Seasonal Foods

A big thank you to AA (he or she's identity kept strictly confidential) for submitting his or hers very own seasonal recipe.

Potato and Curly Kale Soup
Chop an onion and 5 cloves of garlic and fry gently until soft
Pour in 750-1000ml of beef stock (can use chicken or veg)
Add a sheet of Kombu (Optional)
Peel and cube 4-5 large potatoes, add to stock (I like Vavaldi at the mo)
Simmer for 30 minutes
Chop stalks off 500g of Kale
Remove Kombu sheet
Add Kale
Add a small amount of soya milk - This is the trick
Simmer for 15 minutes
Blend - Add more soya milk or water if overly thick
Add salt and pepper to taste
Will freeze well - You can blend the soup before adding the Kale for an all together different experience.

Seasonal Foods - March

Apologies my followers of seasonal foods, I've been somewhat remiss with my writing this month. I have just moved home you know! So I've received no feedback about how you're all doing with trying to source just seasonal foods, let's assume that means you're all doing well :~) Anywho, here's this months delicious seasonal foods.

March Vegetables
Beetroot, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, chicory, cucmber, jersey royal new potatoes, kale, leeks, onions, parsnips, potatoes, purple sprouting broccoli, rhubarb, rocket, salsify, shallots, spinach, spring onions, swede, wild nettles.

March Seafood
Cockles, conger eel, crab, dab, dover sole, eel, hake, john dory, lobster, mackerel, mussels, oysters, prawns, salmon, sea trout, shrimp, skate, whitebait, winkles.

March Herbs, Flowers, Funghis & Nuts
Chives, coriander, dill, mushrooms, parsley (curly), sorrel.

At the moment I'm eating more smoked mackerel then you can shake a stick at in replacement for my huge appetite for Tuna. Mackerel is also certified as a sustainable stock by the Marine Stewardship Council (http://www.msc.org/cook-eat-enjoy/fish-to-eat/mackerel), so go ahead and eat plenty.

Design for Catastrophe

1. What environmental catastrophes have occurred in your region historically?
As is the pattern for our chosen site and our current region, there aren’t many catastrophes that have struck this area historically. This probably explains why the area is hugely popular, potentially too populous to support itself. We have nominally identified Flooding, Tsunami, Coastal Erosion, Tornadoes and Snow as having caused the most problem historically.

As with many coastal towns in England there is always potential for flooding and coastal erosion. There has been particularly bad flooding in Lewes District (the district bordering Brighton & Hove) in the past 10 years:

“The flooding that occurred across much of England and Wales in the autumn and early winter of 2000 was the most extensive since the snowmelt-generated floods of March 1947. Two areas were particularly hard hit. In mid-October, large areas of Kent and Sussex were left underwater as rivers such as the Ouse at Lewes (East Sussex), the Uck at Uckfield (East Sussex) and the Medway at Tonbridge (Kent) burst their banks. Hundreds of homes and businesses were flooded to a depth of several feet, floodwater and landslips closed roads and rail travellers faced widespread delays and cancellations.”
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/interesting/autumn2000.html

In as much as these catastrophes do not directly impact on our site, they are close enough to be considered indirect threats as roads are blocked and utility services affected. Flooding can also affect the coast lines too. Without adequate sea defences much of the Sussex coastline would not be as “stable” as it currently is:

“Global warming and rises in sea level are in the news practically every day and in Sussex, particularly at Selsey, there are great worries that eventually the sea may wash away the town. This is nothing new. Thousands of acres of Sussex have been gobbled up by the sea over the last 10,000 years.”
http://www.westsussex.info/coastal-erosion.shtml

Tsunamis, although very rare, have to be considered as a potential catastrophe for any coastal settlement:

“Dr Steven Ward, a geophysicist as the University of California, Santa Cruz, has modelled a tsunami generated by a comet impact offshore western Ireland as envisaged by Haslett and Bryant. The results indicate that flooding described in the historic records from Cornwall, Cumbria, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, North Wales and Holland can all be explained by a tsunami generated by such an impact event.” (My emphasis)
http://www3.newport.ac.uk/displayPage.aspx?object_id=8242&type=SEC

Tornadoes are most commonly associated with the American Midwest, home to Jessica, but surprisingly, the UK in general and the Sussex coastline more specifically is not free of them:

“On average, 33 tornados are reported each year in the UK although the number can vary significantly from year to year. The UK has the highest frequency of reported tornadoes per unit area in the world, although they are nowhere near as intense as those reported in the USA. An example of a tornado that affected southern England is the one that struck Kensal Rise in west London on 7 December 2006. Up to 150 homes were damaged and 6 people were injured in violent winds that lasted less than 1 minute. This was the first tornado to cause significant damage in London since one at Gunnersbury, west London, in December 1954. A further example is the tornado that struck Selsey (West Sussex) on 7 January 1998 causing an estimated £10M of damage to 1000 buildings. This part of the south coast seems somewhat prone to tornadoes, and Selsey also suffered damage in November 1986 and October 2000.”
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/so/print.html

Our final catastrophic occurrence we identified, purely due to the lack of preparedness that the local community displays, is snowfall. According to the Met Office, the least snow-prone areas in the UK are those situated close to the English Channel. Which is great when considering catastrophe preparedness, but historically we can still be “caught napping”:

“More snow hit Mid Sussex tonight only a few days after its heaviest snowfalls for 22 years disrupted services.”
http://www.westsussextoday.co.uk/mid-sussex-news/Snow-returns-after-worst-Mid.4956616.jp

“January and February are the snowiest months in the UK, whilst snow is more likely in March and April than November and October respectively. And really this is where talk of snow might be expected to end. However, having already most likely teased us with some pleasant summer-like weather earlier in the spring May is prone to throwing in a touch of winter, perhaps more often than might be thought...”
http://www.dandantheweatherman.com/Bereklauw/latesnow.html

2. What is the prediction for future catastrophes? Is your home site in an at-risk area?
The Environment Agency produces a detailed map that shows clearly the areas it believes based on historical data can and probably will suffer flooding in the future:

http://maps.environment-agency.gov.uk/wiyby/wiybyController?topic=floodmap&layerGroups=default&lang=_e&ep=map&scale=3&x=557847&y=117982

If we consider flooding/coastal erosion as one potential catastrophe for the area, then our site is pretty well protected from this. The site is located approximately one to two miles inland from the coast and at approximately 75 – 100 metre elevation too thus taking it well out of the range of most of the potential flood water range. The recent record snowfall that we had in Sussex didn’t pose too many problems either to the site, with the exception of a slightly more tricky access road.

3. What can you do/have you done to minimise the risks for loss of life and property?
For the most part we are pretty lucky to be in an area with little threat of a major catastrophic event. This could be viewed as prudent pre-planning to identify a suitable site free of risk from these types of unpredictable events. Every element of our design process is building up the armoury of our site. Our planning, then execution of those plans is ensuring the longevity of our home site. By examining each element and how it fits with corresponding elements, we are already building in fail safes and disaster mitigation strategies as we go.

We are slowly building a robust and well-thought-out site, leaving nothing to chance; amending as and when necessary to ensure we aren’t just utilising the site for our own purpose but also strengthening and protecting it as we go to satisfy our ethic of “Care of Earth”. All these design steps should lead to a well-protected site from unforeseen future catastrophes!

Care of Earth

Embarrasing as it may be to admit this, I am more singularly focused on this permaculture principle more then any other. It should not consume me like it does, I should spread myself thinner making sure i am doing all I can about Care of People and ensuring a Fair Share too.

Problem is, fewer and fewer of us are caring for our Earth as evidenced by this recent article by George Monbiot.

"The names alone should cause anyone whose heart still beats to stop and look again. Blotched woodwax. Pashford pot beetle. Scarce black arches. Mallow skipper. Marsh dagger. Each is a locket in which hundreds of years of history and thousands of years of evolution have been packed. Here nature and culture intersect. All are species that have recently become extinct in England."

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2010/03/15/the-naming-of-things

The key point made in this article I would like to emphasise... if we, the pampered twenty percent, who, in large numbers, support environmental causes cannot prevent the extinction of 2 species per year in the UK alone, then what hope do we have for a bountiful, rich and diverse future?

Allotment Photos

This picture is looking from the bottom of the allotment or eastern side of it facing west up the slope. If you look real close you can see the small hazel shrubs planted by Andy's fair hand. We hope this will develop into a large habitable bush for all our garden visitors. The rest of the picture shows about half the entire plot covered in card and/or horse pooh, to increase the amount of humus. At the back (top of the picture) the entire bush is one huge Rosemary.


This one is in the bottom (northeast corner) looking Southwest. You again can see the hazels that have been planted along the boundary, the deck that was constructed in order to house our viewing platform and shed is on the top right and if you look carefully the bamboo poles marking out what will be a spiral planting area.


This is the north side looking south. You can just about see the two swales on the east and west side of the cardboard covered area to encourage water to seep down to the water table instead of just running off. The dew pond is clear to see on the right-hand side as well as the spiral planting section (at least the canes marking it). The pile of twigs and other detritus you see in the middle of the card has been left as is as we spotted lots of lizardy, snakey and froggy creatures using it as a habitat.


This view is on top of the decking area soon to have a shed and decking boards down, looking south east towards the sea. This is going to be fabulous come summer with a fair amount of sunshine all day.


This photo is again from the deck area facing due south. This area will soon be covered with card and this spring we plan on planting a typical North American guild of corn, beans and squash (perhaps corgette cos we like it)


This is a close up of what will be a spiral guild of possibly peppers, aliums, tomatoes and carrots. As you can tell from some of these descriptions, we will be experimenting with a number of companion planting schemes or Guilds to see which plant groupings work best together.

My Ethos

On a beautiful sunny March day I thought about what my reason for doing all this was. I could wax lyrical about the future of life, sustainability, climate catastrophe or what it means to be human in the 21st century; but for once i will plaguarise and with good reason.

I couldn't put it better then the venerable Bertrand Russell who died 40 years ago last month:

What I Have Lived For

"Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair. I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy—ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness—that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what—at last—I have found.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.

Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.

This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me."

Beautiful, wasn't he?

Soils

1. Investigate and report on the soil in your region. Visit the local library (ask to see a reference book if necessary) or contact and agricultural office. As a last resort you might even call a fertiliser company. If you can, ask other gardeners about the local soil conditions. Compare this information to what you can observe yourself. Does your own soil match the description? Is the local soil fertile? What are the negative factors affecting your regional soils? How will you compensate or work with these factors on your own plot?

We carried out research into the type of soils that our project site is part of. We collected information firstly from the British Geological Survey which categorised much of the Sussex coastline around Brighton & Hove to be London Clay up to 10 metres in depth with upper & middle chalk under that up to 325 metres in depth. “Head is the most widespread drift deposit of the district and varies considerably in lithology. It is a brown silty loam with variable content of flint & sandstone fragments.” (Brighton & Worthing – Solid & Drift Geology, England and Wales series sheet 318/333

Secondly we looked at the agricultural use of the area, which was classified as being predominantly in urban use (for obvious reasons as the project site is based in Brighton & Hove City boundary). But the areas within the city boundaries available to agricultural use are considered Grade 3. (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food – 1972)

Finally we looked at a very detailed map of the types of soil in our project area which were categorised as such:
Soil Group Parent Material
Rendzinas Chalk
Brown Earths Flinty Silty Head
Brown Calcerous Silty Chalky Head
(Soil Maps of Sussex Coastal Plan 631.4942)

If we compare our actual site to these provided, we can see that ours is very much a lime-rich soil over chalk, which fortunately provides reasonably fertile humus for us to use. The soil matches quite closely what these descriptions offer. It is a freely draining soil which we have talked about previously in the project and can mitigate against by providing solutions to prevent runoff. We should encounter few obstacles though to producing year round produce on our project site.
(We also found useful in researching this subject: www.landis.org.uk/soilscapes)

2. Carry out the soil test for particles (silt, sand and clay) outlined in this section. Be sure to use a smooth-sided glass jar with a wide mouth. Do three samples for accuracy. Send in a drawing of your findings. Buy or borrow a test kit for pH and use it on each sample.
All three samples returned a pH of 7.

Chemical characteristics of soil
The pH indicates the acidity or alkalinity (basic) of the soil. Different plants have differing optimum soil pH requirements. The majority of plants prefer a pH of around 6 to 7, which is very slightly acid.

The soil pH is important in determining the availability of soil minerals. At pH extremes some minerals are "locked up" and cannot be used by the plants, whilst other minerals may become toxic. e.g. aluminium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese and boron become more soluble under acidic conditions and can reach toxic levels. The application of different fertilisers can affect the pH of the soil.

If a soil is too acid then it can be modified by the addition of lime. If it is too alkaline then elemental sulfur may be added which is oxidised by specific soil bacteria to form sulfuric acid. Ploughing in green manure crops and animal manures also lowers soil pH. Soil pH can have an effect on microbial activity in the soil.

VEGETABLES pH

Asparagus 6.5-7.5
Bean, french 6.5-7.0
Bean, broad 5.5-7.0
Broccoli 6.5-7.5
Brussel sprouts 5.5-7.0
Cabbage 6.5-7.5
Cauliflower 6.5-7.5
Carrot 6.0-7.5
Celery 6.5-7.5
Cucumber 5.5-7.0
Lettuce 6.5-7.5
Leek 6.5-7.5
Onion 6.5-7.5
Potato 5.5-6.5
Rhubarb 5.0-6.0
Swede 6.5-7.0
Tomato 5.5-7.0
Turnip 6.5-7.0

TREES & SHRUBS

Conifers 4.5-5.5
Deutzia 6.5-8.0
Escallonia 6.5-8.0
Forsythia 6.0-7.5
Heathers 4.5-5.5
Hydrangeas (blue) 4.5-5.5
Jasmin 6.0-7.5
Ligustrum 5.5-7.0
Magnolia 5.0-6.0
Philadelphus 6.5-8.0
Pyracantha 6.5-8.0
Prunus 6.5-8.0
Rhododendron 4.5-5.5
Willow 6.5-7.0

FRUIT

Apple 5.5-7.0
Black Currants 6.0-7.5
Cherries 5.5-6.5
Pears 5.5-7.0
Plums 6.0-7.5
Strawberries 5.0-6.0

Seasonal Foods - February

How did you all get on last month with your new found seasonal foods knowledge? Those of you local to me (Sussex) have a little help this month as i figured what better way to buy seasonal then to visit the local farmers markets, dates and times below:

Saturday 27th February, 10:00 - 15:00, Brighton & Hove Farmers market, George Street, Hove and the fourth Saturday of each month following.

Sunday 7th March, 10:00 - 15:00, Hove Farmers Market, Ralli Hall, Next to Hove Station and the first Sunday of subsequent months.

Saturday 13th March, Shoreham Farmers Market, East Street, Shoreham and the second Saturday of every other month.

There are others to be found in Burgess Hill, Haywards Heath, Worthing, Billinshurst, Petworth, Arundel, Chichester, Ford, Hassocks, Horsham, Midhurst, Slindon and Steyning, but i'm trying to encourage you to not travel too far for your locally produced fresh fruit and vegetables.

February Vegetables

Brussel Sprouts, Cauliflower, Celeriac, Jerusalem Artichoke, Kale, Leeks, Parsnips, Rhubarb, Shallots, Swede

February Seafood

Brill, Clams, Cockles, Haddock, Halibut, Hake, Lemon Sole, Mussels, Oysters, Salmon, Skate, Turbet, Winkles.

Opportunities are aplenty, so go out and buy fresh and seasonal. Yummy!

Classical Landscape Patterns

1. Consider the region your chosen design site is located in. Does the region match any of the landscape types discussed in this section? Is your site representative of this region? Is its climate temperate (cold), tropical (hot) or desert (dry)?

Our chosen design site is typical of the Humid Landscape. The South Downs are all gentle sloping hills that start 50 miles to the west near Portsmouth and continue about another 30 miles east to Eastbourne. The climate is temperate pretty much for the entire United Kingdom not just our chosen design site, with an additional splash of coastal-type climate thrown in. The actual physical design site location is well protected from the typical coastal hazards of sand, salt and the prevailing winds as it lies on a slope facing eastwards thus being afforded protection.

2. Provide an analysis of characteristic features and design implications for your design site’s region. This should include information and design considerations for rainfall patterns (water collection, storage and distribution), hazards (wind, tsunamis, earthquake, landslides, fire) and seasonal temperatures (length of growing season, crop potential, insulation requirements).

To the bane of most English-people, we do not suffer from a lack of precipitation. It’s a rare month that we do not have a measurable amount of rainfall. The primary consideration for our design site is how to store rainfall from the wetter winters in order to supplement the drier summers. A couple of above-ground water collection devices (such as water butts) should suffice for the area of land we are designing for, supplemented by our pond which will provide water to resident mammals, birds, reptiles and insects.

We have also designed swales into our overall design in order to encourage the (heavy) rainfall to not simply runoff but to seep down through the soil layers, thus benefitting all our plants throughout the site. At this stage, we aren’t sure whether the site would benefit or in fact actually need any kind of irrigation system, we will continue to observe as the seasons change. Collection and storage for the entire site will be to the west which is on the upper part of the slope, allowing for easier transport of water down the slope.

The region doesn’t face much in the way of hazards. Some coastal erosion can take place, but this is currently mitigated by coastal defences. Our site is far enough inshore to not face this hazard and at a high enough level to avoid any potential future flooding. Our main concern on such a sloped site is soil erosion. We already plan to mitigate this by planting plenty of root stock as mentioned before to bind what remaining soil we have on our site.

“South East England combines the highest average daytime temperatures found in the British Isles with the highest sunshine averages on the British mainland. There are between 25 and 30 inches (630 and 760 mm) of rainfall; and there can be high variation of temperature between day and night. The climate of the coastal districts is strongly influenced by the sea, which, because of its tendency to warm up slower than land, can result in cooler temperatures than inland in the summer. In the autumn months, the coast sometimes has higher temperatures. Rainfall during the summer months is mainly from thunderstorms and thundery showers; from January to March the heavier rainfall is due to prevailing south-westerly frontal systems. The coast has consistently more sunshine than the inland areas: sea breezes, blowing off the sea, tend to clear any cloud from the coast.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sussex)

Our main aim is to better understand the seasonal growing cycles of all crops on our site because if we plan this into our design scheme the region offers us a 12-month growing season. We should be able to keep the site in productive use January to December regardless of the weather.

The coastal climate is hugely favourable meaning that we are only limited to our soil type and intensity of sun at this latitude in the potential for crops that we can sow, grow and eat. As long as we are sensible and we research our choices thoroughly, we should have a site full of a large variety of crops.

With the exception of the current winter which has been “the coldest in over 30 years” (according to the Met Office), we rarely get harsh winters. Our winters are on average wet and mild with additional wet. We should be aware of some of the less hardy perennials that we choose and protect them as a matter of course with mulching or simply position them close to protective cousins like trees or hedgerows. The appropriate protection strategy will be zone dependent, zones 0 and 1 being where most foodstuffs will be cultivated thus being the focus of much of our protective thinking. Although mentioned above, the amount of rainfall offers benefits from a growing perspective; it of course can cause us headaches when trying to prevent rotting of any surplus we may produce. We ironically will need to find a way to remove moisture, when all other attempts in our design seem to work in the opposite direction, to protect crops. Proper dry storage will be essential. (http://www.vegetableexpert.co.uk/how-dry-store-vegetables-grown.html)

The Home Project

I feel it's my responsibility to draw your attention to this movie. Remove the voice over and it makes for a simply beautiful documentary of images from the air. Listen to the voice over and it makes a compelling case for action. It is beautiful, heart-breaking, uplifting and pretrifying all at the same time, but i implore you, please take the time to watch it and think about what is being said. Think about your contribution to the issues. Think about your life, the lives of your friends and the future lives of those that will come after us.

Whether you are touched or not, how can you fail to be, please pass this on.

"We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth's climate.

The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being.

For this purpose HOME needs to be free. A patron, the PPR Group, made this possible. Europacorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because HOME is a non-profit film.

HOME has been made for you: share it! And act for the planet.

Yann Arthus-Bertrand"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU&feature=channel