Look Out Time.
September is now with us and summer's almost over, the days are getting shorter and the dark nights are drawing in. When the leaves on the trees start to turn and the Martins and Swallows start to gather on the phone lines, it's a sure sign that Autumn and Winter are on their way.
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| Swallows gather themselves ready to migrate. |
This years young Swallows and House Martins are high on the wing, strengthening their muscles ready for their long migration south over Europe to Africa where they will spend the winter months until their return next spring. As our summer visitors leave us, look out for the first of our winter visitors like the Fieldfare, Redwings, Waxwings and Robins. Yes I did say Robins, while we do see them all year round most of our Robins are migrants. There are of course many other birds that spend the winter here, especially Wildfowl; Ducks, Geese and Swans come here in their thousands and what is the common factor? Food and the weather.
Man is a Hunter Gatherer and just as the birds and animals of our countryside ready themselves for the cold months of winter, in times gone by so did we. Now is the time to go and look for all those free foods that can be found in our fields and hedgerows, time to start making Jams and other preserves that will help us through those winter months. Crab Apples, Blackberries from our hedgerows, Strawberries, Red and Black Currents, Raspberries, Gooseberries from our gardens and Apples, Pears, Plums and Damsons from our trees. I remember both my Great Grandma, my Gran and also my Mother all busy making jams and preserves to be stored and used over winter. Apart from what we could make from all of these fruits and berries many families in the past would have a couple of pigs and a few chickens in the garden, that they fattened up for winter, maybe a Goose or Turkey for Christmas as well. My Grandad who lived here in the town always kept a few chickens and pigs at the bottom of the garden. In the row of houses where he lived there was a block of Pig Sty's and a large boiler at the end of the block for the making of pig swill. Many the time I have as a child watched him make his brew of swill for his pigs and occasionally helped him with the process. Things have changed a lot since then and you can go to the corner shop and pick up a pot of jam or a can of fruit etc. and with our fridges and freezers you may say why bother. I say try making your own preserves they taste much better and there is the pleasure that comes from making them and teaching your children as well.
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| Cob Nuts. |
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| Hazel Nuts. |
Nutting, no not banging your heads together I mean gathering nuts for the winter and Christmas. There are plenty of nuts waiting to be gathered from our woods and hedgerow. I would go out collecting a selection of nuts for eating. My favourite is the Hazel nut and Cob nut but I would also collect the nuts from the Sweet Chestnut for roasting in the open fire or in the oven of the Rayburn. They taste lovely on a cold winters night taken with a sip of Sloe Gin or perhaps with a glass or two of homemade wine. I love Elderberry. Now I might be wrong in saying that the Cob nut and the Hazel nut are different but I have always been led to believe that they are both from the same family but are two separate varieties, the cob nut being bigger and only found growing in the South of the country. Philbert's is another name for the Hazel nut and it is believed that they were given this name because of Saint Filbert who died in 684 whose feast day in late August coincides with the ripening of the fruit. Another nut that is nice to eat and can be used in cake making is the Walnut, I am lucky that I do have access to a couple of trees but I am sure that you could find a tree some where local where you may be able to gather a few.
So I hope I have given you some ideas and plenty to do, many recipes can be found on the Internet and in many good cookery books. One last word of warning, some people are allergic to nuts so always ask them before offering them to friends and family otherwise enjoy.
Now getting back to the birds, I do digress. With winter drawing nearer with all those birds looking for food, perhaps some of the nuts, fruits and berries you collected can just be put to one side to help feed those birds as the weather becomes much colder. Try putting a few berries in bags to freeze as they are then thaw them overnight to put out for the birds visiting your garden, it's surprising what turns up to feed at your bird table if you can offer a selection of fruits and seeds.
I do like to put pictures on my blog to go with what I am writing about but unfortunately on this occasion where I make reference to the pig sty's at the bottom of my grandparents house, on visiting their old home, although the buildings are still there, very little remains of what was once an unusual building to find behind a row of terraced houses in the middle of the town.
