Preserving Time

Two years ago I got my first real bag of walnuts from the tree I planted when I came here fifteen years ago. These aren't mine, as I still haven't got round to getting a digital camera. They look like mine, though, and come from Adam Tinworth and One Man and his Blog. Thanks Adam. Hope you don't mind.

Last year I got not one walnut, even though there were loads of green ones, because the squirrels got the lot! This year I think someone has shot the squirrels because I've had to harvest my walnuts in the wheelbarrow. Already in July I'd made some late pickled walnuts, and now they are thudding down in showers from the tree.

For some reason they are really tiny this year, about the size of almonds in their shells, but once you crack them the kernels are the same size as usual. It's really curious. And I think I like them this way.

I started to eat them last weekend, dipped in some fantastic local honey I'd bought from Pulse down in Swindon. Divine. As I'd just been listening to a programme about Iran, I decided that this tasted like a delicious Persian dish, and decided to make a jar of them, infused in runny local honey for a Christmas present for the man who has everything, my brother. I should probably soak them in rosewater first. I would go to Iran, as I've been a big supporter of the opposition since IranAid days, but that's another story. The reason I don't want to go is that the programme told you that if you are wearing a headscarf you can hear yourself eating in your ears. How gross is that. I wish I could found a country where the men all had to swathe up and wear headscarves and listen to the sound of their own chomping.

Free free free is lucky Polly Bee.

Today I ate the walnuts with the sweetest Red Leicester cheese and coleslaw. That too was a pretty yummy snack.

At last everything I've planned for all my life (i.e., Self Sufficiency and The Good Life) is coming home to roost. I also planted a mulberry tree fifteen years ago, and today I've been making mulberry and apple conserve to put on my porridge instead of golden syrup.

I made the first batch with sweetener to keep my sveltdness going, but someone screamed in horror that it's really bad for you, so I am just going to add sugar to this lot. I make it fairly runny and don't get it up to jam temperature, so you have to watch how it's stored, but I aim to make a load of jam, too. In the meantime I am so happy to be eating my own mulberries in season. Likewise my own cucumbers, which I seem able to grow with such ease. I just slice them up with dill seeds that I've also grown myself (from goodness knows what, as I wasn't going to go out and buy an expensive packet of seeds) and put them in big old jars of white wine vinegar for sandwiches all year.

The one thing I didn't invest in when I came here was a big freezer. This is because I don't really have room for it. But it's making it really interesting as I attempt to conserve everything in other ways. I've made jars and jars of dried apple and pear rings. These are meant to be my new healthy alternative to Snickers bars. The pear ones are sweeter. I think they're divine, but when I offer anyone else a taste they go suspicious and coy. Their loss.

I had so many runners that they've gone to seed. Who wants pints of runner bean seeds? I only need about twelve every year. I've never bought them in fifteen years. Last year I just ate all the lovely pink and purple beans. They cook big and grey, but are okay in casseroles. I might do them in some sort of hot red pepper and tomato sauce to make them seem interesting. That with a load of green rocket salad and what else? White bread for once?

While I type my hawthorn berries are simmering. Let's see.

MONTHS LATER (May 2009): I made those berries into a very interesting sticky paste (seived and boiled again) that I poured into a buttered Swiss Roll tin and allowed to dry. It had a nice texture and a most amazing bitter taste. I had to go and work in London and didn't know what to do with it, so after a couple of weeks in the fridge I dusted them with icing sugar and rolled them into long thin sausages. Those looked extremely suspicious in the fridge, so finally I cut them into tiny bits with scissors and kept them in a jar, and nibbled them occasionally. They are meant to be incredibly good for keeping your heart regular. Good for arrythmia. Then I needed the jar for something so I just tipped them in the muesli jar (which is a huge plastic sweet jar that I keep topping up). All winter I have enjoyed getting one in the muesli. The unique bitter taste is very nice, and starts to make the papaya taste too sweet. They are nice greyish little cubes where their original maroon colour shows through dusty icing sugar.