WINTER HEALTH GIVING SEASONAL FLAVOURS FROM WOODS, MEADOWS, FARMS AND GARDENS
Alla Wolf-Tasker AM. Culinary Director Lake House & Dairy Flat Farm Daylesford @wolfinkitchen @lakehousedaylesford @dairyflatfarmdaylesford It’s still late autumn as I write this, although the crisp nights are signalling winter is just around the corner. I never bemoan the change to the cooler season. For the avid gardener and cook, it heralds different chores and inevitably a completely different source of inspiration.
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hat may concern us with colder weather is the increased prevalence of colds and flu. This year it’s likely to be especially so, as our efforts to ‘flatten the curve’ over the past two years have had us washing our hands and social distancing much more often. As a result, we had no flu cases to speak of and our immune systems just haven’t had the workout they would normally have over a winter of socialising or playing. The trick will be to support and build our immunity as much as possible this year, give it a real BOOST. Vitamin and mineral supplements are often recommended. But of course, it’s the nutritional value of what we choose to eat that is most critical. ‘Good food matters’ is a useful mantra to keep in mind when you’re planning what you
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are going to eat. Local, seasonal and as fresh as possible is a good start. In our beautiful region, although there are no frosts yet, we’ve harvested all of our (nine varieties of) pumpkins at our Dairy Flat farm, just in case. After all, it’s possible to lose the lot with just one frost. Hoophouses are still yielding late autumn tomatoes, eggplant and every imaginable variety of peppers. We’re also harvesting beans. In the vegetable beds there are masses of greens, that include the lemony taste of sorrel and the biting heat of various mustard leaves. And of course, there are all the roots and tubers. Beautiful baby carrots, Jerusalem artichokes, turnips and the super interesting and highly adaptable Hamburg
parsley, are all abundant. Brassicas are coming on and we have our first harvest of the season of beautiful baby leeks and salsify. Orchard apples and pears are still being picked. But the fruit of the moment is undoubtedly quince. A quick forage around some old plantings down country lanes recently also unearthed several trees still laden with damson plums. They were often originally grown as hedge rows, so do keep a look out. Herbs and ‘forgotten weeds’ that are still around and in flower, include beautiful aromatic blue flowered rosemary and the super useful orange calendula. Even our lemon verbena is still hanging on. And really that’s just scratching the surface. Yet we inevitably think of the colder months as being lean
