful wildlife oasis to our Laxey allotment.

Our wildflower meadow mixes include seeds for:

Wildflowers: Ladys Bedstraw, Birds-foot-trefoil, Burnet Salad, Wild Carrot, Cats-ear, Cowslip, Meadow Cranes-bill, Oxeye daisy, Rough Hawkbit, Common and Greater Knapweed, Hoary and Ribwort Plantain, Selfheal, Common Sorrel, Yellow-Rattle/Field Scabious, Black Knapweed, Meadow Buttercup, Red and White Clover, Red & White Campion, Chicory, Dames-violet, Dandelion, Hemp Agrimony, Wild Marjoram, Black Medic, Yellow Melilot, Wild Migonette, Garlic Mustard, Field & Small Devils-Bit, Soapwort, Wild Teasel, Red Valerian, Common Horseshoe and Kidney Vetch, Vipers-bugloss, Bulbous Buttercup, Wild (annual and perennial) Cornflowers, Feverfew, Lady's Mantle, Corn marigold, Ragged-Robin, Sheeps-bit, Melancholy Thistle, and Yarrow.

Cultivated garden flowers:Mixed Calliopsis, Mixed annual Chrysanthemum, Coreopsis, Evening-primrose, Goldenrod, Mixed Heliotrope, mixed Honesty, Hyssop, Lavender, Mignonette, Mixed Scabious, Brompton and night scented Stock, Mixed Sweet Rocket, Annual and single mixed Sweet William, Wallflower.

Grasses: Browntop Bent, Red Fescue, Crested Dogstail, Meadow Fescue, Smooth Stalk Meadow Grass and Yorkshire Fog. Rye grass is already present on the site and will come up again as well.

Courkin-Pumpkini Jack-o'-Lantern

2011-10-09T13:24:00.004+01:00

I let a couple of my pumpkin-courgette(zucchini)-crosses grow large over the summer so that they could be used for Halloween decoration. But I never expected them to get this big! And amazingly enough they are ripening into as vibrant an orange as any ordinary pumpkin would. Now I only need to find some scary Jack'o'-Lantern faces appropriate for cylindrical pumpkins - any suggestions?

A Walk around Conrhenny Community Woodland

2011-10-07T10:46:00.002+01:00

Last Saturday we decided to make the most of the break in the weather and have a walk around the fairly new Conrhenny Community Woodland. Near the Creg ny Baa Pub on the outskirts of Onchan, the woodland is open to the public and currently offers a good sized carpark, graveled walking paths and even a couple of picnicking areas in addition to its grounds, which are work-in-progress. The park is on the site of a former tree plantation but large areas which were once planted with close-set pines have now been cleared and stand open to sun and rain. DEFA (Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture) along with their sponsors and children from fourteen of the island's schools have since managed to replant it with 300 broad-leaf tree seedlings with the goal to create a "family-friendly wildlife habitat with the potential to benefit generations to come."

But when it comes down to it, I have to admit that it takes creativity to imagine how this devastated looking land could one day be green and lush. Some of the land is still planted with factory-style tree blocks and the rest has been clear-cut with a great deal of logging byproduct left where it lay. But in as little as five to ten years the organic material will break down into a soft forest floor and small trees will arise from the hundreds of seedlings.

Illustration of how the above view could look in years to come

It's easy to disregard the life-cycle of a park when visiting one at the peak of its maturity. Often seen as just a setting in which you play football or meet up with friends, the large trees and manicured landscapes of our communal green spaces are sometimes taken for granted. But to see a park in its early stages makes you so much more aware of what type of place it will become, what its purpose will be and why it is being built in the first place. Looking around Conrhenny today it's evident that this is not going to be your run of the mill grassy field and cultivated trees. This is an attempt to recreate an environment long missing from most of the Isle of Man - natural woodland.

The contrast between what will hopefully be created here in the future with what exists currently couldn't be better expressed than with a tromp through the park's residual plantation forest. You can't help but notice the eerie silence and deep shadow cast by the overhanging branches. Nothing really lives in there with those neatly planted trees, probably because they are so packed together that little light actually reaches the forest floor. It's only when you come to the tree line that light filtering in has made it possible for first moss to appear, then ferns and lastly small shrubs and greens. Walking through this remnant of a tree plantation makes me realise how alien they are and how important a variety of trees and natural planting is for life.

The darkness of closely planted trees and life at the forest's edge

It will be years yet before the newly planted natural forest reaches maturity but all along the edges of the current tree-line as well as out in the clear-cut fields, green life on a smaller scale has already taken off. Without beautiful trees to distract, the modest plants that make their living at your feet have a chance to shine.

A bumble bee on a thistle, raindrops on a velvety leaf, cheerful mushrooms popping up from the forest floor and even tiny heather sprouts growing from an old stump. It really was a change of perspective that gave me so much enjoyment on this visit and I began spotting such lovely things once I stopped looking out in front of me and instead focused on the ground. If there was ever a wonderful time to get lost in the details this was it.

(CW from top left) Blackberries, Mushroom, Lady's Mantle and Thistle

But it wasn't just the beauty of my finds that intrigued me, though it would surely be enough to keep anyone interested. I also enjoy learning about the edible and medicinal properties of wild plants and am always keen to learn more. Though I found plenty of greens, flowers and fungi I could identify on our walk around Conrhenny, there were still many I'd never seen before or wasn't quite sure of. I probably could have spent another couple of hours wandering around taking pictures but a cosy afternoon cream-tea called.

(CW from top left) Unknown, Oxeye Daisies, Leycesteria Formosa, Evening Primrose

(CW from top left) Montbretia, Unknown, Heather and Yarrow

I'm looking forward to visiting in the years ahead and watching this woodland develop into a truly special place. As the seasons pass more wild plants and animals will make Conrhenny their home and as the trees regrow the environment will become even more complex. I hope others who visit will also see past the obviousness of its current stage and become just as delighted as I am by its hidden beauty.

Ribwort Plantain and Greater Plantain

Wild mushrooms

Spiced Crab Apple Butter

2011-10-04T15:00:00.006+01:00

Poking around in a hedge the other day I happily discovered some bright yellow crab apples. I'd never seen them that colour before so I collected them from the branches and came home to do a bit of internet research. It turns out that there are a few varieties of yellow crab apples out there, all modern cultivars, and they are as excellent to cook with as their wilder cousins.

It was fascinating to also find out that there are actually around thirty-seven species of apples on the planet and just one of those represents most of the apples we ordinarily see in shops and growing in orchards. Malus Domestica was probably the first fruit tree ever cultivated and it now is expressed in over 7,500 cultivars such as 'Golden Delicious', 'Fuji', 'Gala' and 'Bramley'. The other thirty-six species of apple are widely considered crab apples and they grow both wild and in modern plantings. Though they are mainly used by people for ornamental purposes and as root-stock for dwarf apple trees, the wise cook also knows of their worth in the kitchen. Though their flesh is extremely tart and not at all nice for eating straight off the tree, the pectin-rich fruit of the crab apple can be used in many recipes including jams, jellies, pies, and butters.

Some of the many varieties of Crab Apples

My small stash of crab apples could have been made into many things but I settled on the idea of using them in a spiced butter, which can be spread over cakes or on warm scones or any number of goodies. The tartness of the apples paired with the deep rich sweetness of brown sugar gives it a fairly versatile flavour which I'd bet could even be used in savoury dishes such as a sauce for grilled pork or game.

The idea of making a spiced butter came from another scavenged item - The Countryside Cook Book by Gail Duff. While on one of my forays to the local amenity site, I came across this book piled up with a load of old encyclopedias and paperback novels. It was free for the taking and includes some wonderful information on wild food throughout the seasons as well as various recipes for their culinary and medicinal uses. I especially love the illustrations by Linda Garland and am tempted to make a poster out of them for my kitchen wall.

The Countryside Cook Book by Gail Duff

Crab apples are listed towards the back of the book in the 'Autumn' section along with quite a few ways to prepare them. Recipes for Crab Apple and Date Wine, Lamb with Crab Apple Stuffing, Crab Apple Crumble and Pork Chops with Crab Apple Crust sounded all very tempting but in the end I settled on Spiced Apple Butter. I adapted the recipe for the amount of crab apples I'd been able to find and the result of the below instructions is a full 450g jar. You can also just make out the original recipe if you open the below image to its full size. The final product is delicious gelatinous spread and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys sweet-and-sour or winter spices.

SPICED CRAB APPLE BUTTER
Makes one 450g (15oz) jar

500g (17oz) Crab Apples
410ml (14 fl.oz) Water
1 tsp Whole Cloves
Dash of Nutmeg...maybe about 1/8 tsp
1.5" stick of Cinnamon
245g (8oz) Dark Brown Sugar

1. Halve the crab apples and put them into a suitable sauce pan with the water, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. Bring them to a boil and then reduce heat to keep a steady simmer on for about forty-five minutes or until it can be beaten into a thick pulp. Make sure to stir occasionally.

2. Put the pulp through a vegetable mill or fine sieve and measure the final weight of the resulting apple purée. Return it to the cleaned pan and stir in 350g (12oz) of dark brown sugar for every 450g(1lb) of apple purée. I ended up with 313g (10.5oz) of apple purée with my small batch so used 245g (8oz) of dark brown sugar.

3. Set the pan on a low heat and stir for the sugar to dissolve. Bring to a boil and keep boiling, stirring frequently, until the butter is very thick. If you draw a spoon through the mixture it should leave a path behind it. This can take up to an hour to achieve but mine only took about twenty-five minutes.

4. Put the butter into a warmed and sterilised preserving jar(s) and tighten the lid immediately. The butter will be ready to use as soon as it's cool and can reasonably be stored as-is for up to a year. Since the recipe includes high-acid fruits, there isn't a need for hot-water bathing or any further preservation.

If you have some crab apples and want to try this recipe, do give it a go! I'd also really recommend picking up Gail Duff's book and having a flip through her other recipes. Be it hop, hawthorne or damson, she provides great ideas on serving it up in inventive and delicious ways.

Stewing the halved crab apples and spices

After about thirty-five minutes of stewing

Sieving the mixture through a basic food mill

The resulting apple sauce

Mixing the apple sauce with the brown sugar

The sugar turns the sauce into a rich dark brown

The butter is now ready for potting

The finished product

Melon & Ginger Wine is now laid down...

2011-10-02T16:17:00.004+01:00

For me, rainy Sundays are for baking, reading and tying up any loose ends around the house. The Melon & Ginger Wine that I started at the beginning of September finished up with its fermentation this week so getting it prepared to lay down was on my to-do list.

I could tell the wine was finished fermenting by the lack of tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide rising to the surface of the wine. Another indication was how the water in the airlock went slack, indicating little or no pressure from rising gases. If the wine still contained active yeast then the water in the airlock would be pressed up into the secondary chamber as you can see in below picture.

After fermentation is complete you leave the demi-john sit for another five days so that all the sediment had a chance to settle at the bottom. And today I siphoned the clear wine off (leaving the sediment behind) then added a crushed Campden tablet and funneled the wine into a clean and sterilised demi-john. I've also labelled it before storing it in a cool, dark place - my garage - where it will stay for about six months before I bottle it up. Three to six months after that and it will be ready to enjoy.

That sorted, I think I'll be off to enjoy the rest of this rainy afternoon curled up with a good book and a treat. I made Courgette Cake earlier and the entire house is filled with the sweet scent of cinnamon and cloves - it's not cooled down yet but I'm tempted to have a slice anyway. Maybe I'll ask the hubby on to build us another fire as well. We had our first one of the season last night and it was so cosy to sit back and relax while watching the flames. It was the kitten's very first time seeing a big fire as well and after their initial apprehension they discovered that it was quite nice to lie in front of and have a nap. It's a tough life :)

Manx Food & Drink Festival 2011

2011-09-29T19:20:00.003+01:00

This is the second time I've visited the Manx Food and Drink Festival and though it was great in 2010, it was even better this year. Much was to be had over the 24-25th of September including demonstrations and tastings from local producers, on-site competitions and shopping and even celebrity chefs. This all set in a new and beautiful venue with generally good weather made for an eventful and delicious Manx weekend.

While last year I attended as a casual spectator, this year I was on hand as stand-coordinator and representative for the 'Allotment Forum' - a rather stuffy name for a fun and informal association of public allotments on the Isle of Man. Enthusiastic volunteers from three of our allotments offered the opportunity of joining up with the grow-your-own movement, a chance at winning a box of allotment vegetables & preserves, and plenty of on-site advice on organic gardening and trouble-shooting. It was a lovely two days and I met so many interesting people including those who had gardens or allotments of their own and even a few who wanted to offer their own land for public gardening. But probably the most exciting visitor we had was the hunk of daytime cookery - James Martin! During his book-signing, Brenda (from the Douglas allotment) and I invited him to come down for a tour of our stand and an introduction to what we're all about. Not only did he follow us down then and there but he also graciously pulled the winning ticket for our vegetable box raffle - as Brenda said "What a star!" :)

The Allotment Forum vegetable box raffle

Though I wasn't able to get away from the stand for much of the time, I did have a wander around the event with my husband on Saturday. Folk dancers were twirling in the sunshine and the great smells and Celtic music created just the right atmosphere to put smiles on everyone's faces. The location was a winner as well with the little field below the Nunnery providing a wind-free and green setting for some of the finest food on the Isle of Man.

Manx folk dancing and music

Radcliffe Butchers was one of the more popular stands and their juicy selection of fresh local lamb, beef and pork was definitely the star attraction. A family butcher based in Castletown, they offer local free-range, organic and rare-breed meat alongside specialty sausages, pies and other deli goods. The craft of butchery was also on display and a long queue of customers formed in front of Christopher Lennon who skillfully hacked and sliced the meat to perfection.

Fresh local meat from Radcliffe Butchers

The Individual Cake Company was a very busy stand as well and their beautifully decorated and mouthwatering cupcakes were difficult to resist. One little old lady stopped by our allotment stand to buy herself a raffle ticket and in leaving forgot her carton of cupcakes on the table. We lost her in the crowd but about five minutes later it opened up again and we spotted her with a distinct look of distress on her face. She spied her cupcakes in the same instant and her anguish was instantly replaced with sheer delight at finding her little treats again. And I don't think I've ever seen anyone snatch anything away so fast in my life!

Cupcakes from the Individual Cake Company

At one point I spotted a fellow hauling a case of cider away from the Apple Orphanage's stall. Though their new cider was debuted at the event, I sadly didn't get the chance to taste it for myself. Made from 100% apple juice, they allow only the wild yeast on the apples to ferment it, as tradition dictates. This is opposed to conventional cider production which requires less than 80% apple juice and the use of commercial yeast. So you can bet that I'm looking forward to the next opportunity to have a taste of natural local cider! I just love what this company is doing on the island in general - though they have their own orchard, most of the apple juice they use comes from the average Manx back-garden. Anyone can bring in their apples to them and in return you receive a fair share of the freshly pressed juice. The remaining juice is then fermented and/or bottled and then sold on to the public. The cooperative business model they've created not only helps to reduce local apple wastage but creates products that everyone can enjoy.

Apple juice and cider from the Apple Orphanage

The Farmer's Den Farm Shop set up their tent in one of the most photogenic places on the site and I couldn't help but get a shot of its down to earth fresh veggies against the beautiful stone facade of the Nunnery. Open at the Pooil Vaaish Farm at the Arbory in Castletown, they can also be found setting up shop at the island's farmers' markets. All naturally grown, their selection of local and seasonal vegetables and fruits rival that of the produce we grow at the allotments. I just love that they have their Kohlrabi in prime place on their table as well - I wish more people would give it a go.

Farmers' Market against the backdrop of 'The Nunnery'

And if you need some gorgeous dishes to display your culinary masterpieces in, just head over to Faye Christian's Ceramics. I'm still raving to people about the pottery class she gave us in August and can happily say that I use many of the pieces I made on a daily basis. I was so pleased to hear that the class even inspired the creation of her new dark brown mugs - they're just below her right arm in the picture. How wonderful is that?

Faye on hand with her lovely ceramics

The Isle of Man Creamery was another very busy stand and the queue to buy cheese was sometimes twenty+ people long! With an assortment of different cheeses including Mature Cheddar, Red Leicester, Ploughman's Pickle and Mango & Pineapple and a special deal of three blocks for £5 you can understand why. My favourites are definitely the more mature cheddars and I was pleased to pick a packet up for fifty pence at the close of the show. I've also heard on the radio this week that the Creamery have struck up a deal with an American company and so Manx cheese is now going to be available in some swanky shop across the pond. I'm not sure how I feel about that though - it's great to expand local business but the food miles on that cheese will be incredible. It goes against everything that protectionism of local food stands for.

Huge crowds for the Isle of Man Creamery stand

The weirdest thing I tried at the show has got to be the mushroom ice-cream that Greeba Mushrooms was offering tasters of. The recipe was invented in partnership with Davidson's and is an extremely creamy and slightly fungi-flavoured concoction. The thing that turned me off wasn't the flavour, which I thought unique, but the little pieces of rubbery mushrooms that I can only think were included for decoration? Otherwise I'd say that the icecream would probably be interesting with savory dishes. A dollop served with tender pork medallions might be delicious.

Greeba Mushrooms...and tastings of Mushroom Icecream!

Staarvey Farm was brave with their outdoor display of potted herbs and rainbow selection of preserves and cordials. We had a heavy shower at 4pm on Sunday and I hope they didn't suffer too much! I've happily become accustomed to seeing their wares at my local Shoprite and support the idea of buying local condiments. Marketing data aside, I imagine that many who try to buy local produce and meat often end up purchasing conventional ketchups, mustards, relishes and jams. I hope that someday we'll see a little kiosk of local preserves at every Tesco and Sainsburys across Britain.

Staarvey Farm herbs and preserves, including cordials

Two lovely gentlemen from Manx National Heritage hosted a butter-churning demonstration next to our alloment stand. They learned their craft from an artisan at the Folk Museum at Cregneash and allowed people to have a go at both churning the butter and paddling it dry. I have a butter churn at home as well and I love both the butter and the buttermilk it produces. Purchased at the shop, buttermilk can tend to be sour and thick but straight from the process it is sweet as cream and the consistency of whole milk. They gave me a great tip on how to get my hands on some of the butter paddles they use so I'll be off to scour the antiques shops in Peel sometime soon. It's amazing how sturdy and useful antique tools are, especially compared with their modern counterparts.

Butter churning with Manx National Heritage Volunteers

Time-tested recipes for Christmas puddings, mincemeat and other delicious goodies were served up with Victorian charm by the proprietors of Aaron House. Their guest house along the promenade in Port St Mary provides delightful room and board with an authentic Victorian experience. Christmas pudding is a bit boozy for me but the scores of people crowding around to take home one of theirs is a good indication of how delicious they must be. Whenever I see a Christmas pudding I always have to wonder how old it is - you see, the older it is in years the better its supposed to be. I have a friend whose mother made one for him when he was born and every year she diligently tops it up with brandy and gives it a pat. He's now nearly forty years old so I don't doubt that it will be a merry occasion when the thing is served up - if no one keels over from alcohol poisoning first.

The Victorian culinary experience from Aaron House

A stop by the Isle of Man Beekeepers stall is always a delight. I took their beginners course over the winter and am looking forward to starting up my own hive next Spring. The variety in taste and texture from one hive's honey to the next is incredible and the four honeys in the below photograph all have their own attributes. Nearly everyone has heard of clover honey and heather honey so its easy to understand that the bees' forage is what makes all the difference in flavour. Interestingly enough, some of the best honey comes from hives in cities, even small cities like our Douglas. The variety of flowers, herbs and trees in a city makes for healthier bees and delicious honey.

Honey from the Isle of Man Beekeepers Association

Faye Christian's brother is Pentti Christian of Ellerslie Rapeseed oil. Somehow that connection didn't click in my brain until the show and I think I'm going to have to send both of them some of my soap made using his oil. Though generic vegetable oil also comes from rapeseed, it can't even compare to the rich golden goodness that Pentti produces. It's similar to virgin olive oil in texture and it has a delicious nutty flavour that goes well with a number of dishes. The way I hear it he was originally trying to produce bio-diesel, presumably for the farm, and in the process happened upon this culinary winner. Happy accidents and all :)

Faye's brother Pentti, proprietor of Ellerslie Rapeseed Oil

And lastly, congratulations to Mohammed Hoque of the Taste of India in Ramsey for winning this year's 'I Love Manx Chef Competition'. It must have been tough being under the scrutiny of such high profile judges. Good on him for going the distance, and using Manx chillies as well! I don't doubt that he will be receiving a lot of new custom this autumn, us included.

Rosemary, Kelp & Tea Tree Oil Soap

2011-09-28T16:14:00.002+01:00

Ooooh...I just love the smell of this soap. I whipped up an experimental batch yesterday using kelp powder and tiny pieces of dried bladderwrack then scented it with rosemary, tea-tree and ginger essential oils. When breathed in it really clears the lungs and invigorates the mind and I can tell that this is going to be wonderful to use in the dark days of winter.

Bladderwrack is a type of seaweed often found growing on northern seasides and has anti-aging properties when used on the skin. Studies have shown that those using bladderwrack gel on the face noticed increased elasticity and decreased skin thickness in just over a month.

Sea kelp is another type of seaweed and if it grows in your area you'll be familiar with its long whip-like form lying washed up on the beach. Containing incredible amounts of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids it is often used in facials and other spa treatments. Like bladderwrack, sea kelp has been attributed with increasing skin elasticity and even helping subdue the signs of aging and wrinkles.

Rosemary is a scent that not only stimulates your energy levels, but also helps to tone your skin and increase moisture levels. When used in hair products it also stimulates your follicles and can encourage hair growth.

Ginger essential oil can be beneficial to the skin, especially in the healing of wounds and bruises. It is quite intense though so those with sensitive skin should be more careful when using it.

Tea Tree essential oil has a deep, almost menthol, smell which is probably one of clues that it is used to treat sore throats and chests. It's also used on the skin for its powerful fungicidal, anti-biotic and anti-bacterial properties. Though again, those with sensitive skin should be cautious when using tea tree oil.

Another of today's tasks was picking and drying more calendula petals to use in other soaps. I've begun my garden clean-up and wanted to take down most of the calendulas before the flowers go to seed and infest my beds. It's a gorgeous flower and has many uses but it really can take over if not kept in check.

Drying the petals couldn't be easier: Simply tear the petals off the flower and place them in a shallow layer on a baking tray. Lining the tray makes for easy clean-up but it not necessary. Put the tray in the oven at a low heat (I set my fan assisted oven at approximately 75°C) and leave them in until they're dry and crispy. It takes mine about an hour to dry completely but it may take longer in a conventional oven. Once they've cooled, put them into a container that will keep them dry and store in a dark cupboard until you're ready to use them. I've uploaded pictures below to show what they look like both before and after.

Calendula petals and essence are wonderful in cosmetics and other beauty products but they can also be used in the kitchen in such things as tea, cake and even scrambled eggs.

Calendula petals before going into the oven

...and here they are after!

Eastern Young Farmers Club - 2011 Craft and Produce Show

2011-09-26T15:23:00.003+01:00

Two wonderful events made for a fun and lively 'Grow-Your-Own' weekend! The Manx Food and Drink Festival took place over both Saturday and Sunday, with me coordinating and manning the 'Allotment Forum' stand. Then quite last minute I found out that the Eastern Young Farmers Club were holding their annual Craft and Produce Show on one of the same days. It's been at the back of my mind to enter it this year but I had no idea when and where it would take place until about a week ago. Even though I knew I'd be swamped with the other event, I was determined to enter some of my veg and baked goods into the show.

Every year the Isle of Man Eastern Young Farmer's Club put on a local competition of home-grown vegetables, fruit and flowers as well as hand-made confectionery, preserves, photography and artwork. With both adult and childrens' classes and entry prices at only £1, it's an inclusive little event that anyone can take part in. There aren't any expensive prizes to win, just recognition from your peers, the fun of friendly competition, and the knowledge that all proceeds will go to a good cause. The proceeds of the entry fees and the money made from the auction of items will be given to a local charity - this year, the Autism Initiatives.

5-Vegetable Displays

Entries for the show had to be taken in early on Saturday morning to the Working Mens' Institute in Laxey but I also needed to open the booth at our other event at 10am. My plan was to drop off my entries at 9, rush to Douglas and man the booth for a couple of hours then come back in the afternoon to see if I'd impressed the judges enough to win. The good news is that I managed to get everything done, including an allotment pit-stop to cut some Strawberry Spinach for a last minute entry. The bad news is that in all my flustered rushing about I managed to back the car into a light-pole. Even worse is that I was driving a courtesy car since ours is in the shop at the moment (not my doing thankfully). Anyhow, I don't think I'll ever hear the end of 'Women Drivers' in this house again.

Categories for Beet-root, Marrows, Turnips, Carrots and Onions

But I'm so glad that I was able to participate this year and also to have the chance to see what others are growing. Gardeners from all around Lonan submitted their prize specimens, some of which have been carefully nurtured since January. You could see the looks of pride and joy on some of these gardeners' faces when they spotted a coloured card propped up against their entries - especially if it was red. I always try to walk into these types of competitions with no expectations and the mentality of 'it's about the effort not the winning.' But to be honest, there's no greater thrill than finding out you've won! I entered into seven of the categories and am very pleased to have placed in all of them. Two first prizes (red cards), four seconds (blue) and one third (yellow). Of course there were some categories that only had a couple of entries but pooh-pooh on that - I still have a little card!

My first and second prizes for Biscuits, 5-Veg Display, Bread and Onions

But probably the most proud out of all of us had to be Mr. Ian 'Popa' Quayle who scooped up nearly all the first places in the fruit and vegetable categories. From carrots to onions to apples, his top class fruit and veg wowed the judges and shamed the rest of our efforts. I thought my onions were big at around 600g each but his monsters were probably double that size. He also produced the heaviest turnip, the loveliest potatoes and the most gigantic pumpkin of the show. He has reason to be proud! One of the other categories that he dominated in was the leeks and he let me in on his secret of growing them big: starting them early and potting them up individually.

After seeing all his wins it made me even prouder to have beat him fair and square in the 5-Vegetable Display. I wasn't sure that my unconventional veg would interest the judges but my arrangement of Kohlrabi, Spaghetti Squash, Strawberry Spinach, Quinoa, and a yellow Courgette won the day! I was up against some real contenders in that category - Ian's sprouts, spuds and turnips were arranged nicely in box and my allotment pal Steve had some gorgeous leeks, onions and parsnips. I'll bet that the competition for this category will be fierce next year!

Ian Quayle and his enormous pumpkin

Overall the event was great fun and I'm already looking forward to growing some entries for the 2012 show. I even spent Saturday evening flipping through catalogues and reading up on 'Exhibition' vegetable seeds and how to grow them to enormous sizes. Even though I'm not a professional farmer and I don't have the years of experience that he has, maybe I could give Mr. Quayle a run for his money. And even if I don't win I expect that he will savour his victories more if he has some determined competition. But then again I expect Steve might try to out-do us both! If it weren't for me entering in my 5-veg Display at the last minute he'd have had that one too. Hmmmm...I think I might need to 'peep over the fence' next year and keep an eye on him! All in good fun though - there's nothing more fun and lighthearted than bantering with other keen growers and it's part of what having an allotment is all about :)

Some of Ian Quayle's First Prize wins

The heaviest turnip of the show

Marrows on display - my pal Steve's won!

Categories for baked goods

Childrens' vegetable artwork

Manx Mixing Bowl

2011-09-22T19:28:00.004+01:00

A friend just gave me one of the best presents ever - a traditional Manx mixing bowl. In the past, every household on the Isle of Man had a bowl that looked pretty much like this one. What a truly wonderful gift and I'm really looking forward to using it to make a fresh batch of bread tomorrow. I'm also making a couple of things to enter into the Eastern Young Farmer's Show on Saturday and I suspect that this bowl is just the lucky charm to help me scoop up a prize :)

The Clan of the Cave Bear: Hollyhock Tea

2011-09-21T21:27:00.005+01:00

I've just finished re-reading one of my favourite novels of all time - The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel. It was a different experience this time since my knowledge of plants, flowers and herbal medicine has increased dramatically in the twenty-some years since reading it the first time. But I smile to think that if it weren't for this book, it would have taken years for me to discover an interest in herbal medicine and foraging for wild food.

At the same time I cringe at some of the silly things I did after reading the book the first time. Well apart from some of the more adult themes in the book which I probably shouldn't have been reading at age ten, I also thought I'd experiment with foraging for myself. After all, Ayla was the same age as me and if she could do it, so could I! I recall munching on different leaves I found in the forest behind our house and also talking my siblings into doing the same. It scares me to death to think of what could have happened since at this time I couldn't have told you the difference between Digitalis and Clematis .

I think that I was probably not alone in my amateur exploits in wild food, and I'll bet that I wasn't even the youngest. In our modern world filled with supermarkets, pharmacies and industrial food production there seems to be a universal longing for a simpler and more natural life. And in 1980, The Clan of the Cave Bear was one of the first mass market novels that satisfied this attraction to a life of survivalism and existential purpose. It introduced a world before everything we now take for granted: no cars, refrigerators, houses or even matches. Yet somehow a world like that did once exist and the people who lived there survived...and thrived. No one truly knows what life 30,000 years ago was like but the picture that Auel paints for us is one that many people gravitate to. But though she alludes to back-breaking hard work and the inherent dangers of some of the herbal remedies I'd say that overall the romanticism of living at one with nature down-plays the peril.

Even so, safe and possibly effective herbal remedies are introduced in the book and I'm interested in experimenting with them. Long gone are the days of nibbling on random leaves but still I am very much aware that when experimenting with herbs, wild-food and mushrooms that you must do it with both care and knowledge. In Britain there are a handful of cases every year of accidental poisonings and even death from making mistakes with food - most of them will involve the consumption of a Death Cap mushroom but I recall stories of people who have died from eating rhubarb leaves as well. So with my experimentation I'm going to leave it at simple and safe remedies from plants and trees that are easy to recognise.

Hollyhock is a herbal remedy mentioned several times in The Clan of the Cave Bear. One of the excerpts is as follows:

"Hollyhocks are good for soothing irritations, sore throats, scrapes, scratches. The flowers make a drink that can ease pain, but it makes a person sleepy. The root is good for wounds. I used hollyhock roots on your leg, Ayla."

Hollyhocks growing in my allotment

In looking through my herbal medicine books, including the Enclycolpedia of Herbal Medicine as well as online sources such as Medicinal Herb Info I found that the uses for Hollyhock today are much the same as described in The Clan of the Cave Bear. Though the leaves and roots seem not to be used as often as the petals anymore, the modern and historical use of Hollyhock to treat sore throats and coughs is well known. A flower that in the past was standard in most gardens, the Hollyhock is now less popular and seen more in 'Cottage Garden' plantings. I suppose I'm not a trendy gardener then because I love this flower and have had it around for years.

Both the fresh and dried flower petals can be used as an infusion or a decoction and it seems a very safe herbal remedy to use since it was once commonly enjoyed as ordinary tea. Hollyhock comes in an assortment of colours and it doesn't really matter which one you use for your remedy. I chose to use white flowers so that I could more easily spot dirt and insects. To begin with, I thoroughly rinsed several flowers after letting them sit outdoors for a bit to give any beasties a chance to escape. Plucking the petals from the flower I ended up using two handfuls of them with a little more than a cup of boiling water, making an infusion. After allowing them to sit for about fifteen minutes I strained the liquid off and poured it into a mug.

Overall I can report no ill side affects and that I found the taste of the tea very refreshing. Though it's mentioned in The Clan of the Cave Bear that the petals can have a sedative effect I didn't find that to be the case with my own infusion. Instead it had a floral and soothing taste/feel and my energy level didn't change after drinking it. And after having a cup, I can understand how it can relieve sore mouths and throats and sometimes even thirst.

I plan on drying some of the flowers and storing them away for when I've got a cold. If they're successful in soothing my throat when I'm feeling miserable then I'd have to say that I'll make regular use of Hollyhocks as a herbal remedy. I already have them growing as ornamentals and the idea of giving it a useful purpose is really pleasing!

Foraging for Rose-hips

2011-09-20T18:20:00.004+01:00

It's that time of year again and the hedgerows are heaving with fruit. But with most people intent on collecting juicy blackberries, the vibrantly coloured and perhaps mystifying rose-hip is often overlooked. Maybe it's because they are a suspicious red colour or maybe it's because they're a fruit that's never seen in supermarkets. Whatever the reason, the conclusion is the same: there's more to collect for yourself!

Rose-hips are the fruit of the rose bush and in the summer are found as a swollen green part of the stem just underneath the flower. Every rose left uncut will eventually produce a hip but some will appear in the summer and others later in the autumn depending on species. To my knowledge all rose hips are edible, though some varieties have better flavour than others.

Blessed with a delicate fruity taste and rich in vitamins A, B and C, Rose-hips can be used to make an assortment of products including jellies, syrups, teas, wine and even cosmetics. Both the fruit and the seeds are edible but you should not eat rose-hips whole due to irritating hairs which are found inside the berries. These hairs must be removed either by filtering during the cooking process.

The best variety for making edible products is the hip of the common wild rose, also known as the Dog Rose, Latin name Rosa Canina. It produces small, firm, deep-red hips that are rich in flavour and easy to find and harvest. They are available in the autumn but it's said the best time to harvest them is directly after a frost. Being that birds favour other foods over these hard seed-laden hips, you can often find them hanging onto bare branches in the darkest days of winter. If you choose to use them to make edible products please know that it's not necessary to separate the seeds from the red fruit as both have their own nutritious values. But of course beware the hairs mentioned previously and make sure they are excluded from your end product.

Dog Rose (Rosa Canina) and hips from the same species

Japanese Rose (Rosa Rugosa) and hips from the same species

However, my main purpose for gathering rose-hips this week is to use them in making cold-process soaps. Dried and ground finely, both the seeds and the outer red hips are great for naturally colouring soaps and their anti-oxidants help extend the shelf-life. Another bonus is that their gritty texture creates a medium exfoliation which can be used both in soap as well as other cleansing products. The interesting thing about using rose-hips to colour your soap is that while the outer red berry will produce an earthy red colour, using the seeds will result in shades of brown. Therefore the fruit and the seeds must be separated if you wish to get a nice red colour. Though the hips of the dog rose can be used in soap-making, it's so small and fiddly to cut and clean that the investment in time is not really worth the end result. However, there is another rose-hip which is perfect for the job: the Japanese Rose-hip.

Differences in soap colour caused by different parts of the rose-hip

An introduced species in Britain, the Japanese rose-hip (Rosa Rugosa) can be found growing along hedgerows and even on vacant land and roadsides. They also seem a popular plant for municipal planting and here on the Isle of Man you can find them all over the place - they skirt the edges of many a public footpath and our small airport carpark is absolutely teeming with them. The scent of the flowers in summer is absolutely intoxicating and the hips they produce can grow to the size of a small plum. This makes them ideal for turning into rose-hip powder by a small producer.

After separating the seeds and most of the pith from the flesh, I put the flesh in the oven at a low heat for about three and a half hours until it's bone dry. Repeated pulsing and sifting, especially of all the itchy little hairs, results in a fairly fine powder that can be used sparingly in soap recipes and any larger pieces left over will make you a nice pot of tea.

I'm planning to forage for more rose-hips over the next couple of months and by the time I'm through I'll have enough rose-hip powder and tea to last me until this time next year. For the little effort expended in tracking the hips down and processing them I'm able to not only have a supply of quality local product on hand but the satisfaction of making it myself. Whether it's rose-hips or crab-apples, blackberries or mushrooms, there's nothing more fun and rewarding than foraging for wild foods and materials.

Preparing the rose-hips

Rose-hips slow dried in the oven

And the leftovers make a pot of tea

Purple Sprouting Broccoli

2011-09-16T14:27:00.001+01:00

Just a quick note but I wanted to share a photo and my excitement at my first Early Purple Sprouting Broccoli of 2011! Last year the birds and other beasties made short work of my plants before they could produce so I'm really chuffed to see those little violet sprouts. I can't wait to collect these spears over the weekend and serve them up with our Sunday roast. Yum!