Adventures in Food

I grew up on a diet of many delights, one of which was Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti . Living in Stroud some years ago, I felt a connection with this poem of my childhood far away, and this led me to make a film about the poem on Super8 . Now I have returned to Stroud, and at last, have a garden of my own. There is already growing a lovely cherry tree and an apple, some strawberries and the ubiquitous blackberries, and lots of herbs, and it came to me that this could become a fruit garden with a fruit fence strategically placed to screen the road at the back. And then I heard about the Hampton Court Palace Show gardens designed for poems , and although I think these seem to be rather clumsy and literal attempts to represent poems, undaunted I thought I could set myself the task of growing all of the Goblins Delights from Rossetti's most luscious of poems. Here is a list of all the fruits the Goblins tempt the two girls in the poem with: Apples Russet and dun,...

The days of the weed growing are numbered as I am moving to Stroud (of Rupert Burdock fame) and I will have to abandon the anotment after three years of adventures (or is it four, I am useless at tracking time).  I have been so excited by working with the land and the girls that I am looking for ways to pursue the same interests in Stroud once I can get more settled there. A Pensford Field committee member spoke to me after the recent work day and explained the plans for the back of the studio. I was sad to hear it will be lost in their plans to build a shed, but I am hopeful that some of the learning can be brought forward into the planned garden for the front of the space. He said it would likely be winter before anything actually happens. If this is so I am in contact with someone who may be able to continue monitoring the patch over the summer. I had a lovely send off from the fantastic Girls Art Club, who threw me a leaving do recently. I have seen them learn a g...

Rupert Burdock and his Wild Things A couple of weekends ago I was in lovely Stroud where I met Rupert Burdock. He sold me a bag of Milk thistle heads and invited me to join his afternoon wild food walk. Sadly I couldn't go that day but we had a very nice cup of tea instead with some poets and artists. Next time!

Sometimes bugs are spotted: I liked these ones.

Being as it is the Year of Biodiversity and I am making my own plot more biodiverse than it was, I thought this would be interesting for you biodiversityfoodiephiles. Bem-me-quer is a vegetarian restaurant located in the centre of Lisbon (Portugal). This vegetarian restaurant has launched a cuisine to show how a simple dish can contain millions of years of species evolution. The project, titled “Biodiversidade à Mesa – como proteger Natureza com faca e garfo” (Biodiversity at the table – how to protect Nature with the fork and knife),aims to promote to diners the value and impact of people’s every-day food choices, and the important role that traditional agriculture has played over millennia to bring us crop varieties.   More information is here: http://www.countdown2010.net/article/biodiversity-at-the-table and the restaurant's website is here: http://www.bem-me-quer.pt/ If you are in Portugal you can visit it here: View Larger Map

Last weekend I went on a family outing to Sussex to see where my brother works at www.commonwork.org as they had an open day. It was fascinating and inspiring, I discovered: - nettle tea goes clear when you add lemon drops - how to bodge a rounders bat - when to collect woad for dyeing - a new drink called kefir - its fizzy yoghurt and its yummy. I have been craving it since trying the free sample - that all the sheeps wool in the UK ends in a single processing plant, I think its in Huddersfield - but do correct me - and from there it gets auctioned once a week to highest bidders. - how to make artists charcoal - that buddleia makes a good yellow dye even after the flowers are dead I also got some beeswax, a diblet, milk fresh from the cow, honey, sunshine, a delicious lunch of mutton, organic beetroots, a lesson in wood turning from a delightful man called Bob, some fresh willow charcoal, and a lift there and back from mum and dad. Super nice man who swapped c...