Fruits of the forage

Well it's been a week since my last post and time seems to be racing by so so quickly. I still have tales from my August holidays to tell you about and everything we've been up to during September. I'll get around to it all eventually but, for today, I just wanted to take you back to last weekend.

I mentioned last time that I was going foraging and that's just what we did. Chickpea and I gathered our carrier bags and plastic containers and headed off down the fields to see what we could find. Our target was blackberries and elderberries and we found both in abundance. Funnily enough I was watching BBC Breakfast one morning this week and there was a report about what a fantastic berry harvest there's been this year. We picked about 3lbs of blackberries and could have brought home a lot more if we'd taken a larger container.

Elderberries were also plentiful.

We managed 2 carrier bags full and Chickpea spent most of the afternoon sat in the garden stripping the berries. I've already cooked these down and strained the juice and this weekend I'll be transforming it into cordial.

Before we leave the fields though I wanted to show you something else...

A horse in the next field was so curious to see what we were doing that he came over and stood watching us for ages. Such a beauty.

We were also lucky enough to spot this Common Darter and even luckier that it landed long enough for me to whip out the camera.

Back home, some of the blackberries are being turned into liqueur. It's such a simple recipe: part fill a jar/container with berries and then pour over enough vodka (or gin) to cover and a few tablespoons of sugar. Put the lid on and leave for a couple of months. Give it a shake occasionally to help the sugar dissolve.

I've frozen the rest of the berries until later because I simply ran out of time after washing and de-bugging them. The rest of my afternoon was devoted to...

...plum chutney. Well, spiced plum chutney to be exact. 

Plums, apples, dried figs, dried cranberries, ginger and cinnamon. So fruity and colourful, I could have just eaten it at this stage. I'm sure the chutney will be just as good though.

As well as harvesting wild produce, I've also been harvesting from the garden. We've already eaten quite a few of our carrots and they've all been a good size.

More surprisingly, I harvested potatoes. The surprise is that I didn't actually plant any potatoes. I had a large pot in the garden into which I'd dumped a pile of old compost meaning to dispose of it. However, during the summer I noticed shoots starting to appear. A few pieces of potato from last year's harvest must have been lurking in the old compost and germinated. Not a bad harvest for no planning or effort whatsoever!

The potatoes weren't the only vegetable lurking in the old compost though. Some of it was spread over the flower beds and, again, I noticed plants growing. At first I thought they were weeds but, as I pulled one out, the leaves smelled suspiciously like tomato. I left the seedlings in and look what appeared! I'm really hoping the lovely weather we've had this week will encourage them to ripen but I think they might have appeared just a little too late in the season.

Last but definitely not least, it wasn't just gardening which occupied me last weekend. I've also made a start on the latest challenge from my quilt group and I'm loving it! Not particularly the challenge but just doing some quilting again. This is only a miniature but I've already cut out all the pieces for a full size quilt too - I'm so excited!

No prizes for guessing what I'll be doing this weekend then. I'm also planning to go to Yarndale on Sunday and hoping not to spend too much - is that even possible? Maybe I'll see some of you there? Have a good weekend whatever you do. x

Crab apples

The first week of my August leave was spent at home. We knew we were going to stay with friends the second week so, apart from the day trip to Morecambe, my plans were to do lots of homely things like gardening, quilting and baking. What I really wanted to do though was to go foraging for food to make jams and preserves.

Every day on my way to work, I pass by a crab apple tree on a patch of spare land. And for the past few years, I've waited until the first apples start to fall on the ground as a sign that it's time to go picking. Now was the time.

In the past I've used the crab apples to make jam, jelly (clear jam) and liqueur. This time, I wanted to mostly make jam so the first step was to extract the juice. I chop the apples in half to make sure they're not carrying any passengers (!) and put them in a large pan with some water. For 3.5 lbs of apples I added 1.5 pints of water and cooked them until they were mushy. The mixture was then strained through a muslin cloth. I don't have one of those fancy straining contraptions so, as you can see, I line a steamer with the muslin and put it over a jug or bowl before adding the apple mush.

Once the liquid has been extracted, I do an extra filtering stage through a coffee filter paper to remove the sediment which always seems to get through the cloth. I've found that this helps stop scum forming during the jam-making process.

One of the best things I ever did was buy a jam thermometer. Before that I used the crinkle test where you put a drop of the hot jam on a cold plate and see if it crinkles when you push it with your fingernail. It worked but it's so much easier watching a thermometer and I've had almost perfect results every time.

Crab apple juice is really good for combining with other fruits. Originally I planned to make blackberry jam but we didn't have any luck with our first blackberry picking expedition. However, some rummaging in the freezer uncovered plums, so plum jam it was. From 1lb plums and 1/2 pint crab apple juice, I got 5 small jars. I prefer the smaller jars as they keep better if you don't use a lot (which we don't) and there are more to give away or exchange.

Also in the freezer were a few bags of rhubarb and they were transformed into rhubarb, crab apple and ginger jam. It was the first time I've made rhubarb jam and the flavour's good but I think I'd add a bit more ginger next time.

Finally, another first. I learned everything I know about jam making and preserves from Marguerite Patten's book The basic basics jams, preserves and chutneys handbook. As I was browsing through looking for ideas, I came across a recipe for spiced crab apples and had to give it a go.

You heat up some white wine vinegar with the spices and simmer for a few minutes before adding the crab apples. Cook the apples until just tender and spoon into a jar. Add some sugar to the vinegar and spice mix and cook until it goes syrupy. Pour over the apples and seal the jar.

I'm going to save these until the autumn or winter months - maybe even Christmas. Can't wait to try them though! What do you think I should serve them with?

After all of this, I still had 1/2 pint of juice so I've frozen it for later. I've a feeling it might get added to some more plums: I arrived at work earlier this week to find a bag containing 4kg of plums on my desk! A colleague has a tree which is groaning under the weight of fruit - I think she said she'd had at least 8 carrier bags full! I've given some to Mum and have been looking through my cookery books for recipes - chutney is appealing to me at the moment. I also want to make some elderberry cordial so we're going foraging again on Sunday. Wish me luck!