Station Walk to Peartree Green

I'm pleased to report that our train station based walk was a complete success. The idea was to collaborate with my friend Clare Diaper who had written a book on local station walks. Clare planned the walk route and I pointed out fruit and nut trees along the way.

As we arrived at out start point, Woolston station, I immediately pointed out the Pear tree in the station grounds. To be fair, I had an advantage here as my train broken down there two days before. 

There was a good number of interested people who had bowled along for the walk; the weather was just about perfect apart from one quick squally shower. We began at Itchen Ferry Village, or where it used to be anyway and mused over the building of the great ships and Spitfires that were built around this area in the past; hovercrafts are actually still manufactured nearby. From there we set off up onto Pertree Green - and here my job was going to get much more interesting.

We admired the Mayors Pear tree, a regular stop for the children and I about this time of year, then we walked down into the main body of the green. On the way many people paused to gather Blackberries or Elderberries, which were growing wherever you looked. It was not long before I started to spot Apple trees (there are loads hidden around the Green). The first few trees were fairly inaccessible and seemed not to have much fruit but we soon began to spot trees truly laden with Apples. We had bought a small picker with us to help gather fruit and my son was soon clambering up among the branches, as he always will.

By the end of the walk we must have seen over a dozen different Apple trees and everyone had filled their bags and boxes with enough fruit to keep them in Blackberry and Apple crumble and pies for quite a while. Everyone was enthused and happy and hopefully we will see a lot of them again soon - perhaps at the Mansbridge Apple Day (Sunday 11th October Octavia Rd Open Space).

N.B. Apple Day at Mansbridge Community Orchard 

The event will be held at 2:00pm on Sunday October 11th. If you have any spare apples, bring them along for crushing into juice. Octavia Road Open Space is basically a field and wilderness area, so wear suitably robust clothing, wellies etc. This is a free community event, run by volunteers and all are welcome but everyone one is responsible for their own (and their children's) health & safety.

Apples Pears & Amber Nectar

On Friday my train to work broke down in the station. Despite the guard and driver's best attempts to reboot the train (seriously), it would not budge. I had my bike with me and duly set off down the Bursledon Road, toward Segensworth. En-route I saw a big Pear tree on the roadside that was laden with fruit, my neighbour had recently suggested I check this place out.

On Saturday morning the kids and I got up early to pick some pears before they set off for swimming, it was the start of a very busy day. While the children were sluicing through all their watery lengths, I was lugging all the buckets and bags of fruit (about 120 Kgs) out of the shed and the greasing up the cider press.

After lunch the garden began to fill up with enthusiastic children, all wanting to have a go at turning the mill to grind the apples, or wind the cider press down to crush the pulp and squeeze out the scrumptious juice (is that word related to scrumping?).

There was, admittedly, a massive amount of fruit to process but thanks to the help of friends and families we processed all of those Apples, then added a few freshly picked Pears - the children also bunged a few Blackberries into the mix for good luck.

The juice from the red swimming pool apples always comes out slightly pink and this gave the final juice and delightful amber tint, it also has the very best, gorgeously tangy, sweet/sharp flavour. The children were constantly diving in to slurp down as much as they could before it even reached the bucket, but they truly deserved all they got because we could never have managed to complete the job without them.

The weather was holding out, so we polished the day off with a BBQ that carried on until the Autumnal light faded. The children were scampering about playing and fighting with whatever they could lay their hands on - hopefully they all slept like logs that night, I know I did.

There will be much more Apple picking and pressing fun coming up... 

N.B. Apple Day at Mansbridge Community Orchard 

The event will be held at 2:00pm on Sunday October 11th. If you have any spare apples, bring them along for crushing into juice. Octavia Road Open Space is basically a field and wilderness area, so wear suitably robust clothing, wellies etc. This is a free community event, run by volunteers and all are welcome but everyone one is responsible for their own (and their children's) health & safety.

Blackberry & Apple Crumble

Bramble & Apple Crumble is one of my favourite seasonal indulgences and fortunately, for a couple of months the primary ingredients are available for free, somewhere nearby. It is the quintessential September pudding, so I thought we should share our simple traditional recipe.

Ingredients

• Apples 4-5 large cookers (you can mix with eaters and adjust the sugar accordingly)
• Blackberries, probably about a mug-full.
• Flour 250g
• Rolled Oats 150g
• Natural Unrefined Brown Sugar 50g

Method

1. Peal & core the Apples then cut them into slices.
2. Lay the Apple slices into an oven-proof bowl. Then sprinkle on some Blackberries to form another layer. Sprinkle a small amount of Brown Sugar onto the fruit (not too much, you want to enjoy the sharpness of fruit, contrasting with the sweeter crumble). Repeat until the bowl is full to near the top.
3. Turn on the oven, 180 degrees Centigrade.
4. Now make your crumble topping by rubbing together the flour and butter in a bowl, then mix in the Rolled Oats and the remaining Brown Sugar according to taste.
5. Pour the crumble on to the top of the fruit. Poke it down with your fingers but make sure that it piles up proud of the bowl edge (it will sink down during cooking).
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Centigrade for 40 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

Serve piping hot with cream / creme fresh / ice cream / custard, according to taste. If you somehow fail to consume this tangy treat in one assault, it is equally delicious cold the following day (for breakfast perhaps).

YUM!

Also, please take a few minutes to nominate me for #GetOutside champion email getoutside@os.uk with a few words explaining why Alan Gibson (aka the Urbane Forager) would be a great ambassador. Include links to this blog and your favourite pictures from here too. 

Oodles More Tasty Recipes in Here

Swimming with Apples

We paid a visit to Flemming Park for a swimming trip with the children. While we were there we checked out the Apple trees that grow in the leisure centre car park and were pleased to see that they were positively swamped with sweet red fruit...

Fortunately we had some buckets and fruit pickers in the car, not that we really needed them, I picked a lot just by reaching up with my hands. The children are accustomed to the fact that we are always busy harvesting Apples during September and they were out of the car in a flash. When they were young we allowed them to stand on the car roof to pick - they are too heavy for this now.

It's almost hard to know where to start when faced with this many Apples but my son, who loves climbing, was soon scrambling up among the branches. He started lobbing fruit down to my daughter who quickly set about honing her catching skills. Meanwhile, I used the picker to access the higher fruit and it did not take us long to fill our boot with a healthy 40kgs. 

These soft Summer Apples have a pinkish flesh and are quite sweet but do not keep well, so we will use our load for juicing. They should balance the large amount of cookers that we picked off a friend's garden based tree. There are plenty more Apples left on these trees, so get down there with some bags and boxes soon. If you do not have a picker or climber you can get people to hold out a blanket and then shake the branches but watch out for cars.

Also, please take a few minutes to nominate me for #GetOutside champion email getoutside@os.uk with a few words explaining why Alan Gibson (aka the Urbane Forager) would be a great ambassador. Include links to this blog and your favourite pictures from here too. 

Autumn Approaches

As September sneaks in under the radar, the evenings are getting cooler, the morning dew is getting heavier. We have been hunting for Hazelnuts and all the signs indicate that their will be plenty of them ripening imminently. The bright orange berries in the top picture are Rowan (Mountain Ash). They can be used to make a tasty seasonal jelly but obviously you should only pick them off a tree that you have clearly identified first.

Elderberries are already ripe and ready for gathering, I normally make a deep red, flavoursome wine out of our Elderberries but you can also make other products, such as syrup, cordial or jelly, which is said to stave off colds and illness as the nights draw in.

Crab-Apples are the only truly native Apples to be found in the UK, they are often found planted in grass verges in the city but can also be found in hedgerows. They are mostly ripe now and there is a whole host of things that can be done with these undervalued little beauties.  

We have also been checking out the larger Apples as they begin to ripen. Many of the trees we have investigated are over burdened with immature fruit. They will be ready for picking in late September or October but some early Summer Apples are ready to gather sooner.

Some people ask us to help harvest excess Apples from their gardens, we picked about 50 Kgs from one tree and these will either be added into our Winter storage or contribute to our juicing efforts. It will soon be time to dust off the trusty old Cider Press!

Diary Date: 
Sunday 13th September at 3:00pm

My friend Clare Diaper & I will be leading a free walk from Woolston Railway Station on Sunday 13th September 3:00pm.

Clare has written a delightful book on local walks from railway stations and we will be following one of her routes. The circular walk will take about 1.5 hours. En-route we will be pointing out and identifying many fruit and nut trees. 

Everyone is welcome and the walk will take us up through Peartree Green, essentially a steep hilly field, so wear appropriate clothing and footwear. Bring bags if you want to lug some of the oodles of apples available home with you, or you could just grab a couple as fuel, to sustain you until tea time. 

If you are coming on the walk and want a copy of the Urbane Forager book - please let me know in advance and I will bring copies with me.

Also, please take a few minutes to nominate me as a #GetOutside Champion. Email getoutside@os.uk with a few words explaining why Alan Gibson (aka the Urbane Forager) would be a great ambassador. Include links to this blog and your favourite pictures from here too.