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'I'm Alys Fowler. | 0:00:04 | 0:00:05 | |
'I'm a gardener and a writer. | 0:00:05 | 0:00:07 | |
'I grew up in the countryside | 0:00:11 | 0:00:13 | |
'but now my husband and I live in the city. | 0:00:13 | 0:00:16 | |
'I get pleasure from simple things - | 0:00:18 | 0:00:21 | |
'my chickens and home-grown food.' | 0:00:21 | 0:00:24 | |
Two happy hens a handful of herbs. | 0:00:26 | 0:00:28 | |
'And making things from what I find around me.' | 0:00:28 | 0:00:30 | |
Oh, wow! See? | 0:00:30 | 0:00:32 | |
'This is my garden - | 0:00:32 | 0:00:34 | |
'a small Victorian terrace back yard, | 0:00:34 | 0:00:37 | |
'around 20 foot by about 60.' | 0:00:37 | 0:00:40 | |
Isabel, don't pee there! | 0:00:40 | 0:00:42 | |
'This year, I'm experimenting. | 0:00:42 | 0:00:45 | |
'I'm trying to avoid shop-bought fruit and veg and live off my own, home-grown produce. | 0:00:45 | 0:00:49 | |
'But this won't be easy because I want my garden | 0:00:49 | 0:00:53 | |
'to be as productive as it is beautiful.' | 0:00:53 | 0:00:55 | |
Mmm. They're delicious. | 0:00:55 | 0:00:58 | |
'Each week, I'll focus on different foods - | 0:01:01 | 0:01:04 | |
'from runner beans to strawberries, apples to cucumbers, and even | 0:01:04 | 0:01:09 | |
'edible flowers and show how anyone can grow, | 0:01:09 | 0:01:13 | |
'cook and eat from their own garden, | 0:01:13 | 0:01:15 | |
'even if you live in a city.' | 0:01:15 | 0:01:17 | |
When planning my pretty and productive garden, | 0:01:30 | 0:01:32 | |
I knew if I didn't devote most of it to growing vegetables, we'd starve. | 0:01:32 | 0:01:36 | |
But I still wanted an island of indulgence too, and that meant fruit. | 0:01:36 | 0:01:41 | |
Fruit, particularly soft fruit, is a costly luxury | 0:01:42 | 0:01:45 | |
bought from the shops and yet nothing could be simpler to grow. | 0:01:45 | 0:01:48 | |
You plant it and you sit back and wait. | 0:01:48 | 0:01:51 | |
In my limited space, | 0:01:58 | 0:01:59 | |
I want to squeeze strawberries, raspberries and blackcurrants | 0:01:59 | 0:02:03 | |
alongside the apple tree that I've inherited, | 0:02:03 | 0:02:06 | |
and I'm growing some fruit in pots for easy picking. | 0:02:06 | 0:02:09 | |
Unlike vegetables, which you can pick within weeks, | 0:02:13 | 0:02:16 | |
fruit requires a bit of patience. | 0:02:16 | 0:02:18 | |
But it's worth the wait because you reap the rewards for years to come. | 0:02:18 | 0:02:22 | |
And that's the point about fruit. Once you get them established, | 0:02:23 | 0:02:27 | |
they are the most rewarding thing that you can put into your garden. | 0:02:27 | 0:02:31 | |
Although it is a bit of an investment - | 0:02:31 | 0:02:33 | |
you don't get much on year one - | 0:02:33 | 0:02:35 | |
it's year two, three and in the case of an apple tree, | 0:02:35 | 0:02:38 | |
generations to come, that makes them so worthwhile. | 0:02:38 | 0:02:41 | |
It doesn't matter how small your space is, you really can fit fruit into it. | 0:02:41 | 0:02:45 | |
And it's not just about walking to the bottom of your garden and eating | 0:02:45 | 0:02:49 | |
a fresh apple, or that first, fresh, ripe strawberry of the season. | 0:02:49 | 0:02:53 | |
It's how you process the fruit so that you can have it all year round that matters. | 0:02:53 | 0:02:58 | |
And I want to show how you can preserve fruit, home-grown | 0:03:01 | 0:03:04 | |
or shop-bought, by turning it into jam, or rich fruity liqueurs, | 0:03:04 | 0:03:10 | |
delicious, dried fruit leathers or sweet dried apple rings. | 0:03:10 | 0:03:16 | |
One of my favourite fruits has to be raspberries - | 0:03:22 | 0:03:25 | |
a little luxury that bursts into flavour on the tongue. | 0:03:25 | 0:03:29 | |
There are two types of raspberries - | 0:03:29 | 0:03:31 | |
those that fruit in July and those that fruit in September. | 0:03:31 | 0:03:34 | |
I'm growing the autumn-fruiting sort in my garden. | 0:03:34 | 0:03:38 | |
I've already got some raspberry canes growing on my fence | 0:03:38 | 0:03:42 | |
and late winter is the time when they need attention. | 0:03:42 | 0:03:45 | |
It's time to prune the autumn-fruiting raspberries. | 0:03:45 | 0:03:48 | |
They are by far the most simple thing to prune, | 0:03:48 | 0:03:51 | |
because all you need to do is, in February, cut them back about | 0:03:51 | 0:03:56 | |
ten centimetres, 15 centimetres from the ground. | 0:03:56 | 0:04:00 | |
Then you cut all the canes back, like that. | 0:04:00 | 0:04:03 | |
They will send up new canes, | 0:04:05 | 0:04:07 | |
and that is what you will pick raspberries off in autumn. | 0:04:07 | 0:04:10 | |
So you just chop the whole lot down, and that's it, job done. | 0:04:10 | 0:04:14 | |
'However, I want to start enjoying my raspberries as early in the year as I possibly can, | 0:04:14 | 0:04:20 | |
'so there's a little trick I know | 0:04:20 | 0:04:21 | |
'to make some of my autumn-fruiting raspberries fruit early.' | 0:04:21 | 0:04:25 | |
If you cut half of the canes down but leave half up, | 0:04:27 | 0:04:30 | |
the ones that you leave will continue to go. | 0:04:30 | 0:04:34 | |
Because they have a head start, these guys will fruit in July. | 0:04:34 | 0:04:38 | |
You can't leave these canes and just never cut them, | 0:04:38 | 0:04:42 | |
because you exhaust the plant. | 0:04:42 | 0:04:44 | |
You cut one half one year, and the other year you flip it around | 0:04:44 | 0:04:48 | |
and cut the other half back in February. | 0:04:48 | 0:04:51 | |
So these ones will fruit in September, | 0:04:51 | 0:04:54 | |
these ones will fruit in July. | 0:04:54 | 0:04:57 | |
But my established raspberries won't give me the harvest I want, | 0:04:57 | 0:05:01 | |
so I'm taking this opportunity to plant more. | 0:05:01 | 0:05:04 | |
I've bought these autumn-fruiting canes from my local garden centre | 0:05:04 | 0:05:07 | |
and I just pop them into the ground, | 0:05:07 | 0:05:09 | |
making sure all of their spidery roots are covered with soil. | 0:05:09 | 0:05:12 | |
A thick layer of multi-purpose compost will give them the early food they need. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:19 | |
Then regular watering will be all they want in order to flourish. | 0:05:19 | 0:05:23 | |
Everyone loves strawberries and I'm no exception. | 0:05:32 | 0:05:35 | |
I'm growing mine both in the garden borders and in pots. | 0:05:35 | 0:05:39 | |
It's very easy to make a strawberry happy. | 0:05:41 | 0:05:45 | |
All you really need is to give it a lot of light. | 0:05:45 | 0:05:48 | |
They like a good amount of sun. | 0:05:48 | 0:05:50 | |
They can take a degree of dappled shade, | 0:05:50 | 0:05:52 | |
but they need sun to ripen those beautiful red fruit. | 0:05:52 | 0:05:56 | |
And if you have strawberries in your garden, you have them for life, | 0:05:56 | 0:05:59 | |
because they are constantly spreading themselves around. | 0:05:59 | 0:06:03 | |
It's quite easy... | 0:06:03 | 0:06:04 | |
..to start off new ones, just by separating them. | 0:06:06 | 0:06:11 | |
Strawberries tend to be not terribly long-lived. | 0:06:12 | 0:06:15 | |
After about five years, they've kind of done as much as they can in terms of producing fruit. | 0:06:15 | 0:06:20 | |
But as long as you keep dividing them, | 0:06:20 | 0:06:22 | |
you will always have new plants, | 0:06:22 | 0:06:24 | |
and I can't imagine a garden without strawberries. | 0:06:24 | 0:06:29 | |
They are the taste of an English summer. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:31 | |
For me, there's one fruit that reminds me of my Canadian family | 0:06:35 | 0:06:38 | |
and that's eating blueberries on cornflakes for breakfast. | 0:06:38 | 0:06:42 | |
They're also bursting with vitamin C, so all in all a must for my back garden fruit patch. | 0:06:45 | 0:06:49 | |
But to grow successfully, you need to follow a few simple rules. | 0:06:49 | 0:06:54 | |
Blueberries come from North America and in the wild, | 0:06:56 | 0:07:00 | |
they grow in very acidic conditions. | 0:07:00 | 0:07:03 | |
Like most people, | 0:07:03 | 0:07:04 | |
I don't have acidic soil, but I'm not going to let that worry me. | 0:07:04 | 0:07:08 | |
I'm planting two blueberry bushes in this old tin bath, filled with peat-free compost. | 0:07:08 | 0:07:13 | |
And trust me, they'll thrive as long as I do three things. | 0:07:13 | 0:07:17 | |
You keep them in the sun. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:20 | |
You make sure that the compost is incredibly moist, | 0:07:20 | 0:07:23 | |
which is why this bathtub is good. although it does have drainage, | 0:07:23 | 0:07:27 | |
it holds a lot of moisture in the soil. | 0:07:27 | 0:07:29 | |
Then, twice a year, I add rotted pine needles to the soil. | 0:07:29 | 0:07:34 | |
And the pine needles are just acidic enough to keep them happy. | 0:07:34 | 0:07:38 | |
The last thing to know about them is, they are much happier in pairs. | 0:07:38 | 0:07:42 | |
If you just grow one blueberry on its own, you will get a crop, but it will be a very modest one. | 0:07:42 | 0:07:47 | |
If you grow two, you have more cross pollinating opportunities and then you get bumper crops. | 0:07:47 | 0:07:52 | |
May is a mad time in the garden. | 0:08:01 | 0:08:03 | |
I'm constantly planting out young vegetables and then watering. | 0:08:03 | 0:08:07 | |
But because I'm packing my fruit, flowers and vegetables together, I'm in danger of overcrowding. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:17 | |
And that means suffocating shade that will strangle my seedlings | 0:08:17 | 0:08:21 | |
and stop my fruit ripening. | 0:08:21 | 0:08:23 | |
Time to be ruthless. | 0:08:26 | 0:08:28 | |
One of the problems with this garden | 0:08:28 | 0:08:30 | |
is that some things are really, really well established | 0:08:30 | 0:08:33 | |
and they are kind of out-competing others. | 0:08:33 | 0:08:36 | |
Which means... | 0:08:36 | 0:08:38 | |
I've got lots of clipping and pruning | 0:08:38 | 0:08:40 | |
that I constantly need to do. | 0:08:40 | 0:08:43 | |
As well as in pots, I'm growing most of my fruit in a small four by six | 0:08:46 | 0:08:50 | |
foot space at the bottom of the garden, underneath my apple tree. | 0:08:50 | 0:08:55 | |
Move, Iz', move. | 0:08:55 | 0:08:57 | |
This is my prize at the end of the brick road. | 0:09:03 | 0:09:06 | |
It's a small strawberry patch, so that I can come and sit | 0:09:06 | 0:09:11 | |
in the afternoon sun and pick strawberries. | 0:09:11 | 0:09:15 | |
And it's part of my... | 0:09:15 | 0:09:17 | |
small and slightly rule-breaking forest garden, | 0:09:17 | 0:09:21 | |
which is the idea that you mimic the natural forest ecology. | 0:09:21 | 0:09:26 | |
So you have under-storey ground-cover plants like the strawberries, | 0:09:26 | 0:09:30 | |
and then you have the raspberries, | 0:09:30 | 0:09:32 | |
which are doing really well this year. | 0:09:32 | 0:09:34 | |
And then some currants, which are the next storey up. | 0:09:34 | 0:09:37 | |
And then you have an even bigger storey, which is the tree. | 0:09:37 | 0:09:40 | |
And everything within it is supposed to be edible, | 0:09:40 | 0:09:44 | |
but I sort of broke those rules and... | 0:09:44 | 0:09:47 | |
I went for pretty things instead! | 0:09:47 | 0:09:49 | |
I've got apples, which is very exciting. | 0:09:53 | 0:09:56 | |
The beauty of the blossom is over, but it's served its vital purpose - | 0:09:59 | 0:10:02 | |
to attract insect travellers laden with pollen from neighbouring fruit trees. | 0:10:02 | 0:10:07 | |
That's the key to a bountiful harvest - | 0:10:07 | 0:10:09 | |
fruit trees need pollinating partners. | 0:10:09 | 0:10:11 | |
Whilst growing fruit offers very few problems, | 0:10:14 | 0:10:17 | |
you can suffer from gluts, | 0:10:17 | 0:10:19 | |
as many things seem to ripen at the same time. | 0:10:19 | 0:10:23 | |
And that's where preserving comes in. | 0:10:23 | 0:10:26 | |
One ingenious way of keeping fruit | 0:10:26 | 0:10:28 | |
is to dry it into leathers - chewy sheets of sweet, | 0:10:28 | 0:10:32 | |
intensely flavoured fruit which are simple to make. | 0:10:32 | 0:10:35 | |
Mina Tahir lives in a flat in the outskirts of Bristol | 0:10:42 | 0:10:45 | |
and she makes her fruit leathers with wild fruit that she forages for | 0:10:45 | 0:10:49 | |
in and around her local neighbourhood. | 0:10:49 | 0:10:52 | |
Sheer abundance of fruit up there, and mushrooms, and greens. | 0:10:53 | 0:10:57 | |
It really is quite astonishing. | 0:10:57 | 0:11:00 | |
There have been times when I've gone for weeks, eating all my meals consisting of wild foods, | 0:11:00 | 0:11:05 | |
with the odd eggs and pasta and rice thrown in, | 0:11:05 | 0:11:08 | |
but consisting really of just wild fruits and veg and all sorts. | 0:11:08 | 0:11:13 | |
Today, I'm going to pick some plums | 0:11:15 | 0:11:17 | |
that I'm going to use to make fruit leathers. | 0:11:17 | 0:11:19 | |
These are bullaces - the smallest of the wild plums. | 0:11:19 | 0:11:23 | |
These particular ones taste an awful lot like Victoria plums. | 0:11:23 | 0:11:27 | |
To make fruit leathers, the fruit needs to be stewed, so that it becomes really soft. | 0:11:35 | 0:11:40 | |
You only really use the pulp. | 0:11:40 | 0:11:42 | |
Once the fruit has been softened, | 0:11:43 | 0:11:46 | |
it needs to be passed through a sieve if you've got one. | 0:11:46 | 0:11:49 | |
This is the bullace leather. | 0:11:50 | 0:11:52 | |
It's a really unappetising colour, | 0:11:52 | 0:11:55 | |
but it tastes absolutely fantastic. | 0:11:55 | 0:11:58 | |
You can sweeten it to taste. | 0:12:00 | 0:12:01 | |
I'm using icing sugar, because it dissolves faster. | 0:12:01 | 0:12:04 | |
You need to spread the pulp out evenly, | 0:12:06 | 0:12:09 | |
so it all dries at the same rate. | 0:12:09 | 0:12:11 | |
Mina is using a specialist dehydrator, but I spread mine | 0:12:11 | 0:12:14 | |
onto a non-stick baking tray and pop it into the oven on its lowest temperature for around eight hours. | 0:12:14 | 0:12:21 | |
It's best if you leave the fan on. | 0:12:21 | 0:12:24 | |
It goes really shiny, slightly tacky to the touch | 0:12:27 | 0:12:31 | |
and then you peel it off. | 0:12:31 | 0:12:33 | |
It's really bendy. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:37 | |
To store it, all you do is tear it up... | 0:12:39 | 0:12:43 | |
..into strips. Let's try a bit first. | 0:12:46 | 0:12:48 | |
Once it's dry, the flavours really intensify, | 0:12:52 | 0:12:55 | |
then it's absolutely amazing. | 0:12:55 | 0:12:57 | |
You get to experience the fruit in a completely different way to the way you'd normally experience it. | 0:12:57 | 0:13:03 | |
There isn't anywhere I haven't foraged. | 0:13:04 | 0:13:07 | |
On roadsides, in the middle of cities... | 0:13:07 | 0:13:11 | |
There's always stuff there if you know how to look | 0:13:12 | 0:13:15 | |
and what to look for. | 0:13:15 | 0:13:17 | |
But it's not just foraged berries that make great leathers. | 0:13:21 | 0:13:25 | |
Raspberries, apples, | 0:13:25 | 0:13:26 | |
in fact all your garden-grown fruit are just as delicious. | 0:13:26 | 0:13:31 | |
After an unseasonably hot May, | 0:13:37 | 0:13:39 | |
a very wet June arrives, making the garden look incredibly lush. | 0:13:39 | 0:13:45 | |
Whilst my salads and vegetables need constant picking, | 0:13:48 | 0:13:52 | |
my fruit crops are still proving no bother at all. | 0:13:52 | 0:13:56 | |
And what's more, I've got my very first harvest. | 0:13:56 | 0:13:59 | |
The first strawberry of the season. | 0:14:01 | 0:14:03 | |
And to the many to come. | 0:14:08 | 0:14:09 | |
But not everything is looking as good as my strawberries. | 0:14:11 | 0:14:13 | |
Underneath my apple tree in my little forest garden, | 0:14:13 | 0:14:17 | |
my blackcurrant is suffering and I'm afraid it's entirely my own fault. | 0:14:17 | 0:14:22 | |
Because I was greedy and I wanted blackcurrants last year, | 0:14:22 | 0:14:25 | |
I didn't pay any attention to the rules, | 0:14:25 | 0:14:27 | |
which is you plant the blackcurrant in autumn or spring | 0:14:27 | 0:14:31 | |
and then you chop it back, and you are ruthless. | 0:14:31 | 0:14:34 | |
You say, "I will not have any blackcurrants on my first year." | 0:14:34 | 0:14:37 | |
Then you get a lot of really strong, healthy growth, | 0:14:37 | 0:14:39 | |
and then the next year you get a bumper crop. | 0:14:39 | 0:14:42 | |
But because I was greedy and I wanted the blackcurrants, | 0:14:42 | 0:14:45 | |
I thought, "Ah, it's probably one of those old-fashioned rules." | 0:14:45 | 0:14:48 | |
And this year, I suffer, with a pathetic crop. | 0:14:48 | 0:14:53 | |
So, anyhow, I might get a breakfast out of this if I'm lucky. | 0:14:56 | 0:15:00 | |
The beauty of an edible and pretty garden is that you get to enjoy it | 0:15:11 | 0:15:15 | |
and eat from it on a midsummer morning like this. | 0:15:15 | 0:15:18 | |
And it's such a treat to gather a home-grown breakfast. | 0:15:18 | 0:15:22 | |
Did you lay any eggs? Ah, thank you very much! | 0:15:28 | 0:15:33 | |
It's late August. Most apple trees ripen in October, but my little tree | 0:15:58 | 0:16:03 | |
is an early-fruiting variety called Discovery. | 0:16:03 | 0:16:06 | |
You can tell if an apple's ready or not because | 0:16:08 | 0:16:12 | |
when you tip them up... | 0:16:12 | 0:16:14 | |
if they come off, they're ripe, | 0:16:14 | 0:16:17 | |
and if they don't, they need to stay on just that bit longer. | 0:16:17 | 0:16:21 | |
And it has the most beautiful child's-drawing red apples. | 0:16:21 | 0:16:25 | |
But unfortunately, it's not a storer. | 0:16:25 | 0:16:27 | |
You almost have to eat them straight off the tree. | 0:16:27 | 0:16:30 | |
They're very sweet. They're just amazing, incredibly crisp. | 0:16:38 | 0:16:42 | |
I've got too many to eat in one go, but one clever way to preserve | 0:16:45 | 0:16:49 | |
their deliciously sweet flavour is to turn them into dried apple rings. | 0:16:49 | 0:16:54 | |
Now, it's really simple. | 0:16:59 | 0:17:01 | |
You just... | 0:17:01 | 0:17:03 | |
..take out the middle. | 0:17:05 | 0:17:07 | |
And then they need to be about a quarter of an inch thick. | 0:17:10 | 0:17:13 | |
And then immediately into slightly salty water, | 0:17:16 | 0:17:19 | |
because this keeps their colour. | 0:17:19 | 0:17:22 | |
And discard any bruised bits or... | 0:17:22 | 0:17:26 | |
..insect-damaged bits, | 0:17:28 | 0:17:30 | |
because they immediately seem to start rotting on the cane. | 0:17:30 | 0:17:33 | |
Do you like the apple? | 0:17:37 | 0:17:38 | |
You're a funny dog! | 0:17:38 | 0:17:40 | |
Do you want more? | 0:17:42 | 0:17:44 | |
And the only other trick I've found is if you rub a little bit of sunflower or olive oil | 0:17:44 | 0:17:51 | |
on the cane first, then it stops them from sticking onto the cane. | 0:17:51 | 0:17:55 | |
You can make apple rings with any eating-apple variety. | 0:17:57 | 0:18:00 | |
Just hang them in a warm place to dry | 0:18:00 | 0:18:02 | |
and after two to three days they'll be ready. | 0:18:02 | 0:18:04 | |
They should store for months in an airtight container. | 0:18:07 | 0:18:12 | |
Mm, they're delicious. | 0:18:14 | 0:18:16 | |
The other great thing about fruit gluts | 0:18:21 | 0:18:23 | |
is they make perfect give-away gifts. | 0:18:23 | 0:18:26 | |
For me, the long-standing tradition of crop swapping | 0:18:26 | 0:18:29 | |
is due for a comeback. | 0:18:29 | 0:18:31 | |
So when my friend Emily's mum announced a damson glut, it was | 0:18:31 | 0:18:36 | |
time to pay a visit with a carton of Alice B and Gertrude's eggs. | 0:18:36 | 0:18:39 | |
-Here are some eggs in return for damsons. -Thank you very much indeed. | 0:18:39 | 0:18:43 | |
-Come on in. -Cheers. | 0:18:43 | 0:18:44 | |
-Hello! -Hi! | 0:18:44 | 0:18:46 | |
Cor, they all are up here, aren't they? | 0:18:52 | 0:18:55 | |
Damsons are a delicious, tangy plum, | 0:18:56 | 0:18:58 | |
great for all types of preserving and not often found in supermarkets, | 0:18:58 | 0:19:02 | |
so if you don't have a neighbour with a tree or a farmer | 0:19:02 | 0:19:05 | |
who'll bring them to market, try using plums as an alternative. | 0:19:05 | 0:19:09 | |
My God, you've got tons! | 0:19:14 | 0:19:16 | |
The rich, fruity flavour of damsons | 0:19:18 | 0:19:20 | |
is really good infused with vodka to make a delicious sweet liqueur. | 0:19:20 | 0:19:25 | |
So back at home, my friends and I set about making damson vodka. | 0:19:25 | 0:19:28 | |
It's quite satisfying. | 0:19:30 | 0:19:31 | |
It's a nice job. I like it. | 0:19:31 | 0:19:33 | |
You start by pricking the skins | 0:19:33 | 0:19:35 | |
to allow the flavour of the flesh to infuse with the vodka. | 0:19:35 | 0:19:38 | |
The rich colour that follows comes from the skins. | 0:19:38 | 0:19:41 | |
We're putting the sugar in here, and then we're going to put them in the pots? | 0:19:41 | 0:19:45 | |
And then we'll just wash it out with vodka. It'll be fine in the end. | 0:19:45 | 0:19:49 | |
For every pound of fruit add a pound of sugar to a litre bottle of vodka. | 0:19:49 | 0:19:53 | |
Measurement, measurement! | 0:19:53 | 0:19:55 | |
As you can see, it doesn't have to be an exact science. | 0:19:59 | 0:20:02 | |
Smells lovely. | 0:20:03 | 0:20:05 | |
Leave it to steep in an airtight jar | 0:20:07 | 0:20:09 | |
and within three months it will be ripe to drink. | 0:20:09 | 0:20:13 | |
I'm using the rest of the damsons to make a damson cheese. | 0:20:20 | 0:20:23 | |
It's not really a cheese, it's more like a jam. | 0:20:23 | 0:20:26 | |
My mum makes it every year, and I'm recreating her recipe. | 0:20:26 | 0:20:29 | |
Put six pounds of damsons into a large saucepan with half a pint of water. | 0:20:33 | 0:20:38 | |
Bring to the boil and then leave to simmer for about half an hour | 0:20:40 | 0:20:44 | |
on a low heat until the damsons are soft. | 0:20:44 | 0:20:46 | |
Pour through a sieve to puree the fruit and remove the stones. | 0:20:48 | 0:20:53 | |
You'll need to add a pound of sugar to a pound of puree | 0:20:53 | 0:20:57 | |
and let it dissolve. | 0:20:57 | 0:20:59 | |
I think jam's much like preserving anything, | 0:20:59 | 0:21:01 | |
because it's this idea that you have a cupboard full of... | 0:21:01 | 0:21:04 | |
a season... | 0:21:04 | 0:21:05 | |
..and that somehow makes you feel | 0:21:06 | 0:21:09 | |
really safe. | 0:21:09 | 0:21:11 | |
And that it's brightly coloured's quite good, as well. | 0:21:12 | 0:21:15 | |
Keep stirring until the mixture becomes very thick, | 0:21:17 | 0:21:21 | |
almost like a treacle so it comes away from the side | 0:21:21 | 0:21:24 | |
and then pour it into sterilised jars or moulds. | 0:21:24 | 0:21:27 | |
Mm! | 0:21:27 | 0:21:29 | |
Because damsons are kind of naturally quite tart... | 0:21:31 | 0:21:35 | |
it's not as sweet as you think it's going to be. | 0:21:35 | 0:21:38 | |
It's perfect, actually. | 0:21:39 | 0:21:41 | |
Damson cheese makes a delicious accompaniment | 0:21:43 | 0:21:46 | |
to yoghurt or strong cheeses, | 0:21:46 | 0:21:48 | |
so I'm giving away my spare pots as Christmas presents. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:51 | |
Consider them bottled love. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:57 | |
And to make my gifts pretty, I want to customise them. | 0:22:01 | 0:22:04 | |
I've heard about a Japanese leaf printing technique called hapazome. | 0:22:04 | 0:22:08 | |
Late September arrives, and with it, leaves of a scarlet hue. | 0:22:14 | 0:22:18 | |
Come on, Iz! | 0:22:18 | 0:22:19 | |
I have a plan to print jam-pot covers using nature's bounty. | 0:22:19 | 0:22:24 | |
My friend Grace is a hapazome expert, | 0:22:24 | 0:22:27 | |
so she's joined me at my local park to gather our raw materials. | 0:22:27 | 0:22:31 | |
So, what are the best leaves to look for? | 0:22:33 | 0:22:36 | |
Well, you can have a go with any leaves, but the best leaves are | 0:22:36 | 0:22:39 | |
ones with interesting shapes and, obviously, interesting colour variation at this time of year. | 0:22:39 | 0:22:44 | |
So you don't want to get leaves that have dried out, basically. | 0:22:44 | 0:22:48 | |
If it crinkles and breaks up, that's not good. | 0:22:48 | 0:22:50 | |
There's going to be no moisture in there, and it's not going to come out on the fabric. | 0:22:50 | 0:22:55 | |
The lovely thing about this is the zigzag on the edge of the leaf. | 0:22:55 | 0:22:58 | |
Hopefully, you'll be able to get... | 0:22:58 | 0:23:00 | |
..to get all that definition. | 0:23:00 | 0:23:02 | |
You could easily get quite a leaf fetish, couldn't you? | 0:23:12 | 0:23:15 | |
Come on, Iz! Come on! | 0:23:15 | 0:23:17 | |
For our leaf prints, we've chosen fleshy leaves | 0:23:19 | 0:23:22 | |
with vibrant colours and strong shapes, | 0:23:22 | 0:23:24 | |
like ferns and pine needles. | 0:23:24 | 0:23:26 | |
And I've also picked some marigolds and violas from my garden. | 0:23:27 | 0:23:31 | |
-Do you think I'll get it on the same stalk here or not? -Give it a go. | 0:23:32 | 0:23:36 | |
I mean, give it a whack and just... | 0:23:36 | 0:23:38 | |
The technique is straightforward enough, | 0:23:40 | 0:23:43 | |
but the choice of fabric does matter. | 0:23:43 | 0:23:45 | |
Natural fibres work best, because they easily absorb the colour that seeps from the leaves. | 0:23:45 | 0:23:50 | |
OK. Are you ready? | 0:23:52 | 0:23:54 | |
Right, yes, I'm ready. Oh, wow. | 0:23:54 | 0:23:58 | |
See? You can get good effects. | 0:23:58 | 0:24:01 | |
God, that's beautiful. All the veins in it! | 0:24:01 | 0:24:04 | |
It's amazing, the detail, isn't it? | 0:24:04 | 0:24:07 | |
It's just gorgeous the way it's such a different relief, | 0:24:07 | 0:24:10 | |
the way the stem creates the different thing on each side. | 0:24:10 | 0:24:13 | |
When totally dry, iron the material to fix the plant dye. | 0:24:15 | 0:24:20 | |
That is really beautiful. | 0:24:20 | 0:24:21 | |
Oh, wow. See? | 0:24:23 | 0:24:26 | |
Lovely. | 0:24:26 | 0:24:27 | |
My early-fruiting apple tree is over. | 0:24:35 | 0:24:37 | |
However, there are neglected apple trees | 0:24:37 | 0:24:40 | |
across the country, in woodlands, parks and country lanes, | 0:24:40 | 0:24:44 | |
all offering their own windfall gifts. | 0:24:44 | 0:24:46 | |
Thankfully, most apple varieties ripen in October | 0:24:46 | 0:24:49 | |
and that's when you're likely to get gluts. | 0:24:49 | 0:24:52 | |
-Isabel! -SHE WHISTLES | 0:24:56 | 0:24:58 | |
Izzy! Thank you. | 0:24:58 | 0:25:01 | |
So, this orchard is on a bit of land which is connected to my local park, | 0:25:05 | 0:25:09 | |
and I always think it's such a shame | 0:25:09 | 0:25:11 | |
to think of all this fruit just rotting because nobody can be bothered to go and pick it. | 0:25:11 | 0:25:16 | |
And I've been allowed to pick up all the windfalls. | 0:25:16 | 0:25:20 | |
And the great thing about windfalls is | 0:25:20 | 0:25:23 | |
you wouldn't exactly want to eat this, | 0:25:23 | 0:25:25 | |
but it's perfectly good for juicing. | 0:25:25 | 0:25:28 | |
So you can use all sorts of | 0:25:28 | 0:25:30 | |
less-than-perfect apples. | 0:25:30 | 0:25:34 | |
There are so many apples here! | 0:25:34 | 0:25:36 | |
It's great! | 0:25:38 | 0:25:39 | |
So my plan is to offer a free apple-pressing service | 0:25:43 | 0:25:46 | |
to all those who have more apples than they can shake a stick at. | 0:25:46 | 0:25:50 | |
And I'm doing it at my local farmers' market. | 0:25:53 | 0:25:57 | |
I'm joined by my friend Syd and his home-made apple press. | 0:26:04 | 0:26:08 | |
There's a bit wedged in one corner, actually. | 0:26:08 | 0:26:11 | |
The apple crusher is powered by an electric drill | 0:26:14 | 0:26:17 | |
and the apple press, by two car jacks. | 0:26:17 | 0:26:19 | |
The aim is to slowly squeeze the pulp between our wooden boards | 0:26:27 | 0:26:30 | |
and then reap the liquid rewards. | 0:26:30 | 0:26:33 | |
But it seems everyone's got a crush on our crusher. | 0:26:36 | 0:26:40 | |
Faced with its new-found fame, it's gone into meltdown. | 0:26:40 | 0:26:43 | |
Yeah, it's still running. | 0:26:49 | 0:26:51 | |
We're slightly oversubscribed, | 0:26:55 | 0:26:58 | |
and it's meant that we've broken the machine! | 0:26:58 | 0:27:01 | |
So this bit is going to have to be done by hand. | 0:27:02 | 0:27:04 | |
-Oh, it's good. -Yeah? | 0:27:13 | 0:27:14 | |
I've been effortlessly gathering fruits from my garden since June. | 0:27:23 | 0:27:26 | |
Yet, five months on, and I still have one lingering treat. | 0:27:26 | 0:27:30 | |
It's November, and I'm still picking raspberries. | 0:27:30 | 0:27:33 | |
Now, really, autumn-fruiting raspberries probably only produce | 0:27:33 | 0:27:37 | |
into October, it's just that it's been so unbelievably mild. | 0:27:37 | 0:27:42 | |
Traditionally, you used to wire your raspberries in so they stood upright like this. | 0:27:43 | 0:27:49 | |
But I actually don't think there's any point | 0:27:49 | 0:27:52 | |
unless space is a real issue, because if you let them hang over, | 0:27:52 | 0:27:55 | |
the leaves naturally act as a foil and the birds | 0:27:55 | 0:27:59 | |
never find the berries, whereas if you hold them up, | 0:27:59 | 0:28:02 | |
it's quite clear where all the berries are. | 0:28:02 | 0:28:04 | |
Isabel! | 0:28:06 | 0:28:09 | |
Hello! Come on! Nicely... | 0:28:09 | 0:28:11 | |
Nicely. Ooh! | 0:28:11 | 0:28:13 | |
OK, one more for Gertrude. | 0:28:15 | 0:28:18 | |
Stop being a pig, Alice. No, it's for Gertrude. It's for Gertrude! | 0:28:18 | 0:28:21 | |
Oi! | 0:28:21 | 0:28:23 | |
Nicely! That's my finger. | 0:28:23 | 0:28:26 | |
Some people would say that you're slightly pampered | 0:28:27 | 0:28:30 | |
as far as chickens go. | 0:28:30 | 0:28:32 | |
Next time, in my quest for a garden that | 0:28:33 | 0:28:36 | |
tastes as good as it looks, I'll turn my attention to floral foods... | 0:28:36 | 0:28:40 | |
fragrant lavender biscuits... | 0:28:40 | 0:28:43 | |
There's nothing more summery than the smell of lavender biscuits. | 0:28:43 | 0:28:46 | |
..potent home-made floral fizz... | 0:28:46 | 0:28:50 | |
and fresh from my garden, an edible bouquet, | 0:28:50 | 0:28:53 | |
a housewarming gift of home-grown herbs. | 0:28:53 | 0:28:56 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:29:06 | 0:29:10 |