It’s 4.30pm on Saturday (though I won’t be posting until later), or 1995 if you follow the other form of dating I’ve been using. In 1995 I’m married with kids, happy and couldn’t tell you what was happening in the outside world because I didn’t have time to notice.
Wikipedia tells me that John Major called a leadership election to confirm his leadership of the party. I mention this only because it gives me chance for a John Major anecdote. I met him once and was introduced. About an hour later I met him again and he remembered my name. There was no need for him to have done that and it struck me that a man who could remember names like that, and appear to be pleased to meet you for a second time, would probably rise high in politics. He did.
There’s probably room for a whole digression on leadership and what it takes to succeed in politics here, but it wouldn’t be as interesting as cookery and gardening. I wish I’d realised that years ago.
Here are some pictures of a Wild greens quiche with guinea fowl eggs. My wife is making me describe weeds as wild greens now. Some years ago we went through a similar process with a product I now call “manure”.
It’s onions, blanched nettles and fat hen in a ready made pastry case. After adding the eggs and milk I dropped torn up chive blossom, calendula petals and whole borage flowers to the top. I will have to work on preserving the colour of the petals.
The water I blanched the nettles in took on a lovely green colour after just a minute or two of steeping and after removing the leaves I drank it. Much nicer than the cup I made earlier in the week, and much fresher tasting, though it did have overtones of calabrese. Compared with overtones of fox I’ll go for that. With hindsight I should have strained the insect shaped bits out of it, but I’m not a vegetarian so no harm done.
We have another school next week, a planning session, part one of my takeover of the catering side and I’m going to do some cuttings with willow water. The comfrey plant food is decidedly murky now – you wouldn’t want to swim in a pond that colour- and the indoor salads are really getting a move on now, in contrast to the disappointing outdoor salads.
Finally, after seeing my display of Wild Salad at the Open Farm Sunday I’ve been asked if I can do one at a buffet in a few weeks time. My weedy fame is spreading!
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An inspiring quiche! Shame your salads are not performing outside….
The nettles and fat hen are doing OK, so I’ll just have to be flexible!
Yes, flexible is a good approach!
When you got to “comfrey plant food” – I was getting really interested: we have lots of comfrey! Alas, it was about ‘plant food’ rather than ‘comfrey plant’. Anyway, one doesn’t usually swim in one’s food, even if it’s not murky.
Can you really not eat comfrey in any way?
And I don’t think day lily flowers have been mentioned – I suppose it is not a weed, though they grow like one.
Some people certainly drink comfrey tea, including a local doctor, but there are quite a few warnings about it too. Its use is legally restricted in Australia, Canada and Germany due to health concerns. With plenty of other things to try I’ve given it a miss so far.
As we can feed it to pigs and chickens, apply it as a poultice and use it for mulching and composting it has plenty of uses to justify growing it.
I’ll add day lily buds to the list.