Happy New Year 2013

 
The hard frost never came and it rained and rained. The ground was heavy and newly born streams created their own course down through the orchard. Over two days we shifted the bark mulch, bag by sodden bag from Park End Farm stockyard where Brian keeps his vintage tractors.We loaded up our elderly landrover drove the 1/4 of a mile up the hill to home, then unloaded and carried the mulch across the field to spread on the beds.

  The beds looked great when we finished and the sun came out briefly one afternoon and lit up our golden reward.

New Year came and after an lovely evening of prosecco and damson gin cocktails, and a day of loafing and chatting with friends the annual muck day was upon us. Forty bags of the very finest horse manure to feed the new rhubarb crowns and gooseberry and blackcurrant bushes. Delivered curbside by an impressively butch truck. And thank god for the pirated Wickes trolley which meant we could shift eight bags at a time. It's got my name on it.

Mother's Christmas Message

The Gin Place in Wood Street Market will be open up until 5pm on Sat 22nd December and then closed until January 10th. For online sales last orders will be up to midnight on Friday 21st, dispatched on the morning of the 22nd - then closed for business until Friday 28th Dec.

I'll be up with family in Cumbria for the week, and very busy taking a wee nip of sherry, a pie or two and, between times, shifting the bark mulch which arrived today and is sitting in a very wet and heavy looking heap in the yard at Park End Farm. The delivery truck eyed our narrow lane with a great deal of suspicion and declined to back down the half mile to the orchard, so then delivered to the farm a few fields away.

I've got my fingers crossed for a strong hard frost so we can get the tractor over the ground to fetch it up. Otherwise it's a much slower filthier job filling bags and using the landrover.

A Christmas (Cock)tail ~
Rhubarb and Strawberry Gorgeousness
Serves 2: Take about a punnet's worth of frozen strawberries, the juice of one freshly squeezed orange and whizz up in a blender. Add a little more juice if needed so it is not too thick in consistency. Then add two generous shots of Rhubarb and Ginger Vodka per person and a couple of drops of rhubarb bitters if you have them (don't worry if not - it's still delicious without). Whizz all up together quickly and serve in tall glasses with as outrageous a garnish as you can muster.

Mother's Ruin wishes you a very merry Christmas and New Year!!

It's been busy in the market in the last few weeks before Christmas with Damson Gin in particular flying off the shelves. Only a few bottles left until next month's decanting. It looks like a bottle of my good good stuff is going to end up in a few stockings. In between the mincepies I think I'll spend much of it behind a wheel barrow, I have 3 tonnes of bark mulch arriving next week for the orchard and about a tonne of manure arriving on the allotment. I shall steel myself to the task fortified by roast potatos and Christmas pudding. And just to limber up and get in the party season Mother's Ruin is going out Morris dancing round Hampstead tonight, starting at the Holly Bush at 7.30 and moving on to the flask at about 8ish.

Mother's Ruin has a tiny film made by Film Direction who run the Walthamstow Film Festival and also while away the hours by creating witty viral marketing shorts...
It depicts just one of the medicinal uses of sloe gin





http://youtu.be/XTPV0BcWdVs

Scaping ice off the van window on a thin Cumbrian morning we headed early up the M6 North towards Carlisle and Tarn Rd nurseries. After a minor scuffle with the sat nav we arrived to find the nursery starting its day. Fires were being lit in the wood buring stoves, and a large golden longhaired hound had already bagged the warmest spot. Nursery owner John Treeby had got my order ready so we were back on the road shortly with high quality healthy looking plants.

Victoria, Glaskins Perpetual, Invicta, Ben Lomond, Ben Tirran, Glen Ample and Autumn Bliss.  - wonderful old names for the rhubarb crowns, blackcurrant and gooseberry bushes, and raspberry canes.

Whilst the rest of the country was under driving rain and flooding, we had cold and grey but dry day and got all the plants in. A small crowd gathered to mark the development of Mother's Ruin's Cumbrian arm to loud cheers.

It's definately deep into autumn if not drifting towards winter now.. Plenty of leaf kicking opportunities all over Walthamstow! It's been a full on week bottling and labelling in preparation for busier Saturdays in the market at Wood St, and the E17Designer Fair at Orford Rd on the 1st of December. One day the gin business will be wealthy enough to buy a machine to put the lids on bottles, in the meantime I'm developing lid twisting callouses.

Heading North this weekend to plant the soft fruit orchard and allow for the coming winter and spring rains to help it settle in. Here's hoping for clement weather or at least not torrential rain!

Mother's Ruin is back from her last minute hols to the Canary Islands where she sampled some of the local liqueur Ron Miel, Honey Rum, mmm very tasy. To remind me of the Spain I have used the Seville oranges that have been soaking in rum for a year to make a spicy and delicious Christmas mincemeat. It'll be on sale from Thursday at the Gin Palace, so you can stock up your Christmas larders.