Autumn 2020

hi friends,

autumn is usually the time when we set our intentions after a summer break but this is a very different one with so many of us feeling isolated, worried and bereaved

this year we’re not planning workshops and events, opportunities for people to come together and thinking ahead to christmas parties. but in the space left where these usually are, we can see some creative, thoughtful responses happening. 

i’m very damn proud to be part of the eatwell manchester marketplace, supporting those hardest hit by the pandemic to access healthy food. you can buy my drinks there plus a massive selection of the best food and drink in town. win.

autumn’s dusk charity is one I hugely admire and is really close to my heart: togethernow.org are an entirely voluntary charity working to reunite refugee families separated after war and human rights abuses. as our government increasingly seeks to repress basic human rights it is more expensive, beaurocracy bound and dangerous for people to get back together as a family than ever. together now can advise on this complex system as well as pay for safer travel routes and protection for children travelling alone. Dusk gives 10% profits to refugee charities. If you have sipped a dusk drink during lockdown you are a part of bringing a family back together. THANKYOU! check out their  website and if you’re able, your donation will be very well used.

I write these journals for people who have time and want to know a bit more about what the dusk project is getting up to; news, events, links to charities and of course none of this could happen without the plants. it’s really comforting for me to spot the same old autumn friends popping up on walks in parks and around town. however unsettled our world is right now, nature reliably does her thing. here are a few easy to identify autumn favourites and since we can only see our friends if we wander about the park, i might persuade you to pick something while you’re at it

nettle flowers and seeds

they are NOT stingy. if you avoid the leaves and grab the flower cascades they taste nutty and green. you can dry them for tea or baking, they give the fresh green in our dry vermouths. nettles also use the last of the autumn warmth and sun to have a ‘second spring’ growing a blast of new leaves before dying back for the winter. very handy if you are looking for greens, or super easy delicious nettle beer.

nettles have sucessfully populated pretty much the whole world. cool

acorns

this is a very acorn-y year, which makes me happy. sometimes *all* the oak trees decide not to go with acorns, which is amazing and also a little scary (how do they decide?) but im not going to imagine that most people are motivated to make acorn flour…. or the bizzarely complex acorn coffee which after a lengthy process of boiling, drying, grinding and roasting the awesome king of foraging roger phillips says “does not resemble coffee but is quite pleasant”

instead of working hard to wash out the bitterness, im preserving the tannins from acorns to make amaro, snaps and vermouth, its a new process for me and im motivated to find zero food miles ingredients and use the natural terroir of the city around me. as usual this might be delicious… or truly rubbish, i really like not knowing

rosehips

these gorgeous jewels, photographed so beautifully by Andy Hatton, and more basically by me, are hedgerow medicine royalty. the fruit is very high in vitamin c and iron and is an effective antibacterial antiinflammatory medicine commonly used for easing symptoms of arthritis, helpful post exercise recovery and cold remedy- once vital when the uk population wouldn’t have had access to citrus fruits in winter. rose flower petals, fruits and seeds are all used particularly     to support womens health. Ill be making fermented rosehip vinegar and tinctures for medicines and exciting drinks.

apples

are absolutely everywhere, big apples, tiny crabapples. it is surprisingly easy (and free) to make totally delicious cider (and hippy wonder product apple cider vinegar is simply a lazy extension of this.) as this is a time when most of us are worried about money, free natural booze with no artifical rubbish in it is a very good idea. i recommend pacal bauder’s book the wildcrafting brewer, or follow him on on insta @pascalbauder for inspo

gingko leaves

beautiful golden fan shaped leaves often found along city streets, there are lots in manchester. gingko biloba, the living fossil, unchanged for millenia, gingko is a powerful medical plant used for reducing anxiety, improving focus and cognitive function. gingko leaves taste like a fresh, mildly astringent lettuce, you can just eat them off the tree and get some right interesting looks. … incoming to wild rosé vermouth, with lots of other trees

rowan

i am a massive fan of rowan berries, vitamin packed powerfully tart and bitter

fruits growing in large sprays on the rowan, or mountain ash tree. they are easy to spot over manchester and most cities in autumn. once they’ve been boiled they are safe to eat and are traditionally used to make jellies. they appear in the foraged negroni ‘my smart american lover’ where they give the exciting sour ping. be sure you have 100% identified any berry, please and thanks

rowan history…
rowan berries and wood have ancient stories across many cultures, all with the themes of protection, particularly of homes, farms, children and animals. perhaps because the trees thrive in the most harsh landscapes, they are considered powerful, especially the wood of the ‘flying rowans’ found growing at high altitudes out of mountainous rocks. most cultures warn against cutting the wood of rowan with a knife, but protective charms made from twigs were commonly carried or tied to animals to ward off enchantment. druids used rowan bark to dye their ceremonial clothes black. must. do. this.

at least we’re getting outside, in the absence of swims, films, dinners, sitting in your fiend’s kitchen chatting nonsense for hours… but may we never see so many autumn tree insta posts again, unless this nature thing really catches on voluntarily…

much love, wishing everyone safety, protection and care and a nice take away or three. I’ll write again about gifts and giving and roots and look after yourself drinks in winter

emma x

p.s. the most thanks to Andy Hatton (@hatton511) who kindly used his time and astonishing talent to make this website and taught me how to keep it going. friends are the best