The hope is to be able to produce some flour from this and from that some locally baked bread – bagels, bialys, sourdough…whatever! From grain to plate!
The ace was on to be able to plough in the green manure and prepare the land for planting before it would be too cold for the planting.
Great work from Regather and friends to ensure the field was ready, the ploughing went ahead.
Not long ago i had a brief, almost throw away conversation, with people at Regather. We were talking about where our food comes from and how important it is to understand what happens before it gets to our plate.
This subject spans a wide spectrum of topics – from GMOs to multinationals to deforestation to imperialism to poverty, war….and more.
Friends’ field: green manure for three years
One aspect is fostering an experiential approach to understanding food production.
So, children have been seen increasingly at city farms over the past 30 years; our own Heeley City Farm being a great example; and schemes like Food for Life are dedicated to ensuring we widen our collective understanding of food production and can access tasty and healthy food sustainably.
With regard to bread, the growth of sourdough bakeries has both stimulated and been a product of a discussion about and move away from manufactured bread products. Even so it seems there has not been a discussion at the next level of where the grain comes from and how it is processed . And this contrasts with wider discussions about organic vegetables, for example, or ‘food miles’.
Grain to plate experience.
Hay meadow at Friends Field
When I learnt Regather might be linking up with Friends Field, some dots started to join in my head.
Friends Field is a social enterprise in the wonderful Moss Volley.
15 acres of land that has had green manure for three years cut three times a year and mulched for worms to do their magic.
So last week i hear they will be a planting winter wheat (i.e it is sown in the winter) in an acre and half of the field; and next year via harrowing, planting, harvesting, threshing , milling, bagging and baking, it may land on a Sheffield plate!
There is still lots to find out and do. Not sure yet if it is hard or soft, red or white …. but we will find out soon as it has to be planted by November 5th.
A friend recently said that they had ‘gone vegan’ .
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A friend recently said that they had ‘gone vegan’ .
This is an odd phrase; it implies a lifestyle transformation rather than just a conscious decision to alter diet. We don’t weigh down other diet changes with the same baggage – such as not eating cheese or high fat products.
It is a hard choice in spite of the current supermarket trends, probably because so much of our lives are peppered with meat products and animal derivatives. And it can be more expensive.
But it need not be a life scrambler.
So when my friend, a loyal and valued beetroot bagel lover, bemoaned a lack of replacement for scrambled eggs on beetroot bagel, i came up with this vegan alternative.
1 medium onion finely chopped – i used white but red would also work well
150g Clearspring Silken tofu mashed (if you are in Sheffield, from BeaniesZeds or Nutshell)
1/2 green chilli finely chopped
Dash of soya sauce
Black pepper to taste
Steam some spinach – optional
Some sport on telly
If you are having spinach or spring greens from your Regather veg box (or your garden) with it, wash and prepare them for steaming.
Halve the beetroot bagel
Soften the onion on a low heat in some olive oil
Meanwhile finely chop about half a green chilli (i don’t have this very hot, just enough to let you know it is there; so i use about half a chilli, but your taste buds are different so use what you think is best for you.)
When the onion is translucent, add the chilli and leave on a low heat for about another five minuets stirring occasionally.
Mash the Tofu and add
Turn up the heat slightly, add soya sauce and black pepper and stir.
If you are steaming greens, put on a pan of water. If you do not have a steamer just a covering on the bottom of the pan is fine. Bring to the boil. Add greens, cover.
Stir the tofu – there is a bit of liquid with the silken tofu that can be boiled off but not so it becomes dry.
When the greens are slightly shriveled, all is done.
Last month i was able to announce that Regather together with Friend’s Field, were planting an acre of land with winter wheat.
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So when my friend, a loyal and valued beetroot bagel lover, bemoaned a lack of replacement for scrambled eggs on beetroot bagel, i came up with this vegan alternative.