Foraging Far From Home

As all good things do, my trip to the UK ended much too soon and I arrived back in Toronto yesterday. My intentions of posting while away were thwarted by technical difficulties on many fronts- poor internet access, incompatible wireless features and then my laptop died altogether. Thankfully my camera had no such issues and though it required several battery recharges, I managed to take over 800 photos! And although the primary focus of my trip was to do some genealogy research, this did not mean that I was too busy to think about gardening and canning- far from it in fact. Three weeks was plenty of time to wander about sightseeing and thankfully my aunt who was travelling with me is of a similar bent. Like me, she is a avid reader and gardener so we stopped in as many book stores as cathedrals, and photographed as many gardens as we did Roman ruins.


English country gardens are renowned for good reason; the moderate climate and perpetual precipitation makes for ideal garden conditions for many plants and we were astounded at the lushness of the greenery and abundance of flowers. Many plants that I am familiar with here in Canada were barely recognizable as the same plant-we saw rosemary the size of juniper bushes, hollyhocks that towered over us, and hydrangeas that resembled pink and blue sheep! Not to mention the lavender that grows everywhere staining entire fields a vivid purple as you drive by.




But the plant that amazed me the most was blackberries- they were literally everywhere and loaded with fat juicy berries! Better known as brambles in the UK, they are so prolific that we took to munching on them everywhere we went and I couldn't figure out why no one seemed to pick them until I tried to gather more than a quick handful. Brambles sport some serious thorns which latch onto skin and clothing alike, making a berry picking expedition resemble the losing end of a cat fight. I persevered however and one glorious afternoon I succeed in gathering an amount worthy of canning. I still have the scratches to prove it.


Blackberries weren't the only thing that was easily spotted; I spied many a fine apple tree and on my afternoon pick I managed to gather a large bagful of sweet juicy apples as well as a few stray red plums. At this point in our trip we were enjoying a visit with friends and I couldn't resist cooking up some blackberry applesauce and some plum blackberry jam. Sadly I didn't want to risk a confrontation with Canadian Customs on my way home so I left it all for our hosts to enjoy.



I did however manage to bring something home with me. Proper 4 piece canning jars with a glass lid and rubber seal were invented in the UK, by the Kilner family in 1852- the same design was later copied by Mason and all the current canning jars we know today evolved from that design. My surname name is Kilner and although I have never found a direct link to the glass making Kilners (my lot were woolen manufacturers), the glass factory existed in the same area of England that my family came from. Whether we're related or not, I still longed for a jar or two with my name on it and although the original jars are now collectible and difficult to find, another glass manufacturer is now making them again so it was my mission to find some to bring home with me. At first this proved more difficult than you'd imagine- I got lots of blank looks and a few comments about how no one cans anymore which surprised me! Eventually my aunt found a hinged storage jar with the Kilner brand on it in Scotland so I was somewhat appeased but still held out hope for the actual canning jars. And fortune shined on me-a random stop in a small home decorating store in Henley-on-Thames provided me with both a quart and pint jar and a box of seals. Based on the price (over 3 pounds each for the jars and almost 6 for the seals!) it's no wonder very few people can in England. I can buy a case of jars here for less than I paid for 2. But the pleasure of seeing my family name in big letters across the jars is priceless to me and I paid it happily and stuffed them in my overflowing suitcase to bring home.

So I'm home again, with loads of pictures and stories to share. And I have some other exciting news on the home front, which will have to wait for another post. My gardens survived without me although they've looked better so I have some work to do. It's also time to start some serious canning- I spotted pickling cukes at a good price today which means the lazy days of summer are almost behind us and I'm itching to get going. England was wonderful but I'm glad to be home.

I has Tomatoes! ( And rain finally)

There were two more but they got eaten (not by me sadly).
Also I have no idea what variety of tomatoes these are. The plant was a volunteer that sprouted over the winter and then got attacked by spidermites so I cut it back to almost nothing at one point and then stuck it in the garden when it looked like it might survive. It's a small tumbling cherry which makes me thing it's a ditmarsher (I grew one last year) but the colour of the fruit looks more pink, like Russian Rose, which I also grow. This is not my best year for tomatoes. I got off to a rocky start with the aforementioned mites, I mixed up most of my seedlings so not sure what got planted where in containers and I'm having loads of issues with BER- all the Opalkas so far have had to be tossed along with most of the Big Orange Stripes and even a Black Brandywine today - it broke my heart because it was so close to ripe but the middle was rotten throughout.


It's been such a funny year- cold and rainy for so long, things got off to a slow start, then when the heat finally kicked in, it was so dry everything was parched. I've managed to keep everything alive till now but it's felt like all my plants were in survival mode, growing but not producing much. We finally got a good solid rain last night- after the heatwave that was the past few weeks it was desperately needed and everything looks so much happier today. Just in time for me to leave.


Tomorrow I head off on my big adventure- my first ever trip to the UK! My aunt and I are spending almost 4 weeks there, doing some family history research among other touristy stuff. If you are so inclined I hope to be posting some of my adventures in my newest blog The Rising Village but I'll try to post here as well if I get a chance.


It's not great timing for the gardens and preserving but hopefully there will still be lots to eat and can when I return mid August - as long as the Russian remembers to water!

One last pic of the beets in the bin! They're going to have to make it without me watching over them. I think they'll be fine.

Eating in the Heat

We've been having some really hot days recently - temps in the 30's with the humidex making it feel well over 40 (that's 90's and over 100 respectively in American.) This week we expect to hit 36 by Thurs with no relief in sight. For the first time in my life I am grateful for the air conditioning that sneaks in from the apartment vents below us- it doesn't do much in the rest of the house but if I shut the bedroom door it's at least bearable to sleep in at night.

To make matters worse we haven't seen rain in weeks either. Yesterday we were expected to get hit with some big thunder storms but they somehow skirted by us here in Toronto, hitting west, south and east of us but delivering only a smattering of raindrops here on the way by. My gardens are still surviving but the rainbarrel is dry and the containers on the roof have to be watered daily. I'll be hooking up the hose to the kitchen sink today and giving everything a good soaking before refilling the rainbarrel myself. I don't know if it's the lack of water but everything seems to be in a lull right now; the lettuce is done, the bush beans are slowing to a trickle but the climbing beans are just starting to flower. I don't have any cukes or summer squash yet and the tons of tomatoes are still still a ways from ripening- at this rate I'll be lucky to eat one before I leave for England next week!

The most noticeable effect of all this heat is on my appetite and I find I'm not very enthusiastic about preparing food either. When it's too hot to cook, too late for salad greens and too early for tomatoes, what do you make? Yesterday I went to the Sorauren Farmer's Market hoping for inspiration and came home with a loaf of olive bread, a cucumber, some fresh onions, a zucchini and a patty pan squash.
I'd never made cucumber gazpacho before but it seemed easy enough and I used what I had on hand to come up with a variation that was exactly perfect for this heat wave.

Cucumber Gazpacho

1 good size cucumber - I used a field cucumber and didn't bother to seed it but you can if the seeds are large.
1 green pepper, seeded - I picked a very small one from one of my container peppers
1 hot pepper seeded (I used a jalapeno)
1 glug of olive oil
splash of red wine vinegar (to taste- you could use lemon juice or balsamic too)
1 clove of garlic
handful of onion greens- I cut the tops off a fresh red onion- you could use spring onions as well
1 sprig of fresh dill
salt and pepper to taste.

Chop the veggies in chunks. Add everything to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth- I had to add about 1/2 cup of water to thin it slightly. Pour in bowls, and drizzle with good quality olive oil. (I also added a touch of brine from a jar of pickled hot peppers to mine because I like heat when I'm hot but the Russian is a bit of wimp- he doesn't like olives either so guess which bowl is mine!) Chill before serving.

Serve with a piece of dense bread to soak up the remainders and you have a perfect meal for a hot summer night! I wish I'd bought more cucumbers.