Gathering free food

 After the bread round, I try to take the dogs out for a walk most days. These days it is no great hardship as the sun persists in pretending it’s still summer and wonderful clear mornings have given way to sunny days by the time we get to go out. These days, walks are even better as the blackberries are beginning to ripen and it is proving to be a bumper year for fruit. Even the ancient wild damsons at the back of an old hays shed field are ladden down with fruit and free food is everywhere.  Last Sunday we had Blackberry pancakes and Blackberry lemonade and this week we are planning on damson cake, damson pudding and lots and lots and lots of damsons pickled in red wine and red wine vinegar – a secret family recipe that is spectacular. And then there is the elder trees turning to fruit and the crab apples and rosehips looking to be turned into jelly and juice. All free and all available in a hedgerow near you any time over the next month. Busy we may be, but nobody is too busy to pick fruit when the sun is shining. The hunter gatherer in me is still strong enough to enjoy this picking, especially away from the roads when the environmentalist can’t grumble too much about heavy metal residue. And the hunter gatherer also likes bottles and jars and freezers ( new age hunter gatherer here)  filled with products for the winter. This abundance of food compensates us for the loss of day light hours and lower temperatures. The cooking and preserving reminds us of long winters where the fruit will be welcome and distracts us from the Santa ads on the radio which seem to be earlier than ever and make me want to boycott the whole Christmas thing. Looking forward to the harvest festivals – we block out the other one and run with the free food, foraging and cooking over commerce, and spending and artifical magic. 

Buying and selling

After the bread round  - when we settle down to a day’s selling at some market, we first set up  our stall and look for customers and then we change tack and, turning into a customer, we start to shop at our neighbours and other stall holders while at the same time, they sidle around to ask to hold a baguette or a loaf and some Stromboli. On a Thursday in Kilkenny, Speltbakers stall is flanked by Coolanowl Organic Meat on one side and Hartley's Sea Foods on the other. Choice can be a hard thing and  so we alternate and eat meat one Thursday and fish the next. We indulge in the finest of steak or beautiful sausages or a great cut of salmon, tuna or haddock combined with Pat Hartley’s own tartar sauce. Then we wonder on to buy our veg and get a tea or a hot chocolate. We enviously look at the queue of the tourists as they wait patiently for the crepes or the delights of the Bula Bus, a great mobile restaurant. At other markets or fairs, we meet other small producers and sample their wares, see how we can combine our product, can we maybe supply bread to their sausages or baps to their burgers? We chat and exchange views and ideas, we learn from more experienced traders and help out or ask for help when we or them need to leave the  for a while. We plan the Christmas season in the beautiful weather of early autumn and we envy – kind of – all those intrepid souls that traded at the electric picnic last weekend. We listen to the feed back, the tiredness, the sore legs but also  the energy  that comes from being part of such a brilliant weekend and we scheme and plan again.  It is great to be part of the trading community, of those who produce artisan food and crafts and this community is a fantastic and invaluable resource – not only for the advice and help but also for the delicious food. Maybe, just maybe, we will try the electric picnic next year, build  ourselves a funky stall and sell hundreds of Stromboli. We reckon the Stromboli would sell but would I be able to stand the loud music – me who turns off the radio when I come into the bake house??