Green Fingers Again by Reginald Arkell

This week saw the arrival of some great new second-hand books courtesy of our eternal book-hoarder, Simon (although we had to prise them out of his reluctant hands). Amongst them was an intriguing edition of gardening poetry called ‘Green Fingers Again’ by Reginald Arkell, published in 1942.

I’m always fascinated by anything published during the Second World War and this one didn’t let me down – the wartime context is referred to directly and indirectly throughout, often through the titles which are comments on events and slogans of the time (‘Digging For Victory’, ‘Defeatist’, ‘Sanctuary’, ‘Battle Dress’, ‘Total War’ etc) but which also hide a double meaning – the war on the garden!

There are a couple of intriguing poems which give a hint as to what was going on at the time – the first is ‘London Railings’, and I think it displays the spirit which we always relate to those times:

London railings are taken down;
The country has come to London town.
Hyde Park Corner and Marble Arch
Look like a collar without the starch:
(Twice as comfy and just as clean);
Kensington looks like a village green,
And London’s loss will be London’s gain
If the railings are never brought back again.

Of course, many of the railings never were returned again and sadly it now seems that their removal was largely a propaganda exercise to make Londoners feel they’d contributed to the war effort (there’s an interesting article here.)

It’s a neat little hard back that’s going to survive spine crunching and any splashes of hot sticky stuff. The second in a series of 5 handbooks on no-nonsense subjects such as bread, mushrooms and veg gardening, and at £14.99 a bargain to boot.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall hired Pam Corbin to organise River Cottage’s Preserving Days, and she’s done him proud with this book. She’s passionate about preserving and is keen to remind us that not so long ago it was something that most everyone did as a way of using up seasonal gluts and honouring the ebb and flow of the fruit and vegetable world.

She’s meticulous on health and safety in a modern up-to-date way, including sterilising, filling and sealing tables – chutneys are treated slightly differently than marmalades etc. – which makes you feel in incredibly safe hands. And she includes three different tests for setting.

The style is chatty and informative, the layout simple, with each recipe having its own page. There are lovely photographs too. Most recipes include suggestions for modifications if you have different ingredients or want to try something a little more adventurous.

Armed with a preserving pan, thermometer, recycled jam jars and long wooden spoon I started with a glut of damsons and made jam using the Plum Jam recipe. It’s delicious – soft but not runny, fruity and not too sweet:  the recipe uses more fruit than sugar, rather than the usual half and half. O.k, so I didn’t manage to skim off all the pips but I warned all recipients!

Next up came the more challenging Quince Cheese, aka Membrillo. This is delicious eaten with cheese, particularly Manchego, and also brilliant for giving a certain zing to stews and tagines or pork gravy. It’s also good after dinner with coffee. Chopping quinces is a trial, and stirring the molten lava that they turn into when they break down rather hairy, but once poured into the tray it is jewel like. It needs to mature in the fridge for a few weeks.  I then cut it into small squares and rolled in a little caster sugar before putting into bags for Christmas presents – beautiful and delicious.

Lastly I made Melissa’s Chestnut Jam. I had been given a large bag of wild chestnuts collected in a forest in Shropshire. Peeling chestnuts is extraordinarily fiddly, especially wild chestnuts which are tiny.  I now realize why they are so expensive! Once you’ve got this bit over the jam is straightforward to make and made a perfect present to give back to the chestnut giver!  I used vanilla sugar rather than honey and rum instead of brandy but any combination would be good I’m sure. It’s rich but utterly delicious. I’m planning mini Mont Blancs for New Years eve dinner: meringues with cream, chestnut jam and a little melted dark chocolate.

Now January beckons and hopefully there will be some seville oranges in the supermarket for my next preserving adventure: marmalade. But there’s lots of other things I want to try too: fruit leather, cordials, jellies, & ketchup. I’ll have Christmas presents for next year all sewn up by October!

Sissinghurst

Wealden Times Midwinter Fair

Thursday 3rd – Friday 4th December 2009
11am – 4pm
Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Sissinghurst nr Cranbrook, Kent TN17 2AB
Tel: 01580 710700

A great opportunity to buy your Christmas presents in the luxury of heated marquees surrounded by the renowned gardens of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicholson. The fair is held upstairs in the Restaurant and Oast Exhibition. You also get a chance to visit the Book Barn where writers including Sissinghurst residents Adam Nicolson, Juliet Nicolson and Sarah Raven will be talking about their work.

Costs £5.00 booked in advance and £6.50 on the gate. Children under 5 are free and 5-12s pay £3.25. Book Barn is £2.00 (all talk proceeds go to charity). To book tickets call: 0800 294 9011 or book online.

For more information go to The Wealden Times website.

Glyndebourne

Glyndebourne Christmas Fair

Tuesday 3rd November
10am – 4pm
Glyndebourne, Lewes, East Sussex, BN8 5UU
Tel: 01273 812321

What better way to shop for your Christmas presents than in the beautiful and esteemed grounds of Glyndebourne?

Enjoy a day in this stunning setting, courtesy of the Christie Family, and take lunch and light refreshments in the Mildmay Restaurant. The event will be held in a Marquee and is in aid of Lewes and District Group of East Sussex Disability Association.

Entrance £3.

Gardener & Cook, Lewes

Lewes Late Night Shopping

Thursday 3rd December
10am – 9pm
Gardener & Cook, 33a Cliffe High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2AN
tel: 01273 47749

We are thrilled to say we’ll be open until 9pm for Lewes Late Night Shopping night. Traditionally this is a lively and atmospheric evening particularly in Cliffe High Street – brass bands and stalls add a sense of Christmas spirit to the occasion (as does the mulled wine flowing freely on the night!)

Neptune Montpellier Bench & Chair

Our summer sale is now on – we kicked off with a ’10% off everything’ day in both our stores which saw those in the know rushing in to stock up on presents!

Look out for discounts off large and small items, including 20% off all Neptune furniture orders.

If you’d like to be kept informed of our future sales and special discount days (or any other Gardener & Cook news), why not sign up to receive our e-newsletter – you’ll kick yourself if you miss out on another sale!

Homemade Craft Book

Feeling crafty?  We’ve got just the thing for you – a rather lovely book gracing our shelves at the moment to fulfill our creative urges.  ‘Homemade: Gorgeous Things to Make With Love’ by Ros Badger and Elspeth Thompson is a collection of how to make things for the home and garden, including knitting and sewing projects, ‘restoring a garden table’, elderflower cordial, and (currently on my list of things to do), a rather lovely patchwork throw made from assorted pieces of denim, ticking and tea towels.

Gorgeous Homemade quilt

The book is divided into seasons and starts with the words “in a world often said to be divided between those who spend money in order to save time and those who spend time in order to save money, our time is still seen as the ultimate luxury…” Well I’m definitely planning to spend a bit more of my time on that patchwork quilt!

Decorative Living Fair, Eridge Park

Another week another show!  After the fantastic weather and success of Firle, we’re hoping our luck will hold out with the weather and are gearing up for the Decorative Living Fair at Eridge near Tunbridge Wells next Tuesday 12th May.

It’s another beautiful setting (we do pick ‘em), set in beautiful rolling Kent parkland.  There’ll be a marquee full to bursting with coffee, lunch, tea and homemade locally produced food as an added incentive, so see you there.

Entry is £6.50 with £1 from each ticket donated to St John’s Ambulance Society. Full details can be found here.

Firle Place

We’re preparing for the Gardener & Cook stall at the beautiful Firle Place Garden Show this weekend (Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th April) so drop by and see us.  It’s a great event, beautiful surroundings and a lovely relaxed atmosphere, and if the weather continues like this we’ll be beaming!  Directions can be found here

.

Mother's Day Simnel Cake

It’s Mother’s Day tomorrow (also known as Simnel Sunday – see post below), so we thought it would be timely to post a Simnel Cake recipe to save you the bother of searching for one!

This one was found in one of the books on our shelves in the Lewes shop – Prue Leith’s Cookery Bible.

Although the cake is now made more at Easter (the 11 balls of marzipan have come to represent the apostles, without Judas), it was originally associated with Mother’s Day.  Sometimes the marzipan balls are made into egg shapes, the symbol of spring and rebirth.

Happy cooking (and eating) …

Ingredients
large pinch each of salt and baking powder
225g/8oz plain flour
55g/2oz rice flour
110g/4oz glace cherries
225g/8oz butter
225g/8oz caster sugar
grated rind of 1 lemon
4 eggs, separated
225g/8oz sultanas
110g/4oz currants
30g/1oz candied peel, chopped
340g/12oz marzipan
beaten egg

For the almond paste: (Marzipan)
225g/8oz caster sugar
225g/8oz icing sugar
450g/1lb ground almonds
2 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
10ml/2tsp lemon juice
6 drops vanilla essence

Method

To make the almond paste:

1. Sift the sugars together into a bowl and mix with the ground almonds.
2. Mix together the egg yolks, whole eggs, lemon juice and vanilla essence. Add this to the sugar mixture and beat briefly with a wooden spoon.
3. Lightly dust the working surface with icing sugar. Knead the paste until just smooth (overworking will draw the oil out of the almonds, giving a too greasy paste).
4. Wrap well and store in a cool place.

To make the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.  Prepare a 20cm/8 inch cake tin with a double lining of greased and floured greaseproof paper. Wrap the outside of the cake tin with a double thickness of brown paper to insulate the cake from direct heat.
2. Sift the salt, baking powder and flours. Cut the cherries in half.
3. Cream the butter until soft. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. add the lemon rind.
4. Beat in the egg yolks. Whisk the whites until stiff.
5. Fold one-third of the sifted flour into the mixture. Fold in the egg whites by degrees, alternating with the remaining flour and the fruit and peel.
6. Put half the mixture into the prepared tin, spreading a little up the sides of the tin.
7. Take just over one-third of the marzipan paste. Roll it into a smooth round. Place in the cake tin. Cover with the remaining mixture.
8. With a palette knife make a dip in the centre of the cake to counteract any tendency to rise in the middle.
9. Bake for 2 hours, then reduce the oven heat to 150°C/300°F/gas mark 2. Bake for a further 30 minutes.
10. Roll the remaining marzipan into a circle the same size as the top of the cake. Cut a piece from the centre about 12.5cm/5 inches in diameter and shape into 11 small even-sized balls.
11. Heat the grill. Lay the ring of marzipan on top of the cake and brush with egg wash. Arrange the marzipan balls on top of the ring and brush again with beaten egg. Grill until golden brown.

Mother's Day bulbs

It’s that time of year when we get to celebrate the person who gave it her all by bringing us into the world – our mums!  The Gardener & Cook shops are looking especially gorgeous at the moment, a riot of bulbs and herbs and beautiful springlike gifts for that special lady.

I’ve recently heard a few mutterings about Mother’s Day being a marketing rip-off (or invented by the Victorians), which may be the truth in other countries but certainly not here – Mothering Sunday in the UK has its roots in pagan worship (the mother earth), then a Roman religious festival (existent in Europe since approximately 250BC when the Romans honoured the mother goddess Cybele), and finally appropriated by Christianity (the mother church).

During the 16th century people returned to their mother church to worship the day and were said to have gone “a-mothering”.

The other names attributed to this festival include Simnel Sunday, Refreshment Sunday and Rose Sunday. Simnel Sunday is named after the practice of baking Simnel cakes to celebrate the reuniting of families during the austerity of Lent.

Because there is traditionally a lightening of Lenten vows on this particular Sunday in celebration of the fellowship of family and church, the lesser-used label of Refreshment Sunday is also used, although rarely today.

Rose Sunday is sometimes used as an alternative title for Mothering Sunday as well. This title refers to the tradition of posies of flowers being collected and distributed at the service originally to all the mothers, but latterly to all women in the congregation.

So if you’re buying flowers or plants, take heart in the fact that you’re continuing a tradition!

Kitchen Compost Bin

A new order of our popular kitchen compost bins has arrived, an attractive (and hygenic) solution as to where to keep your kitchen waste before you compost!

Composting has become a must in the garden again, with gardeners everywhere recognising the value in the rich dark waste matter which would only end up rotting in a landfill.

But what makes up a good compost?  What are the do’s and don’ts?  Here’s a quick guide and a useful compost recipe to help you on your way …

Ideal ingredients would be a mix of kitchen and garden waste, or “green” and “brown”.  Examples from each group include:

KITCHEN WASTE

• Vegetable peels and seeds
• Fruit peels and seeds
• Coffee grounds and filters
• Eggshells
• Nutshells
• Other fruit/vegetable/salad scraps

GARDEN WASTE

• Hay or straw
• Grass cuttings
• Leaves
• Sawdust
• Woodchips
• Weeds and other garden waste
• Manures
• Shredded paper

MATERIALS TO AVOID

• Meat, bones, fish, dairy products, grease, and oil: cause odors and attract rodents.
• Pet droppings: contain disease.
• Weeds with seeds and runners: grow when you spread your compost.
• Diseased and insect-infested plants: spread if not well composted.
• Shavings and sawdust from treated wood, and other materials containing strong preservatives or other toxins
• Ashes: slow the composting process

DIRECTIONS

1. Place kitchen and yard waste in the composting bin. Chop or shred the organic materials if you want them to compost quickly.
2. Spread soil or “already done” compost over the compost pile. This layer contains microorganisms and soil animals which do the work of making the compost. It also helps keep the surface from drying out.
3. Adjust the moisture in your compost pile. Add straw or sawdust to soggy materials, or add water to a pile that is too dry. The materials should be damp to the touch, but not so wet that drops come out when you squeeze it.
4. Allow the pile to “bake”. It should heat quickly and reach the desired temperature (90 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, or 32 to 60 degrees Celsius) in four to five days.
5. Stir your compost as it bakes if you want to speed the baking time.
6. The pile will settle down from its original height. This is a good sign the compost is baking properly.
7. If you mix or turn your compost pile every week, it should be “done”, or ready in one to two months. If you don’t turn, the compost should be ready in six to 12 months.
8. Your compost should look like dark crumbly soil mixed with small pieces of organic material. It should have a sweet, earthy smell.
9. Feed compost to hungry plants by mixing it with the soil.