Talbinah
Talbinah (also spelt talbeena, talbina, talbeenah and probably some other variation that I’ve forgotten) is the Muslim word for barley porridge. It is a delicious alternative to oatmeal porridge, and as we currently grow barley but not oats, I’ve been experimenting with it this winter.
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Barley Scones
Nora first experimented with using our barley flour to make scones, and passed this recipe on to us after it proved to be a success.
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Snickerdoodles (Cinnamon cookies)
Apparently snickerdoodles aren’t German, no matter how much I think the word sounds it. Whatever they are, they are also quick, soft, and delicious. I found this recipe whilst staying with my brother and sister-in-law when their twins were only two months old, and we all quickly decided that these were perfect snacks for the late nights that were going on. I usually make two or three times the dough in one go, and only bake some at a time. The rest I put into one or two bags and leave in the freezer for when I want something sugary.
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A change of tune (Bridport Times, May 2020)
We write monthly for the magazine Bridport Times. To see this article as originally published, view the pages on Issue.
Written by Ellen Simon
On a recent brilliant sunny day, I was riding our pony Salix, at speed, up the committee fields to visit the cattle and sheep littered in the fields at the top of the farm; the phrase ‘in May, I sing all day’ came to mind. The road at the top of the hill and the sky above were quiet because we were already in ‘lockdown’. Maybe part of the reason these words came into my mind was that this silence matched the quiet days of my childhood. For me, the words are from a time when the world had less noise and the rhyme from which they derive is part of my primary-school lore:
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From Winter to Summer (Bridport Times, April 2020)
We write monthly for the magazine Bridport Times. To see this article as originally published, view the pages on Issue.
Written by Ellen Simon
April is the changeover from winter to summer. In the winter the animals depend on us for their food and comfort. Most of them, all the ones indoors, would be knee deep in muck if we didn’t clear it away for them and give them fresh bedding; they would be without food unless we gave it to them, and that depends on our having saved the grass from last summer. In summer, by contrast, the animals are all outdoors and don’t really need us. We see them daily but, if all is well, that is all we do: we look, we see that they are comfortable and that they seem happy and we leave them to themselves. April is the month by which the big change-around has happened. It is a relief to finally return to the summer pattern; we have by now become weary of feeding and bedding and it is a pleasure to see the animals enjoying the weather and the sweet spring grass. For the vegetables, there is an equivalent shift around now. Through the winter and well into spring we are dependant on last year’s plants and last year’s work and now we are setting out this year’s and just beginning to crop the earliest of them.
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Why did the caravan cross the road? (Bridport Times, March 2020)
We write monthly for the magazine Bridport Times. To see this article as originally published, view the pages on Issue.
Written by Ben Scriven
Visitors to West Bexington may have noticed a rather strange pair of caravans sitting in a field and wondered how they seem to mysteriously move around periodically. They represent my latest (bird brained?) idea: can we produce eggs without importing feed?
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