Summer Fades to Autumn

Blackberries are currently available all over the place and did yo know that the sweetest fruit will be found on the South side of the bushes, due to the direction of the sun (in the Northern hemisphere). So this means it is, in theory, possible to navigate by taste!

Mulberries are also ripening nicely too.

It looks like it will be a very good year for Apples and Pears and people tell me that they are falling early in their gardens. Personally I like to wait until late September / October because they always get fatter and sweeter as time goes by. Walnuts will be ready around the same time as the Apples and Pears. Plums, in many different colours, are still available now.

However, the end of the school holidays has always meant to me that Hazelnuts are ripe and falling. I have been gathering pockets full during my lunch hour and transporting them home in my sandwich box, to store in a wicker basket for later use. I keep some at work as a snack and smash them open with whatever I find to hand, when I desire a nibble.

Fruitopia

The sizzling Summer in the UK has parched parks and over-mown lawns to a hay-like shade of beige. We have been struggling to prevent our allotment turning into a dessert. If we had more time, this would not be a problem, but we often find it difficult to visit more than once per week.

Our Blackberries are finally ripening along with summer Raspberries, Loganberries, Blueberries and Blackcurrants (yuk!) and they are abundant. 

Picking Blackberries this year is going to be so easy and unsurprisingly, a lot of fruit seems to be arriving early. Even Hazelnuts seem to be arriving sooner than they normally would and they seem to be very plentiful too.

This weekend we got on our bikes and visited our favourite Mulberry tree, which we would not normally expect to be ready yet, but sure enough, we found many sweet, juicy, red/black fruits awaiting us. 

That evening the children made the most delicious fruit salad, with Mellon, Raspberries, Strawberries, Mulberries and Blackberries (Topped off with vanilla Ice cream) just perfect for a sweltering hot summer evening.

Chestnut Cases

Sweet Chestnuts are beginning to drop now and we have been out to stuff our pockets full of the biggest, freshest, shiniest, auburn/brown ones we could find.

Roasted Chestnuts are the perfect antidote to the sad feeling we can experience, as the nights draw in. Conkers are nice to find too but they cannot be eaten. Autumn should be celebrated for its vibrant colour and tempestuous weather changes.

I like to roast my nuts over a fire, normally I set one on the barbecue, I let the flames lick at the Chestnuts and blacken the shells, this makes then much easier to peal and remove the pithy skin beneath.

We are also making use of other things that we have gathered and stored in one way of another. Chocolate & Hazelnut Pear Upside-down cake, bit of a mouthful but a damn tasty one! This was a new recipe that we tried and it has been proclaimed an absolute winner.

However, the best thing about the Autumn, as always at this beautiful time year, has to be grabbing handfuls of dry leaves - throwing them in the faces of your unaware pesky children - and running off...

"LEAF FIGHT!"

Don't forget to put the Urbane Forager book on your Xmas present lists!

A Pocket full of Hazelnuts

I have been collecting Juniper berries - not for gin, as you may be thinking - but for an exciting Autumnal Ale. This - soon to be brewed - interesting innovation is being created by Southampton based, Unity Brewing Co, continuing their Saison range.

Last Friday, I stuffed my pockets with Hazelnuts, I then packed my lunch-box to bursting point. When I got home from work, in a stroke of genius I told the kids that we were going to nip out to our favourite spot because the nuts were dropping. We returned in time for dinner with a big bag, filled to bursting.

It was raining on Sunday afternoon and so I decided to use our remaining nice Pears and the last of the previous years Walnut stock to cook up my, ever popular, Chunky Pear & Walnut Chutney. This is always hard work and takes a couple of hours but it is immensely satisfying when you finally finish.

Fortunately my son was also kicking his heels at home, so he was recruited as chief kitchen helper and we set about peeling, chopping, grating, squeezing, roasting and boiling the ingredients as dictated by the recipe.

We were making a double amount, because I always use loads throughout the year and we tend to run out, especially if we give some away at Christmas. Eventually, after filling the house with the smell of vinegar, we tightened the lids on the jars just in time to cook dinner. A job well done and time very well invested.

Important Diary Dates

• I will be giving a talk to Highfield Women's Institute, about the Urbane Forager project on Monday September 25th.
• 2017 Apple Day at Mansbridge Community Orchard is initially programmed for Sunday 1st October. Keep an eye on this blog or on our social media for updates/changes. Dates can be subject to change at short notice, according to local weather conditions.

Don't forget to put the Urbane Forager book on your Xmas present lists!

Apple Experts

Around this time of year, it is not unusual to spot families picking blackberries from the hedgerows. Occasionally you may see someone collecting hazelnuts off the floor or from a tree; you might even see a person thrashing away with a stick at a wall of brambles or stinging nettles, attempting to improve access to a solitary apple tree.

But how can you tell when the apples on the tree will ripen?

You do get Summer Apples, they will ripen in late August, they tend to be softer, sweeter and can be eaten straight off the tree but they will not keep or cook well. We have picked a few in readiness for pressing into juice.

More common Autumnal Apples will ripen in late September or October. The simplest way to check them for ripeness is to cut an Apple in half and inspect the pips; if they are brown or black, the fruit is ripe, if they are white, green or yellow it is unripe.

Some apples will naturally fall from the tree prior to the bulk ripening, especially if it has been windy; this is quite normal and you can assist nature by picking off any under-developed, diseased or vaguely runty fruit. By doing this, you help the tree, by allowing it to put its valuable energy resources into the better quality fruit, which will fatten up as a result. Each tree will produce a certain weight of fruit – it can be fewer larger Apples or lots of smaller ones.

People do ask me how to identify Apple types and specific “heritage varieties” but to be frank; I leave this kind of thing to the “Experts” or pedants as I prefer to call them. Every time an Apple pip grows into a tree, it develops a completely new type of fruit, a totally new variety is born (How exciting!).  The original Granny Smith tree still lives and all other Granny Smith fruit is grown from cuttings grafted onto root-stock. Crab Apples are actually the only native UK Apples; the others were introduced by the Romans, along with a few other things!

To me the most important Apple questions are these…

• What do they taste like? Are they eaters or cookers?

Followed closely by…

• Will they keep well?

If not…

• Will they make nice juice or good cider?

Simple!

Nutty Flapjack / Museli / Energy / Snack Bars

We had two baskets of Hazelnuts and Walnuts that had not been used since Christmas. The nuts had been sitting, lonely on the side and I reasoned that we ought to be able to make some super tasty muesli/energy/trail/snack bars using some of them.

My daughter did a little research to make up a simple recipe that used up ingredients that we already had in our cupboards. I told her that she should improvise and replace one thing with another if necessary. Flour, rolled oats, butter and syrup form the base of Flapjack, and whatever else you add makes it more interesting, tasty and nutritious.

The following is what we ended up with and it worked fantastically using our nuts and some other simple things that we had available.

Ingredients

• Self Raising Flour - 100g
• Rolled Oats - 300g
• Hazelnuts and Walnuts - 250g
• Flaked Coconut - 50g
• Sesame Seeds - 50g
• Pumpkin Seeds - 100g
• Raisins - 125g
• Soft Brown Sugar - 200g
• Butter - 200g
• Golden Syrup - 125ml

Method

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
2. Melt the butter and syrup in a saucepan then allow to cool for 5 mins before mixing thoroughly into the bowl with a spoon.
3. Using a baking tray about 2cm deep, line with greaseproof paper and then press the mixture into the tin.
4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 170 degrees Centigrade for 25 minutes.
5. Allow the baked mixture to cool in the tin, it will be soft at first but will firm up as it gets colder.
6. Cut the delicious flapjack into squares and eat.
   

It will probably keep for a week or so in an airtight tin but it will never last that long in our house!

We Made Our Own Fliping Nutella

My daughter is a fan of Nutella and spreads it on everything, including her face sometime. Seeing as we had collected a vast amount of Hazelnuts, it seemed an obvious idea to make our own.

We Made This... Ta Da!

I made "nutella" once before and destroyed the drive cog on our blender in the process. I'm sure it was on the way out anyway...

Nuts!

We found several different methods but in the end, we chose one that used ingredients that we either had in the cupboards or could easily obtain locally.

Don't Burn Your Fingers and Don't Eat Too Many Before Weighing

This time we used a recipe from Oh Nuts! and everyone agreed that it tasted even better than the real thing. Plus not a drop of palm oil was used, so no need to apologise to the environment... By the time you read this, I'm sure we will be well into the making of our next batch.

Whisk and Whisk...

INGREDIENTS:

• 2.5 oz roasted unsalted hazelnuts (also available from shops!)
• 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 3 oz (about 1/2 cup) plain chocolate, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp honey. We used some donated by friends of the Urbane Forager.
• a food processor

French Foragers Honey From Friends

DIRECTIONS:

1. The first step is to toast the hazelnuts.  Toasting nuts adds a depth of flavour that’s important to the finished product. It also makes it easier to remove any remaining skins. So place your nuts in a preheated 200 degree C oven, and toast them until they’re brown and fragrant, about 10-12 minutes. Be sure to stir them every 3-4 minutes to keep them from burning. Once they’re toasted, remove the skins then set them aside (the nuts, not the skins) until they’re no longer hot.
2. The food processor is going to do most of the work in this recipe. Start by adding the cooled, toasted hazelnuts to the processor bowl. Turn the food processor on, and after a minute or two you’ll be left with very finely ground hazelnuts. Wonderful for sprinkling on pastries, but that’s not what we’re going for, so keep processing. After another minute, the nuts will start to clump together around the blade, and you’ll find you have a smooth paste. Add a touch of salt, and you've create a tasty hazelnut butter! But we want nutella, so turn that processor back on…

3. 

   Nice...

   After about 5 minutes, your hazelnuts should be processed into a liquid. Scrape down the sides and the blade and process until there are no lumps remaining. Set the hazelnuts aside while you prepare the chocolate portion of the recipe.
4. The chocolate will need to be melted, so we used the double boiler method on the stove-top. Whichever method you choose, combine the chopped chocolate, condensed milk, and honey in a bowl.
5. If you’re using a double boiler, put the bowl on a pan of simmering water on the stove-top, and heat it, stirring frequently, until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. If you’re using the microwave, be sure to stir the mix after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating, and stop once everything is melted together.

6. 

   Messy Marbling

   Now you've barely done any work and the nutella’s almost finished. It’s magic! The final step is to add the warm chocolate mix to the bowl of the food processor that contains the liquefied hazelnuts.
7. Process the mix for 1-2 minutes more, until it smooths out, loses a little graininess, and gets shiny. The more you mix, the stiffer the nutella gets, so be sure to stop while it is still nice and spreadable.
8. We then added the mixture to clean, previously used (and we like to think), Up-cycled Nutella jars.
9. Ta Da!
   

   

   Into Jars (Before Eating)

   Don't forget to put, the Urbane Forager book on your Christmas present list. 

   Order your copy now!

   You can buy this lovely book for your friends and family from all good book-stores or Amazon.

   the Urbane Forager: Fruit and Nuts for Free

   Author: Alan Gibson

   ISBN: 978-1-78507-300-7

   Now also available for your Kindle

Nuts!

Earlier this year I found a couple of mature Walnut trees in a hedgerow fairly close to my workplace. I thought I should check out how they were doing, so I jogged on down in my lunch hour and was very surprised to see that some of the nuts were already falling.

I stuffed my pockets to bursting before setting off back to the grindstone. This little trip led me to think about Hazelnuts and the following day I was merrily filling a bag with these delicious, nutritious little gems. On the weekend I took the children with me and we made like squirrels, gathering them by the hundreds. When combined we had actually collected about 3.75 Kgs of nuts. 

If the Walnuts that I found seemed early, I think that Hazelnuts are later than normal this year. Seasonal shifts, as well as individual tree differences, make the ripening of fruit and nuts a naturally inexact science. The ordinary variability of ripening times is one reason why my system of walking around the local area every lunch hour has proved so effective. Not only do I get some respite from the repressive office environment and get some regular exercise, but because my routine is necessarily repetitive, I get to notice the subtle changes in the natural world over time.

Keen observation is the most important weapon in the foragers arsenal. Initially you have to be able to recognise the species of trees that are going to be of interest to you. You should be able to do this whatever the season, so Winter becomes just as important as Autumn. Then, as your targets come into flower or fruit you can check them on a regular basis to see how nature's bounty is maturing.

Generally, this year is shaping up to a great one for the various fruit and nuts that we collect. Apples are abundant, Hazelnuts are prolific and I'm pleased to report that we are collecting, cooking, preserving and storing prodigious quantities. Our Apple store is already crammed with my favourite local Apple varieties. I had to make space for a couple of gorgeous new kids on the block but I'm never going to complain about having too many Apples and nuts. There is an endless supply of tasty recipes to work from and, after all, many of them will keep until Spring or even longer.

N.B. Apple Day at Mansbridge Community Orchard 

This ever popular 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.