Playing catch up now, backlogged diary incoming…
Tues 13 April
Have been thinking over the past week about how I might regret not keeping a record of the first month of being here, good job I’m learning not to harbour negative feelings! I’ve been feeling quite down of late, and thinking that journaling might give me a nice opportunity to work through the ups and downs of day-to-day life and record this special moment in my life.
I had 2 stale croissants lightly grilled back to life and stuffed with garlic mustard (from the garden), cheshire crumbly and pomodoro tomatoes, Ella’s gluten free choc brownie and a drip coffee on the side. got up early to record a chat with friend + excellent artist Anna Chrystal Stephens, although I had to delay slightly to fetch some batteries from the shop on my bike. We had a great, flowy discussion about ecological art practices and labour sovereignty.
Therapy was difficult today because I was considering how the pressure I put myself under to be productive might be a result of young Sean lacking self-worth and needing external validation. Lunch was leftover deep umami lentil stew with a dollop of yoghurt, more nice tomatoes and some astounding dilisk gomashio gifted to me by my friend Mel (Speck Condiments).
checked in with my ferments: tepache, kombucha, mead. They need more time than usual as my lab is pretty cold until the afternoon when the downing sun heats the brickwork. The afternoon included more zoom time, then Chris and I walked and talked for an hour, promising we would watch mega sunsets over the next few weeks. Dinner: Leftover honey-glazed swede, banana skin bacon, wild greens and buttered naan breads.
Wed 14 April
Woke up with a foggy head again, pretty grumpy actually. Had some homemade granola with yoghurt, banana and ginger jam, and read an essay on Art Worker solidarity. Was supposed to start gardening at 10am but ended up faffing with my ferments for half an hour before potting on some seedlings in the plastic bottle greenhouse. Weeded and watered the veg beds (I’ve still got a few to do) and noticed myself feeling nervous about planting out because the weather has been so changeable and I’m scared of doing it wrong. I have never grown my own veg from seed, only some herbs on my balcony and the brassica we collectively tended to at community gardens.
Made a wormery with Amy and Ella. I’ve been planning it for a few weeks: drilled holes in some mismatching but stackable boxes, soaked some cardboard and ordered a literal box of worms from yorkshireworms.com. We followed a combo of two instructionals going to check back every morning to gently introduce food and ensure they’re happy. Lunch was great; whizzed the rest of that lentil stew with oat pulp and oil to make a dip, toasted / buttered two naans, paired with some garlic mustard and a dollop of banana skin pickle. It’s the most Branston-esque preserve I’ve made – it has a sweet mustard base with chunky local apples to carry the fried skins and a late chili flick.
I went for a run and my hernia hurt a lot. Purple sweet potato chips in the air-fryer with mayo and dandelions. Made banana bread that I’m going to demolish for breakfast with coffee. I rarely plan food ahead of time, so feels like a treat to know already.
THurs 15 April
ate loads of toasted banana bread with chunks of cold butter and a coffee, as promised. Popped out to see the worms and feed them, also noticed my seedlings are coming along nicely in the greenhouse. Faffed around, finding multiple reasons to not leave the house, and took off about 11am with a flask of tea, my copy of Arts of the Working Class, and all the Fermental Health patches I wanted to post out. Finding new ways to walk is cute, didn’t do anywhere near enough exploring during city lockdown because I was in a place I’d known intimately for 13 years. Here it’s fresh and quiet, I can empty my head and notice the unfurling spring: ground ivy, self heal, bluebells – forest floor looked like it was covered in purple xmas lights.
House meal was buff: pasta and red wine. Chris put mash through the rich tomato sauce and I’m a convert. Stayed back after washing up to drain the last bottle with Amy & Ella (worm team) and we discussed fears of speaking in public. Read some Braiding Sweetgrass in bed, stunned at the beauty of RWK’s storytelling and ego-less detailing of the landscape.
fell asleep thinking about my genius mum sending flapjack and granola in the post.
Fri 16 april
Got up and scoffed a huge blueberry scone before cycling along the canal to Trinity Farm. Gave some golden swede kraut and curly lacto carrot crisps to chef Sam, then weeded beds for a few hours. It’s back-breaking stuff so I’m glad I’m only doing it once a week. Luckily Ollie is a great lad and we speak at length about permaculture and goats: I tell him about the goatscaping I witnessed at Round The Bend (in Massachusetts). Nothing is as good as yanking out cabbage stalks while listening to Wu Tang. Then I eat pizza Sam’s made for me and listen to Tirzah, doing my best impression of a wistful, long-distance stare.
I buy some fancy cheese and take a super long route home to check a different canal path, v beaut. Catch up w Rich Phoenix over zoom to compare post-London smugness and talk about pubs. To go with tomato red bean stew and chips that my housemates cooked, i pick a shoebox full of greens from the front garden (dandelion, cleavers, stinging nettles, dead-nettles, wild garlic) then saute w red russian kale that I saved from compost at Trinity, garlic, olive oil and a splash of water. Feeling nutritionally and socially nourished today, very impressed that I am noticing more frequently things to be grateful for.
Sat 17 april
Put my seedlings out for a sunbathe, then sat in the old climbing frame and read for an hour. Spent the whole afternoon in the ferm lab; set up an outdoor standing prep table; processed the spring garlic for lactofermentation; strained and moved my flower wine / mead into a demijohn; made pink kraut with salvaged new cabbages and garlic mustard; brined some burdock leaves.
Andy did a barbecue so I caught the dying embers and made a colourful dinner that I wish i’d photographed – grilled baby red cabbage and blood orange slices, cola-pickled onions, golden swede kraut, dandelions and microgreens salad, millet bowl with spent flowers from mead. Crashed film club for Mid 90s, which I liked, although I felt like the dialogue was purposefully verging on gratuitous to prove a point that pre-”woke” culture was q politically incorrect. The car crash scene to me was extremely tasteful and tested out a non-graphic jump-shock that I haven’t seen before.
Sun 18 april
Woke up incredibly sad today, could easily have been a number of things but at the moment I’m still having trouble identifying triggers. I know this will come with time and I look forward to it muchly. I tend to assume that my eco-anxiety is a constant threat, which I combat with any sort of creative task, so it probably wasn’t that alone. Low-lying depression hits me in the most annoying way; it’s like a mixture of being winded, empty, frenetic and restless. I’m storming around in silence starting multiple tasks that I won’t finish. Things moved on. put my seedlings out for a drink and sunbathe, then spoke to nan so mum could have a quiet time pushing her around the common in her chair. I asked her loads of questions about what she could see and we reminisced about playing football in the garden over twenty years ago. My friend Hugh generously reminded me that my family is my life crew, the bottomless tonic to my despair.
Found some concentration for yoga, managed to run to Trinity Farm to collect some surplus veggies they donate to us weekly. Scoffed raspberries and sheep cheese on brioche. Cooked a shared meal for the house; roast potatoes and cauli w sumac and coriander: sauteed red russian kale and elderberry capers, steamed rice w caramelised leeks, raisins, pecans and windowsill coriander; tamari seeds; banana skin pickle. Ella made a fancy drink w raspberries and flowers, Jake made bread & butter pudding! Fell asleep before I could watch Line of Duty, but went to bed much happier than I woke up.
Banana Skin Bacon
First thought about it when researching wasted foods that might be nutritious, probably googling something like “waste banana skin idea”. I love it because it taste like bad smokey bacon crisps.. I think Max La Manna and Nigella Lawson have also done vids on this too! Works equally well with anything sturdy and porous, like tofu, carrot peel.
Store up the skins from a whole bunch, rather than individual. Ensure they dont go too black or withered, brown is fine, though.
Recipe for 6 whole skins
Chop off top and bottom, split into 3 or 4 full-length peels
Use a teaspoon to remove pith from inside skin, don’t drag too hard or you’ll rip it. This removes the bitter flavour.
Wash the skins briefly.
Now combine :
3tbsp soy sauce or tamari
1 tbsp honey or or agave syrup
2 cloves chopped garlic, 1/ 4 onion could also work
½ tsp smoked paprika or toasted mustard seeds
Twist of black pepper
And marinade your skins in a box or jar for anywhere between 15mins to 3 days - don’t forget to shake or stir.
Then cook in a medium hot pan with a little coconut oil until lightly sizzled and lay on a clean tea towel or cloth
For lardons, pre-chop skins into rough chunks