We have enjoyed another six months of varied
activities – read all about it in this, the 19th SOGS newsletter.
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I was quite surprised when it dawned on me that
I will shortly have been producing the newsletter for ten years! I have been encouraged by your willingness to contribute
accounts of meetings, outings etc., and to share your recipes with us. It
occurred to me that it would be a good idea to celebrate the twentieth issue
with a contribution from you of a special cover design. So, here goes:
To celebrate ten years of SOGS newsletter, we are
offering a prize to the creator of the best design for a front cover for issue
number 20, Autumn 2009. It must include the words ‘Shropshire Organic
Gardeners’ and ‘Autumn 2009’, and anything you like to indicate the 20th
newsletter and/or ten years of publication, otherwise it is up to your
inspiration. It can be A4 or A5 size, layout portrait, i.e. not horizontal, and
does not need margins. You can give it or post it to me, preferably unfolded,
or email it, by August 30th please. My address and email are at the
back.
Chairman’s Report
As
I write this we are looking forward to the AGM.
This is a time to reflect on the past year and look forward to the next
year. As you will not be reading this
until after the AGM, and, no doubt, you were there, was last year good? What are the prospects for next year?
Tell
me about the potato day. From my
perspective it was a blissful whirl of activity and people and potatoes and
compost and raffle and quiz and tombola and Rachel’s seeds and teas and cakes
and lunches and decorated potatoes and MONEY.
To know exactly how much money and what we can spend it on we will have
to consult our treasurer, (you know the one...it is he who is becoming a SOGS treasure.) He said that he was going to pocket the money
and leave the country...and he did!
Fortunately the country he went to (Wales) has an extradition treaty
with Shropshire Organic Gardeners. I
have said this before, but it will bear saying again, what I love about SOGS
members is the way you just turn up and get stuck into the work; it brings a
lump to my throat; mainly it is a lump of cake because that is something else I
love about SOGS members...the cakes you make when we have an event!
Talking
of volunteering, we are now girding our loins for this year’s foray into the
Shrewsbury Flower Show. We always ask
for a volunteer to be our Director-Designer, (whom we endow with god like
powers). The previous 5 D-D’s have done
us proud, it brings a lump to my throat, (you’ve already done that one.
ed.) This year we have not one...not
two.. but THREE volunteers to D-D. - Janet, Angela and Val, and they are
bursting with ideas and enthusiasm. The plan is to take on a larger plot and to
make it an organic/composting showpiece.
So it’s noses to the grindstone, shoulders to the wheel, backs against
the wall, don’t be backward at coming forward, once more into the breach, and,
pausing only to sample the latest cake, let us fill the breach with our special
brand of co-operation and esprit de SOGS.
Peter
(
So, if you were not at the March meeting to hear all about the Flower Show
garden project, see Janet, Angela and Val to find out what is required – and
get growing!)
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Jan Cafearo has given us this account of hosting a
visit from SOGs, which proves she’s still around to tell the tale! Don’t forget
it can be an inspiration to you to ask SOGs round for a visit – it is not an
ordeal!
SOGS Visit My Garden
I was
asked if I could stand in for the September SOGS visit, and as we have
connections with the new walled garden project at Attingham Park, we decided to
do a double visit. Jenny, who has been running the Attingham walled
garden, with the help of volunteers, since March, introduced us briefly to the
history of the garden, and let us explore ourselves. We saw the
greenhouses, which have been restored this year from a derelict state, and are
now in use, and the quarter section of the garden which has now gone into
cultivation.
I am personally
so happy to see the walled garden being gardened again, after a break of some
decades. The future direction of the garden is still to be decided, so
Jenny I think has been very creative, by exploring different styles of
gardening, and providing plenty of interpretation for visitors about those
methods. There is a bio-diversity garden, with beds, inter-cropping,
mulching, and companion planting. There is a traditional Victorian
inspired area, with rows of veg on a 4 plot rotation. There is a very
attractive potager laid out on a geometric pattern, using striking, colourful
and beautiful veg. The rest of the plot is laid down to flowers for the
Attingham house, and green manures (buckwheat and phacelia).
Then we came
round to my place, for tea and yummy cakes (thank you
everyone). I was making tea, so I didn't get to talk to many of
you, but people had a look round the garden themselves. I am now
delighted Debbie asked me to step in, as I would not have ventured to
offer myself - we all feel we don't have or do anything special. But
actually just looking at other people's 'ordinary' gardens is so fascinating,
and we always come away with a few tips, and a bit of inspiration. Having
SOGS visit gave me the shove to do jobs I've been meaning to do for ages, which
never get to the top of the list - like mulching the paths. Now I am
well ahead for next spring, and will not spend next summer weeding my paths, or
wading through nettles to get to my salads!
Thank you
everyone for coming, and for helping with the teas. I hope you enjoyed
it. For anyone who missed it, Attingham Park walled garden is open to the
public, included in the National Trust entrance price to the park.
Jan Cafearo
26th
October - Apple-Day at Karuna
The
day dawned; not fair and not bright; it had rained all night: the clocks had gone back, (why do they
continue to do this barbarous thing to us?).
Sensible people had pulled the blankets over their heads: (blankets!
have they never heard of duvets?) Some
brave souls leapt forth, gathered apples and ventured to Karuna. There was not a man (women are honorary men,
for the sake of this diatribe) among them that regretted the decision.
The
sun shone, it cracked the paving stones, (well, some of the damp evaporated
from them.) A gentle zephyr blew, it was
just as well because it cooled our fevered brows as we set to work; milling
apples and pressing pulp and testing the juice; was there just a touch too much
of Bramley? Did it need a hint more of
Egremont-Russet? Would it benefit from
some Newton-Wonder? Had anyone got some
Discovery? Were we all feeling a little
Spartan?
It
mattered not; when you are at such a special place as Karuna, these otherwise
important questions pale into insignificance as you consider the vision that
has brought this place into existence.
What!? you want to know about the vision! Well, I know just the people to tell you
about it... Janta and Merav will inspire
you with enthusiasm that you never knew that you had; you will come away
convinced that you have shared something special; and you have! Try it, you will see what I mean.
The
juice that we pressed may still be juice by the time of our Christmas do, or,
it may have fermented into cider. By the
time that you read this the Christmas do will have come and gone; were you
there? Had it fermented? Can you remember? If you can remember, were you really
there? (Was I really there? (What is
real anyway?) )
It
was a special day because of the chatter; it says, in my dictionary, that
chatter is something that magpies do.
Magpies have many qualities, some good and some bad. But, they are social animals, and that is
what is important about SOGs members, we are social animals, our chatter is
interspersed with laughter, that is what makes us special.
Stephen
and Ann Bromley have given, for the use of SOGs’ (does anyone know how the
apostrophe fits here?) members, the apple milling and pressing machinery. This is extraordinarily generous. It is here, it is for all of us, please feel
free to come and use it, (phone me first...)
We have found that a 3 gallon bucket of apples renders almost a gallon
of juice, (is this politically correct?- should it be a 15 litre bouquet of
pommes renders some juice por-la-bouche-de terre?) (Don’t tell me!)
Put
the juice in plastic bottles and freeze it, drink it fresh, or allow it to
bubble to a standstill; either way it is delicious.
Peter
5th November.
Talk: Out and About – adventures of an Alpine Enthusiast,by Jim Almond
An
amusing and interesting slide show of alpines was interspersed with Jim’s
anecdotes of hunting down his favourite plants. Showing us beautiful blooms
from far-flung places, Jim’s enthusiasm and passion for these small plants
shone through as he explained the habitat needed to rear these plants.
I
now know why the hundreds of alpine plants I have bought over the years have
died! I did however also learn that keeping seeds in the domestic fridge
prolongs their life.The “show” concluded with an artistic presentation of a
kaleidoscope of slides set to music.
Angela Bishop
3rd December –
‘Bring and Share’ Christmas Party
What
does it take to make you feel ‘Christmassy’?
Certainly
not the talk of economic gloom and doom, nor the tinsel and tat around town for
weeks ahead of Christmas. It simply takes the combined efforts of SOGs members
to provide food, drink, a conducive ambiance – and this year, for the first
time, a professional musician and caller to provide a wonderful evening with traditional barn
dances.
Then
home we go, fortified against the winter cold with the warm feeling that the
Christmas season is under way.
January 7th
2009 Talk on Bird Boxes by Alvin Botting
Our
first meeting of the year began with chairman Peter Anderson saying “Gardening
is about the wider ecology” as he introduced Alvin Botting from Leintwardine, a
member and leader of the South Shropshire RSPB group. He agreed by saying that the acreage of
gardens in Britain exceeds that of nature reserves and therefore gives us
gardeners the opportunity to help wildlife.
Alvin then explained the benefit to birds of nesting
boxes and how we can easily make them with very little carpentry skills. Not only would birds raise their young in a
box but also use them for shelter in the winter and in fact 61 wrens were found
one night in a box in Much Wenlock during a particularly bad spell of
weather. In return for using the box,
breeding birds even seed eaters, will consume lots of bugs, to feed to their
offspring. Blue tits seem to most agile
and eat most insects. Alvin has a
woodland at home with 17 boxes which he monitors and told us that 2 to 3 pairs
of blue tits could occupy an acre. Boxes need to be well spaced.
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Around 60 species of birds will use bird boxes of
various designs to suit them. The most
popular design is with the little hole at the front and the tiny 25mm hole is
suitable for blue tit size birds, 28mm for great-tits, tree sparrows and fly
catchers and 32mm for sparrows and nuthatches.
Sparrows like to nest close to each other and boxes can be put side by
side. If a nuthatch decides to use a box
with one of these round holes, he will enlarge it greatly and then reform the
hole with mud to become a perfect fit.
Predators such as woodpeckers will also enlarge the hole too as they
like nothing better than a tasty, newly hatched chick. It too has young to feed. Metal plates are available to screw around
the hole and prevent this. There should
not be a perch in front of the hole either as predators such as squirrels can
use it to gain access, but a rough texture inside will help the fledglings
climb out of the box when ready.
A large square hole in the front of the box, at
about 10cm up from the base for robins and a little higher for wrens will be
perfect. These boxes need to be sited at
a low height, ie below 2 metres and well hidden in a hedge or similar whereas
boxes for blue-tits etc can be much higher and need to have a clear flight path
to the entrance. It also means that
you can watch the to-ing and fro-ing of the parent birds as they first build
the nest inside and then as they feed the chicks. Fly catchers like to be even
higher at up to 4 metres. It is also best to place them all facing between
North and East where possible so as not to get too hot or be in the prevailing
winds. Fasten to trees with wire,
through old hose pipe to protect the bark, and check the tightness every year
when you clean the box and tilt it forwards slightly to help rain run off. This needs to be done by mid-February but is
best done in the autumn to give birds chance to use the box for roosting.
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Boxes already on site need cleaning, between
September and January, so try to have one with a removable lid to make removing
the litter easier. Any eggs found then
can be removed and destroyed (it is illegal to keep them). Blue tits can lay up to 14 eggs and Great
tits up to 11 so the nests get very dirty and cramped. And wear rubber gloves as the box will
probably be full of fleas and parasites which certainly will overwinter to
infect the next brood. Boiling water
poured into the box is the best destroyer of these parasites. Do not use insecticides or flea powders. (As
if we would). Let the box dry before
putting the lid back on. Once dry you
can put some clean hay or straw in ready for the next tenants. A gap at the front of the base will allow the
water to escape and prevent flooding during rain if the box is not quite
watertight. If the box has not been used
then try it in a different location next year but be prepared for the box to be
used by other creatures such as mice, wasps or other insects. They will be just as grateful. There are special designs for owls, tree
creepers and swallow type birds but all easily made by following simple plans.
One of the best timbers for the construction is Douglas fir. It lasts well. Use timber that is at least 2cm thick. Use screws that won’t go rusty. Don’t use preservatives.
Alvin finished the evening by producing his ‘ready cut to size’ kits for us to buy and some useful leaflets full of information on feeding garden birds.
Sue Bosson
4th February,
Talk by Emlyn and Mary Thomas
As
the name indicates, Emlyn and Mary are Welsh, and indeed live in Wales, and are
the perfect combination of a husband who loves growing things and a wife who
loves cooking them. Emlyn certainly doesn’t do things by halves, as only 5
years ago he started his hobby of potato growing with no less than 30
varieties, and worked up from there to 120 varieties last year! This is as well
as growing other vegetables. Mary has to be firm about keeping control over her
flower beds.
It
is satisfying to know that even someone with Emlyn’s passion and expertise
cannot overcome the dreaded blight, to which he lost half his crop last year.
His Sarko varieties did manage to come through unscathed. He grows many different colours of potato,
and his displays for shows are quite astonishing in their range, as shown in
Emlyn’s slides. The slides showed us his growing techniques, from making
compost right through to harvesting. His compost mix is not strictly organic, as
for his show potatoes he uses peat, Vitax Q4, calcified seaweed and slug
pellets. (Garden Organic now say calcified seaweed is not organic).
Chitting: Emlyn says this gives the
potatoes a good start. He starts them early in the year, in plenty of light to
produce firm green shoots about ½ inch long. He writes the name of the variety
on the potato itself in felt pen (this would have saved me a good deal of
puzzlement if only I’d thought of doing
it!). For show potatoes, once chitted he plants them out in bags in the
polytunnel in March. This is much earlier than most of us would be able to, as
we have to wait for the likelihood of frost to have passed, before planting in
the open ground.
Growing on: We can learn some useful
tips from Emlyn’s methods, even if we do not grow for show.
Bags. These are black polythene bags specifically for
potato growing, and Emlyn uses them extensively, as he says the spuds do better
in them than in the soil. After starting them in the bags under cover, in May
he transfers the bags outside. Here he has prepared custom-made polythene covered frames, with sheets of
fleece handy for covering up if frost threatens. He places the potatoes, still
in their bags, in the frames directly on the soil so that the roots can find
their way out. He piles soil halfway up the bag. His photos show that this
method produces early flowering, and he is able to start lifting by mid-July.
We
may not all be able to grow all our potato crop by this method because of lack
of undercover space, but it would be worth trying it out on just some of our
seed potatoes.
Emlyn
does potato trials for Bangor University. The search is on for the perfect
potato, but Emlyn says that some of the new varieties should be named “B –
Hopeless”! His talk provided some humour as well as useful information, and we
got an insight into the world of growing vegetables for exhibition. After some
time for questions and answers, Mary took over and talked about which types of
potato to use for different culinary purposes, and showed slides of
delicious-looking potato-based dishes, for which she had brought the recipes.
Questions
included: Can you save your own potatoes for seed? Answer: Only for two years.
What
to do about blight? Answer: Cut the tops off.
Impressions of
Potato Day 2009, by a first time helper.
I
can't quite remember how we stumbled on last year's Potato Day — probably
through a friend of a friend — but I knew any group capable of organising such
a great day out had to be worth joining.
It
felt like being a kid let loose in a sweet shop: the delicious agony of so much
choice - but only a small veg patch to plant them in. So, having joined SOGS,
and with a veg patch twice the size to plant up, we looked forward this year
with great anticipation, and we weren't disappointed; despite the crop failure
of one or two varieties.
What
struck me most this year (being involved in setting up and helping out on the
day) was the way the whole thing swung into action — well planned and prepared,
no rampant egos, everyone prepared to do whatever was needed. The food was
brilliant too, and like last year, was one of the main reasons we enjoyed the
day so much; that and the heady excitement you get at me first day of the high
street sales. Perhaps I should get out more?
If
SOGS was a commercial operation, well, let's just say I'd hate to be one of its
competitors! There was only one minor niggle: everyone seemed to stop to chat
in front of the tombola stall, so that Marian and I had to let a few potential
'"punters" escape.
So,
I'm looking forward already to next year. Who knows, if the supplier has a
better crop, I might actually get to try the Edzell Blues.
Sue Boulding
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By the toil of each and the
fellowship of people, all things good will happen.
(Sign at entrance to Uplands
Allotments, Handsworth, Birmingham.)
March 4th. Talk
by Ali Ford “Organic Techniques for a Sustainable Future”
Ali
belongs to VON – The Vegan Organic Network, founded 1996.
The
word compassion kept cropping up in Ali’s talk. VON is concerned with
compassion for people, for animals and crucially, for the soil. Their logo
bears the words “stockfree organic, free from animal input”. Thus they go
further than our organic principles, but we were not made to feel too guilty,
as their growing methods include many aspects which we embrace. They are
concerned that factory farming leads to depletion of the soil, and that
livestock farming is responsible for increasing global emissions of greenhouse
gases, and borrows or steals fertility from the soil. Stockfree organic farming
helps the planet by reduced water consumption, more efficient use of land and
elimination of animal waste pollution of rivers and oceans.
Ali
showed a film about one of the few VON certified farms in Britain, with Iain
Tolhurst of Tolhurst Organic Farm, Berkshire, talking about his 7 year rotation
system which starts with two years of green manures. Then she showed slides of
her garden on the outskirts of Ludlow. She says you don’t need to be vegan or
vegetarian to succeed; she gradually worked towards completely dispensing with
animal input. Ali’s methods include home composting and the use of green
manures, which can look beautiful as shown by her picture of crimson clover
with phacelia. So, a lot of food for thought, about food for the garden!
Websites
giving information on VON, Veganism etc:-
Photos on the Flickr Photo-sharing website
If anyone did try to see Sogs photos on my
Flickr site in the last few weeks they would have been disappointed, as an
administrative error limited me to just 200 photos. It has been sorted now, and
I have added some SOGs photos from 2005. If you have any photos of SOGS
activities you could post them there too in your own Flickr account, easily set
up – for a free account you need a BT email address, which does not need to be
your main one.
The best way to see them is to go into Flickr ,
click on Explore, and in the panel put Shropshire Organic Gardeners. If you put
SOG photos of your own onto Flickr, be sure to tag them with Shropshire Organic
Gardeners. (Just ‘SOGS’ will bring up all sorts of different things). You can
also go into Flickr, click on Explore and then on People, and then put Wonky
Knee, and click on my sets of SOGS photos.
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Spotted - Spotted - Spotted
- Spotted - Spotted -
Daily Telegraph 11.2.09 Eco
Schools
More
than half the schools in England have eco school status, with their teachers
and pupils making their schools more environmentally friendly and sustainable.
This often includes growing their own fruit and vegetables, and learning about
ecogical issues around the world.
D.T. 2.2.09 Green bathroom
mat
Literally
green, this mat, as it consist of live moss in a foam frame. The moss is kept
alive by the water that drips on it when you step out of the bath or shower.
Its designer, Nguyen La Chanh, hopes the mat will go into production at less
than the £220 the prototype cost.
D.T. 1.2.09 100,000 people
waiting for an allotment.
More
and more people want to grow their own food, and there are waiting lists for
allotments. One quarter of local authorities surveyed by the National Society
for Allotments and Leisure Gardeners produced a figure of 24,000 waiting for a
plot, so the total figure for England must be about 100,000.
D.T. 24. 1. 09 Compost Heap
covers four acres!
The
heap in question belongs to former Formula One racing driver Jody Scheckter,
who from being ultra fast, has now embraced slowness. He has a model farm in
Hampshire, where research is carried out on organic growing methods, and
animals are matured slowly before being killed at the on-site abattoir to
minimise distress. His chickens live entirely under trees, rather than in huts,
and forage for bugs and slugs, making for a more flavoursome egg. Scheckter
says “We are not what we eat: we are what our animals eat”.
D.T. 24.1.09 National Trust
want us to dig up their estates!
No,
the National Trust do not want their properties covered in allotments - but
they are looking into allowing parts of them to be used by the public for
growing vegetables. As part of a food initiative they will give away seeds, and
will have cookery demonstrations, recipe sharing, and courses on foraging for
fungi and wild fruits. They are asking experienced gardeners to pass on their
skills.
D.T. 28.1. 09 The Co-op
takes action to save honey bees
The
Co-op has banned fresh produce using pesticides that harm honey bees. It is
Britain’s biggest farmer, with Co-operative Farms covering 25,000 acres. It
will carry out trials of sowing a wildflower mix alongside crops, and will
invite beekeepers to establish hives on its land.
D.T. 13.6.08 Killer Compost!
A
gardener died after contracting a rare lung infection from home-made compost.
This is an extremely rare occurrence, and came about when he opened bags of
very dusty and mouldy compost. He may have already had weak lungs.
However,
it is probably as well to check the state of any stored bags of compost, and if
the contents are dry and or mouldy, take precautions against breathing the
dust.
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WALK WITH FRAGRANCE THE TRADITIONAL
CAMOMILE LAWN
The Camomile Lawn has a long tradition
in England. The Elizabethans enjoyed the sweet fragrance that filled the air as
they walked on Camomile. The poet Spencer in 1574 wrote of "Breathful
Camomile" as he trod on the soft, springy lawn. The lawn is also valued
for its colour. The rich green covering does not turn brown in dry weather as
does grass. The best known lawn is at Buckingham Palace and dates from before
the reign of George V.
Modern Developments
Camomile
lawns in the past had one disadvantage - cutting was necessary. In recent years
a low-growing variety has been developed. This is the variety Treneague and it
is now possible to enjoy a fragrant lawn that never needs mowing. Camomile
should not be mixed with grass as the grass is invasive and will eventually
replace the Camomile.
Camomile Varieties
Camomile is a perennial herb with feather-like
leaves. It should not be compared with grass except as a ground cover. There
are several varieties of Camomile and all but one bear flowers. The traditional
Camomile has white, daisy like flowers on stems up to 6" high. Lawns from
this variety require mowing. (It is available from leading seedsmen.) The modem
Treneague variety does not produce flowers and is a low growing evergreen.
These characteristics, together with the strong green colour, provide the right
plant for a lawn.
Cultivation
As
there are no flowers there are no seeds !
These
are small rosettes which grow to form cushions as the original plants divide.
The cushion sends out side shoots which root themselves and spread to form a
green sward. The plants can grow to a height of 2-3" but are usually lower
as walking presses them down.
The
soil for Treneague should be light and well drained. Clay soils require
lightening with garden sand and peat. A neutral or slightly acid soil is
preferred. The rosettes are low growing but the roots can be 1Ocm (4”) deep and
this depth of soil is required for healthy growth. A fertilised soil is
beneficial but Treneague is slow growing and not demanding. A general
fertiliser every two years is usually adequate. A top dressing in September
will help to cover any new side
shoots that have not yet rooted.
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Lawns,
Paths and Novelties
Camomile Treneague can be planted in many
situations in gardens large or small. It should not be used where heavy use is
expected such as children's games.
• In
small gardens a Camomile lawn makes a lovely feature
•
Larger spaces accommodate a Camomile walk or path (If the ground is
packed by heavy walking the side shoots may be prevented from rooting)
• A
Camomile bank is an attractive setting for flowers
Camomile
seats - a luxury
•
Camomile can be alternated with flagstones in a patio, (ensure
4"depth of soil between stones)
• Camomile can be used as a substitute for
moss in a Japanese garden
The Camomile Fragrance
The
delightful scent of Camomile Treneague is variously described as
"rich", "sweet", "fruity" and
"apple-like". It is a classic old world fragrance. The scent is
released by walking on the plants, which gently bruises the leaves without
damage. The scent is stronger after rain.
See
the Organic Gardening Catalogue 2009 page 77 for details of camomile plants.
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Recently joined members Sue
and Steve Boulding.
Sue has provided this
account of ‘what makes them tick’.
I’ve
been vegan for 26 years; I’d already been vegetarian for quite a few years and
had tried vegan foods before, but anyone who can remember the days of foul
tasting tinned soya milk (which was all you could get then) will understand why
I returned to dairy milk!
Steve
has been vegan for much longer, around 35 years, and by the time we married in
1983 I decided it was time I took the plunge. We were both active in animal
rights, which is why we’re vegan, but a pleasing side effect of the diet is
that Steve’s arthritis – quite severe when he ate meat etc – became much more
tolerable.
Our
son, Caspar, who is now 25, was brought up as a vegan and I’m pleased that he
still is.
Life
for vegans is so much simpler now; anyone who hankers after bacon or cheese can
buy good substitutes. Eating out can be
a pain; unless you strike it lucky you’re usually stuck with Indian
restaurants.
With
retirement looming 2 years ago, we started looking to escape from work and our
suburban home in Merton, South London. I
scoured most of East Sussex, wanting to stay near my aging parents, but frankly
the sort of house with a large garden which we were hoping for was way out of
our league financially.
Eventually
we stumbled across this house for sale, with the result that we swapped an
average sized garden and a 10 rod allotment on heavy clay, for a huge garden
and paddock with a rather small and decrepit house attached.
I'm the gardener of the two, but Steve's very
useful when a bit of brute strength is required and is starting to take a fair
bit of interest in the garden. Not too much, I hope, as I consider it
"my" patch.
The
paddock now has 14 apple trees, newly planted this year. The garden, once an immaculate lawn
surrounding neat beds of nettles and brambles is now half veg and half flowers,
and Val would be impressed with the 4 compost bins.
I’m
determined to be organic, despite the temptations of glyphosate and slug
pellets. Our 5 ex battery hens were meant to eat the slugs. Fat chance of that
when there’re choice plants to rip to shreds.
And no, we've never strayed from the vegan
diet. Thankfully there're lots of makes of chocolate I can eat.
Sue
This
recipe was contributed by . . . whom? Please
write your name on contributions! CUMBERLAND BEAN PICKLE
900g
(2lb) trimmed & finely sliced runner beans
450g
(1lb) finely sliced onions
pinch
of salt
425ml
(15 fl oz) white malt vinegar
50g
(2oz) plain white flour or cornflour
1
tablespoon mustard powder
½
teaspoon ground black pepper
½
teaspoon turmeric
150g
(5oz white sugar
1
Put beans and onions in a pan with pinch of salt & just enough water to
cover
2
Bring to boil and simmer till tender (20 minutes)
3
In another pan mix a tablespoon of vinegar, the flour and the spices to a
smooth paste
4
Heat gently, adding the rest of the vinegar carefully bit by bit, like making a
roux sauce
5
Simmer for 2-3 minutes until flour is cooked
6
Add the sugar and stir well until it is dissolved, bring to the boil
7
It should now be thick and shiny
8
Drain the beans and onions and add to the sauce
9
Stir well, bring back to the boil and cook for 10 minutes
10
Pour into sterilised jars
You
can also add 450g (1lb) of peeled and sliced carrots with the beans and onion
mix to produce Carrot and Runner Bean Pickle.
ffffffffffff
This
is a rambling and erudite book by a garden historian on the subject of ... shall we call it waste matter? It
ranges from pre-history (coprolite), the ancient Egyptians, the Romans and
Britain up to the present day, and covers latrines, sewers, dung beetles,
hot beds, manuring – all sorts of facts, fancies and anecdotes about dung. It
is so crammed with various items that it cannot easily be read in one go.
In fact, it is the ideal book to be read in small instalments – you’ve
guessed where! Look
out for it appearing in SOGS’ library soon. Marian Byrne
Browsing
the Web can be a real time waster, following links from one site to another.
However, you can find interesting stuff, like the site with 19th
century Australian newspapers where I found this item.
Adelaide Independent1841
suggests that settlers who miss pies and puddings made with gooseberries (which
do not grow in the climate of down under) should try using green tomatoes
instead! I wonder whether it would be worth trying this to use up unripened
toms! If anyone’s brave enough to try it, please let us know the result.
Thank
you for your contributions. Keep them coming – let’s hear about your gardening
experiences! Anything you’ve spotted in newspapers and magazines, or heard on
radio or TV - give, send, or e-mail them to
Marian
Byrne, 39 Reabrook Avenue, Shrewsbury SY3 7PZ
e-mail
- marianbyrne@yahoo.co.uk
Items for the next
newsletter by August 30th, please.
Fancy that!
