Deborama's Kitchen Garden

Why bother? and the cheap-energy mentality

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:35:53 +0000

You really ought to read this fantastic comment piece from the NYT Magazine Why Bother? by Michael Pollan (author of "In Defense of Food - An Eater's Manifesto".) Not only does he frame the question of how to address the hopelessness of affecting the environment in a positive way in a manner that offers at least a glimmer of hope, but he quotes and thus reminds us of the philosophy of the peerless Wendell Berry. And his conclusion is that if you can only do one thing, the one thing worth doing is what all of y'all are doing: grow your own food. Who'd 'a' thunk it?

51 great gardening sites from TimesOnline

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:36:31 +0000

The Times had an article recently about gardening websites. Here are 51 of the best, according to the gardening experts.

Organic box scheme

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 16:59:36 +0000

I'm back after some computer problems curtailed my blog for a while. Well, there's really not much kitchen gardening going on "around ours". This is not the way I want it to be, but I am working full time at a job 45 miles away, and my husband is having health problems and doing very well just to keep the lawn mowed. (And don't hate me for not doing the lawn; I am allergic to cut grass and really can't do it. Anyway, I am politically opposed to lawns but that's another subject.)
So, I got really angry at the organic food available in our local supermarket. They do have organic produce but a lot of it is either from another country or over-packaged or both. So we have joined an organic box scheme. We have had three boxes in the past three weeks, and it is great. Lots of local (well, at least British) seasonal veg, minimal packaging, excellent value. I recommend it either to replace or supplement your own growings.

Saving seeds, saving the planet

Wed, 21 Jun 2006 19:08:39 +0000

The British daily newspaper, The Independent, today carried a two-page spread about seed saving. This is something I have been quite interested in since first visiting Ryton Organic Gardens near my home, which is also the HQ of the Heritage Seed Library. The Independent article is wonderful, packed with new information - I had no idea there were so many seed repositories around the world.
There are a variety of approaches to this seed saving thing. For a keen gardener, it can just be a way to return to the good crop of last year and save a little money. To the environmental activist, it can involve searching for, cultivating and preserving vanishing varieties and ensuring bio-diversity. For farmers in a traditional agricultural setting, it is a simple matter of survival. And that was why I was so alarmed by what I found next.
I always like to jazz up my postings with lots of extra links, so I did some web searches. Now honestly, I had no intention to get political, but right there on the first page of results, was a story that made my blood boil. You won't believe what went down in the corporate takeover of Iraq, back in 2004, long before the electricity and water supply was sorted out - only a law against any seed savings, supposedly in the name of "protecting species". I could go on about this, but this blog is meant to be a rant-free zone, so I won't.
I have yet to actually do any seed saving myself, except for the self-seeding of my rocket and chard which came back for two years running. Have any of my fellow Kitchen Gardeners any good seed-saving stories?

My lovely rhubarb

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 21:16:12 +0000

I think I mentioned in my first (and last) blog post that we had had our back garden "landscaped" as part of the aesthetic upgrade in preparation of trying to sell our house. And the gardeners thought they had got rid of my rhubarb. But ha! Nature triumphs, and the rhubarb is back. It came up too late (probably for harvesting. But I am not going to let it be cut down again, or if it is, I will at least know that the crowns are still there, waiting for me to rescue them to a new home where they will be properly cherished and not treated like a weed.

Damson cheese

Sat, 17 Dec 2005 20:02:50 +0000

Almost a new year, and a new blog. For about two years, I have sporadically maintained Deborama's Kitchen but lately the postings have been farther and farther apart. Also for a little less time, I have been subscribed to and reading the Kitchen Gardener International online newsletter. So now I have the opportunity to join the Kitchen Gardener International family of bloggers. But here we are in the bleak midwinter, just before Christmas, and there is no gardening going on to speak of in my life, so what can I write about that will add to the sum total of goodness in the web world and the kitchen gardening world? And I must also give an insight into who I am, hopefully to hook a few new readers, so it should be something a little out of the ordinary. The proximity to Big Poultry Day made me think of Damson cheese, which I posted about back on Christmas 2003. Damson cheese is made, unsurprisingly from damsons, which we used to grow in our garden, in a desultory fashion, from a single tree. Sadly, the tree died last year and is gone now, sacrificed to a purely aesthetic landscaping as we prepare to sell this house.
To make damson cheese, wash your damsons and place them in a large stockpot, just barely covered with water. Cook them in slowly boiling water until they are very soft and the water is almost gone. Then sieve the pulp and remove the stones and return the pulp to the pot (but weigh it first). Add 4 ounces of sugar for each pound of fruit and continue cooking, stirring frequently so it doesn't stick, until pulp is thick enough to pull away from the edges of the pot and a spoon will stand up in it. Then pour it into moulds and let it cool. You do not have to refrigerate it if your kitchen is cool or you can store it in a basement or garage where it is cool. Traditionally, damson cheese is made in September when the damsons ripen and stored until Christams when it is eaten with the goose or game bird or turkey.