Far Lands

In the Summer I was at Tyn Dwr in Llangollen, Wales at a party. Country dancing is not really my thing, and I spotted an excuse: a hedgerow heaving with blackberries. I always go equipped for these sort of opportunities, and I filled several ice-cream containers. Driving home, however, I wondered whether I had missed a better opportunity. That opportunity re-presented itself yesterday when I was back in Llangollen. With the permission of the Outdoor Centre staff, I scrabbled around in the hedgerow and took several rooted tips. Whilst doing so the gardener politely inquired what I was up to. When I explained he told me that historically Tyn Dwr had been an arboretum, and that the blackberry bush was a particularly good one. He could not help me with any details, but hopefully my cuttings will grow and I can ask at the NFG (Northern Fruit Group). Watch this space!

As some of you will know my aim is to be self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables. I write 'my' aim because although Sarah is keen in principle, actually being self-sufficient requires a disciplined approach for two reasons: - 1. you have to eat almost anything that is edible that comes out of the garden; and 2. you are restricted to a handful of varieties as opposed to the 1001 lines stocked by Tesco. And we are not even in the so-called Hungry Gap yet, that period in about April which is furthest from the Summer growing season when it is the most difficult to be self-sufficient in fresh produce. At the moment, things are OK. I am eating sprouts, leeks, kale and purple sprouting. I still have potatoes and apples in cool storage, and a freezer still stuffed with berries, currants and rhubarb (and about 10 runner beans). And I do buy the odd banana! Part 2 coming soon.

We do! But they are quite tricky to grow, especially up North, because they require a very long growing season. (On top of that they don't like being transplanted, and have to be grown in a block to aid wind pollination.) After three years of nothing, I decided last year to try them in our green-house. Risking transplantation, I transferred 15 cm plants to an cold water-tank in the greenhouse.  Success! We had 20 sweetcorn and plants that, triffid-like, wanted to burst out through the ceiling. This year, in an attempt to reduce the risk of broken glass, I have sunk the cold-water tank into the greenhouse floor - see photo.  I was not multi-tasking and burying an annoying neighbour - the hand is actually a glove, and for scale-purposes.

Over New Year I chatted with a friend about his present for Xmas, a set of electron scales. Not for his drugs but to measure the salt for his bread, which he makes by hand. His theory was that salt is crucial for bread to rise. I have always known that I have skimped on the salt but when I checked my recipe (for a bread-maker) I found that for a 500 gram loaf it suggested 1.5 teaspoons. I was using a large pinch, perhaps a 1/15th of a teaspoon so it was perhaps not surprising - following my friend's theory - that my bread was quite dense. This week I made a loaf with half a teaspoon of salt and this was the result - a bigger loaf! I have done a little internet trawling for some science but not uncovered much. The key pointers seem to be (1) not to mix yeast with salt, (2) salt improves taste, and (3) in general the shorter the rising time the more yeast and less salt are needed. No great break-through, but what I would suggest is that if you try varying the salt content...