Tuesday 27 October 2015

Culture In The Country.

As the hours of daylight shorten there is an incentive to become a little more sociable.  That is not difficult within the area.  The Bookcase,
in Lowdham, launches a programme of events in November which includes, this year, a talk on beekeeping and all its aspects, an increasingly popular subject.  There will also be the opportunity to meet Rachel Joyce, author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, who will be celebrating the publication of her latest book, The Snow Garden.  Those who enjoyed War Horse will be able, once again, to spend an evening in Southwell Minster with master-storyteller and bestselling author, Michael Morpurgo.

Shorter days also affect the outdoor routine.  My small flock of free-range hens goes to roost earlier so they are spending more hours shut in. This in turn means that the henhouse must be cleaned at shorter intervals.  The alternative is to get up earlier to let them out at
daylight -  not really a very attractive idea!  I am sometimes asked if egg production drops in the winter, but the answer is that hybrid birds tend to lay all year round, though in slightly reduced numbers.  It is the pure-bred, so-called rare breed birds, that lay very few eggs or stop laying until the spring.

The trees are beginning to lose their leaves;  the colours have been really vivid this autumn. A good strong wind is needed to blow them into heaps which will mean less work when it comes to raking them up and moving them.  If you can store them they make wonderful leaf mould to subsequently return to the garden.  A word of warning - hedgehogs normally go into hibernation in October, though with the mild temperatures we have experienced lately it is possible that they are still around.  Nevertheless be aware that a pile of leaves may be hiding one of these increasingly rare little creatures and any disturbance reduces their ability to survive the winter.  Equally, if you are lighting an autumn bonfire check first that it has not been chosen as the winter home for local wildlife.

Thankfully our fields are all drilled up for the winter.  It is always a worrying decision to make; shall we drill or shall we hold back a little longer?  Too early and the crop risks being too advanced and at risk of disease or weather damage; too late and our heavy land may become too wet to support the passage of machinery.  Well, now it is done and, believe it or not, we could do with some rain to get things going.  No wonder people say that farmers are never satisfied.


       
           

Thursday 15 October 2015

Goings On in Autumn

With the cereal harvest well and truly behind us the village has celebrated in customary fashion.  Harvest supper, always a popular event, took place in the village hall. Villagers enjoy an excellent meal of boiled ham, vegetable bake and potatoes served with a very special plum sauce; vegetarians are catered for then it is head for the desert table where the choice is spectacular and limited only by the amount one can get on the plate.  A very enjoyable social evening.  This was followed on Sunday by the Harvest Festival Service in the beautifully decorated  Holy Cross Church.
  It has always been customary to take offerings of food to this Service for subsequent distribution to the less well-off and whilst fresh fruit and vegetables make an attractive display it is now deemed more practical to take items which can be stored and taken to the local food bank which the church supports.

Since writing about field mushrooms i have been on the lookout for blewits, a species of edible fungi much sought-after and, I believe, most frequently found in the Midlands.  Certainly they are to be found for sale on local market stalls.  However, they should be treated with caution when eaten for the first time as they can cause an allergic reaction in some people.

We are fortunate in having a bookshop in the neighbouring village whose proprietor puts on many events during the year. The Autumn/Winter programme has just appeared; it contains talks which will appeal to a wide range of interests. The talk on beekeeping is sure to be popular and that entertaining duo "Cook and Book" is back.

While there is no shortage of things to do and see in Nottinghamshire it is sometimes worth looking a little further, which is why Sunday found me visiting the village of Eyam, in Derbyshire.  Incidentally,the pronunciation of the name is open to debate, being pronounced "Eem", one syllable rather than Ee-am, two syllables - rather like our local town, is it "Suthell"or "South-well?  Be that as it may, it is best known as "the plague village" the story of which is well-documented and presented in the museum in the village with an excellent video, pictures and showcases. The museum has also mounted a new exhibition, running until 2018, entitled Eyam 1914-1918, and this too makes fascinating viewing.

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Saturday 3 October 2015

The Mystery of the Mushroom.

Autumn can be such a joy.  This year is an example.  Days of sunshine with mild temperatures and no wind make outdoor work a pleasure.  We might be tempted to take it for granted were it not for the visitors who frequently comment on the peaceful situation, the space around us, the pace of life.  Of course, it is not quite the same when it is also our workplace!  Nevertheless, we are indeed extremely fortunate to live here, to be able to appreciate all the benefits of our surroundings and to share it all with our guests.

Talking of benefits, the mushroom season has arrived.  They are very unpredictable, popping up where mushrooms have never been seen in years and failing to appear where they can normally be counted on to provide a supply.  It is essential to be able to identify edible species as there are many inedible and even poisonous ones.  Of the 3,500 different species in Britain 7 or 8 are deadly, 25 or 30 are poisonous, of the remainder about 30 are good to eat.  With this in mind it is possible to join a fungi identification walk of which several take place at this time of year.  There are many ways which, added together, enable identification of the fungi.   Having said that I still err on the side of caution and only cut field and horse mushrooms.

The weather was kind for the Southwell Ploughing Match which took place last weekend.  It is one of the social highlights of the farming year and this year was no exception.  The site was excellent, attendance was good and the access and parking was well managed.  There are competitive classes for livestock, produce, crafts and much more; it is an excellent showcase for local and regional businesses.

Birds which have been absent from the garden feeder for several weeks have returned and appear to be stocking up for winter.  A little flock of Long-tailed Tits has paid several visits and the goldfinches are regulars now.  Further away something prompted me to look up and I spotted  four buzzards circling and planing high above the farm; a majestic sight.  How can they see a potential dinner from such a great distance?