Apple Day 21st October

Our first Apple Day celebration at the Windmill Hill City Farm was a great success.  Over 500 people came to join in a range of fun appley activities, and enjoyed delicious, freshly-pressed apple juice.  There are some great photos on our Facebook page.

A dozen people helped to pick (mainly Bramley) apples from the Farm, staff and visitors brought in fruit from their own garden, and we had some emergency supplies just in case …

Altogether 7 or 8 green trugs full of apples were processed to a fine mixture which started to produce juice as soon as it was loaded into the hydropress.  The juice was intense in flavor, so we were able to do some ‘second pressings’ of the pulp mixed with water and still get a tasty juice.  The final dry pulp was added to the Farm's compost heap.

As people were drinking the apple juice almost as quickly as we were making it, we didn’t get an exact measure of the total volume produced.  Our best estimate is 80 litres.  It was so popular we ran out of cups.  Some lucky people got to take a whole bottle home at the end.

We are now discussing how best to make the fruit pressing equipment available for hire to other City Farms, community orchards and local people with lots of fruit trees.

In the children’s area they had a go at peeling, slicing and coring apples in one go using an ingenious hand-driven gadget.  They also bobbed for apples – not as easy as it looks!  A beautiful Wish Tree was created with hopes for the day and for the future, this is now in the Farm’s Reception area.

Preparing for Apple Day

Staff and volunteers at the farm are gearing up for our first Apple Day on Sunday 21^st October 12-6pm.  Simone has organised a wide range of fun family activities, all to the sound of Country and Western music

(see http://www.windmillhillcityfarm.org.uk/events/appleday.html). 

The Fruitfulness Project will be trying out the Centrifugal Mill (scratter) and Hydropress for the first time.  We were ambitious and procured large volume equipment – so we can process lots of apples and pears (even grapes).  It’s unfortunate that this first year of the project has been such a poor year for apples – it was so cold and wet when the trees were blossoming that the bees weren’t about to fertilise them.  Many people are reporting that they have no, or very few, fruits on their trees. 

We will be harvesting a variety of apples from the Farm itself this week.  If you have lots of apples and pears in your garden and you’d like to turn some of them into fruit juice, do bring them along to Apple Day.  No rotten fruit or windfalls please! 

 
Fruit pressing equipment from Vigo Presses in Devon

Apple Peeler Slicer Corer from Lakeland

Also bring some clean plastic containers (such as milk cartons or pop bottles) to take away the juice. Be aware that freshly pressed fruit juice contains natural yeasts and these will start to ferment after about a week, producing CO₂ gas.  This could cause glass bottles to explode.  The juice can be pasteurized at 70^oC to prevent this, and juice can also be frozen for longer term storage.

We have a small press that children can try out, and some apple peeler, slicer, corers that are fun to use and speed up processing fruit for cooking. Some of the apple slices will be dried out in a dehumidifier, to make tasty and healthy fruity snacks.  

Poisonous Berries

On a recent foraging walk with young children that retraced the route taken in June (see post below) it seemed a good idea to point out those fruits and berries that are NOT good to eat.  When trying any new fruit, even when it is generally considered to be edible, it is sensible to try only a little bit first, in case you react badly.  Some fruits (haws from hathorns for example) are used in herbal medicine and may have undesirable effects on you, or you may find you are allergic.

Always refer to a reliable guidebook when foraging and only take things which you can identify confidently.  Some good sources of information on toxic berries can be found on the Internet - see The Wild Food School www.countrylovers.co.uk/wfs/wfsberries.htm which has some good photographs and advice for foragers.  The Royal Horticultural Society www.rhs.org.uk has a list of plants that are potentially harmful to humans.

Always wash your harvest before eating! As well as the general dirt and pollution found in the urban environment, some trees may have been sprayed with chemicals. Anything growing low down may have been contaminated by dogs or foxes, and there could be insects (juicy maggots!) on the fruits that you don't want to eat.

We were asked whether acorns were edible: the information found on this suggests that some types are edible, but only after extensive preparation.  You need to research what type of oak the acorns come from, white oaks tend to be more palatable than red oaks.  They all contain bitter tannins that need to be boiled out, with several changes of water.  It is quite a laborious process to make them into an acceptable substance which can be turned into flour, and the last time they were popular in Britain was when there was a famine!  They are a traditional part of the American Indian diet and are also used to make noodles in Korea.
 

Nominet Exhibition- Our Day Out

The Windmill Hill City Farm Community Development Team are on a day out today.  We are at the Nominet Exhibition in Broadmead.  We are here all day chatting to people and exploring ways to see how the internet can bring people, ideas, learning and communities together.

We met local resident Ron today, who went online for the first time only a few days ago. He had lots of stories to tell us about being sustainable, due to his thrifty lifestyle during the war years spent working on a farm.  He chatted to us about the benefits of being resourceful, how he keeps himself young and always open to learning new things.

Lots of inspiring people came into the Nominet exhibition who shared with us the ways they contribute to their local community and environment. We met Mohammed who works with children and adults with learning difficulties and supports them with numeracy and literacy skills.  He talked to Iwona our Fruitfulness volunteer worker about how is always finding ways to be an 'Active Citizen' in his community in Portishead.

Georgina, Jamela, Abby and Megan from a local school came along to the exhibition to find out what we were up to at the Nominet Exhibition.  Abby was interested in blogging and setting up her own blog about climbing and reading - the other girls said she is a brilliant writer.  We had a chat with her about how to set up a blog and we are looking forward to reading her new blog.

The girls were also interested in volunteering and Jules the Community Development Worker and Rosie our volunteer Sustainablity Engagement Worker talked to them about volunteering at the Farm.
We look forward to finding out what volunteering opportunities they may get involved in.

Today we have also been developing some new exciting projects for Active Citizens in 2013. We are developing a project which we hope will encourage people in the local community to find ways to be more sustainable in everyday life. Step Out for Sustainability (SOS) will explore ways to encourage households in the local community to make thoughtful decisions about how they travel, cook, shop, run their houses and deal with their waste.  Details coming soon...

Our Digital Planet Exhibition in Broadmead

The Active Citizens Project will be taking part in the Nominet Trust’s Our Digital Planet exhibition at Bristol Broadmead on Friday 21^st September.  Do come along and meet the project team, we’ll be there from 10.30a.m. to 4p.m.

The aim of the exhibition is highlight the broad and far-reaching impact the Internet is having on our lives and to help people understand more about its potential.  The exhibition includes images and information on projects that show how the Internet helps with:

• Democracy

• Community Engagement

• Support Networks

• Social Isolation

• Health and Well-being

• Economic Well-being

• Hobbies and Interests

There will be an Internet station for you to use yourself, to find out more, perhaps to get online for the first time?  Nominet Trust experts will be on hand to give help with any questions or issues you may have.

The Active Citizens project team look forward to meeting you and finding out about your ideas for how to use the Internet to get involved with – or start – a local initiative in your community.  We will have information on volunteering opportunities,  local environmental projects around Bristol, the Fruitfulness Project and how to create a blog.

August Fruits

Blackberry Picking

We’ve found several places within 5 minutes walk of the City Farm where blackberries can be found.  August is when they start ripening, and we have already seen some really large juicy ones! 

A small group of us walked into Victoria Park and turned right towards Bedminster station.  There are some really large bramble bushes thriving along the railway fence, with plenty of fruit in easy reach.  We used a long stick to hold back the prickly branches and nettles where necessary so we could pick the darkest fruits.

Past the station entrance and moving onto the start of the Malago Walkway we found so many bushes, we filled up our bags and containers really quickly! 

We have frozen some to use on the next Jam-making session on Wed 26^th September (book online at www.freewebstore.org/windmillhillcityfarm/index.aspx?pageid=1212375 ).  Blackberries are also great in pies and crumbles, especially mixed with apples.

We also found this unusual Umbrella Tree – a useful find given the wet summer we have been having!

Plums on the Bath Road

Some of you may have noticed the colourful mess of plums spreading across the pavement on the Bath Road near the Three Lamps junction.

Initial inspection suggests there is some type of purple plum and two less well known fruits – the Mirabelle plum (which has small, rounded yellow fruit that is popular in France for jam-making) and the cherry plum.   Cherry plums have small, round, red-coloured fruit which are the size of a large cherry but with a plum stone inside and the crease typical of a plum on the outside. 

This is a good example of why the Fruitfulness project was set up as we can’t bear to see this lovely fruit going to waste!  If you’d like to share in gathering this free harvest – before all the fruit falls and turns to mush – contact the City Farm to volunteer.  If you’d like to get involved with other fruit harvesting and  foraging walks in the Bedminster area, keep an eye on the Events page.

Jam-Making Session

A small group of novice jam-makers took part in the Fruitfulness Project’s first jam-making session in the Farm Café kitchen.  Sarah Gillett, an award-winning preserve maker who sells through the Avon Country Market in Westbury-on-Trym set us to making gooseberry jam and redcurrant jelly.

 

She had brought some useful equipment – two large, flat bottomed pans, some flat-edged wooden spoons, a spatula, pouring cups and a ladle, jam thermometers, a muslin bag and frame, plenty of recipe books to look through and some jars, lids and covers to pot up the results.

After a short briefing on what we needed to do, emphasising the sterile techniques employed, we all put on aprons and got cracking, half of us looking after the redcurrant jelly and the others the gooseberry jam. The gooseberries had been picked young from the City Farm – perfect for jam-making.  First they were topped and tailed and washed then put to heat in a flat-bottomed pan with a little water.  Sarah advises using a well-tried recipe to obtain the right proportions for the weight of fruit you are using. 

Meanwhile the sugar (ordinary granulated sugar) was warmed on a large tray in the oven set at 150C.   When the gooseberries had softened and come to the boil the sugar and some lemon juice was added and the fruit was allowed to simmer to dissolve the sugar.  A jam thermometer with a useful clip was hung on the inside of the pan, with the end just dipping into the fruit.  A saucer was put into the fridge to cool, and empty jam jars were put into the oven on a tray, with the temperature now turned down to prevent cracking. The jam was stirred with the flat-edged wooden spoon which ensured that nothing stuck to the bottom of the pan, keeping an eye on the temperature.  When this reached ‘Jam’ at around 220C, the pan was taken off the heat and a spoonful of jam was put on the chilled saucer and put back in the fridge to see had it reached setting point.

We had a head start with the redcurrant jelly as Sarah had brought some redcurrant juice that she had made earlier at home.  This was put into a pan that had first had some butter smeared on the bottom – this prevents scum forming.  The sugar was put into the oven to warm – 1lb for each pint of juice.  When warm this was added to the juice and the mixture was brought to the boil and simmered with a jam thermometer, stirring with a wooden spoon.

Smaller jars were put into the oven to sterilise (upside-down on a tray).  When the jelly had reached 220C a spoonful was put onto a chilled saucer, with the pan taken off the heat.

The jam / jelly has reached setting point when the surface crinkles with a finger drawn across it. The redcurrant jelly was judged perfectly, while the gooseberry had to go back on to boil for a few more minutes.

We found the pouring cups that Sarah had brought were ideal for trying to pour the redcurrant jelly into the smaller pots. 

We used cloths to protect our hands as the pots were hot – especially after being filled. 

We had to fill the jars right up to the top and cover them quickly: we used a small waxed disc, waxed side down then a cellophane circle that had been damped on one side (used on the outside), held in place with a rubber band.  The edges of the cellophane were pulled down as flat as possible around the side of the jar, to ensure there was an air-tight seal.  We weren’t quite as neat as Sarah, but this was our first time, and after a quick wipe with a damp cloth to remove the drips we were very pleased with our clear red jelly! 

After a short break to sample the Café’s brownies and drink some elderflower cordial (made with flowers from Victoria Park), we agreed to add a couple of spoonfuls of cordial to the gooseberry jam, which was now ready to pot up. The gooseberries had turned red, having started out as pale green.

This time we used new lids which were scalded in boiling water to sterilise. Again the jars were filled to the top and the lids screwed on quickly. These were the kind of lids that ‘pop’ once opened, so you could tell if they were still air-tight.

We also boiled up some more local redcurrants until they were soft enough to put through Sarah’s muslin strainer to extract the juice. After one straining, the pulp was returned to the pan with a little more water to boil up again, to get the maximum juice out. We were therefore able to replace some of the juice that she had provided. At the end of the session we divided up the produce and Sarah gave us some notes and answered questions.

We are pleased that we have invited her back to take some more jam and chutney-making sessions in the Autumn – see the Events page for details.

You can buy Sarah’s preserves at the Westbury-on-Trym Country Market which is held every Friday 10.30-11.30a.m. at the Methodist Church Hall on Westbury Hill and the Wednesday Farmer’s Market on Corn Street.  For more details see www.avoncountrymarket.co.uk.  If you are already an expert jam-maker and would like to sell your own preserves, contact the Avon Country Market for your nearest market.