The Dawn Chorus

Happy May Day! At the time of publishing this blog, today is the 1st May and Beltane. Beltane is a Celtic and Pagan celebration that marks the half way point between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice with bonfires, the Green Man and a May Queen amongst other traditions. 

Sunrise is getting earlier and sunset is getting later giving those of us who live in the South of England approximately 15 hours of light each day in early May. I usually get up about 5am year round and sometimes in May and June I'm awake closer to 4am.In the Spring, Summer and Autumn, I find this to be particularly useful for early dog walks, letting the chickens out, feeding the animals and getting ahead with any bread baking for the day. Being up early also provides the perfect opportunity to listen to the dawn chorus. Sometimes I just stop and listen and enjoy the morning tunes and other times I use my bird identifier app to attempt to recognise the bird song. This morning I heard Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Skylarks, Robins, Blackbirds and Wren amongst others, as well as the Ring Ouzel no doubt returning from Winter in Spain or Morocco and heading to Scotland for the breeding season.

This year Sunday 4th May is International Dawn Chorus Day so why not get up early? The RSPB recommends just before 5am, open your window and sit with a cuppa or head out and about to enjoy the experience. For more suggestions on how to make the most of the hour have a look at the RSPB website.

Finally, after 5 years with Blogger I've decided to move to Substack. Here is the link to find my new page https://joyoneill.substack.com/

Homemade bread and micro bakers

In the late 1970's Britain faced bread shortages as Bread Delivery men and women across the country went on strike. I don't really remember much about the strikes but what I do remember is the smell of fresh bread baking in the kitchen and watching my mother as she made loaf after loaf over several days. I also recall holding warm slices of bread in my hands and watching the butter melt into it as I took a bite. Fresh homemade bread with butter is surely one of the simpler pleasures in life.

Making bread at home, although very satisfying, can be too time intensive for many people to fit into their busy lives. So most of us will pick up a loaf or two during our weekly shop. But did you know that the majority of modern bread is made using the Chorleywood Bread Process? The Chorleywood Bread Process was developed by the British Baking Industries Research Association in 1961 at Chorleywood in Hertfordshire. The process allowed lower quality and lower protein wheat to be utilised by mixing greater quantities of yeast and food additives into the dough at high speed. As the mixture took less time to bake it was hailed as the most effective way to produce bread. 

In recent years some people have questioned the amount of additives and preservatives in their daily loaf and wondered if it was contributing to the rise in digestive issues. Organisations such as the Real Bread Campaign are leading the campaign to make real bread 'available, accessible and affordable for everyone' who would like it. They are also calling for a change in the law to make marketing and labelling clearer so that all consumers can make informed decisions about the bread they buy.

In response to those consumers looking for good quality, locally made, healthier bread, micro bakeries are springing up all over the country. This is more than a passing trend and organisations such as The School of Artisan Baking and Bread Angels offer courses that cover everything you need to know when setting up your own bakehouse.

Last year I took an eight week basic to baker course with Leiths Cookery School to brush up on my baking knowledge as well as learning new skills and recipes. My favourite was the sourdough and several months down the line I'm still finding the time to bake a couple of loaves a week, well most weeks anyway.

Green Spaces for Health, Access to Land and Real Bread Week

In November 2024 the Good Food Bucks Steering Group met to consider our priorities for 2025. We decided to focus on Access, Celebrate and Collaborate but what does Access mean for our Food Partnership. 

In January we joined Kathleen Finlay from Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming and the Rome Sustainable Food Project for a food conversation. We learnt about the importance of regenerative agriculture and how that forms the central pillar of their work, along with ways to build Community Supported Agriculture that supports both the farmer and the community.

Following this thought provoking session we've decided to investigate access to land for growing food and for new entrant incubator projects as well as mapping the current land use in the county. This will also include our local NHS growing projects such as NHS Forest, which support food growing within hospitals grounds.

If you enjoy baking or eating fresh baked loaves and other tasty treats then have a look at Real Bread Week later in February. This year Real Bread Week is 15th - 23rd February 2024 and aims to encourage everyone to either bake their own bread or buy additive free bread from their local independent bakery. Have a look at their website to see how you can get involved this year.

Midwinter

As we approach Midwinter my thoughts turn to the Winter Solstice, Christmas and New Year and to memories of family, friends, festive traditions and plans for this year.

When I was a child, it felt as if time passed so slowly waiting for Christmas Eve. We would open our advent calendars each morning, counting the days, in anticipation of the arrival of Christmas. We would wait until a few days before Christmas before putting up the Christmas Tree. I remember the excitement we felt in anticipation as the boxes of tissue wrapped glass baubles and decorations were brought down from the loft ready to trim the tree. 

When we lived in Germany we discovered that people selected and decorated their Christmas Trees on the first Sunday in advent, even if that fell at the end of November. We adopted this wonderful tradition and each year decorate the house at the start of advent, bringing light and cheer for the whole month of December and into January. Traditions such as eating chocolate log cake and singing carols have their origins in our Pagan Midwinter celebrations. The pre Christian festival of Juul was celebrated around the time of of the Winter Solstice by singing, lighting fires and burning a yule log to bring light in the depth of winter and herald the return to the light.

This year the Winter Solstice, or shortest day, is on Saturday 21st December in the Northern Hemisphere. Under the old Julian calendar the solstice fell on 25th December, Christmas Day, but with the introduction of the Gregorian calendar the solstice slipped back to the 21st of the month, the day we are now familiar with. 

Have a happy festive season, however you celebrate, and I look forwards to seeing some of you in Oxford in January at the Oxford Real Farming conference.

Christmas Markets and a Sense of Place

In the run up to Christmas I love to get out and about with the family visiting Christmas Markets. We usually visit a couple near us each year and often pick a destination further a field to explore as well. Visiting these markets helps to set the mood for the festive season and builds on our past midwinter traditions and customs.

Last year we travelled to the beautiful city of Bath, on the coldest day of the month, to follow the trail of wooden chalets embellished with lights and decorations around the cobbled streets.We drank spiced hot apple juice or mulled wine and ate warm mince pies and other festive foods as we meandered around the 200 plus stalls. I'm always on the look out for unique handmade gifts or locally sourced items from the wide variety of artisan producers.

It reminded me of the Christmas markets we visited in Germany when the children were small. Santa would arrive on a beautiful grey horse with his helpers and give out sweets, chocolates and tiny carved wooden toys to the children as they spoke to him. We enjoyed the warming gluhwein or kinderpunsch (children's punch) and maroni (roasted chestnuts) as we pottered around the villages.

The geographer Edward Relph talks about a 'sense of place' as the feelings held by people for places or the feelings about a place over time. Returning to our favourite places or using favourite recipes or family rituals can craft our feelings or link us to our memories. Something a simple as the trip to a Christmas market renews our relationship with that time and place or starts a new memory or sense of place.

Enjoy your holiday outings this year, wherever you spend them.

Pumpkin Patches and Halloween

I've been delighted to receive a number of invitations to food and farming events over the last few weeks and as I've travelled around I've been struck by the amount of stalls selling pumpkins or pumpkin patches along the way. October, for me, would not be complete without a visit to the pumpkin patch at my local farm. We arrive early, grab a wheelbarrow, head to the quieter part of the patch and start selecting. We look for a couple of large pumpkins suitable for carving and a selection of smaller varieties to build a display outside our front door.

Pumpkin patches only began to appear in the UK in the 1990's but the UK is now the largest grower of pumpkins in Europe and they can offer useful farm diversification. Farmers Weekly reported that for many farms growing pumpkins has given them significant extra income and flexibility as farmers can opt to sell direct to customers or to a wholesaler as best suits their individual farm situation. The Economic Times reported that some farmers are earning as much as £30,000 per acre by embracing this seasonal holiday of Halloween.

As a child, we used turnips or swedes to carve out Jack O Lanterns, as pumpkins weren't popular then, a tradition with English and Irish origins dating back to the 1700s. Carrying or displaying the carved vegetables was thought to keep spirits away on Halloween.

Will you be carving pumpkins this Halloween?

Walled Gardens, Eden Project Communities and Social and Therapeutic Horticulture

Last week I had the opportunity to visit a beautiful walled garden, orchard and meadow complete with bees, a pop up shop and professional kitchen. This peaceful 10 acres was part of what was a monastery and gardens dating back to 1133. Considering that the origins of Green Care came from medieval monastic communities it seems very fitting that this should now house an amazing Social and Therapeutic Horticulture charity that supports over 50 clients per week.

Social and Therapeutic Horticulture is part of the wider Green Care approach that focuses on using gardening to benefit individuals with health and wellbeing goals. Therapeutic and gardening techniques support physical and mental health, offer time in nature, a sense of community and a learning experience. The clients I met were skilful gardeners and generous with their knowledge of the local flora and fauna as we talked.

Standing within the walls of the orchard I was reminded of a walled garden that we used to visit when we lived in Scotland. The gardens offered plenty of space and fresh air but also shelter from the worst of the elements. It was a great place for the children to play, relax and enjoy a picnic, whatever the weather, after school and at weekends. 

I am so fortunate to be part of an Eden Project Community Action Course at the moment. Five weeks of inspirational stories, thought provoking ideas and information packed workshops with the focus on grass roots projects in our communities. Its also a wonderful chance to network and hear about the amazing projects that others are running or preparing to run. I'm using my time on this course to explore the possibility of introducing Community Pantries into Buckinghamshire. What would you be interested in setting up in your community?