There I was last week, waving goodbye to summer, when a couple of dry, sunny 20ºC+ made an unseasonal appearance! I dug out the shorts and t-shirts and washed & hung a few loads of laundry out to dry in the garden. We even ate our dinner al fresco… it’s almost mid-October!
Natural detergent
For the past couple of autumns, I’ve been collecting fallen conkers from a couple of trees in the village. Horse chestnuts contain saponin, a natural soap. It makes a good, free laundry detergent – although it’s not effective on heavily soiled or stained items.
Remove the shells and roughly chop the nuts. Dry the nuts in a very low oven or dehydrator; I spread them out on a pizza mesh to ensure quick and even drying. Store in an airtight jar or other lidded container. I try to dry and store enough to last me the entire year. To use, measure out around 75 grams of nuts into a measuring jug. Pour about 300ml of boiling water over them and leave to soak for about half an hour. I like to add a few drops of essential oil to the mixture once it has cooled and been put through a sieve. Lavender is a favourite for bed linen – great for restful sleep! Rose is a preferred scent for use on clothing.
Sweetcorn rescue
Back in the spring, we planted about half a dozen sweetcorn seedlings on our veg plot. We planted them alongside runner beans and squash in a three sisters formation. They got off to a good start, but then their growth seemed to grind to a halt. By the end of the season, we were left with about half a dozen malformed, misshaped and stunted cobs. I refused to simply throw the vegetable equivalents of ugly ducklings on the compost heap; instead, I used them to make fritters inspired by a recipe by Nigel Slater.
Coed Maen Arthur
This local woodland walk is where we found an abundance of chanterelle mushrooms a couple of years ago. We were less successful last year, and this year found none at all. In fact, spotting any kind of mushroom this week was a rarity! It’s such a beautiful route, especially in autumn, that it wasn’t the end of the world. We enjoyed a wonderful family walk along the Ystwyth.
