fruit
How to Adapt Your Garden in Periods of Austerity
I have recently come across a really terrific gardening book from the Second World War period, written by Richard Sudell, and while most of it was fairly predictable, there was a excellent chapter on ‘How to Adapt Your Garden in Wartime’, that has some relevance for this blog. I’m therefore looking at the chapter here to see what we can glean about what they call ‘cropping’ round where I live. The idea of gardening wearing a shirt and tie also appeals to me; this is a phenomenon we see in many early DIY books as well. In those days, clearly Britain Had Standards.
First of all, the garden it appears to be based on is large by modern standards (100ft by 35ft), and unless you live in the middle of nowhere, or are lucky enough to live in a house build before 1960, I doubt you’ll have enough space for most of their ideas. He also regards the average family as having 4-5 people, which again is large for present times. However it is possible to work from the same principles and develop a productive garden that might not meet all your food needs, but which will let you harvest something fresh and tasty to eat most days of the summer and early autumn.
Richard starts by suggesting you allocate half to two-thirds of the garden to the cultivation of fruit and vegetables, leaving an area with flowers and shrubs near where you are planning to sit, and near the bits of the garden you see most closely to the house. He also suggests widening the beds and reducing the size of the lawn so you can also grow flowers for cutting fairly easily (garden flowers rather than shop-bought flowers being a staple of this blog, so obviously we approve of that idea). I would add to his advice that there might be a case for losing the lawn completely, as they are high maintenance and the space might be put to better purpose with other things, but if you have football playing children this will be regarded as sacrilegious.
You then lay out your garden with gravel paths near the house (I would recommend putting landscape matting underneath gravel to stop weeds poking through, by the way), and grass paths in the vegetable area. In the vegetable patch he recommends growing potatoes, cabbage, beans and so on as staples to last you through the year. In addition he suggests adding fruit trees and bushes, and having a good compost pit. A small greenhouse will allow you to raise seedlings (vegetables being cheapest when they are grown from seed), early vegetables, salads, and also force rhubarb (probably the easiest plant to grown in the country, and when you put a cover over it, you get early tender pale stalks that are delicious in a rhubarb fool (recipe in the Austerity Housekeeping eBook if you need it).
He goes further and suggests your Anderson Air Raid shelter might make a good chicken coop ‘on the intensive system’. Please could any readers of this blog discovering an Anderson shelter in their back garden, and who are planning to try this, get in touch immediately as the television production company I word with will most likely be both flabbergasted and impressed enough to send out a cameraman to record it for posterity. From the way this chapter reads, it appears you would be bedding down with the chickens should Jerry fly overhead, so I wonder if he was implying the chicken stage of development would be better achieved after the war.
Now in relation to the actual vegetable patch, you apparently need to divide it into three portions.
- Greens (cabbages, sprouts, cauliflowers)
- Legumes and root crops (peans, beans, carrots)
- Potatoes
You also need a section for salads such as lettuce, celery, onions, small herbs and so on.
The beds are divided this way as each year you will need to rotate the crops, or in other words, only grow vegetables in the same bed once every three years. This is a method of avoiding pests and diseases, and not exhausting the soil. You’ll also need to feed the soil regularly with good compost from your pit, and he also recommends using an incinerator for burning garden waste to create good potash as extra soil nutrition.
Other additions from the Sudell book – a shallow pond can apparently become a watercress bed. I would never have thought of that. Also growing fruit up trellises and walls/fences is a real option to save space.
Overall it’s lovely to come across gardening books like these, as they take us back to a time when the craft of gardening was done in a more earthy way, working from basics, rather than the present convention of going to a garden centre and filling a massive trolley with expensive seedlings and plants somebody else has reared for you. I have a feeling that in the Sudell garden, growing your own fruit and vegetables might even be economical compared to that, which is presumably how he could afford to garden in a shirt and tie.
Incidentally, if you want a copy of this book for yourself, Ebay has several for sale at the moment.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_kw=practical+gardening+food+production
Healthy after school snacks
Try these to keep the little’uns away from the biscuit tin.
Bread sticks
Yoghurts, in little pots of natural with a bit of honey. Cut comb honey always has a pleasing novelty value.
Fruit kebabs
Microwave popcorn
Cheese sticks
Toasted crumpet or muffin with olive spread
Ryvita with raisins inside
Carrot sticks or pitta bread fingers with dip made from 6 teaspoons low fat mayo and 1 teaspoon ketchup mixed together.
Image: Paul / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Five tinned foods that punch above their weight
I’ve been nosying around my winter survival cupboard today to see what needs topping up, and I am about to make a big trip to the cash and carry to stock up on tins. Interestingly enough, a lot of tinned foods have more vitamins in them than fresh food that things that have been lying around your kitchen for a week or so. Here are some great additions to a store cupboard that I will be bringing home later.
Tinned tomatoes – these come in different forms but particularly useful are the ones with garlic and herbs already in the mix. Passata in large jars can go onto home made pizza bases with a big of grated cheese and some salami for a Saturday treat.
Pulses – try different kinds such as lentils, chickpeas, borlotti beans, butter beans, mixed spicy beans and canneloni beans. Great with mince, in salads, to bulk out a bolognaise or shepherd’s pie, or to make an instant vegetarian chili.
Stone fruits – cherries, plums and mirabelles make great crumbles and pies, can be served with cream or yoghurt for a quick dessert, and can even be added to smoothies or put on top of muesli.
Exotic fruits – pineapple, lychees, mangos are all wonderful to have around, and give you the makings of a very sophisticated winter fruit salad, but look for tins which state they are in their own juices rather than in syrup.
Fish – Sardines, mackerel, salmon, tuna and even shrimps are all great for sandwiches, pasta dishes, fish pie, salads and little toasts to have as a nibble with a glass of wine.
Image: xedos4 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Week 1 Fruit Torte recipe
This must be the easiest fancy dessert in the world. Acknowledgements to my mum, doyenne of the creative dessert solution.
Ingredients
- Sponge flan base from the supermarket
- 8-12 oz (250-375g) strawberries, raspberries, loganberries or tinned mandarins
- Green’s Quick Jel jelly (for flan topping – choose a colour that matches your fruit)
- 5 fl oz (125 ml (whipping cream)
Lay the berries or mandarin slices on the base in a decorative and artistic manner. Following the instructions on the packet slavishly, prepare the Quick Jel and pour over the whole thing, taking care to make sure any gaps are filled. Whip the cream and using a piping bag (disposable ones are very cheap), make attractive patterns with the cream all over the base in the form of rosettes and squiggly lines, until the whole thing is covered. Serve fairly soon afterwards otherwise the base runs the risk of going soggy. (The picture is a similar cake and not the exact same torte, by the way, but I never claimed to be much of a photographer).
Image: savit keawtavee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Foraging and free food
It is useful to plan foraging trips at certain times of year, along with the time and resources needed to process your finds. For example, the following can be acquired during weekend walks from late August to October, and with careful development of a kitchen production line, turned into cost-effective treats that enliven an otherwise limited menu, or act as home made Christmas presents. (Take with you a pair of gardening gloves, secateurs, and plastic bags to help in the collecting process).
- Blackberries. There are hundreds of varieties in the wild and they change every few hundred metres. Therefore if the first crop you find seem to be a bit lacking in juice, you might find more fleshy examples half a mile further down the hedgerow if you look carefully. You can add these to Apple crumble, turn them into jam, or eat them as they are. Try this jam recipe.
- 1kg blackberries
- 1kg caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
In a large pan, combine the blackberries, sugar, lemon juice and salt. Bring to a rolling boil, and cook stirring frequently for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the temperature of the mixture has reached 105 degrees C. Transfer the mixture to hot sterile jars, leaving 1cm headspace, and seal. Refrigerate jam once the seal is broken.
- Sloes. These are round, bitter fruits that need to be cooked and eaten with other things to be palatable. Some people use them to make sloe gin, a drink greatly favoured by Victorian ladies and elderly aunts for some reason. I tend to think this is rather a waste of good gin, and cook them up with apples instead to make Sloe and apple jelly. Here’s the recipe for it, although you will need to invest in a jelly bag.
- 1.35kg sloes
- 1.25kg apples
- Water
- 450g sugar to 600ml juice
Wash the apples and the sloes. Cut the apples into quarters and discard any bruised bits. Put the apples and sloes into a large pan, just cover with cold water, bring to the boil and boil until soft and mushy. Tip into a jelly-bag and allow to drip overnight. Measure the strained juice and add 450g warmed sugar to each 600ml juice. Bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved and then boil hard until setting point is reached
- Rosehips.These are fiddly to prepare but worth their weight in gold, as they are full of vitamin C. In Rosehip syrup form, they serve dual purpose as a tonic for sore throats, and a dessert topping on milk puddings or yoghurt. I have also used rosehip syrup as a placebo ‘magic medicine’ for young children feeling a bit under the weather and needing a little attention. Here’s my secret recipe.
- 1kg rosehips
- 2 litres water
- 1 kg sugar
Remove all the stalks from the rosehips and wash thoroughly, draining in a sieve. Put them into a large saucepan, add 2 pints water and heat until boiling. Leave to stand for 30-60 minutes to infuse. Strain mixture through a sieve, reserving the liquid, and put rosehips into a food processor or blender and chop finely. Return them to the liquid and boil up once again, leaving to stand for about 15 minutes this time. Strain whole mixture through an old clean tea towel, muslin or jelly bag. Put the liquid into a clean pan. Repeat boiling process one more time. Strain once again through a clean cloth (because rosehips have little hairs that catch in the back of your throat otherwise) and return to a clean pan again. This time add the sugar and boil for about 10-15 minutes, until the liquid has reduced down and become a syrup. Pour into heated, sterilised glass bottles or jars for storage.
- Apples. In autumn there are so many of these lying around that people barely seem to know what to do with them, so they put them in boxes in front of their houses free for takers. The most practical way of dealing with a glut like this is to make it all into Apple puree and freeze it, for use in puddings or as babyfood later in the year, or in Apple pudding, as in this recipe.
- 125g vegetable spread (suitable for baking)
- 125g caster sugar
- 2 beaten eggs
- 125g self-raising flour
Cream together the vegetable spread and the sugar until light and fluffy. Carefully add the eggs little by little, beating as you go, until it’s all absorbed. Fold the flour in very carefully and mix gently until you have a smooth mixture. Put 8-12 oz/50g apple puree or sliced eating apple (it works best with apple slices) in the bottom of a baking dish, then top with the sponge mixture, and bake for about 20 minutes at 170C, or until the top is springy and golden brown.
- Pears and plums.A glut of pears or plums can be turned into crumbles (for example Pear and Almond crumble), or if they are a suitable variety, bottled for use throughout the winter. Plums are also good stewed. Alternatively, boil up and then puree for use as baby food.
Healthy diets, the 1910 way.
As you have probably read on other pages of this blog, my starting point for investigations into housekeeping practices and their effect on family wellbeing started with a series of home management books produced for schools in 1910, written by Wilena Hitching (previously a headmistress and school inspector). These books were designed to give a thorough, almost scientific introduction to the study of housekeeping to girls between the ages of about 11-14, with a view to preparing them for lives as wives and mothers. While some of the advice she gave sounds dated today, most of it has surprisingly significant relevance for men and women a hundred years later, particularly in times of financial constraint. My focus today will be what Miss Hitching considered to be a healthy diet for families, viewed through a 21st century lens.
Breakfast options (served at 8am)
Porridge
Bread crusts soaked in warm milk
Brown bread and butter and an egg
Bacon
Smoked Finnan haddock
Hot milk for children
Cocoa for adults
Most of these are high in fibre and protein, with very little sugar evident and comparatively little fat (with the exception of the bacon). This is clearly an idealised diet – Miss Hitching does permit the drinking of tea and coffee, but regards it as somewhat stimulating and less preferable than cocoa.
Luncheon (which took place mid-morning, around 10.30 am, and was really for children)
Hot milk and a biscuit
Brown bread and butter and a banana
Dinner options (which took place in the middle of the day, around 1pm). A good housekeeper would prepare a two or three course meal, depending on the weather and the type of work family members were engaging in.
Pea soup
Lentil soup
Haricot soup
Roast meats, leftovers minced or served in shepherd’s pie (for example)
Chops or steaks
Offal
Poached fish
Vegetables
Potatoes
Savoury Yorkshire pudding (served alongside roast meats or before the meal with gravy as a kind of appetiser)
Savoury or sweet suet puddings, such as steak and kidney pudding or jam roly poly (but not both in the same meal!)
Macaroni or rice pudding
Stewed fruit and custard
These are high protein meals, comparatively high in saturated fat, but the amount of sugar used in the desserts is comparatively low – a teaspoon of sugar here, a little bit of jam there. There is ample use of fruit, vegetables and pulses, simply prepared, meaning the meals are comparatively high in fibre as well.
Tea (served mid-afternoon, around 4pm; again, mainly aimed at children)
Bread and butter
Watercress, lettuce or radishes
Stewed fruit (apples, rhubarb, prunes, etc)
Once again, this is a high fibre meal with more fruit and vegetables, designed to maximise satiety (feeling of fullness). Watercress is packed full of vitamins, iron and other minerals, representing a kind of Edwardian superfood.
Supper (served before bed, around 7pm) – one or more of the following might be served.
Bread and butter or bread and dripping
Hot milk
Porridge
Boiled onions
Cream crackers, butter and cheese
Simple fare, and perhaps less extensive that in modern times for the time of day. This is presumably because the bulk of the calories needed was taken in during breakfast and lunch, and the family had had the opportunity to gather together for a hot meal during the middle of the day as well. The need to give the stomach a rest from meat overnight is emphasised in Miss Hitching’s book.
I look at all this food, and wonder whether personally I could plough my way through all of this every day, even taking out the ‘luncheon’ and ‘tea’ on the basis of not being a growing child. It is also intriguing to wonder what might happen to the body, were we to start eating like this regularly. Given that the calorific intake is probably higher than we are used to today, would we end up fatter? Or would the simple nature of the food allow our bodies to process the fats and sugars more effectively than we tend to now, leading to fewer metabolic problems such as diabetes and obesity. I think I have an inkling as to the answer, when I think about rationing that was to come thirty years later during World War II, which involved a diet not too far removed from what we are seeing in this 1910 list, albeit with less meat. This led to an improvement in the nation’s health, so perhaps the answers to the obesity epidemic lie in what our grandmothers already knew about choosing food for the family?
How to reduce your food bill even more.
Everyone knows that you can get end of the day bargains when shopping, but that takes luck, a fair bit of effort, and being in the right place at the right time. Here is a list of some of the cheapest healthy foods routinely available at supermarkets now, along with some meal suggestions that will ensure your family remains healthy but on the lowest possible budget, if you choose own brand value/essential versions of each product.
Fruit and Veg
Tinned kidney beans – Try using these to bulk out mince in cottage pie, or in a chilli con carne. They also can be used in vegetable soups and in Cowboy Bean Bake (fry onion and chopped bacon, add a tin of chopped tomatoes and a tin of kidney beans, and let it simmer for 20 minutes).
Tinned tomatoes – The basis of many stews and sauces, they can also be cooked with onions and fresh basil from a window box to make a tomato soup. Serve whole plum tomatoes with mushrooms to bulk out a fried breakfast in a healthy way.
Baked beans – These usually appear on toast but also make a good addition to shepherd’s pie, cottage pie and Cowboy Bean Bake.
Potatoes – The most versatile food available, but leave the skins on when you can to ensure maximum vitamins.
Onions – Different kinds do different jobs, but try making onion soup with the cheapest ones, or red onion tart for a simple lunch.
Turnips – Can taste bitter, but good served with chicken and carrots in a stew. Also try mashing them and serving with mashed potato for the Scottish dish Neeps and Tatties.
Parsnips – These are lovely roasted and cheap fresh or frozen. You can also use them to make a terrific soup with apples and Bramley apples. Top with bacon bits and/or croutons for the ultimate in comfort food.
Swedes – Quite a sweet vegetable, they work well in stews but can also be roasted.
Butternut squash – Comparatively cheap for the amount you get. Like the other root vegetables, it makes a good soup, especially with a pinch of chilli powder in the mix, or it can be roasted.
Carrots – Remember they make a good soup with lentils, and they can also be used in fruit crumbles and cakes as they are so sweet.
Round lettuce – Just the thing for a Sunday evening high tea.
Apples – You may still have these stashed away if you have an apple tree in your garden. Try serving the puree alongside mashed potatoes and pork chops for the German dish ‘Himmel und Erde’ (Heaven and Earth).
Pears – Grated with mixed spice and a few cloves, these transform natural yoghurt. They are also good boiled with lemon juice, sugar and a little water.
Frozen berries – A vastly underrated resource, these can liven up a meal table no end in pies and crumbles.
Protein
Tinned tuna – You can add this to pasta sauce, put onto home made pizza or made into fish cakes with a few herbs, creamy mashed potato, and some lemon.
Quorn – Cheaper than mince, replaces most meat things.
Sausagemeat – Try making a family-sized sausage roll, a meatloaf, meatballs, or stuffing your Sunday chicken with it. Goes well with mushrooms and onions if you want to bulk it out.
Mince – Another super versatile food. This can make pasta sauces, meatloaf, meatballs, cottage pie. Bulk out with pulses.
Corned beef – The joys of corned beef hash in cold weather cannot be underestimated.
Liver and onions – If you are careful to avoid overcooking it, then it can actually taste pleasant.
Pork chops – These sometimes come in huge family packs and grilled with a bit of dried sage can be a lovely treat.
Cheap chicken – This is seen as evil, but for families really struggling, this is the perfect Sunday lunch, and you will probably have enough for a chicken soup or risotto afterwards if you buy the largest one you can find. Make stock from the bones, by boiling it up with a couple of carrots, an onion and a bit of celery, as well as a couple of bay leaves.
Crab sticks – Great to add to pasta or to chop up with mashed eggs for unusual sandwiches.
Frozen prawns – Cheaper than they reasonably should be at the moment. Defrost well before use. Mix with seafood sauce to top baked potatoes (to make cheapo seafood sauce, mix together mayonnaise or salad cream with a bit of ketchup), add to pasta sauce, or mix with defrosted frozen white fish fillets and white sauce to make the base for a fish pie. Prawn curry is another staple that austerity minded cooks ought to be aquainted with.
Baked Goods
Soda bread – This can be made at home from normal plain flour, which is cheaper than the strong flour normally used for bread that has to rise. It is a lot quicker to make as well. Alternatively you can make a kind of savoury scone in a frying pan that works well with soup, a staple of US pioneer cookery.
Sponge cake – Make one of these a week and nobody will be too miserable.
Frozen cookie dough – Make batches of this and freeze as long caterpillars with enough to make about a dozen cookies at a time. remove, slice and bake when the going gets tough.
Flapjacks – Cheap to make from value oats.
Fats and Dairy
Full fat milk – More vitamins and suitable fats for young children.
Natural yoghurt – Very cheap, and great with fruit or honey as a breakfast or dessert. Try it in milkshakes as well.
Cheddar – Price of this is going up, but you can use it for so many things that it makes sense to regard it as a staple. It freezes well, so you can buy big blocks to save money as well, dividing them up as necessary for the freezer.
Freebies (ask the butcher)
Marrow bones – Add to stew for extra nourishment
Ham bones – Make a stock with this, which is a great base for pea and ham soup, anything to do with lentils, or anything to do with pork and bacon.
Enjoying the seasons
This is a simplified list of common foods that tend to be cheaper when in season. This is also a good time to look for them at Farmers’ Markets and similar. In reality the seasons will have areas of overlap, and availability may not be as precise as this, but it is meant to act just as a rough guide.
Image: federico stevanin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
| SPRING | SUMMER | AUTUMN | WINTER | |
| MEAT AND POULTRY | Guinea fowl | Duck, game | Duck, goose | |
| FISH | SardineTrout
Mussels Crab |
Herring
Mullet Sardine Trout Crab |
White fish
Herring Mackerel Mullet Mussels |
White fish
Herring Mackerel Mussels Crab |
| VEGETABLES | Sprouts
Celeriac Kale Parsnip Swede Watercress |
Asparagus
Broad beans Peas Tomatoes Lettuce |
Corn
Marrow Peas Pumpkin watercress |
Sprouts
Celeriac Corn Kale Parsnip Pumpkin Swede Watercress |
| FRUIT | Rhubarb | Apricots
Cherries Berries Currants Water melon Peaches Nectarines |
Crab apples
Pears Plums Quinces Cob nuts |
Clemetines
Satsumas Dates Figs Pomegranates Chestnuts |
What’s in season this autumn?
Try looking for these seasonal foods if you want housekeeping bargains this month.
Meat and Poultry – Duck, game
Fish – White fish, herring, mackerel, mussels, mullet
Vegetables – Corn, marrow, peas, pumpkin, watercress
Fruit – Crab apples, apples, pears, plums, quinces, cobnuts
Austerity Housekeeping 