The power of kindness.....or #gdnbloggers

Today I toodled into London to the Garden Press Event, a yearly event aimed at people who write about gardens. I had never been before but several people had said what a great event it was so I decided to go along.

And there were some fabulous exhibitors who were there to talk about their products and who were extremely generous with both their time and their gifts, and I'll be talking about those at a later date, but something else came to mind that needs expressing first.....

Now it's no secret that I am a big fan of social media. I've been tweeting, facebooking and Instagramming for years now and it's always been, for me, a positive thing that has truly enhanced my life and given me the confidence I have to do what I do. But today really brought that home, in quite a moving way. 

 Me and the lovely Charles who I first chatted with via Twitter, having a right old laugh!! Photo by the lovely Steph Hafferty who I also met on Twitter!!

Today a community came together. An extraordinary community of garden bloggers, all different but joined together by a love of gardens and growing. A community which is supportive, generous and kind. A community that usually chats on Facebook and Twitter but that today came together and made a statement. Not a spoken or written statement but a silent one that said we are a community that will support each other. A community that has, when needed, one voice, albeit made of multiple voices. 

 

These were such good fun and as you can see were shared as an Instagram story-a new and fun way to share your day!

And then I looked around and realised that it was more than that. There were people on stands, exhibitors and journalists who are all friends that have been made through the joys of social media. Through sharing posts, through sharing successes  and failures and through a combined love for what we all do, this community is growing, gaining traction and creating a slightly alternative voice within mainstream garden media.

Since the garden bloggers community became a more structured entity through organised Twitter chats and Facebook groups I think, probably unbeknowingly, a force has been unleashed. With more people using social media, exploring different platforms and enjoying conversations with each other and joining in with conversations, using hashtags and generally getting on no matter where in the world they physically are, it feels, to me at least, that there's somewhere to go for help, advice and most importantly for support.

And I think this can only become more exciting as we go forwards. For years many of us have said we'd like to see an alternative to the traditional garden press, and perhaps here it is, all around us without us actually realising!!

So if you want to join in then do!! You don't even need to be a blogger to join in the conversation really. Just get online and look out for posts with the tag #gdnbloggers and get involved!

 

Bristol Jam Plan-food waste warriors!!

On Monday last week, after a crazy day of garden consultations, I popped along to meet up with my lovely pal Danielle, who runs Bishopston Supper Club. I adore visiting her home as she has turned a beautiful Victorian ground floor flat into a complete food hub. Her kitchen is her workspace so a professional kitchen but also a beautiful space that is always wonderful to be in, and as I arrived it was full of the evocative scent of plum chutney on the hob. Next to the kitchen is the space the supper club is held in, with wooden floors and high ceilings it's a glorious space to meet with friends both old and new!!

Sadly by the time I arrived it was dark but the other quite extraordinary thing about this home is that both front and back gardens are filled with raised beds full of fruit and vegetables that are used for the supper club meals. The beds are beautiful and always full of delicious looking and tasting goodies.

Bishopston Supper Club is also famed for the preserves they make and sell in various independent shops across the city. From rhubarb ketchup to medlar jelly, these jams and preserves use the seasonal harvest to create wonderful preserves that talk of the seasons with creativity and love.

 

But I was there to talk about Bristol Jam Plan, a new venture with a great community slant! Using surplus fruit and veg, Danielle will create great preserves, jams and jellies which will be used in two ways. Firstly using her cargo bike to deliver them, the jams and preserves will be given to homeless shelters for breakfast spreads and additions to meals later in the day. Relying on surplus means that often there's a lack of preserves for toast, to add to porridge etc, and so this is something that really matters in supporting people through homelessness and we already know is making a huge difference in severa shelters across the city.

The rest of the preserves will be sold at markets, food festivals and in independent food shops across the city, so you'll be able to buy them all over, including in the Bearpit and several other places where people are working hard to support the homelessness issue in Bristol. Any profit will go back into community projects that are supporting homelessness or food surplus issues across the city. 

So if we have any surplus at Incredible Edible Bristol you can guess where it will go!!

I think this whole project is awesome, but not just because it's using up surplus. It's also proof that by having a brilliant idea and getting on with it, everyone can support change to happen, just by talking to people and taking action. Often it's a scary proposition to begin with, but once there's support from the community, which there always is for great ideas, these projects fly and expand!! I'm so excited to see this happen at Bristol Jam Plan.

 

At the moment volunteers are coming together on Mondays to prep and make the preserves at Bishopston Supper Club HQ, and what's great here is that you need no experience to join in as Danielle takes you through everything you need to do, so not only is she supporting homelessness and food waste, but is also teaching folk how to preserve their harvests!! If you'd like to get involved just email hello@bristoljamplan.co.uk!!

I'll be there as often as my crazy diary allows. 

The Final Pumpkin Recipe.......#itmightjustwork

It's Halloween and there have been children trick or treating for the last few hours and now there are fireworks going crazy all around us and I am about to give you the final, very special recipe.

 

But first a bit about how I got this recipe.

This year has been amazing, incredible and beyond belief. I have met some extraordinary people and done some extraordinary things. I have met and been humbled by people, amazed at their generosity of spirit and by how excited they are when they hear about Incredible Edible Bristol and how keen they are to get involved. I have been bowled over by kindness and moved to tears by stories of personal change. and i have spent a lot of the year wondering how this is where I am, whilst thoroughly appreciating that place.

So imagine that earlier this year I saw that Pete Lawrence, an allotment holder in Bristol, had just published a book and I cheekily asked for a review copy. Which he duly sent and I duly reviewed. It's a great book and the review is here. Of course at that point I had no idea of his background at the BBC or that he was setting up a production company or that we would end up doing any work together. But that is what has happened and you will be able to see the results the week before Christmas when it goes out on BBC1!!
 He's going to kill me but here's Ross!!

Without wanting to give the plot away, it highlights the work of our amazing volunteer gardeners, what volunteering with Incredible Edible has meant for them and how it has changed their lives, and it creates a stunning new garden in a community space for a community that will really appreciate it and use it for positive change.

 

Whilst working on this project I met Dave Myers, one half of the Hairy Bikers and a genuinely nice bloke who has been amazingly supportive and kind ever since we met. Cheekily on the last day we chatted about my pumpkin recipes and he promised me a recipe which, as yet is unpublished, but will be coming to a Hairy Bikers recipe book in a store near you soon!!

So cheers Dave! It's a pleasure to have worked with you. And cheers also to the lovely Pete, who is struggling to edit the programme as I type and who without lots of these opportunities this year would never have happened. I look forward to working with you more!!

 

But more than that, a huge thanks here goes out to Ross, volunter and pal extraordinaire, with whom this experience and others have been shared this year. A great guy who's story will touch you and who we will, I know, make a great gardener out of.

And here is the recipe!!

CHAPTER 8 SPICY CHICKEN 

Caribbean Chicken and Pumpkin Curry

This curry is very English Caribbean – no coriander, just Mediterranean herbs, so if you want a herb garnish, parsley is traditional. Traditionally this recipe is made with potato but we have found pumpkin and squash make great  additions to the recipe instead!!

A mixture of drumsticks and thighs, skinned BUT ON the bone

Juice of 1 lime

1 scotch bonnet, deseeded and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed or grated

3 cm piece of ginger, grated

3 sprigs of thyme or 1 tbsp dried thyme

2 bay leaves, crumbled

1 tbsp spice mix or medium curry powder

2 tbsp olive or coconut oil

1 large onion, sliced

300ml chicken stock

50g creamed coconut (the sort in a block)

1 tbsp rum or brandy

500 gms pumpkin in 2 cm cubes

For the spice mix:

2 tbsp coriander seed

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp mustard seeds

2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1cm piece cinnamon

1 clove

½ tsp allspice berries

2 tbsp turmeric

1 tbsp garlic powder

Put the chicken in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add the scotch bonnet, garlic cloves, ginger, thyme, bay leaves and spice mix. Stir to coat – if you are brave, you will get much better results if you rub it in with your hands, but be careful because of the scotch bonnet. Leave for at least an hour, but preferably over night.

Heat the oil in a large casserole. Add the onion and cook for several minutes until starting to soften. Add the chicken and stir until the chicken is lightly browned. Sprinkle over the spice mix or curry powder and stir.

Pour over the chicken stock and add the pumkin. Stir in the creamed coconut. Leave to cook, covered, on a low heat for around 45 minutes, until the chicken is falling off the bone. Add a little more water if necessary.

When the chicken is cooked through, stir in the rum and simmer for a few more minutes.

To make the spice mix, toast all the whole spices in a frying pan until they smell aromatic. Immediately transfer them to a plate to cool, then to a fine powder. Mix with the turmeric and garlic powder. Makes more than you need, but it will store in a jar for a few months.