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The Seasonal Table

A journal of slow food and slow living from a smallholding in rural England

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Spelt Risotto with Sorrel, Asparagus, and Herb Flowers

31/05/2020 By The Seasonal Table Leave a Comment

Spelt Risotto with Sorrel, Asparagus, and Herb Flowers -- https://theseasonaltable.co.uk/savoury/spelt-risotto-with-sorrel-asparagus-and-herb-flowers/

We expanded the herb patch last year following a fragrant, fascinating, and rainy excursion to one of the Jekka’s Herb Farm open days. We returned from our trip, smelling strongly of every herb imaginable, with two huge, damp, paper bags full of baby plants. Salad burnet, caraway, chervil, lemon verbena, orange and lemon thymes, winter savoury, hyssop, wild celery, Moroccan mint, and sorrel. Space for the aromatic collection was made by removing a sprawling conifer shrub that had taken over most of a flowerbed, and emptying a couple of patio pots. While the herbs willingly fill out their allocated spots in the soil, we have been harvesting by the handful and experimenting in the kitchen. We have found ourselves regularly going back to the sorrel, a broad-leaved variety (rumex acetosa), which has proved extremely useful and delicious in cooking.

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Chickens: Creating a Dual-Purpose UK Easter Egger Flock – Part 3

03/04/2020 By The Seasonal Table Leave a Comment

Chickens: Creating a Dual-Purpose UK Easter Egger Flock – Part 3 | Foraging| https://theseasonaltable.co.uk/smallholding/chickens-creating-a-dual-purpose-uk-easter-egger-flock-part-3/

This is part three of the story of how we created our dual-purpose meat and coloured-egg laying flock here on the smallholding. You can read part 1 here and part 2 here.

After deciding on the chicken breeds to keep, we came up with a plan. We wanted to keep a closed flock*, which meant buying hatching eggs to incubate. As we are doing things on a very small scale (initially we had room in the chicken house for a maximum of 8 large birds), we had to build up the flock slowly with one hatch per year. We decided to start with the Marans and Welsummers in year one; Araucanas and Ixworths in year two; and breeding hybrid chickens in year three.

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Shetland Sheep

30/06/2019 By The Seasonal Table Leave a Comment

Shetland Sheep -- Breed Characteristics | https://theseasonaltable.co.uk/smallholding/shetland-sheep/

This time last year, after months of research and planning, we decided to get a small flock of sheep to live here on the smallholding. We were keen to get heritage, multi-purpose sheep, who could offer us the ability to produce excellent dairy, meat and wool. We also wanted a flock that would be well suited to life on a smallholding and easy to look after. After careful consideration (and a close contest with Icelandic sheep), we settled on Shetland sheep, who seemed to fit the bill perfectly.

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Rainbow Chard with Fennel, Chilli, Wild Garlic and Rosemary | https://theseasonaltable.co.uk/savoury/rainbow-chard-with-fennel,-chilli,-wild-garlic-and-rosemary/

Rainbow Chard with Fennel, Chilli, Wild Garlic and Rosemary

It has been a rather unusual weather week. Most mornings started with frost, icy water buckets, and gloved windscreen scraping. Then fierce daytime sunshine took over and our winter coats were swiftly replaced with t-shirts and sunglasses. As night descended, so did the temperature, which meant lighting the log burners remained essential in our stone…

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Apple Pie -- Seasonal recipes uk | https://theseasonaltable.co.uk/sweet/apple-pie/

Apple Pie

Apple season is in full swing here on the smallholding. It is a favourite time of year for the geese, whose morning routine now begins with an extremely loud and flappy visit to the base of their favourite apple tree to see what windfalls have come down overnight. They appear to have a strict finders…

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Wild Blackberry and Rosewater Cake -- Seasonal food UK | https://theseasonaltable.co.uk/sweet/wild-blackberry-and-rosewater-cake/

Wild Blackberry and Rosewater Cake

Wild blackberries are very much at home on the smallholding. They wind their way through hawthorn, ash and nettle hedgerows, providing a welcome barrier from the country lane and home for a multitude of wildlife. Unfortunately the brambles also pop up in less welcome places. This year they have made an appearance in the middle…

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Rhubarb soda in the orchard. Our quick recipe for Rhubarb soda in the orchard. Our quick recipe for this sparkling spring thirst quencher is in the latest issue of the very lovely @simplethingsmag along with a few of our other favourite April-time recipes if you fancy a read. It’s also up on the magazine’s blog (link in our stories). Wishing you all a very happy (hopefully rhubarb-soda-ry) last day of the Easter weekend.
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#rhubarb #rhubarbrecipes #vegetablepatch #seasonspoetry #smallholding #countrysidelife #organicgardening #seasonalsimplicity #homestead #homesteading #selfsufficiency  #organic #countryliving #thegoodlife #spring #smallholdinguk #homestead #rurallife
The vegetable patch clouded by the mist that desce The vegetable patch clouded by the mist that descends so often at this time of year. Though many of the raised beds are empty now, there are a few winter crops to collect: various wonky brassicas, carrots, winter salad leaves, leeks and chard. Hopefully enough to keep us going until spring.
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#vegetablepatch #seasonspoetry #seasonalshift #smallholding #countrysidelife #organicgardening #seasonalsimplicity #homestead #homesteading #selfsufficiency  #organic #countryliving #thegoodlife #winter #smallholdinguk #homestead #rurallife
Stockings hung by the cosy glow of the fire and en Stockings hung by the cosy glow of the fire and enough wood stacked up to keep the flames going through to Christmas Day. Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas!
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#handmadchristmas #firewood #woodisgood #christmasdecorations #christmasinthecountry #christmasdecor #naturalchristmas #seasonspoetry #seasonalshift #smallholding #countrysidelife #organicgardening #seasonalsimplicity #selfsufficiency  #organic #countryliving #thegoodlife #winter #smallholdinguk #homestead #rurallife
For our first Christmas on the smallholding, we cu For our first Christmas on the smallholding, we cut a handful of lime-green and red willow stems from the shrubs that grow at the waterlogged edges of the stream and twisted them into a rustic wreath. It has decorated our front door every December since, its bright colours now faded to plum and ochre, fresh seasonal foliage tucked amongst the tangle of twigs. Our favourite adornments include a base of waxy evergreen leaves like holly (with berries), sprays of conifer with tiny pinecones clinging to their tips, and twists of ivy; we add extra texture with dried seed heads (silvery sea holly is our usual choice)and foraged pinecones; plus flashes of festive colour from late rosehips and short stems of pyracantha berries. Hanging the wreath on the front door, exposed to the winter air and occasional rain, keeps the foliage looking fresh, so it lasts happily until twelfth night.
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#handmadchristmas #christmaswreath #christmasdecorations #christmasinthecountry #christmasdecor #naturalchristmas #seasonspoetry #seasonalshift #smallholding #countrysidelife #organicgardening #seasonalsimplicity #selfsufficiency  #organic #countryliving #thegoodlife #winter #smallholdinguk #homestead #rurallife
A couple of homemade decorations for the Christmas A couple of homemade decorations for the Christmas table: candles and garlands. 
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We make very simple garlands from garden twine, foraged pinecones (collected back in the summer), and walnuts (gathered in autumn from our neighbour’s tree) painted silver and gold, to hang from the ceiling corners and twirl along the centre of the dining table.
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And we drill a few holes in some chunks of wood from the log store to make rustic holders for a hotchpotch of beeswax candles. They bring a cosy, honey-scented glow to the table.
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#handmadchristmas #christmasdecorations #christmasinthecountry #christmasdecor #naturalchristmas #seasonspoetry #seasonalshift #smallholding #countrysidelife #organicgardening #seasonalsimplicity #selfsufficiency  #organic #countryliving #thegoodlife #winter #smallholdinguk #homestead #rurallife
Holly and ivy are fantastic festive fodder for our Holly and ivy are fantastic festive fodder for our sheep during the winter months when the grass growth is little. We often gather small branches of the soft holly leaves that grow higher up the trees (where they are usually out of reach of hungry animals and don’t feel the need to prickle up) and pull up tangles of deep green ivy from an overgrown bank for the flock to munch as a fresh treat alongside their daily ration of hay.
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This pic was taken for our latest feature in the Christmas issue of the wonderful @simplethingsmag. It’s out now if you fancy a read. 
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#shetlandsheep #seasonspoetry #seasonalshift #smallholding #countrysidelife #organicgardening #seasonalsimplicity #selfsufficiency  #organic #countryliving #thegoodlife #winter #smallholdinguk #homestead #rurallife
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