Archive for December, 2010
Tubers with a bang
which way soever they be dressed and eaten, they stir and cause a filthy loathsome stinking wind within the body, thereby causing the belly to be pained and tormented, and are a meat more fit for swine than men.
John Goodyer, Gerard’s Herbal, 1621
Digging frozen veg
Like everyone we’ve had snow in the last few days, and the forecast doesn’t look too promising for the rest of today. All the vegetables that are still in the ground – parsnips, leeks, Jerusalem artichokes and cabbages – are frozen in, so we’re struggling a bit with getting fresh veg at the moment. However, we have found a good way of clearing the snow and defrosting the soil slightly… by using the left-over washing up water. It’s still warm enough to melt the snow and soften the ground enough to get a fork in to lever the veg out. This meant we got some parsnips yesterday and a few leeks for our supper tonight. We may just get some veg for the Christmas table!
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Seeds or bees?
The birds must really be struggling at the moment in the cold weather, as they have started to take a liking to the bees. The bird feeder was hung up near the bee hive, and despite being filled with seeds, the blue tits must have noticed (or heard) that there was something more exciting in the hive. We noticed that blue tits were hanging around the entrance of the bee hive, but didn’t think much of it. But then we saw one of them tapping on the hive, encouraging the bees to come out and investigate, and then getting snapped up by the waiting bird. Read the rest of this entry »