take

action!
Grow Y ou r
make a
differenc
e Ow n Fo od to a better environm
ent!
and c on tr ib u te

BTCV
Sedum House Through tips, advice, celebrity recipes
Mallard Way
Doncaster DN4 8DB and community success stories we’ll
show you how you can do your bit to cut
Email: information@btcv.org.uk
Telephone: 01302 388 883 the carbon cost of the food you eat.
www.btcv.org
Registered Charity in (England) 261009, (Scotland) SCO 39302 Printed on paper manufactured from 100% recycled fibre Inspiring people, improving places
welcome

Welcome to the BTCV Carbon Army

and this handy booklet to help us all cut
the carbon costs of everything we eat.
Under the Climate Change Act, the UK
Government is committed to cutting
carbon gas emissions by 80% by 2050.
That’s a big target and BTCV believes it’s up
to all of us to do our bit to help achieve it.

BTCV is leading the way, helping us all make the
transition to a low carbon society.
This booklet shows you how to take positive
action in your own backyard and with your
community, have fun and learn new skills too.
Here’s a checklist of things to do:
^•grow food you want to eat
You just can’t beat the flavours of freshly -
harvested tomatoes, strawberries, potatoes and
green beans – to name but a few.
They taste even better because you grew them
yourself, cared for them as they developed from
little seedlings to full-grown plants, and then
harvested them when they’re ripe, full of health-
giving nutrition and bursting with flavour.

^•drive fewer shopping miles and stop

Join the BTCV Carbon Army now and get
throwing away good food involved in a community food-growing project
near you.
^•eat locally-produced food in season

^•forage for free, wild food

Sometimes it can be daunting to start a new
project on your own, but with BTCV you’re
always among friends and skilled experts.
BTCV offers great opportunities for people to
come together to grow food. It’s a great way to
stay healthy, and the fresh vegetables and fruit
you’ll grow make for healthy eating too.
As a charity, BTCV needs your support. You can
volunteer your time to help us create a better
environment, but if you can’t get your wellies on,
you can still help us by getting your wallet out
and making a donation. Find out more at
www.btcv.org/donate

2
 contents
It makes good sense 4
Half-the-garden-soup from The River 6
Cottage Year by Hugh Fearnley-
Whittingstall
Cutting waste 7
Doing things differently 8
Apple Flapjacks from Yap and Yarn 9
community group, Penzance
Bringing communities together 10
Charlie Dimmock’s Squash Soup 11
Digging in together 12
Digging in your own patch 14
Julia Bradbury’s Greek Meatballs 16

recipes BTCV Carbon Army marches on locally

produced food
17

Sample these mouthwatering recipes from

Seasonal food 18
BTCV star supporters Charlie Dimmock,
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Beetroot Bolognese from BTCV Dorset 19
Julia Bradbury as well as our fantastic Foraging free food 20
staff and volunteers across the UK.
Blackberry Muffins from BTCV’s Leeds 22
allotment

* recipe suggestion

Food-growing projects
BTCV Nottingham growing food for fun 8
be inspired
The Garden of Eden project, 10
by BTCV in Carrickfergus
community Community Orchards in Camden 13
food-growing BTCV’s vinvolved Durham Youth 15
projects Action Team

3
it makes
good sense
K’s
f the U
20% o use gas
ho
green are totally
is s io ns
em ith
cted w
c o e u t o n ou r
n n
ep
what w tes.
pla

Each link of the food chain uses
loads of energy, starting with
farming through processing,
packaging, refrigeration in
warehouses and supermarkets,
transporting in our cars from
the shops, and then storing and
cooking at home.
Under the Climate Change Act, the UK has
legally-binding targets to cut all production
emissions by 80% by 2050 (compared with 1990
baseline). That means we’re all going to be doing
our bit to cut carbon emissions, including those
linked with what we eat.
What sort of food we eat and what we throw
away will have a significant impact on the UK’s
response to climate change.
This BTCV Carbon Army booklet will help you cut
your carbon emissions by encouraging you to:
• Grow your own vegetables and fruit
• Buy locally-produced food from local shops
and markets
• Start composting and cutting down on food
waste
It will also help you find like-minded people to
create community food enterprises, share land
and harvests, and reconnect with nature
and wildlife.

4
 Shops 10km
Farm shop 3km

Most of th
e
greenhou
s
gas emis e
connecte sions
d
transport with food

Reduce
are cause
by people d
driving to
buy food.

‘food miles’
We’ve all heard of ‘food miles’ Growing your own vegetables and fruit means
and many of us assume that that you’ll be able to resist the temptation to
these are just the distances that drive to the shops for a bag of salad because
you’ll have fresh and delicious salads in your
food travels between the farm
garden, allotment or even a window box or tub
where our food is grown and the
on your patio.
shops where we buy it.
Sometimes it’s hard to work out real ‘food
miles’. They should include the distances Courgettes
that food supplements, including soya, travel
These are quite
from overseas to feed the UK’s farm livestock, straight -
forward to grow
and then you add the distances and carbon and you’re
pretty assured
emissions from fertilisers used in arable of a bumper
crop, particular
production for biscuits and bread. It all adds up! ly if you cut
courgette fruit
s regularly,
Some vegetable and fruit crops are sprayed when they’re ar
ound 10cm
with pesticides, and there are carbon emissions long, which enco
urages an
associated with their production and transport. ongoing supply.
But in fact most of the greenhouse gas
emissions connected with food transport are
caused by people driving to buy food.1

Defra’s Food Transport Indicators show that UK

urban food kilometres rose by 6.7% in 2006.
Carbon dioxide from transporting food for
UK consumption increased by 2.8% in 2006,
primarily due to more of us driving to shop.

5
For years Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
has shown millions of us, through his
television programmes, how to live in
harmony with our environment.
Hugh is now sharing his Half-the-garden-
soup recipe with the BTCV Carbon Army
so that we can all enjoy the delights of
freshly-harvested vegetables – from plot
to bowl in 30 minutes. Thank you, Hugh!

Half-the-garden-soup Se
S rv
er ve
4-6
4-6
s
es

From The River Cottage Year by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

www.rivercottage.net

500g onions, sliced
olive oil or butter
½ -1kg ripe tomatoes
salt and freshly ground black pepper
some or all of the following:
3-4 medium carrots, diced
3-4 medium beetroots, diced
3-4 medium courgettes, diced
a few handfuls of peas
a fistful of French or runner beans, roughly
chopped
a fistful of chard or spinach leaves, finely
shredded
a fistful of kale or cabbage leaves, finely
shredded
Sweat the onions in a little olive oil or butter in a
large pan until softened.
Pour boiling water over the tomatoes, leave for a
minute, then drain and peel off the skins. Chop
roughly and add to the onions. Cook gently until
thick and pulpy, then add about 500ml cold
water (or light stock) and a good pinch of salt.
Now add the vegetables of your choice, bring
to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Then add
the chard or spinach leaves and/or the kale or
cabbage. Top up with a little more boiling water
if you like. Simmer for another 5 minutes, stirring
regularly, until all the vegetables are tender, but
only just.
Check and adjust the seasoning, then serve
immediately, with a drizzle of olive oil over
each bowl.

Tomatoes
Seasonal variations:
,
n to grow From late August onwards you can add fresh
ty and fu
Really tas art th em podded haricot beans (i.e. the white beans inside
for kids. St
especially ts somewher
e overgrown French beans) or borlotti beans, or
s in po
off indoor d w h en th e the beans from overgrown runners, to the soup.
light, an
warm and ove them They should go in with the water and have a
arm outside m
soil is w d use stic
ks good 5-minute simmer before the carrots et al
y spot an
to a sunn t th em . go in.
to suppor

6
waste How you can

Just £10 a m
work with vo
diff iculties,
help BT CV’s Ca

onth could he
lunteers wit
helping them
rbon Army.

lp BT CV
h learning
more indepe to become
ndent and co
establishing nf ident by
their ow n al
www.btcv.org lotment.
/donate

gets
ned food s
When bin egrade
it d
to landfill methane,
and e m it s
ouse gas
a greenh es more
Cut food waste pow erfu
tim
that’s 25 an carbon
l th
dioxide.
Every week, the average UK
household throws out 6kg of
good food, at a cost of £480 a year. • Grow as much as you want to eat.
It means we waste 20 million • Carefully plan the succession planting of your
tonnes of carbon dioxide a year vegetables to avoid the gluts, especially dozens
producing food and drink that of courgettes all ready for harvesting at the
goes straight in the bin.2 same time!
That wasted carbon is ‘embedded energy’. • You can extend the strawberry and tomato
These are carbon emissions from farming, food season by planting different varieties that mature
production, processing, refrigeration, storage and during the summer and into the autumn. It’s easy
transport associated with food which we buy, to grow salads from March to October. Turn to
don’t eat and throw away. page 14 for more ideas.
• Plan your meals and shopping before you go to
How can we stop chucking away around
the shops. Buy only what you need to eat.
8.3 million tonnes of household food waste
each year? • Compost uncooked food waste including
vegetable and fruit peelings, tea bags, coffee
grounds, egg shells and outer leaves of
vegetables and salads.

Reduce packaging
Around a third of household When you’re growing your own food you can
waste is down to food harvest your potatoes, beans, carrots, tomatoes
packaging – those boxes and strawberries into your reusable bags and
containers.
containing ready-wrapped
cereal bars and confectionery, When you go shopping take enough bags to
shrink-wrap plastic around keep any muddy root vegetables away from
vegetables and fruit, and the bread and cakes. It’s a good idea to use
polystyrene food containers. separate, insulated bags for fresh and cooked
meats too.
7
Change
Fancy growin
g your
ow n but don’
t know
how to get st
arted?
Join a BT CV
project
and learn al
ongside
experienced
leaders.

Growing your own food means
doing things differently - living
lightly on the land!
Climate change is happening
and we know that we’re all
going to have to ‘do our bit’ to
cut carbon emissions.
Many of us have been cutting our carbon for
years, but we need to do more now and in the
future. BTCV Carbon Army is here to help you
make small changes for a big difference.
We can learn to live lightly on the land,
understanding how nature and wildlife work with
us in the garden and on the allotment. Many
insects, including bees and ladybirds are very
beneficial to vegetable and fruit growing. Birds
and hedgehogs love slugs and snails.
Working out in the veg patch is even better than
going to the gym – you’ve got wonderful fresh
vegetables to eat as a result of the digging,
sowing, hoeing and weeding. And you’re outside
listening to birdsong, chirping grasshoppers, and
bees buzzing – totally in tune with nature.
See www.btcv
.org/
carbonarmy
Learning
the ropes
Fiona Binks is a training co-ordinator with
BTCV in Nottingham and loves to turn people
into grow your own fanatics!
“I am currently teaching two groups of adults
with learning difficulties. We have a vegetable
patch where we grow our own vegetables
from seed. We then harvest our crops and
cook them for all of us to try. It’s always an
exciting menu round our way!
“We have made things like stuffed courgettes
and marrows, ratatouille, salads and even
green tomato cake. It’s great to give everyone
a chance to taste things they may never have
tried before.”

Research among BTCV volunteers shows that

people taking part in conservation volunteering
are not only reconnected with nature, but
also positively change their attitudes to the
environment.3

The ethos ‘think global, act local’ comes

into play. When we make small changes to our
nearby nature we also care more about the
wider environment. Taking part in conservation
activities and gardening helps to improve our
physical and psychological wellbeing too.

8

Apple Flapjacks
This Apple Flapjacks recipe
comes from members of the
Yap and Yarn craft group in
Penzance who love baking
goodies for community events.
“We make cakes that use fruit
and vegetables,” says group
member, Pat Wildman. “We give
out recipe cards to residents
so that they can cook them at
home with the kids. All the
ingredients are affordable, the
recipes are easy to follow and
are much better for people”.
2 large Bramley apples, peeled and cored
Juice of ½ lemon
150g butter
85g brown sugar
85g black treacle or golden syrup
225g rolled oats
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Makes
10-12
slices
Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas mark 5.
Slice the apples and place in a saucepan with
the lemon juice and a tablespoon of water.
Gently bring to the boil, turn the heat down,
cover and simmer until the apples are soft.
Mash with a fork to make a purée and set aside.
Melt the butter, sugar and treacle/syrup gently in
a saucepan. Stir in the oats, cinnamon and salt.
Mix thoroughly to combine the ingredients.
Spoon half of the oat mixture into a 20cm/8 inch
sandwich cake tin and press it down evenly.
Spread the apple purée on top and then cover
with the remaining oat mixture.
Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden
brown. Remove from the oven and mark the
slices, but leave the flapjacks to cool before
removing them from the cake tin.
9
we can
help
Bringing
communities
together
BTCV helps many communities
to grow their own food. Take a
look at our website
www.btcv.org and be inspired
by what people are doing all
across the UK.
In Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim the Garden of
Eden Project is helping dozens of people to grow
their own vegetables, many for the first time.
The Garden of Eden Project was awarded
BTCV’s Project of the Year at the 2009 Green
Heroes awards.
Tell us about your food-growing
projects. We’re always keen to
hear about the bumper tomato
crops, odd-shaped vegetables,
prize-winning specimens and your
favourite recipes. Send an email
and image to:
news@btcv.org.uk
10
Do you want to
do your bit
for the BT CV Carb
on Army?
£20 could provide basic
tools for volunt
eers to
establish a comm
unity
allotment on dis
used land.
www.btcv.org/don
ate
Growing in the
‘Garden of Eden’
The ‘Garden of Eden’ allotment project in
Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, was set up to
involve residents of sheltered accommodation
and individuals from a drug and alcohol
rehabilitation group in practical work to improve
their mental health.
Together the volunteers created an allotment
producing home-grown fruit and vegetables.
Gentle exercise and a fun, safe and relaxed
working environment helped to improve the
volunteers’ physical health and mental
wellbeing.
This was the team’s first experience of growing
their own vegetables and they produced a
range of organic produce and even won 1st
prize for their Brussels Sprouts at the Belfast
Garden Gourmet Festival!
Volunteer Jim Doherty rates his experience
with the project very highly: “I love working on
the allotment. It has really made a difference to
my confidence and I love getting out to work
every week. Taking home the vegetables is
good but the best bit is the craic while
we’re working.”
Fancy getting involved in a BTCV food-growing
project? Find out what’s happening near you at
www.btcv.org/carbonarmy
Squash
Soup
Charlie Dimmock’s winter-
warmer soup is a gorgeous
deep orange colour and full of
goodness. “This is best made
with one of my favourites -
either the Crown Prince or
Butternut squash,” says Charlie.
Both of these varieties keep
well into the winter, so this is a
good soup to warm the cockles Serves
of your heart any time between 4
October and March.

1 squash (Crown Prince or Butternut) Add this to the stock in the saucepan. Gently
1 large onion bring to the boil, check the seasoning and add
more if you prefer. The consistency will be quite
3 carrots
thick, but you can adjust it either by adding more
20g butter stock to thin it, or milk to make it creamier.
½ pt chicken or vegetable stock
Serve in warm bowls and garnish with chopped
salt, pepper and nutmeg parsley.
chopped parsley to garnish
Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6

Cut the squash in half – if you’re using Butternut,

cut it in half lengthways and scoop out the
seeds. Place the two halves cut side up on a

Squash
baking tray and cut the cut surface in cross-
hatch to let the heat get inside. Dot with butter,
them
season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and roast You should sow
June,
in the oven for an hour until the flesh is soft. outside in early
co up le of
Remove from the oven when cooked. allowing a
ee n pla nt s. You
While the squash is roasting, peel and grate the feet betw
even grow tr ail ing
onion and carrots, and simmer in the chicken or can
nc e or
vegetable stock for about 10 minutes. Leave to varieties up a fe
e sh ed !
to hide th
cool. Liquidise and put into a saucepan.

Scoop out the flesh from the roasted squash and

push through a sieve to make a smooth purée.

11
Digging Rocket
Sow rocket ever
weeks to give a
y few
constant
supply from Marc
h
through to Octo
ber.

…in together Other ways of digging in for

BTCV Carbon Army is recruiting
people to dig in for climate
change.
There are lots of different ways to get started.
Can you join forces with your neighbours to take
a plot on a nearby allotment or find a garden
to share? Some people are trying ‘meanwhile
gardening’ on currently unused land.
BTCV has food-growing projects across the UK.
Here you’ll find expert advisers and organised
groups where you can learn gardening skills,
how and when to sow seeds, why it’s important
to make compost, caring for plants during the
growing season, and when to harvest the fruit
and vegetables.
We’ve got all the tools you’ll need – all you need
to bring is yourself!
Contact your local BTCV office, you can find
them on our website www.btcv.org and ask for
information about food-related projects.
climate change.
• Gardenshare enables people with gardens to
be matched with people who want to grow
food. There are local schemes in towns and
cities from Totnes to Edinburgh, usually
associated with the Transition Town movement.
• Sign up to your local council’s allotment waiting
list, and find out about ‘meanwhile gardening’.
Local authorities are encouraged to support
groups keen to grow vegetables and fruit on
land which is currently not being used.4 This is
known as ‘meanwhile gardening’, and makes
good use of derelict land.
• If you want to grow food, have spare land or
just want to help out, take a look at the
Landshare map on www.landshare.net
– an initiative set up by Channel 4 with
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

You might be the first recruit or you could be The BT CV C

arbon Arm
joining an established group. It’s a great way to working w y is
ith local c
make friends and enjoy the fruits of your labours! on food-g om munities
rowing pr
(see opposite) ojects.
Just £30 c
ould prov
trees for ide fruit
communit
orchards ies to pla
, giving a nt
source of sustainabl
fresh and e
local fruit delicious
.
www.btcv.
org/donat
e

12
Feeling fruity
The middle of Camden in London might not be
the first place you would think of to look for an
orchard, but thanks to local volunteers that’s just
where to find them.
With help from BTCV, and support from Camden
Council, the Community Orchards project
has planted fruit trees on housing estates and
sheltered housing sites across the Borough.
Each site is different and the varieties of trees
and shrubs are selected to make the most of
paved terraces, small raised beds, south-facing
walls and old spoil sites.
There are now seven mini-orchards in place,
each with at least four trees plus a combination
of currants, raspberries, gooseberries,
strawberries, blueberries and rhubarb.
Local residents, who are unlikely to have gardens
or access to allotments, are now involved in
caring for the orchards and – the best bit –
deciding what to do with the produce!

Could your local community benefit from a project like this?

Find out how BTCV supports local community groups

at www.btcv.org
13

patch!
Digging
in your own
patch
You can join the BTCV Carbon
Army by growing food in your
own patch.
What you grow depends on how much space
you’ve got. You can grow lots of different
varieties of vegetables and fruit in the largest or
tiniest of spaces, even if there’s no earth visible!
BTCV can help you if you don’t know what to do
to get started. Contact your local BTCV office
and join in one of the organised groups to find
out what seeds to sow when, how to care for the
growing plants and when to harvest.
If you’ve had a go at gardening before and feel
competent to dig in your own garden, you can
start by sowing and planting a succession of
vegetables and fruit that you and your family
enjoy eating.
Most vegetables will grow in any garden soil, but
they need daylight and watering in the summer,
so make your veg patch in the right place in
the garden.
If you don’t have space for a veg patch, you can
grow vegetables among the shrubs and other
plants in your garden.
14
A regular, mont
hly
donation of just
£2 could
help BT CV volunt
eers
work with local
school
children, teachin
g them
about healthy ea
ting
and supporting
them in
establishing a sc
hool
vegetable garden
.
No garden? No problem!
Herbs, tomatoes, salad leaves, French beans,
peas, cucumbers, courgettes, peppers, chillies,
aubergines, strawberries, nasturtiums, chard
and even potatoes all grow well in containers.
You can grow ‘cut and come again’ salads and
herbs in a window box right through into autumn.
Alpine strawberries are intensely flavoured and
make great hanging basket plants. Yellow and
red cherry tomatoes, peppers and aubergines
make colourful displays in tubs and hanging
baskets too.
Even in a tiny back yard you can grow your own
veg. Make your veg box out of a few planks of
wood and some peat-free compost. Mark out
a grid on the surface and grow a few plants in
each square, sowing successive crops of salads,
beans, peas and chard to keep you well fed
throughout the summer.
Courgettes, squashes and cucumbers like rich
soil, so add extra manure or give a liquid feed
during the growing season. Grow them in old
compost sacks or sturdy plastic bags, but be
prepared for the leaves to take over.
Creating
an outdoor
classroom

Children at a Durham primary school now

have 30 new beds – but they’re far from
feeling sleepy! The beds in question are
raised planting sites, varying in height to cater
for different age ranges.

They were installed by BTCV’s vinvolved

Durham Youth Action Team as part of a
transformation of the site from overgrown
area into a wildlife friendly, produce growing
outdoor classroom.

“When we started, the site was overgrown

with brambles and the scrub reached up to
30 feet high,” explains James Leslie,
BTCV’s Volunteer Support Adviser.

“We helped to clear it all, built the raised beds

and a composting bin from scratch, and put
in lots of other features such as benches and
habitat piles. The school was thrilled and we
can’t wait to see the pupils putting it to use as
a green learning environment.”

Peas
as but
growing pe
Kids love as an als
c o
et that pe
don’t forg ta s ty you ng
for their
be grow n reat added
w hich taste g
shoots,
to salads.

15
KEFTAIDES
(pronounced Keftethes – Greek Meatballs)
BBC Countryfile presenter
Julia Bradbury who also hosts
Kill It, Cook It, Eat It, has
donated this favourite recipe
for a Greek dish.
500g minced beef or lamb
1 large, finely chopped onion
5 finely chopped cloves of garlic
2 slices of white bread soaked in red wine
2 medium sized eggs, beaten
1 cup of finely chopped mint
salt and pepper
½ cup of finely grated Parmesan cheese
plain flour
olive oil
Onions are reall
to grow from mi
brow n, around Au
by lif ting out th
16
13
In a large bowl, mix the meat, onion and garlic
together. Add the bread, chopped mint and
Parmesan cheese and mix well. Season to taste,
and then add the beaten eggs. Mix thoroughly.
Cover the bowl and leave to stand in the fridge
for 24 hours.
Dust your palms and fingers with flour and scoop
out the meat mixture in small amounts. Roll into
meatballs approx 4cm in diameter, about the size
of a ping-pong ball. Coat in flour and set aside.
In a large frying pan, heat olive oil and fry the
meatballs a few at a time. They need to roll
around in the oil to get brown all over and cook
right through. Remove from the pan using a
slotted spoon, drain on kitchen roll and keep
warm while you cook the rest.
Serve with a green salad, Feta cheese and
black olives. Alternatively add the meatballs to a
tomato-based sauce and serve with spaghetti.
Onions
y easy
niature
onions! Harvest
them
when the leaves
are
gust,
e bulbs
and putting them
somewhere to dr
y.
BTCV Carbon Army
marches on locally
produced food
It’s amazing to find there’s Cut down waste by taking your reusable bags to
so much food grown, reared, shop at farmers’ markets and farm shops, and
baked, smoked and produced your own containers when you go to pick-your-
own farms.
within a few miles of where
we live.
Just about every major town and many villages
in the UK have a farmers’ market at least once a
month, and every county has farm shops selling
Find your nearest farm
top quality, locally-produced food.
shops and farmers’ markets
You can support the local economy and cut
down food miles when you buy more of your FARMA, the national farmers’ retail and
food from local sources. markets association, has a comprehensive
listing of farm shops, markets and pick-
Farm shops and farmers’ markets are great
your-own farms – all accredited so that
places to meet growers and farmers. This is
you can be sure you’re buying authentic
your chance to discuss how they produce their
local produce.
vegetables and rear the meat and makes it a
unique shopping experience. Reconnecting with www.farma.org.uk
food in this way helps us realise what the true
cost of food is to the planet. Food Lovers Britain
You’ll find that fresh vegetables and fruit are www.foodloversbritain.com
harvested straight from the fields and orchards
lists all the local food festivals and events.
just hours before they’re sold with the minimum
of packaging, refrigeration and storage.

17
Seasonal
food…
– best for the planet and best for
BTCV Carbon Army.
Food grown close to where
you live and harvested at its
seasonal prime will be fresher,
tastier, cheaper and almost
certainly have fewer carbon
emissions than produce grown
outside the UK.
When produce such as asparagus, strawberries
or beans are in season, the price is cheaper and
we can all make the most of it.
It’s worth waiting for the right time of year to eat
these fantastic foods - just packed full of flavour.
Early summer is the time to enjoy succulent
asparagus grown in the UK. Traditionally the
asparagus season starts on St George’s Day,
April 23, and finishes on Midsummer Day, but
growers in the south-west get an earlier harvest
in polytunnels.
Crisp and sweet apples and pears are
harvested from our orchards from the middle of
August throughout the autumn. Raspberries
are in season from the middle of summer
through to the autumn, depending on the variety.
When you grow broad beans, French beans
or stick beans (also known as runner beans)
in succession, you’ll be harvesting from May
through to October. Who needs imported beans
in winter?
Nutritionally-packed root vegetables such
as celeriac and parsnips are traditionally
harvested after the frosts which intensify the
flavours. Red cabbages are in their prime in
January, soon followed by purple sprouting
broccoli.
You can check up which foods are in season
by visiting Eat the Seasons website
www.eattheseasons.co.uk

Strawberries are available in the UK during Support the BT CV

Carbon
the spring (from April and early May if they’re Army and our wo
rk with
community grou
under polytunnels) through to first frosts ps to
help people eat
in October. with the
seasons.
The joy of anticipating the short but very sweet
plum season is only surpassed by tucking into
£10 could be enough to
provide the seed
gorgeous plum crumbles and potting up plum s needed
by local groups
jam to enjoy on toast in the winter. Juicy golden to kick-
start a healthy
and dark purple plums are available from July for eating
project.
only a few weeks, so buy them when you can.
www.btcv.org/don
ate

18
Supplied by James Miller, part of
our Youth Team in Dorset. “It’s a
bit fflexible but this should feed
four people,” says James. “I cook
by smell and taste of course and
probably change this recipe a bit
every time.”

Beetroot Bolognese
- add whatever vegetables you have in season.

1 large onion – peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves – peeled and chopped
2 good sized beetroots (raw) – peeled and
grated
400g tinned tomatoes (whole or chopped)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
Vegetable stock powder and vegan
Worcestershire sauce
Herbs and spices to suit your tastes
Half a pack of Quorn mince (optional)
Any other vegetables you fancy adding –
these could include chopped or sliced leeks,
carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin, spinach,
beans, cauliflower or broccoli.
Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan and add
the onion and garlic until it’s soft. Then add the
grated beetroots and cook a bit more.
Add Quorn mince (if desired) and let it brown.
If you’re not using Quorn, then add one or two
grated carrots instead.
Add the tomatoes, teaspoon of stock powder,
Worcestershire sauce and whatever other herbs
and spices you like.
Season with pepper and a little salt – check the
sauce isn’t too salty. Let the sauce simmer for
15 minutes or so.
Taste it after 15 minutes – you may need to cook
it a bit longer. It will be ready when the strong
beetroot flavour has moved on to a lovely mixed,
sweet flavour. If you need more flavour, add
another teaspoon of stock powder.

Beetroots
eat for
Beetroots are gr
ow You can
.
beginners to gr
t th em as baby
start to harves
wh en th e root has
vegetables
e of a
grow n to the siz
golf ball.

19
Foraging…

…free food. In woodlands, some planted by BTCV volunteers,

The origins of BTCV are founded
in conserving and creating wild
places in cities, towns and the
countryside for biodiversity.
More habitats for wildlife and
wild plants can mean wild and
natural food for us too.
Why not enjoy nature’s bounty for free – when
it’s safe and legal to do so?
BTCV volunteers have planted and managed
thousands of miles of hedgerows over the last
50 years. That’s a plentiful supply of hawthorn
leaves for spring salads, summer rosehips for
jellies, elderflowers for thirst-quenching drinks
and elderberries for autumn cordials.
you’ll find edible mushrooms, fungi and nuts.
Take a mushroom and fungi guidebook with you,
or have fun fungi-hunting with an expert. As with
all wild food, you must be certain it’s OK to eat
it before you pick it. If you don’t know what it is,
leave it until you do.
You’ll have to be quick to beat the squirrels, but
hazelnuts and sweet chestnuts are worthwhile
collecting. Chestnuts must be boiled or roasted
before eating because of tannic acid. Hazelnuts
(also known as cobnuts) are good to eat fresh
and green or left for a few weeks to mature.
Picking blackberries, rosehips, elderberries
and sloes are idyllic ways in which to reconnect
with nature and wildlife. Wandering along
the hedgerows on Rights of Way e.g. public
footpaths and bridleways, you’re more likely to
spot birds’ nests and identify wild flowers.

ing on
When you’re forag
ke sure
private land, ma
downer’s
you have the lan
fir st . It
permission
al to up ro ot
is illeg
ld pla nts, se ll your
wi
harvest
foraged food or
ci al cr op e.g.
a commer
gr ow in g in an
apples
or ch ard.

20
Many urban plants that you may think of as
weeds (dandelions and nettles spring to mind)
are in fact delicious additions to any meal. Young
dandelion leaves are good in salads. Pick nettle
leaves carefully, wear gloves for this, go for the
young leaves at the top of the plants. Chop and
cook them in butter to add to stock for a soup,
make a pasta sauce with tomatoes and garlic, or
add to pancakes and omelettes.

If you live near the seaside there are lots of wild

foods to enjoy along the shoreline. Seaweeds,
shellfish in rock pools, samphire and sea kale
– all packed with nutrition and flavour. Check
the tide timetable before you start and keep
an eye on the weather at all times – it’s easy to
be caught out by incoming tides and sudden
storms.
Get your FREE Blackberry.
No purchase necessary,
and lots of blackberries
to be won!

Wait until autumn.

Go out along your local highways
and byways.
Find a bramble bush.
Pick your own free blackberry.
Savour the flavour, free of texts, e-mails
and annoying ring tones.

21
Blackberry
Muffins
Jessica Duffy started as a BTCV volunteer
way back in 1983. She is now BTCV’s Staff
Training Officer in Leeds. Makes
Jessica says: “Get to know when your local 10
muffins
blackberries are ripe. The ones on our allotment,
which must have come from cultivated stock,
ripen in the first week of August. Wild ones tend
to be ready to pick a week or two later.”

160g plain flour Preheat the oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6. Grease a

115g polenta (cornmeal) muffin tin or line with paper muffin cups.

100g caster sugar In a large bowl, combine the flour, polenta, sugar,
½ teaspoon salt salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
In a separate bowl, beat together the oil, vanilla
1 dessert spoon baking powder
essence and egg.
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
alternating with the buttermilk until it is just
½ teaspoon vanilla essence moistened.
1 large egg
Gently fold in the blackberries and spoon the
225ml buttermilk. Alternatively use milk and fruity batter into the prepared muffin tins or cups.
natural yoghurt in equal amounts.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 – 25 minutes
225g fresh blackberries. Frozen blackberries
until they are golden. Serve warm.
are just as good. Either let them thaw and
gently stir into the muffin mixture, or add in
frozen and extend the cooking time because
they make the mixture very cold!

Notes:
1. Food Transport Indicators to 2006 (Defra)
published in Food Statistics Pocketbook 2009.
www.defra.gov.uk
2. Household Food & Drink Waste in the UK,
2009 WRAP www.wrap.org.uk
3. Evaluating the impact of environmental
volunteering on behaviours and attitudes to the
environment – University of Essex 2008.
Pretty J et al
4. Place to Grow: supplementary document
to Growing in the community, 2010. Local
Government Association.

22
BTCV’s Carbon Army helps
people across the UK unite to
take front-line action on climate
change, whilst improving the
places that matter to them, for
this and future generations.
We’re a practical, hands-on
response to the global challenge
that faces us all.
For over 50 years, our charity has worked in
the heart of communities, where trained staff
and volunteers are inspiring individuals and
communities to improve their environment and
work towards saving the planet.
Every day BTCV volunteers are in action, tackling
the impact of climate change through tasks such
as:
• Planting trees to lock up carbon
• Managing water courses to reduce flood risks
• Growing food to cut CO2 emissions from food
miles.
Practical action really can make a difference – to
people, to local communities and to the planet.
But we cannot make this difference alone. To
achieve real change, we need your support:-
Dig...
£10 could equip a volunteer to dig a drainage
ditch, diverting water to help prevent flooding
during stormy weather.
Plant...
£20 could help volunteers rejuvenate a local
woodland by planting saplings fitted with special
protective guards, so they can withstand all
weathers and have the best chance of maturing
into magnificent trees.
Build...
£30 could teach new volunteers how to stabilise
sand dunes and strengthen our coast’s natural
defences against erosion by the sea.
Clear...
£40 could enable a team of volunteers to clear
dogwood from chalkland areas to give juniper
and rare flowers the chance to thrive, bringing
colour and life back to the landscape.
Grow...
£50 could help a group of volunteers plant
vegetables and fruit in a communal garden in
an inner-city area, reducing food miles and
therefore CO2, improving the diet of local
families and introducing them to the joys of
growing their own!
A donation of any amount will be put to
work immediately to help us connect with
more volunteers and deliver more practical
conservation work. A regular gift by direct debit
from as little as £2 per month would go towards
securing the future for the Carbon Army, and
make a lasting difference throughout the UK.
By supporting BTCV’s Carbon Army you enable
us to educate and inspire local people and
communities to care for their environment.
Register your support,
volunteer or donate online
at www.btcv.org. Help us
reach out and inspire more
people. Together we can
make a real difference.