It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Yes - it's pumpkin time again!

Even More Well Preserved!

Recipe for a perfect Jam and Chutney making session.

Ingredients
One lovely sunny Autumn day
10 delightful people who enjoy cooking
Ingredients fresh from the garden (+ a few extras)
Some intelligent conversation
A willingness to wash up at the end

Well - we managed that recipe rather well. Our group really enjoyed making our 2 signature preserves - Green Tomato Chutney and Merryweather Damson Jam. This time, we also added a new recipe for us - Irina Chlebnikova's Ajika Salsa. If you follow that link, you might be impressed that we followed a recipe in Georgian (I think?), but we were actually inspired to make it following this version of the recipe from the wonderful Northern Homestead Blog. It proved to be absolutely delicious as a side-dish to refried beans, fresh tomato and coriander salsa and quesadillas (thats 2 tortillas, toasted in a pan with cheese sandwiched between them then flipped so the cheese melts on both sides).

Thanks to all who came to the workshop, and thanks to Nottingham City Homes for sponsoring this as part of the "Just Grow" project.

We're Well Preserved!

We always enjoy the jam and chutney sessions we run each year with the lovely folk from Nature in Mind, and this year we managed to produce a great batch of plum jam (thanks Helen for the delicious Victoria plums), and another huge pot of spiced green tomato chutney. All of this despite rain trying to stop play quite a few times. We're hardy souls, so we just broke out the umbrellas and moved into the polytunnel and the kitchen when it got heavy! 

We even managed to fit in giving the herb garden a good haircut before the deluge (thanks Tammie!), and so if you are after some fresh sage, let us know - we've got tonnes!

Thanks to Zariffa, Shahnaz and Mo who provided a wonderful tasty lunch in the middle of all that activity, and to everyone who attended. If you had to leave early, your jars of goodies have been put aside for you to collect, so don't worry!

If you fancy having a try at the recipes, they are HERE

The chutney team

Making Corn Dollies in the Sun

Making corn dollies after the harvest is a long and proud tradition in the UK, so we were delighted this morning, to welcome expert Pat Bellamy to help ease us into making these fascinating objects.

Pat began with a quick explanation of the origins of the craft and its history. She explained that the word "Doll" is a shortening of "Idol" (we all went "of course, why didn't we think of that!"), and how the original corn dollies would have been part of various rituals, embodying the spirit of the corn and often buried with the new sowing of wheat to bring good harvests in the next season. Some was more light-hearted, with young men plaiting favours to give to their sweethearts or to wear in their hats. There were many different styles of favours, knots and dollies, often associated with different parts of the country.

Pat started us off with some easy plaits which created impressive curls and hearts, then after a quick break for refreshments made with Windmill produce (it's surprising how much courgette you can hide in a lemon and lime drizzle cake!), she started us on some more complicated designs which we had a lot of fun doing, though they were a lot tricker to make than Pat's nimble and well-practiced fingers made us think at first! Everyone managed to create something impressive though, and we all agreed it was a great way to spend a sunny morning in Nottingham. Thanks to Pat and thanks to all that came, including the lovely allotment holder from over the way who turned up with a huge basket of perfect Victoria plums!

We're re-energising an old tradition with out Corn Dolly Workshop

Some crafts deserve to be re-discovered and we think that Corn Dolly making is one of them, so we're running this great workshop. Full details on the poster, and make sure to book as we might not have room or resources ready for those that turn up on the day.

One of our volunteers, Stuart, wrote us this lovely poem.

Fabulous Felting Workshop!