Down to the River and Up to the Trees: Discover the hidden nature on your doorstep. Sue Belfrage
blender or in a mixer, then strain through a fine sieve and return the liquid to the saucepan. Add the rest of the water and stir in the sugar. Mix up the potato flour or cornflour with a little water and pour the mixture steadily into the soup, stirring it in.
Cook until the soup thickens, then remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to cool a little. Ladle the lukewarm soup into bowls and swirl through a little double cream or add a dollop of whipped cream before serving.
What could be nicer than homemade jam on hot toast? What’s more, blackberries can be picked for free from hedgerows and thickets throughout the summer. To make about six jars of your own blackberry jam you will need:
1.5 kg (3 lb 5 oz) blackberries
4 tbsp water
Juice of 1 lemon
1.5 kg (3 lb 5 oz) sugar
Tiny knob of butter (optional)
Wash the blackberries and put them in a large pan with the water and lemon juice. Simmer gently over a low heat until the fruit turns squishy. Add the sugar and heat gradually. While you are heating the mixture, put a saucer in the fridge to chill.
Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the jam to the boil for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. To test whether your jam will set, plop a teaspoonful on the cold saucer and poke the edge of the jam. If the surface wrinkles, it will set.
When the jam’s ready, remove the saucepan from the heat and skim the foam from the top. To dissolve any remaining foam, stir a tiny knob of butter the size of a fingernail into the froth and remove with a spoon. Allow the jam to cool and thicken for about 10 minutes before pouring carefully into sterilised jam jars and sealing straightaway.
Tradition has it that the devil was thrown out of heaven on 29 September, Michaelmas Day, and landed on a blackberry bush. He promptly peed on the berries in revenge, which is why it’s best to pick them before October.
As a child I used to go mushroom picking with neighbours and return home with baskets full of chanterelles and ceps. These days, however, I’m more cautious. While mushroom foraging is a lovely thing to do, it can occasionally go very wrong. If it appeals to you, please consult a reliable field guide or go picking with somebody who knows what they’re talking about. Or you could try growing your own.
For those with limited space there are mushroom windowsill kits. You can make your own version by sprinkling some grain spawn for oyster mushrooms onto the soaked pages of an old catalogue or paperback. Once you’ve done this, wrap the catalogue in a plastic bag. Punch small holes in the bag and leave the package somewhere dark and warm for a few weeks, keeping the contents moist but not dripping wet.
(If the package turns black, it’s gone mouldy and is no good.) When a white furry layer of mycelium appears over the catalogue, place the package in the fridge for a day or two to shock the mycelium into action. Then store the package in a cool spot such as under the sink or in a cellar. If all goes to plan, over the next few days tiny mushrooms should start to sprout. Let them grow until they look big enough to eat.
If you’ve more room and patience, you can plant mushroom dowels impregnated with spores in holes drilled in a hardwood log, then seal them over with beeswax. This process can take over a year to yield results, but it could be the gift that keeps on giving.
It’s fairly easy to grow your own vegetables wherever you live. To grow your own potatoes, any sturdy container will do. You could, for instance, use an empty dumpy bag, folding down the sides so the bag is about 40 cm (16 in) deep, or use an old compost bag or burlap sack.
For drainage, pierce a couple of small holes in the bag and add a layer of sand or other drainage material such as broken crockery or pebbles at the bottom. Then cover this layer with about 10 cm (4 in) of soil and compost mix.
How many seed potatoes you plant will depend on the size of your container, as they shouldn’t be crammed in. For a 40 litre (8.5 gallon) container, plant just three seed potatoes. Then cover these with enough soil–compost mix to keep them hidden.
Position the bag in a sunny spot and keep the soil moist. As the plants grow and shoots come up, carry on covering these with the soil–compost mix. That way, your plants will send out more roots – giving you more potatoes. When the soil level reaches the top of the bag, let the plants flower and die. Now it’s time to dig around in the soil for your crop. Depending on the type of seed potatoes you use, it may take around 90 days to get to this stage, but it’s well worth the wait.
My friend Bill has fallen in love with his pet worms. They live in a wormery in his shed, are no bother and eat up leftovers. To make your own wormery and create compost for flowerbeds or plant pots you will need:
Drill 15–20 holes in the bottom of the box to let in enough air for the worms and to allow any liquid to drain out. Drill a few more air holes in the lid and at the very top of the box’s sides.
Stand the box on the bricks or blocks in a sheltered spot where the wormery won’t get too hot or cold. Place a tray or bucket underneath to catch any liquid, which can be used as a fertilizer when diluted with 10 parts water.
Cover the bottom of the box with a layer of newspaper or cardboard, and cover this with about 8 cm (3¼ in) of moist bedding material that the worms can burrow down into.
Introduce the worms to their new home – the good news is that you don’t have to name them individually – and cover them with about 9 cm (3½ in) of kitchen waste. This can include any raw vegetables (apart from onions, garlic and leeks) and fruit (except citrus peel, which is too acidic). They’re also partial to cooked vegetables, a bit of bread or pasta, tea bags and coffee grounds, egg shells, small amounts of garden greenery and a few shreds of newspaper – but not glossy magazines.
Cover the food layer with a sheet of cardboard or a damp cloth to keep the worms happy in the dark. Close the lid on the box, and