the end of summer at the end of the world

We are having a couple of weeks off to catch up with family and do some house stuff.  My mother in law came down on the train for a visit, then we drove her home to N Wales and headed across to Aberdaron for a couple of nights by the sea. It's where Mr Asparagus Pea proposed to me 3 years ago and this washing line featured in the image we used as a wedding invite.

The area is a Welsh speaking stronghold and the signposts drip with the extra vowels that give the language its distinctive look. W gives an 'oo' sound and Y gives an 'uh' - put them together and you get the English W sound. (I guess this sign had English on the other side?!?)

We walked the cliff paths and poked around in rockpools.

The summer seems to be coming to an early end with berries ripening and fungi sprouting.

 We're back home now and there is more pickling underway….

I have discovered two things:

1. Life is too short to cut carrots into flower shapes (unless that's your job),
2. I knew I needed one of those special food cover umbrella thingies, I just didn't know why…

pickle-tastic

update on batch 2 of my lacto-fermented brine pickles….

pickle-tastic!!!

4% brine

7 day ferment

zingy, tangy and suitably sour

They're in the fridge now

(making friends with Iestyn, the sourdough starter).

I'll spare you from updates on improvements in our gut health,

but I'm excited about their pro-biotic aliveness.

They'll be going in some salsa verde tonight;

we're having roast lamb.

Yummo!!!

Now then - what can i ferment next?

I'm thinking carrots and cauliflower...

pickle update

Update on the first batch of pickles:

Bleeeuurgh - wahaaay too salty!!!!

(But with good flavours developing underneath).

They had to go in the bin…

life's too short to de-salinate a pickle.

Undeterred, I had a quick trawl through the internet for advice about brine strength. 

The first batch was 40g salt to 500ml water - that's 8% brine. 

Batch two is about half that strength.

Watch this space….

pickled snozzcumbers

Last year I was going to pickle cucumbers…

and not just any old pickle,

proper old fashioned brine pickles.

Lacto-fermentation, hell yeah!

Last year I bought Alys Fowler's lovely book,

and read all about how to do it.

Last year the builders arrived at the end of July,

and ripped the kitchen off the back of the house.

But this year…

I'm doing it - look!!!

Cucumbers from the hotbed.

(Siân said they look like the BFG's snozzcumbers).

I love that half the aromatics are from the garden,

including tannin rich vine leaves for pickly crispness.

The previous owners of the house were Italian 

- Grazie Sr Sanna!

We get through loads of brine pickles in this house,

but the store bought ones are pasteurised,

which knocks out all their pro-biotic goodness.

It's Day 3 and there's definitely something happening…

Some bubble-age, a pickly tang in the air,

and a colour change from summer green to gentle olive.

There will be updates 

(for all you pickle fans out there).

xxx

beanfeast

It's the time of year for peas and broad beans.  Alys Fowler tweeted the other day that she likes fava beans best out of all the broads - they are smaller than a modern bean, closer to their 'field bean' ancestors. They're what half the world grows and dries - knowing that our western obsession with eating everything green means there is nothing in the larder for winter.  But of course you can eat them green - the ensuing twitterings made claims for their superior flavour and creaminess…

..and who am I to argue with the lovely Alys?

So Fowler may favour a fava,

but maybe I can out-nerd her on the history beans front?

would like to say that I individually taste tested them 

- but I didn't, just mixed them up and ate them,

and they were good.

how long is a piece of string?

I finally got the chance to have a nettle string making class with our resident Celtic wildman last week. We have a new experimental archaeology project underway at work - Bryn Eryr, a reconstruction of an iron age roundhouse farmstead from Anglesey in North Wales. As well as the main building operation, there is a lot of peripheral activity going on across other departments. The farmers are growing a field of spelt with the intention that the straw will be used to thatch the roof. The blacksmith has been making replica tools to create the wooden objects that will populate the buildings. The Celtic guy is charged with producing 4km of nettle string to make rope for lashing the roof structure - so he is busily teaching the technique to everyone who is willing (and a few who said yes without listening to the question properly).

The operation falls into two stages - harvesting and preparing the fibres, then allowing them to dry and shrink overnight before twisting them up to make string. I have pictures of the first stage - but not enough hands to take process pics of the making phase. Gloves are advised for cutting the nettles and stripping the leaves off, but a good rub with a gloved hand is enough to remove the stings and make them friendly to handle. The stems are then lightly crushed and peeled to get the outer fibres. It reminded me of peeling the stringy bits off celery.

Twisting the fibres together to make string requires a little technique and creative skill. But not in a 'go away I'm writing War and Peace' kind of way - more the 'sitting round the fire having a gossip while creating with your hands' thing. A bit of patience and some acquired muscle memory will have you doing it while hardly even looking, just like your Nana knitting and watching the wrestling at the same time.

There's an excellent tutorial here from the lovely Ray Mears*

With my little pile of nettles I made about 10 metres of 2 ply string, which I then twisted up on itself twice more to make about a metre of 8 ply cord. (That's it in the picture at the top of this post). It's incredibly strong - I was going to try and take a picture to demonstrate its weight bearing capacity but couldn't think how. Suffice to say I could easily restrain someone against their will with it should I decide to kidnap them - don't have nightmares folks!

Not sure I'll be going into the string making business any time soon, (or the kidnapping business for the record). But it's a fantastically satisfying feeling to have the skill to whip up something so useful with your bare (okay gloved) hands.


* (who could canoe me up the fjords any day - Grylls might have the poster boy looks, but Ray would always cook you a much nicer tea).

fish and flowers

Last week we headed off to Cornwall for a four night break in St Mawes, at the tip of the Roseland peninsula. Unlike the dramatic surfy coast of North Cornwall, the south is a land of gentle creeks and estuaries.  The easiest way to get around is to dump the car and hop on the little ferries that putter backwards and forwards across the rivers. At this time of year the footpaths and lanes are bursting with flowers and heady with scent. Pockets of sub-tropical microclimate have drawn gardeners to create their fantasy landscapes. The area is studded with historic big hitters like Trebah, Glendurgan and Trelissick. These succulent beauties were local to us at Lamorran...

..and we travelled up the road to St Austell to visit the modern vision at the Eden Project.

But I am drawn to the the wild volunteers that spring from every hedgebank and crack in the wall.

Babingtons Leek - a garlicky native of the area

Mexican Fleabane - Erigeron karvinskianus

Couldn't resist collecting some seed to soften up the new hard landscaping back at the ranch.

Resisted these - a seaside themed bathroom was rejected by Mr AP

We dressed up for smart cocktails at Hotel Tresanton,

and ate fish and chips by Falmouth Harbour.

Home now and back to work tomorrow.

The forecast says it's going to be hot - and that means horseflies!

I must go dig out the insect repellent...