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Tuesday 12 August 2008

Rich Pickings.



After a fortnight of partying both here (our first party in business, pictured) and at Standon Calling, it is back to being wholesome. We started with a little get together of everyone from the estate. Ewan and Sulekha run their company, Northern Greens, from the vegetable gardens and they brought a delicious salad of lettuce, rocket and nasturtiums (apparently Grace Jones eats a lot of flowers). This set the ball rolling and our neighbours invited us to make sure their splendid veg patch doesn't waste while they are on holiday so we dived in for sweet peas, beans, lettuces, spinach, more rocket and big juicy redcurrants.

To compliment these amazing flavoursome home grown vegetables there are the wild foods. The place is covered with little sweet raspberries, sorrel, chanterelle mushrooms, cherries and a carpet of blaeberries. After much debate about what a blaeberry scoop really is we have improvised with a bowl and a coarse nit comb. Half an hours sweeping gathered me a mug of berries and a similar volume of spiders, it's all sitting outside overnight in case it wants to escape.



If anyone has foraging recommendations please let me know, this time next year we will certainly run a found foods course. Hedgerows and roadkill or similar.

2 comments:

Dan Light said...

hey Walt. great to see the place buzzing so, and nice to know that there's a rich supply of food growing naturally in the area. when the revolution comes and we flee the city for the highlands we'll be glad of a few spiders with our blaeberries. great to see you at Standon, you lovely man x

Eunice said...

Hi from Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada.
Walter: I came across your blog and wanted to pass along that I am enjoying seeing Inshriach House evolve. When I noticed the blueberries, I had to send you a note to tell you that you need a blueberry rake. Yes! That is what they are called in Canada. Try a website like Lee Valley Tools, who have one made in Sweden, or Vesey Seeds in York,PEI.
Keep up the excellent work on your house ... and thanks for sharing the process with all of us. Take care.
E. Trainor