We spent yesterday evening at a very fascinating workshop about local food and the impacts it has on the area which was hosted by the CPRE at the Workshop on Earlham Road - its all to do with Mapping Local Food webs click here for more info!.
This was partly a tenting in terms of us getting out and doing things together, but it was also very interesting to meet people who might think along the same lines as us and my lil sis came along as well so it was great to catch up. There were structured activities to gauge people opnion on how local food affected the environment, society and economy and the buffet was stocked with local produce. Which was delicious.
Showing posts with label local food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label local food. Show all posts
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Indian Summer Part II - Sloes!
Today we (nearly) lept out of bed in search of the elusive sloe. We have come to the conclusion that we will be having a traditional Christmas and celebrate all we love about Norfolk & English winter traditions. My Sarah Raven Christmas book has been well read and we've decided that we would try and make sloe gin & sloe vodka for Christmas, and having been told in some quarters that they were over, and other quarters that they wouldn't be ready yet we weren't sure if we'd missed the Sloe boat.
It was a cool start to the day but by the time we got up to Itteringham where we had asked a friendly farmer to help us to locate some sloes it had got really quite warm. In fairness I didn't know what a sloe looked like and so once the townies had been dropped by a hedge bursting with sloes we were left to get stung, scratched, prickled and generally made to work for our sloes. I was really surprised by the size of the little beggars and also the tenacity with which they clung to the hedge, the sheen on them was translucent and they are really pretty.
After picking some rosehips (not enough as I discovered when we got home) we headed up the Wolterton Park Harden open day where we immediately sought out lunch. The garden is rented out by the owners to a couple who grow enough to run Barker Organics. After lunch we toured the organic garden learning quite a bit about biodynamic gardening in the process. Growing up we were taken to almost every estate kitchen garden in England (well it felt like it sometimes) and while the Barker garden does not resemble one tiny bit the traditional national trust tidy type kitchen garden I can honestly say I have never been in a kitchen garden with so much wildlife. I saw a goldfinch for only the second time, robins, bees,(honey and bumble), and the various sunflowers were amazing, although they didn;t have any black ones like we grew this year.
After wandering around the stalls where we saw a whole host of amazing produce and crafts made in Norfolk we meandered home to an amazing supper of organic sausage, apple (mums tree), and Norfolk onion casserole. With it we had mustard mash made with our potatos - i can honestly say it was the best mash I have ever tasted! We had carrots plucked from the ground moments before going in the pan - he has to go and pick them by torchlight as the evenings have started catch us unawares.
By next weekend I hope to have my cloches which i'll need for winter growing - because of the veg patch dimensions then I have to cut accross my normal beds but if thats what it takes to get veg over the winter then so be it!
Oh and the sloes? 2.85KG - about 6 75cl bottles worth - Roll on Christmas!!!
It was a cool start to the day but by the time we got up to Itteringham where we had asked a friendly farmer to help us to locate some sloes it had got really quite warm. In fairness I didn't know what a sloe looked like and so once the townies had been dropped by a hedge bursting with sloes we were left to get stung, scratched, prickled and generally made to work for our sloes. I was really surprised by the size of the little beggars and also the tenacity with which they clung to the hedge, the sheen on them was translucent and they are really pretty.
After picking some rosehips (not enough as I discovered when we got home) we headed up the Wolterton Park Harden open day where we immediately sought out lunch. The garden is rented out by the owners to a couple who grow enough to run Barker Organics. After lunch we toured the organic garden learning quite a bit about biodynamic gardening in the process. Growing up we were taken to almost every estate kitchen garden in England (well it felt like it sometimes) and while the Barker garden does not resemble one tiny bit the traditional national trust tidy type kitchen garden I can honestly say I have never been in a kitchen garden with so much wildlife. I saw a goldfinch for only the second time, robins, bees,(honey and bumble), and the various sunflowers were amazing, although they didn;t have any black ones like we grew this year.After wandering around the stalls where we saw a whole host of amazing produce and crafts made in Norfolk we meandered home to an amazing supper of organic sausage, apple (mums tree), and Norfolk onion casserole. With it we had mustard mash made with our potatos - i can honestly say it was the best mash I have ever tasted! We had carrots plucked from the ground moments before going in the pan - he has to go and pick them by torchlight as the evenings have started catch us unawares.
By next weekend I hope to have my cloches which i'll need for winter growing - because of the veg patch dimensions then I have to cut accross my normal beds but if thats what it takes to get veg over the winter then so be it!
Oh and the sloes? 2.85KG - about 6 75cl bottles worth - Roll on Christmas!!!
Saturday, 19 September 2009
Indian Summer Part I
We have had a lovely day relaxing with the amazing weather which I feel is giving us a second chance to get a crop out of the veg patch, I have decided on Carrots, Potatos, Onions, Garlic, Shallots, Broad Beans and early sowings of a few companion flowers. I spent the morning on a few errands, stopping at the HFG (Horstead Farm Group)Farm Shop at Beeston where I bought some Pinneys Smoked Salmon for a few luches, some blueberry lemonade (which was 'interesting'), cheese scones for him and some corn thins for me which are truly delicious. The food is good value and we like to buy local, it will be this which I think pushes us into getting a freezer.
When I got home we ate lunch in the garden, and surveyed the last of our crops. The tomatos are still going strong, as are the carrots, and the onions are storing ok in the ground. I picked up the last of the shallots to keep indoors and discovered that teh sweetcorn should probably have been eaten last weekend as they have now started to turn. Never mind - they did remarkably well given how little water they had and we got 9 cobs which could have been eaten. The beans, courgettes and peas were a HUGE dissapointment this year and next year I intend to keep a much closer eye on them.
The day was rounded off by an early evening BBQ at a friends - local food at theirs too and it tastes just so good. I know scientific studies have shown that there is no difference between organic and non-organic but the taste is just outstanding. And its noce to think it hasn't had to travel. Had we been a little more organised we would have biked over there but perhaps another day.
When I got home we ate lunch in the garden, and surveyed the last of our crops. The tomatos are still going strong, as are the carrots, and the onions are storing ok in the ground. I picked up the last of the shallots to keep indoors and discovered that teh sweetcorn should probably have been eaten last weekend as they have now started to turn. Never mind - they did remarkably well given how little water they had and we got 9 cobs which could have been eaten. The beans, courgettes and peas were a HUGE dissapointment this year and next year I intend to keep a much closer eye on them.
The day was rounded off by an early evening BBQ at a friends - local food at theirs too and it tastes just so good. I know scientific studies have shown that there is no difference between organic and non-organic but the taste is just outstanding. And its noce to think it hasn't had to travel. Had we been a little more organised we would have biked over there but perhaps another day.
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