Friday 22 November 2013

The Forage (1)

The Forage
 
When you think about how shitty a lot of the food system chains are, it's almost nice to know its only horse that goes into the lasagne.
A few years back I was completely trusting of the systems that govern us, our food, our energy, banking etc..I believed that if things were THAT bad then surely someone would do something about it.....
After expenses scandals, energy companies taking the piss, the bailing out of banks who appear to continue a champagne lifestyle while the poorest continue to shiver, police corruption and press scandals - I ran out of trust - it took about 12 months or so for it to happen. I no longer believe that 'they' really give a shit - and although its a pretty cynical place to end up in, its kind of freeing.
I realise we are all inextricably linked to it, I know that - but I see the systems for what they are, and I will do my best to limit my reliance on them.
This post is about foraging - I promise, and whilst there are many reasons to forage (its free, fun, gets you out etc,,,) I believe its more than that - its a fuck you to the supermarkets, to the companies that flog crap to you to feed to your kids, and its a small, first step towards REGAINING CONTROL of the most important thing of all - the food we eat.
Foraging just got political,  Yeah that's right - get angry - get foraging!

Foraging is Sweeeeet:

  • Because its free
  • Because it helps us regain connection with our food AND our surroundings
  • It gives us a sense of control, freedom and peace
  • The food is really good for us
  • There's no shit in there and no one has tampered with it
  • it's a big 'No thanks' to the companies making us fat
  • It means we are eating seasonally
  • There are no chains, no food miles 

We had a day with Michael White out in Kent, looking at foraged foods. I was expecting to Find stuff that I would eat if I was showing off or if I was in a bit of a pickle, but my god I was surprised.  The food tasted lovely. it being autumn the focus was on mushrooms, berries and roots. We met Michael by his fields, sat in his shack while he explained the rules (don't over pick, don't eat anything you are unsure of etc...(basically don't be an idiot)) and then we went on a four mile circular walk. Lunch was a lovely venison stew and then we prepared, cooked and tasted the forage. The small group was cool - everyone was chilled out and it was really nice for Michelle and me to have a day in the countryside together without the kids and doing something new, trying and eating new things.
Its really important that people don't go out and start eating things which they are not really sure about - you can kill yourself, but if you can be hand held by someone that knows what they are talking about, that fear can be turned into freedom, and that's the best.

A selection of the foods we tried:

Nettles - the young leaves, steamed with a bit of oil - tasted like spinach, but apparently, more nutritious.  
Nettles are one of the most powerful iron sources in the vegetable kingdom.
Great for anaemia, for during menstruation (to top up departing iron stocks) and as a general blood tonic. Whenever you feel run down, or tired, think nettles!

Eating nettles or drinking the tea makes your skin clearer and healthier, good for eczema and other skin conditions.  Nettle tea can also be used as a tonic for garden plants
 
Chickweed - A bit more texture than the nettles - more of a pea flavour too.
Chickweed is high in vitamin C, vitamin A, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium, zinc, phosphorus, manganese, sodium, selenium, and silicon. That sounds pretty good to me - and chickweed, like nettles grows EVERYWHERE - you don't need to be in the Kent countryside for this folks!

Rose hips - scooped out with a spoon ( the insides are fibrous and will cause a problem) and the hollowed out hips are then boiled up with a bit of sugar and strained through a muslin
Rose hips are particularly high in Vitamin C, one of the richest plant sources available.
A study of a rose hip preparation for treating rheumatoid arthritis concluded that there was a benefit, apparently due to both anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects.
Rose hips are used to help prevent colds and flu.

Dandelion root coffee - this was dandelion root scrubbed clean, roasted to a burnt black, mashed up and put through a coffee percolator. And do you know what? It tasted like coffee. Good for liver - has a laxative effect and is currently in trials for its effects in cancer treatment. There is loads of info out there, you can even buy it online but its worth doing - maybe you'll start seeing those weeds differently

The day was great - we saw and tried loads more but I didn't want to bore you, also this is the most easily identifiable stuff. Maybe I'll put the rest in a new post, one concentrating on the mushrooms.
 
After the horse meat scandal - food became the latest scale to fall from my eyes. It always seems to boil down to money, and if there's a short cut to be made, it will, in all probability happen. This is obviously increasingly likely in a long, convoluted system that spans countries and continents. Add on to this the fact that we don't know how a lot of the food is produced, what chemicals are used, how animals are farmed, how workers are treated and how much fuel it takes to get it to you and you begin to question our systems. Foraging is never going to replace your supermarket shop - but it might help you think differently about things. Its pretty clear that a lot of this stuff is actually healthier than a lot of farmed super foods. Highly recommended - go forage!



Wednesday 20 November 2013

Heroes

This guy is so cool - so worth a watch....

Ron Finley - South Central hero

And this shows what could be done....

The daddy of permaculture.... stick with it - its only 5 minutes!

What am I going to grow?


OK, I look at this enormous life change, and its easiest to break things down in to doable chunks, I am also fundamentally lazy, so pontificating is what I do best. The worst thing I can do here is rush in and then regret actions at my leisure. This would also impact on another bugbear of mine, wasting money.
Of course this is a very involved process. The 'Survey' is an important part of the plan.

I start with looking at what we, as a family eat, no point in growing stuff to chuck it out:

Apples
Pears
Bananas
Grapes
Satsumas
Blueberries
Raspberries

Carrots
Potatoes
Parsnips
Garlic
Tomatoes
Peppers
Chillies
Aubergines
Sweetcorn
Squash
Courgettes
Salads
Beans - French/Broad/Runner

Herbs - Tarragon/Basil/Parsley etc...

I then look at what can be grown in my climate - this takes out bananas, satsumas but most other things are doable

Apples
Pears
Bananas
Grapes
Satsumas
Blueberries
Raspberries

Carrots
Potatoes
Parsnips
Garlic
Tomatoes
Peppers
Chillies
Aubergines
Sweetcorn
Squash
Courgettes
Salads
Beans - French/Broad/Runner

Herbs - Tarragon/Basil/Parsley etc..

I have an array of microclimates throughout the year, and throughout the garden. The solar aspect means that I can grow stuff outside the kitchen door during the summer as the sun will hit that spot during the afternoon. During the winter however the sun never reaches that far around. The end of the garden receives sun all year round - it just suffers from being at the end of the garden! I need to marry my crops with their microclimates. This is very important - right plant right place

Some things will give me a better yield with the limited space I have. Some things will also be better suited to the solutions I have in order to be able to plant eg. I can grow salads in guttering attached to a wall. I can grow tomatoes against a sunny south facing wall,

The main limitation I have in this space is its size. The fact that I want it to perform so many functions other than just grow food means that Michelle has not allowed me to dig the whole thing up and create an allotment or rather, food forest. I have to be cleverer than that.

So I look at my list and decide what might be on my first ( but by no means final) shit list. I will revisit this later in order to see if there are any other solutions available here.

Stuff that needs too much room and time is eradicated

Apples
Pears
Bananas
Grapes
Satsumas
Blueberries
Raspberries

carrots
Potatoes
Parsnips
Garlic
Tomatoes
Peppers
Chillies
Aubergines
Sweetcorn
Squash
Courgettes
Salads
Beans - French/Broad/Runner

Herbs - Tarragon/Basil/Parsley etc..

I know the remainder will either continue to crop over years if maintained correctly, or will give me a decent yield from relatively small spaces or few plants

Right - so I've decided what is probably going to do ok in my space, whats going to give me the best potential yields, and I now want to think of placements and communities (or guilds) - the idea being that we mix it all up a bit - certain crops are gonna flower and crop at certain times - we try and engineer a community so that we attract pollinators in, predators to take out pests, plants which create habitat for other plants and plants which accumulate nutrients which in turn feed others...

Another way of maximising the space is through my systems. I include here a south facing shack wall, sun trap on the South western facing corner, wall guttering throughout, espaliered trees, pergolas, smaller structures for climbers and potentially hugel mounds (I'll explain this lot later).

So we've looked at space - now time and effort - I am WELL LAZY! I don't want to garden as hard as I do every day on the weekend - I want to concentrate on other stuff - so one of the real points here is to emulate natural systems so that the stuff looks after itself - just like in nature. this is better for the environment and me. Guilds are an essential part of this - as are perennial no dig systems. It ends up basically covering the fruit - but if I were to include globe artichokes, asparagus, Rhubarb, some of the walking onions, traditional forage and weedy stuff and change my mindset a bit then we've got loads of stuff.

With  regards to the annuals like tomatoes, salads, courgettes and beans - its not actually as bad as you'd think if we give em what they need. by building soil through good practice, and building watering systems that require minimal interaction from me - i'm hoping to build something that after an initial burst of effort, requires very little. Watch this space!




Monday 11 November 2013

Hello

My name is Mark.

I am writing this blog to record my adventures towards taking control of my treadmill lifestyle, and making it more sustainable, ethical and interesting.

So this is an attempt at an escape from bad food and high energy costs,  and a journey towards a better understanding of how to stand on my own two feet.

I am aiming for abundance through an edible landscape in my garden, brewing my own beer and learning to preserve and cook what I have more effectively.

Part of the plan includes building a growing shack from as much recycled material as possible. This will:

• Enable me to create a workshop for building projects.
• Allow me to create microclimates, both for my plants, my beer,  and myself.
• Be a structure that supports water harvest and distribution
• Be an ace place to shoot the breeze and get slowly sozzled in the sun!

Using permaculture principles throughout, I hope to showcase how I can grow food in a really normal garden, without investing too much time and money and creating a yield (making it worthwhile both in terms of money and in terms of effort)
I am aware that there is loads of information on this sort of stuff out there. This is a very normal back yard. I am a very normal person, with little time, even less money and all the normal pressures of life. This means I will probably make loads of mistakes. But that's probably going to be the most interesting parts, so that's ok then!

I look after large gardens in the area. They are generally very beautiful, but I spend an awful lot of time cutting lawns, weeding and molly coddling plants. The garden I am aiming to create does have to be beautiful, but it will not be so high maintenance. I will be designing and maintaining by emulating natural systems, using plant communities that look after each other (guilds), using systems that utilise resources to their fullest, identifying and using microclimates and understanding the landscape I am in.

The garden at the moment is a mess. This is mainly because I have had little time to sort it out. I have, however been thinking, and actual implementation of any garden projects should, I hope, be reasonably swift.

stay tuned