stock markets - following like sheep...

This past week has seen the stock markets round the globe go into nose dive. Yes, there are issues with growth and debt in all sorts of countries, the downgrade by one of the ratings agencies of the US etc etc. However, what I don't get is why all shares seem to have nose dived - including perfectly sound companies with plenty of cash in the bank, assets in the ground, sales etc. Now I always thought that if a company did well, it's share price goes up, if it does badly the share price goes down, but the amount of manipulation, shorting etc I have seen during the past couple of years I have been owning shares has thoroughly dispelled that impression!

Now, in a sense I think this is some of the same, the same traders that are selling shares - presumably at a profit from the last time they bought cheap shares - will buy on the cheap at the bottom of the markets, the share price goes up and therefore make another profit. That's all very well when you have 24/7 access to trading screens and squillions of pounds to move around at the touch of a button, but where does it leave the private investor who can't react that quickly.

I have heard that fund managers all seem to react in the same way, fearful of not doing what their peers are doing for fear of getting it wrong. Now surely a fund manager ought to act in the best interests of the fund holders, basing that judgement on their own funds and shares, not just selling when everyone else is selling.

Now, when the problem is of sovereign debt primarily, and many companies are indeed still turning a profit, do all shares suddenly become much less value?

The following link, to a sadly now defunct blog is some explanation of this

http://nepeanmix.blogspot.com/2008/09/why-do-markets-drop-so-much-during.html

office tomatoes

First tomatoes from the office!

The office greenhouse is getting busy! This is the first tomato from the three plants I have in the window. Today I also picked two cherry tomatoes from one of other plants

oops...marrows!

This is what happens when you go away for a few days and come back to the courgettes!

Still, nothing wasted, these will form the basis of a chutney, adding dates and spices as well.
(unfortunately can't grow dates in the north of England!)

allotment report

Pea season in full swing after not getting off to a very quick start with the dryness in April. Most peas free from maggots thanks to an organic garlic barrier spray.

Blackberries now in full flow - freezer can't keep up!

Loads of courgettes, and as usual you start to run out of ideas for cooking them! Our favourite way is to shallow fry them with garlic and maybe some italian seasoning. I find they taste a bit bland just on their own, although they are nice in curries, stir fries etc.

For more ideas, and the feeling that you are not alone, try this book - What will I do with all those Courgettes!

bacon and eggs

Today the kids wanted me to build a fire and cook something! Now, I have never been very good at building fires, more especially getting them to stay lit! But after success last week - toasted bread and one very overdone jacket potato, I decided to get some bacon and cook that. The photo is taken in our back yard, as this was more sheltered than the front garden. Back bacon - the leanest sort - unless you particularly like lots of fat then it is the best cut to go for.
Anyway, successfully cooked 6 slices of bacon although had to get the fire going again mid way through as the embers were cooling down too much for cooking on, and then popped two eggs in and my kids and a friend of theirs ate their way through bacon and fried egg butties!

summer pruning

Now I don't know about you, but I find pruning just a wee bit complicated! I mean, what does a basal cluster look like! (I do know now, but when presented with a 4 page guide from Ken Muir fruit growers
http://www.kenmuir.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=35
to looking after your fruit trees it all seems a bit baffling at first.

Now, just now I am summer pruning the top growth from the little minarette fruit trees with have. This year a late frost did not get the blossom and I think the long hard winter we had did a world of good in killing off the nasties (it also killed a lot of nice-ies like owls but that's another topic!). So we have very much laden apple trees and a reasonable number of damsons.

Back to the pruning, and the damson was fairly easy, 12 inches from the root of the branch of non fruiting spurs chop off the rest of the branch. The apples, well I am going to leave those for my wife to do, it's the basal clusters again and rather than me advise you in a way that totally ruins your apple tree you would be as well to consult the Ken Muir guide or the internet!

Now, when we had a rabbit, he would happily much fruit tree trimmings, as well as blackberry and raspberry leaves, or of course you can shred them to use as mulch or burn them - putting the ash onto the allotment of course.

The raspberries are pretty straightforward as well, it's easy to see which is the old wood that has fruited and which is the new wood. Chop to the base of the old wood and leave the new canes for next year, tie them up if you wish although ours tend to grow freestanding now.

Food for Free

Just re-reading Richard Mabey's well known Food For Free book, of which I have got the Collins gem pocket edition - just handy for putting in your pocket or rucksack when out in the countryside.

The book itself, after a little bit of blurb about the author and his reasons for writing (and updating in 2003) this book, gets on with descriptions and pictures of easily recognisable plants, mushrooms and seashore life that are edible either raw or cooked. Quite a few cooking tips and recipes as well, along with a bit of history of how these foods were used in the past.

What have I found and tried? Well...

Beech Nuts - dried, salted and roasted in the oven for 20-30 minutes or so, they taste a little like salted peanuts but are  a bit more crunchy.

Dandelion root Coffee - dry out some really long dandelion roots, clean up and peel. Again roast in oven until crisp and brittle. Then grind up. Can then be used in a cafetiere or in a small tea bag as an infusion. Tastes ok, though don't expect it to taste of coffee or tea!

Acorn Coffee - collect ripe acorns and dry out. Peel and then leach in water for 24 hours, and then again. This has the effect of removing quite a bit of the tannin which is not good for you in large doses. Then dry and roast and grind etc as per dandelion coffee.

This is "ersatz coffee" used in the Second World War - tastes better than dandelion but I am told it's not a good idea to consume large doses of it as there is a very small trace of cyanide in acorns!
However I am still here!!!!
Tastes better than dandelion. more mellow flavour not unlike the "Camp" coffee you got once upon a time...

Goose Grass seed coffee - dry and roast and grind as per dandelion. Need a lot of goose grass pods to make a decent amount. Worth a try to see if you like it....

Sweet Chestnuts - most people I am sure will have had roasted sweet chestnuts from a city street vendor at some point. Now, two things which we have found out the hard way....

1. Make sure you slit or prick your chestnuts before putting them in the oven!!!! A long time ago, long before we had this book, we tried some. Shoved them straight in the oven. After the appropriate amount of time, we opened the oven door, and had small hard missiles firing out all over the kitchen!

2. Don't rely on the one unslit chestnut you put in as a guide to see if the rest are done. If it doesn't pop you don't realise they are ready!

Fat Hen - doesn't taste very nice raw but apparantly tastes like cooked spinach when boiled.