Resilience in the Face of Drought Conditions

Farmer's Under Pressure Harvesting at Night.

Man-made Climate Change is undeniably upon us, and the evidence is easy to find. It's not just a hot summer, it's significant change. This is now, finally, being treated as a serious threat to national security. Only time will tell if the governments are acting quickly enough. I am compiling a page for reliable information, including help and support for Climate Anxiety (see below).

Hosepipe Ban and Empty Water Butts

At home, we should be thinking about our own resilience, and water butts are a good place to start, especially during a hosepipe ban. Naturally we should all be preserving water and not wasting it, there are multiple ways to do this. On a basic level you can make simple choices such as, should I wash my car or water my garden? We also save all our washing up water in buckets, to use on the garden.

Beautiful Free Blackberries

Fortunately there are still plenty of juicy, free Blackberries to pick and eat. It's a joyful activity to get on a bicycle, pedal to a local hedgerow, and fill your Tupperware boxes for later, whilst scoffing as many as you reasonably can - that's what I call living in the moment.

Blackthorn Early 

I recently spotted a tree, full of early Sloes, the fruit of the Blackthorn tree, I noticed them partly because they were unexpected but because they were very large. Anyway, as a forager, you need to be opportunistic, so I picked a bag-full and will make Sloe Gin early this year. Traditionally, you should pick after the first frost of the year, but that seems a long way off at the moment and sticking them in the freezer will perform the same job.

Big Fat Sloes

Earlier this year I thought about growing squash upward, they tend to take up loads of space, plus I'm only designated a small space in our garden veg patch. I got some 5m bamboo branches from a friend's garden and began to create a rather Heath Robinson trellis and frame contraption for the plants to grow up. With a little encouragement they seemed to enjoy their elevated position and some fruits are now forming. However, I need to keep watering regularly.

Squash and Cucumber Growing Up 

I was concerned that the watering cans were not penetrating the parched ground and was evaporating too soon. I laid a sheet of cardboard over to suppress weeds and cut holes for the plants. I then got a couple of used 2 Litre milk bottles, perforated the base a bit and buried them in the ground up to their necks. I can now unscrew the caps and fill them from my watering can ensuring that the water is deeper in the ground and less likely to evaporate in the burning sun. The next time I do this, I will make smaller perforations to slow the water dispersal, it's just trial and error.

Milk Bottle Water Preservation

Thinking ahead to Autumn (some trees are so stressed by lack of water they are already shedding leaves), I checked out a Walnut tree and spotted Green Walnuts. Some people like to make Green Walnut pickles, I tried this once but it's quite a process. I really like the spicy smell of green walnuts but leave them to lose their husks and mature in to Walnuts, which can be kept easily for later use over Winter.

Green Walnuts

Climate Crisis Briefings - Help and Support

Man made Climate Change is now a fact of life and the more you know about the facts, the more terrifying it can feel. Even if it can feel daunting as an individual, knowledge is better than ignorance. Denial is a knee jerk reaction for some, either because they feel helpless to change the situation in any significant way or simply because they have not been furnished with facts. However, talking with like minded people can help and reassure you that you are not alone. Taking positive action in groups can also help, such as signing well thought out and managed petitions can force even governments to listen to your fears and feelings. It is through our large institutions that we can affect significant change.

A really simple guide to climate change

Eco-anxiety: How to cope at a time of climate crisis

Climate we had in 20th Century 'has now gone' - Met Office

National Emergency Briefing

Parliamentary Call for a Televised Emergency Briefing

How to deal with 'doomism' when it feels like the world is ending

Find Climate Cafes

Food shortages could hit supermarkets if no rain in next 10 days in dry areas, say farmers

National Preparedness Commission

Call for evidence launched into national preparedness and resilience

'Hotter and hotter and hotter' - Europe's new climate in seven charts

UK food supply at risk of 'catastrophic failure' by 2030, report warns

After record heat, could the Atlantic make Britain's weather even more extreme?

How the UK's extreme heat is shifting the conversation about air-con

The Many Colours of June and July

Mirabells on the Road

Cherry Plums and Mirabells are ripe early and are now falling from the trees. They are basically, slightly smaller, wild plum varieties. Very tasty, plentiful, and often found in clusters in the wild or in parks, gardens or verges in the city. Characterised by many different colours, yellow, orange, purple and even shiny bronze, these vibrant fruits are perfect to gather at this time of year and easy to spot due to the bright, often squashed, fruits on the ground.

Delicious Cherries

I have been supplementing my breakfast muesli with garden berries, specifically Blueberries, early Raspberries and Wild or Alpine Strawberries. Getting up, then dropping down into the garden to gather the latest ripe fruits, is one of my favourite things at this time of year and my muesli tastes fantastic for the colourful flavour boost.

Fruity Selection for my Museli

Elsewhere in the garden, my Peas, Squash and Cucumber plants seem to be growing well, despite the extreme heat that is now assailing us. At least the water butts are reasonably full after the rain in May/June. I’m looking forward to the early “Snack” cucumbers, getting ready to add them to my lunch-time sandwiches.

Poppies

Tall Poppies are popping up everywhere in July, you can easily gather the seeds from the heads, by cutting them off and storing in paper envelops, keep them in a dry place for later use. Poppy seeds add a unique, nutty flavour to dishes, enhancing both sweet and savoury recipes. Their mild taste becomes more pronounced when toasted, making them an excellent addition to various foods. They also provide a delightful crunch and texture, in baked goods and other dishes.

Blueberries

Has it ever occurred to you that Brambles, the scourge of gardeners, allotmenteers, walkers and just about anyone who goes outside, are universally hated until late July / August, whereupon they magically become completely loved?

Strawberries

For many people, Blackberries are the beginning and end of a fleeting dalliance with foraging. Young children are trusted to go hunting for a fruity food not normally bought in a supermarket. People get scratched, stabbed and entangled, blood is quite normal, but everybody just shrugs it off, along with stained T-Shirts, as they scramble to collect the fattest, juiciest, box of Tupperware filled with dark murderous Blackberries.

Unripe Blackberries

The short-lived, blood-stained bounty is eaten greedily en-route, smeared over faces and fingers, then taken home to turn into; jam, pies, juice, wine, crumbles, tarts, muesli supplements, compote, and any number of other puddings. Blackberries freeze well too (spread them on a baking tray to freeze, then bag them loose), so you can savour the delight later in the Winter, if you can make them last that long.

 

Blackberry Wine 

 

Down the lane Blackberries run.

The bittersweet pang, of your blood on my tongue.

Favourite flavours, temptation - too good

Staring down from the hedge by the wood.

A promise that you would not hurt me this time,

The sting in my digits remains in the wine.

Always something about which to warn;

The hotter the sun, the deeper the thorn.

A worthy opponent, with briars to joust;

I want to crush you - to juice in my mouth.

The green of the field, the glare that can stun;

I long to pluck you - outside in the sun.

Your barb in my fingers, the pain in my palm,

That stain, it still lingers, your extract a balm.

Eden emergent, the edge of a stream,

Verdant the verge in the dark of the dream.

Poetic Licence – by the Urbane Forager (2011)

Cherries

Oh! 

Did I mention Cherries in my last post? 

Our Cherries are Guarded by Ghosts

They ripened. 

We picked them. 

We ate them. 

Yum!

They were delicious, if fleeting...

Mulberry Tinted Cider

The first batch of this year's cider is being bottled. This time, as an experiment I added some Mulberries and Blackberries to a couple of gallons. I'm happy to report that he result was a resounding success; the drink not only tastes superb, the fruit sugars have taken the edge off the sharpness and added subtle flavours. Also, as a bonus, it also looks rather splendid too!

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.

Black-Blue Berry Beautiful

We have been completely busy with Summer holidays, outings, picnics, Blackberries etc. However, we have still found time to gather fruit, which is just as well because it is all coming through in bounteous quantities.

I have been bringing home bags filled with delicious plump yellow Plums. These are heartily consumed by my daughter, wife and I but everything else on this post comes in a darker shade of blueish black.

This weekend we were out in Riverside Park, looking for Elderberries to make my seasonal favourite, Elderberry Port. A vast amount of Blackberries were simultaneously consumed, along the way.

Later on the same day, we took a trip out to the wonderful Meon Valley - where we actually climbed a hill - to gather Juniper Berries for a saison ale to be brewed by the Unity Brewing Co in Southampton.

Then, while we were out, we spotted a vast quantity of Sloes, which will be handy when the Autumn arrives.

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!

Caught Red Handed!

The Red Hand Gang

Blackberries are out everywhere now in the UK and our kids have been munching them by the handful when and wherever they spot them. We also made some rather tasty Blackberry Muffins.

Beautiful Blackberries

However, our favourites, for this time of year, are the more difficult to find, Mulberries. Many people have never even had the pleasure of tasting a Mulberry and people often ask us what we are picking when we go out hunting for them.

Marvellous Mulberries

Apparently the trees were introduced into the UK by King James, in an effort to break the grip that China had on the silk trade (silk worms eat the leaves of the White Mulberry tree) but something got lost in translation and so hundreds of Black and Red Mulberry trees were imported and planted in estates and gardens all over England. This was unfortunate for King James and the hungry silkworms but very lucky for us!

It can be difficult to harvest these juicy berries without getting coated in the sweet syrupy juice but walking home, looking as if you may have recently committed murder, is all part of the fun really.

You do need to be careful not to get the juice on your clothes and your footwear will inevitably clogged with crushed fallen fruit, so you need to be cautious on arriving home.

Picking Mulberries in a Southampton Park

A large proportion of what we pick gets eaten straight off the tree but I do manage to bring some home for baking and other experimental processes. This year my daughter helped to create a Mulberry Clafoutis (basically a giant oven-baked pancake), which made an exotic and very tasty seasonal pudding.

Mulberry Clafoutis 

I always like to steep a jar of Mulberries in gin and this produces an irresistible and very attractive ruby red liquor - the only trouble with this drink being that it tastes almost too good.

Quick, call security, someone is stealing the University's Mulberries!