B J Burton website/blog

[B J]

I've put up a post about a typical day during Sidmouth Folk Week:

http://www.bjburton.co.uk/blog-2/

[Kath]

Nice post. I love the street entertainment at things like this. And the food!

[B J]

Cheers, Kath. I neglected to mention that the weather was more like autumn than summer, but somehow it didn't matter.

[B J]

I've put up a post about Lydford on the western edge of Dartmoor: a tiny village with a big history.

http://www.bjburton.co.uk/blog-2/

[B J]

I've put up a mainly pictorial post about a day out at this year's Widecombe Fair.
Kath, the banana dachsund may appeal to you.

http://www.bjburton.co.uk/blog-2/

[David]

Looks like a fun day, BJ. The duck with the nice hairstyle was my favourite.
However, whenever I visit your site I'm always drawn to the photograph of you tackling the enormous pie.

[B J]

Hi David. It's funny how often pies feature on my website! When I blogged recently about the village of Lydford a pie got a mention and I was just considering a post about last week's few days on Exmoor when a splendid pie cafe in Porlock was discovered: a choice of 5 meat pies, 3 veggie pies and even 3 gluten-free pies.
I may have to start a separate pie blog.

[Kath]

I love the dachsund! Sheep shearing interests me too. Never done it but I have a spinning wheel and still have a couple of fleeces and a pair of carders in the shed.

[B J]

I think I'd have to find a way of putting a sheep to sleep for a couple of hours before I had a go at shearing it. The idea of spinning alpaca wool really appeals - it's just so incredibly light.

[Kath]

I have some if that. It's been machine carded into a long roll. Spun, it would make a worsted fibre.

[B J]

I have some alpaca/merino wool socks. Even in the snow on Dartmoor I feel as if my feet are glowing.

[David]

A pie blog? A pie blog you say??? Now that sounds like a winner. I made a steak and guiness pie last weekend. I used dark sugar and cocoa in the recipe which is unusual but it worked really well. The pastry was a suet based one and that was a first for me too.

We've bought an adjustable stool so I can sit down and still cook while this back business keeps going on.

Pie blog please!!!

[B J]

That sounds interesting. Putting chocolate into meat pies/casseroles seems to catching on. I haven't tried it yet - must give it a go. My father-in-law loved cooking and was a great enthusiast for suet pastry. If we left him in charge of catering we could find suet pastry appearing in all three courses. Getting up from the table afterwards was quite a challenge.
I'll investigate pie blogs to see if it's already being done.

[Kath]

If you invite guest piemakers to contribute recipes you'll be on a winner! Dave's in - I'm in!

[David]

Count me in all the way!
Yes the suet was a bit on the heavy side but it was delicious!
Suet, puff or shortcrust though? Now that's a question.

[Kath]

I like a pseudo-suet pastry - with marge/butter. It's lighter but gives you all the luxurious mouth-feel of the 'sticks-to-the-singlet original. You can make it into dumplings too. with herbs. *wipes dribble off keyboard*

Hey. We could include sweet pies, potato-topped pies...

[B J]

I'm going to have to have an early lunch!

[Kath]

Gets you that way, doesn't it? ;)

[B J]

It certainly does. In fact, the only downside to compiling a pie blog is that I would be permanently drooling and rushing to the kitchen.

[Kath]

That's a problem?

[B J]

David wrote: "Count me in all the way!
Yes the suet was a bit on the heavy side but it was delicious!
Suet, puff or shortcrust though? Now that's a question."

And I think the answer is 'all three'.
I'm not generally a big fan of puff pastry, but I do use it as the base for very simple tarts where I take a sheet of shop-bought puff, fold over the edges to make a lip, cover the top with fruit from the garden (preferably rhubarb, blackcurrants or gooseberries) and stick it in the oven.

[David]

Nice, BJ!

Kath, the lust for pie has been awakened. Although in my current condition i may have to tame it to avoid needing to jab another new hole in my belt. There's not much leather left.

[Kath]

Ah, but it's winter. We need the extra calories. Any good? Does that convince you?

[David]

Oh go on then!

[B J]

I've posted about a tale of woe that is likely to hit many gardeners in this country.

http://www.bjburton.co.uk/blog-2/

[Kath]

Scary. And sad. Like lily beetles. Suddenly they're everywhere.

[B J]

I feel the world is changing in front of my eyes. Himalayan balsam is spreading rapidly along all the waterways; Japanese knotweed is spreading along the coastal footpath and appearing around the car parks: giant hogweed is inflicting agonising burns on adults and children - and in the garden we're losing fuchsias, busy-lizzies and lilies.

[Kath]

Sadly I think conservationists are guilty of spreading some of this stuff. A few years ago we found balsam springing up in the caterpillar tracks of a vehicle which had been clearing drainage ditches along a roadside and had evidently trundled through an area already balsamised. We pulled them up but what can two of you do?

[B J]

The smell produced by the balsam glands is nauseatingly sweet. When it's in numbers the smell is overwhelming. My wife can't stand it - which means we've had to give up many of our favourite riverside walks. We need the Government to make it a legal obligation for landowners to remove these invaders.

[Jim]

The problem is that the only landowners that end up having to do it is small farmers who don't have a legal team. It's bad enough being a small farmer and having to pay to have the stuff people fly-tip taken away, I'm not sure I can see why I have to pay to have their garden escapees removed
And how? There's me. It's probably be like ragwort where there ministry can order you to remove it. We remove it and it blows back in from the railways or the highways. Tell the Highways or Railways to do something about it and they just tell you they don't have the budget. Then if somebody threatens them with court they ask what services you want them to cut to pay for it.

[B J]

This stuff doesn't suddenly arrive overnight as blanket coverage, it appears as a plant or two, and then spreads, so it ought to be a relatively easy job to stop it spreading, as long as the landowner is vigilant. Tackling existing infestations is a national problem. Grants to help eradication would have been a better plan than increasing the subsidy paid to grouse moors. Such grants exist in Scotland, but I don't know about the rest of the UK.

[Jim]

Actually according to
http://www.pebblebedheaths.org.uk/_as...

Himalayan balsam is already controlled by law and the pdf gives the plan that is underway.

It looks like things would be easier if they could just ban people from the area.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads... for Japanese knotweed. This is actually a far bigger and tougher problem

[Kath]

We found some Japanese knotweed on a pathway in the village, behind the village hall. We asked for help to remove it - the council said they don't do anything unless it's on a waterway.

[B J]

Thanks, Jim - interesting. I like the sound of the Otter valley plan. We need something similar along the Tamar, Plym, Avon, Dart, Teign and Exe - and that's just in South Devon!
Japaese knotweed is bewildering. As I understand it, it doesn't produce seed and can only spread by pieces of root being introduced to a new area - and yet it's springing up all over the place. Perhaps some terrorist group has decided to undermine our infrastructure by scattering knotweed root. ;-)

[Jim]

It's amazing how much soil gets about. That stuff can travel on somebody's boots.
So somebody walks in one area and then walks in another

Vehicle tyres and tracks is another method