A Difficult Task

The deliberation and slow-savoured selection of 6 choices from the Heritage Seed Library catalogue has become one of our much anticipated favourite activities.

Small Business Saturday

Tracklements from Eat17.

A selection of microbrews from Wild Card Brewery.

We've been doing a bit of Christmas pressie shopping; 'tis the season to spread some little packages of awesomeness from our neck of the woods.

Nipped

"What big eyes you have..."

No, the googly-eyed scarers do not faze the squirrels or the pigeons one jot! The garlic seems to be thriving despite being pawed, pecked and perused on a near daily basis.

Bedecked

Holly, Ivy, Dogwood, Fir, Bay, Crab Apple, before last light yesterday, we nipped around the garden snip,snip.

We twisted the pliable Dogwood into circular armatures and threaded it through with Bay, Crab Apple, Fir and Holly. We used the amazing 'silly string' superpower of the Ivy to bind it all into robust wreaths.

Dirty Work

It was a good day to get my hands dirty, and about time too. I pulled the last of the carrots and prepped a section of this year's root bed for next year's legumes, and a handful of garlic.

Each clove is planted with just its papery wisp peeking out of the soil, and so begins the absurd routine of replanting the cloves every other couple of days as they are tirelessly plucked out by the same 4 pigeons, 3 squirrels and 2 foxes that frequent the garden. 2015 WILL be the year of allium SATIVUM.

♥ Roots for roasting. ♥ Reward reaped!

Jewel Jelly

We followed the RHS recipe for medlar jelly.

A bletted medlar. It is overripe but not to the point of being fermented or rotten. Uncooked, it has a unique flavour with (in our 'umble opinion) notes of dates, waxy apple skin, apricot, apricot kernels and dark caramel (browned sugar, not butterscotch). Medlars need to be bletted as they contain tannins that make them astringent which cause the same hair-raising, puckered-tongued, dry-mouth sensation experienced after biting into an under-ripe banana or persimmon... a heads-up!

The camera flash has made this fruit appear wet to the point of being mushy, it is actually a thick, pasty consistency. A bletted medlar will appear darkened and less turgid, the skin will be dry and dimpled.

To blet, arrange the fruit out on a paper-lined tray making sure they do not touch and keep in a dark, cool place for 10-14 days. Check for mould every couple of days and remove any fruit that spoil.

Baked Goods and Beeches - Liverpool Mini Adventure

We breakfasted on the Baltic Bakehouse's buttery mushrooms on Baltic Wild and a slice of sublime Crack Pie washed down with Ethiopian coffee - the timer is to let you know when to plunge the plunger.

From first bite to last,the blistered crust of the toasted sourdough shattered into smithereens snapping like a string of firecrackers whilst the slow fermented bubbles made for a satisfyingly chewy crumb. ♥ Breakfast toast is the perfect medium for ruminating.♥ Needless to say we purchased a loaf of Baltic Wild to take home ... oh, and a tub of Funky Nut Co milk chocolate peanut butter.

As luck would have it the morning batch of doughnuts arrived just as our purchase was being tallied. We turned to find out the flavour of the day(we were wishing for lemon curd)only to see that the queue had grown from four to out-the-door ...and jittery; so we bought one blind. Chocolate with a chocolate custard centre proved to be the only consolation on our cancelled-and-delayed homeward train journey.

Sefton Park Meadows not for sale! We sincerely hope it's not.

We took a nippy autumnal walk through the beeches of Sefton Park to an artisan fair at the Palm House.

This goat's cheese, sweet potato, spinach and onion pie from the Moon and Pea stall went some way to warm the cockles.

We wended our way back to Liverpool Central via Lark Lane and spent our last couple of hours drinking Bold Street coffee and perusing the shelves of the hub that is News From Nowhere and made a purchase of Crouch, D., Ward, C. (2007, 5th edition) The Allotment, Its Landscape and Culture.

We ♥ Liverpool.