It’s over seven weeks now since the coronavirus lockdown order was announced: right across the world we must all obey the rules and stay at home. A recent e mail from, son, Tom, in rural Japan could have come from up the road! The restrictions on life sound absolutely familiar and yet they are living on the other side of the world. As each day passes a new vocabulary is emerging in every language: social distancing, self-isolation, stay safe, stay home, stay alert, R-numbers, wiggle-room and, of course, lockdown, to name but a few. How strange it all is.
Gradually and uncomfortably we must adjust to this isolating way of life; no friends for tea or supper, no family visits, no summer picnics or walks with friends, no hugs, no kisses. Sometimes there’s a chance of a wave to a neighbour or passer-by, a shouted greeting, but little else. We must all turn to our own resources. We must Zoom, phone, face-time, e-mail, twitter, what’s app…….
Oh, how lucky we are to have our garden. Although it will be the first time in ten years that we will not be opening in June in aid of the National Garden Scheme Nursing Charities, it doesn’t stop me from gardening my socks off!! I just love to see spring turn into summer and the valley leap into life once more. And, of course, this is the most spectacular year! Wild garlic and bluebells vie with red campion. Camellias begin to fade replaced by blousy rhododendrons. The Embothrium, huge now, explodes into scarlet. The bright red leaves of photinia vie with azaleas. And forget-me-nots, azure as the summer sky, run riot; a cacophony of chaotic colour!
Tomatoes stand to attention in the greenhouse. Courgettes are in place in the vegetable garden. Beans go in tomorrow when sunshine is a promise. Only my salad seeds are suffering after one of the orange egg ladies jumped the fence and had a scratch around in pastures new!!
Lambing time is finished now too. No more late nights and early mornings for us! But even so yesterday was a big day for Paul. All sheep came in for dagging, drenching and ovine manicures to keep everyone fit and healthy in the months to come. Rain has helped the spring grass grow and ewes graze peacefully on the hillside while lambs play together like kindergarten kids, donkeys looking on over the fence.
Like so many of us, penned up at this time, my thoughts have turned to cooking. I have always found it strangely therapeutic, odd, I know! In bygone days when I finished a hectic day at work on the farm having prepared all those dozens of salad bags and table birds for delivery, I would stare into the fridge and gently unwind as I planned an evening meal.
Now I find myself gazing into the deep freeze and pondering how to create something without going shopping! I’m amazed at what has emerged!! Fig conserve made from last year’s frozen fruit. Big pots of chutney sit in the larder created from those strange green frozen tomatoes, a few shallots, fresh ginger and spices.
On a wet day I found a tub of chicken livers and made chicken liver pate.
I have spatch-cocked a chicken, rediscovered how delicious Salad Nicoise can be. I have cooked pork belly with lentils, ginger and sweet potato. We’ve had big flans filled with left over this and that, sea bream baked in parchment, simple pasta dishes, chicken risotto, even a sort of paella!
And then I came upon a packet of pork mince from my erstwhile pigs. Digging deeper revealed a few chicken thighs and a turkey liver! Terrine, I thought! All I needed was some streaky bacon and there it was.
I chopped a couple of shallots and crushed three cloves of garlic and mixed them into the pork. Salt and pepper followed with a glug of red wine. I let it stand for a while to give time for the flavours to infuse. Meanwhile I lined a little loaf tin with bacon. In went half the pork mince and a layer of the chicken, skin removed. The turkey liver followed , some chopped parsley from the garden, then more chicken and finally the remaining mince.
Carefully I folded the bacon across the top and decorated it with a few slices of lemon and a couple of bay leaves. I covered it with tin foil and put it into a ban marie of hot water and into the oven at 180c. I checked it after an hour or so with a skewer to see if the juices were still pink. I continued cooking till they ran clear. Then out of the oven and on went a heavy weight. I have a brick, well washed, for this purpose but anything will do as long as it gently presses down the meat.
Once cold it went into the fridge; a treat in store! So good with a baked potato and salad.
But tonight it will be wonderful sausages made by our local Dartmouth butcher with a vegetable bake, that is to say, whatever I find in the fridge with a cheese sauce!
And we’ll all soldier on in this strange twilight world.
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