An invasion of moles has swept through Ryton Gardens this month, leaving what resembles the Himalayas in our orchard. So last team day we armed ourselves with spades and wheelbarrows and dug every one of the molehills up. Team days are so varied which is why I love them so much. One day we could be clearing the woodland walk and the next mending rabbit fencing, but it’s never dull.
In the afternoon we tidied the biodynamic garden up, including the vines that had been hit by the recent frosts. I collected a hat full of what we thought were ornamental grapes, but actually tasted delicious, and took them home to make jelly. I decided this was more useful as I eat more jam than I drink wine. If anyone else fancies making the same, I put 1kg grapes in a pan on a medium heat for 15 minutes till they began to go juicy, and then used a potato masher to squish them further. I then turned the heat down and left them to simmer for about 45 minutes, mashing every now and again. When there were no more whole fruit in the pan, I took them off the heat and placed an old teatowel in a large colander. I poured the juices and pulp into the teatowel and let them drip through. You’re meant to do this overnight, but I was impatient and squeezed the teatowel full of molten pulp till it was dry (to the detriment of my scolded hands), I highly recommend you wait till it cools! You should have 600ml of liquid to which you can then add 450g caster sugar and heat in the pan fairly high, and check every 5 minutes to see if the jam wrinkles on a cold plate. It tastes yummy with cambozola cheese on nice bread.
