Free Foraged Food - Ash Keys - Pickling

I am lucky enough to have several ash trees in my garden, although they are unlikely to be cut down for firewood use (they are one of the best trees to use for firewood as the logs don't require lengthy seasoning), they do give the garden some much needed shelter from the sun, as well as providing me with ash keys to pickle.

I have to say this is a new one on me, so I can't tell you what they taste like, but as I have a bountiful free harvest of these I though I would try this out.

The best keys for picking are at the debut of summer when they are fresh, green and non-fibrous.  Too old and they are too tough.

Pickled Ash Keys

Ingredients:

§  2 cups of Ash Keys without stalks

§  1 tsp ground cloves

§  1 tsp ground cinnamon

§  4 bay leaves

§  8 peppercorns

§  1 tsp allspice

§  1/2 tsp ground ginger

§  1 tsp salt

§  3 tbsp brown sugar

§  2 cups cider vinegar

§  water (for a bain marie)

1.    Wash the keys, then place in a pan covered with cold water and bring to the boil, simmerfor 5 minutes.

2.    Strain off the water and return to the pan with some fresh water, then bring back to boil and simmer for a further 5 minutes.

3.    Drain the keys through a colander and shake well to get rid of any excess water, and once dry pack into clean dry jars, but allow an inch of space from the top of the jar.

4.    Put the spices, salt and sugar into a bowl and add the vinegar.

5.    Warm the spice mix in a bain marie – which is just a fancy way of saying – put the bowl over a saucepan of water then bring the water to a boil.   Allow the pickling vinegar to simmer for about 5 minutes, then leave it to cool by placing the bowl into some cold water, or you can leave it to cool by itself but it will take longer  (– in fact if you are horribly organized you could prepare the pickling vinegar and then go out and pick your ash keys – if only I had thought of doing it that way round earlier).

6.    Strain the liquid through a sieve into a jug and pour over the keys filling the jars right to the brim, and secure the lids well.  As this is a pickling vinegar there is no need for sterilization - if you have them kilner jars are ideal for this.

7.    Store in a cool dry place to mature for about 3 months.

8.    Apparently they have a taste reminiscent of capers and can be used as a caper replacement – will just have to wait and see.

Welded to the office chair and crochet flower patterns

With April finishing on a very wet note, all things green and planty are shooting up in the garden and I just know that very shortly I will be attached to my hoe and wading up and down the lines of seeds trying valiantly to do battle with the weeds.

Until then I am welded to my office chair and finally getting around to re-opening my etsy shop and doing a bit of updating and tidying up of my listings.

I have realised that I need a model to get the latest refashions and bags photographed and for that will have to wait until my daughter is free and not buried under a mound of homework.

In the meantime along with uploading photos and editing descriptions etc etc, I have been messing about with a ball of cotton and a crochet hook.

I love to crochet and learnt as a child, but in the intervening adult years I found various other pursuits more to my taste, namely bikes, cars and boys - but this is not a story of my misspent youth - in recent times I have picked up my crochet hook more and more frequently, and whilst my amibitions are still very modest I have found that I don't need to go back right to the beginning and relearn single and double stitches every time I want to make something.

Over the last 24 hours I have crocheted a veritable garden of flowers ready to be sewn to an upcycled garment or to be part of another bag design - only problem is now that I have started I can't seem to stop.........



I am starting the flowers with a chain (ch) of 4 then joining together with a slipped stitch (slst).

Into the loop double chain (dc) 20 times, then single chain (sc) into every stitch.

From there it all goes a bit mad and a bit random, some flowers I have continued as follows:

Round 3 - ch 1, sc into next stitch, ch1, sc, contune all the way around
Round 4 - ch3, sc into next stitch, ch 3, sc, continue all the way around
Round 5 - chain 3, dc 3 times into the chained loop of the previous round, sc, ch3, 3dc into loop, sc, and continue into every loop all the way around to create a ruffled flower.

Another varaion: 

Round 1 - chain 4, join together, crochet 20 dc into the loop 

Round 2 - chain 1, sc around, join to first sc

Round 3 - chain 1, sc in same stitch, *skip 1 stitch, 7 dc in the next stitch, skip 1 stitch, sc in next stitch* repeat 4 more times to create five petals

Yet another variation:
Round 1 -  ch 3 ( counts as 1 dc), work into the ring 1 dc, *6 ch, 3 dc*, repeat from * to * 5 times, 6 ch, 1 dc, join with a slip stitch in the 3 rd ch of the ch-3 worked in the beginning of the round

Round 2: * chain 1, work (1 sc, 7 dc, 1 sc ) all into the chain arch, chain 1, skip 1 dc, slip stitch in next dc*, repeat from * to * throughout the round

I am using the same 50g ball of 100% pure cotton in a variagated dye so the flowers change colour by themselves as you go along.