GATHER FRIENDS FOR A SIMPLE SUPPER

RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS

FIND THE CHARM IN EVERY SMALL SPACE

MAKING THE MOST OF HOME

ORGANISE YOUR OWN SEED SWAP

GET-TOGETHER GARDENING

www.thesimplethings.com ISSUE 01 | OCTOBER

EMBRACE A SIMPLER LIFE

LOVING LIVING IN THE CITY

CIT YMY

BERL IN

ESCA PEA DAY OUT

PICKING APPLESWITH STORING IDEAS

AND CRUMBLE FOR TEA

CELEBRATING THE THINGS

THAT MATTER MOST

NEW

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A CHAT WITH THE BALCONY GARDENERAn exclusive video

interview with Isabelle

Palmer – and a tour of

her balcony planting.

TIPS FROM THE CHEESE EXPERT

Cheesemonger

Ann-Marie Dyas

demonstrates cheese

etiquette and shares a

simple recipe.

TIME FOR A BEDTIME STORYThe perfect bedtime

treat – wind down by

listening to Kerry

Hudson’s exclusive

short story. Sleep well!

The Simple Things celebrates

the things that matter most. It’s about slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the

most of where you live, enjoying the company

of friends and family and making simple food for

simple gatherings.

We like to grow some of our own vegetables,

visit our local markets, rummage in thrift shops

and decorate our homes with our plunder.

And we like to think that the small things

we do will make a difference in the long run.

We hope you share our vision and enjoy

The Simple Things.

4

MAR KE T LUNCH : CHEESE

IT’S SATURDAY, THE TIME TO LINGER IN MARKETS

AND SPECIALITY SHOPS. BROWSE, BUY, THEN

HOME WITH VALÉRIE LACASSE TO TURN SIMPLE

INGREDIENTS INTO SOMETHING VERY SPECIAL

For a Saturday treat, lifestyle blogger Valérie heads to the Jean-Talon market, in the Little Italy district of Montreal, Canada. “On a weekend it is bustling with people. It’s not uncommon to hear many

languages being spoken – French, English, Italian – I love to listen to the sounds and watch all the activity,” she says. The huge market boasts around 300 stalls holding everything from fresh fruit and vegetables to cheese, meat, seafood, bread and sweets. “It’s great to find out about the best products direct from the suppliers. After all, they are masters of their trade and the people you can trust to advise you.” Today it’s all about cheese. “I love cheese and I shop here at least once every two weeks,” Valérie confesses. “They carry a huge selection of both imported and local cheeses. Walking in the store you are instantly greeted with the aroma of cheese and it’s not long until my stomach begins to rumble in anticipation. Yves the cheese man loves to talk – I’ve never met anyone so passionate about cheese! He suggested the best cheese for my simple but special lunch.” »

The market carries a

huge selection of

cheeses. Tasting and

smelling is an essential

part of the buying

experience. Even if

you think you know

a cheese, you should

always try and taste

it before you buy.

There’s such a vibrancy

to visiting markets and

chatting to growers and

producers. Valérie

Lacasse loves the

farmer’s markets in

Montreal: “Visiting the

markets on a weekend,

they are bustling with

people stopping in for a

bite and doing their

groceries. And I love

that even after a lazy

lie-in, there will still be

plenty of produce.”

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SOMETHING FOR LUNCH

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Ned embraces everything his allotment has to offer; it’s his teacher, friend and reminder of home. It’s also a sociable place where family and friends can visit.

“ I brought back some CALLALOO seeds the last time I went to the West Indies... they seem to GROW WELL and taste great”

Even though I’ll be 79 in November, working on my allotment keeps me fit and young. It’s a place where I could stay all day and not get tired of it. I’m always looking forward to what I’m going to be planting or picking next. I started gardening when I lived in Jamaica and

used to grow things like sweet potatoes, yams, sugar cane, avocado pears, bananas and cocos, which are a bit like potatoes. I didn’t have time to think about growing anything when I first came to Britain in 1959. I was here for about 20 years before I decided to get gardening again and that’s when I got an allotment.

Growing things here took a bit of getting used to: we never had as many slugs in Jamaica as we get here and, after a while, I learned the value of putting down a few slug pellets. Frost was another thing I had to learn to live with and I found out the hard way that there were certain things, such as sugar cane and sweet potatoes, which just wouldn’t grow outside. On the plus side, while the ground in Jamaica is very fertile, here it’s much easier to handle. At first I helped the soil on a bit with a load of farmyard manure, while in more recent years I’ve been adding leaf mould. I sweep up bags of leaves at a school where I work and I bring them up here and dig them in. I also dig in the ash from any bonfires I have. An added bonus of doing this is that the slugs don’t like it! After all these years my soil has a beautiful, crumbly consistency and things grow very well.

Years ago I used to try and grow things in rows, but as soon as I saw a gap I would find something else to put in it, such as a potato that was no good to cook with because it had shot. So now I plant in patches and it seems to come up alright. I’m quite relaxed about the allotment: it doesn’t rule me. As far as weeds are concerned, I’m pretty handy with the Dutch hoe and I throw clippings and things like old cabbage leaves on the soil: these rot down, stop the ground from drying out too quickly and prevent any weed seeds from growing. Before planting things I dig the soil over and leave it for a few days to settle. I grow lots of crops, including spring onions, spinach, potatoes, sweetcorn, runner and French beans, courgettes and pumpkins.

I’ve grown butter beans in the past, they’re very common in Jamaica, and I always have callaloo. Nearly every West Indian who has a garden has callaloo. You cook it a bit like

spinach; it has a slightly sandy texture. Once you’ve planted it you’ll never be without it, although be careful to cut it above the joints so that more can sprout.

I brought back some callaloo seeds the last time I went to the West Indies 10 years ago, along with two kinds of African tomatoes: one is a bit like a beefsteak tomato and the other is more of a plum and they seem to grow well outside and taste great.

One of my most successful crops has been my cabbages. I bought some ‘Green Coronet’ seeds when I went to Nairobi about eight years ago and I was getting cabbages that were 13lbs in weight and measuring 32in round. Everybody was talking about them and I gave them to family, friends and other people on the allotments. The first year I grew them, they hadn’t matured by the winter, so the one thing I learned was to leave them until the following year, when they hearted up. I’ve saved seed from my cabbages every year but they’re getting smaller.

I take a lot of my vegetables home to my wife, Lynn, who is a good cook and uses a lot of them in her stews. I also grow plenty for my family, as well as friends, some of whom come and see me when I’m on my allotment.

The allotments are a sociable place. Other gardeners give me seeds from their crops, or pass on bits of advice; this means I’m always trying new things. A while back a friend told me he was transplanting his carrots. I thought this was strange, but when I tried it they grew better than the ones that were left in the patch where they were sown. That’s the thing I love about gardening: you never stop learning.

N E D

ALLOTMENTEER NED DRACKETT SPEAKS ABOUT HIS

PLOT OF LAND AND THE GOODNESS IT PRODUCES

Words: SUE BRADLEY Photography: LYNN KEDDIE

NED SAVES SEEDS from his more exotic vegetable crops to sow

the following year. But for more conventional crops he

recommends DT Brown Seeds. www.dtbrownseeds.co.uk

THE NATIONAL ALLOTMENT SOCIETY offers advice to everyone

with an interest in allotment gardening. www.nsalg.org.uk

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STOP FOR A CHAT

“THE RITUAL OF TEA-MAKING GOES HAND IN HAND WITH THE RITUAL OF CROCHET”SUSAN CROPPER Loop yarn store, London

WARM & COSY

Projects: KATE SAMPHIER Photography: KRISTIN PERERS

WE LOVE TEA, we love a craft project – and we love the revival of crochet. Here’s an old-fashioned cosy you can pretend your granny handed down. Inspired by the colours of sugared almonds, we’ve actually got patterns for a whole family of cosies to keep you busy of an evening. »

THE CRAFT HOUR

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Listening to pirate-radio stations as a child has turned into a very grown-up collecting habit for Carl Glover.

NO OTHER GADGET IN YOUR

HOUSE DEMANDS LESS

WHILE GIVING MORE AND,

FOR CARL GLOVER, IT’S

ALWAYS BEEN THAT WAY

TH E COLLECTOR:RADIOS

Viewed as a whole, Carl Glover’s radio collection resembles a wall of props from an HG Wells movie. “It’s how the future used to look,” he says. “I loved listening to pirate-radio under the sheets as a child. All those weird things

from ships – it was science fiction. Radio was the first medium without borders. It’s a bit like a radioactive cloud; it doesn’t matter which way you vote or part your hair, those waves will come over regardless.”

Carl’s passion for the vintage wireless began in the jumble sales of Hoo, in Kent, in the late 70s. As a punk rocker rummaging for dinner jackets to customise, he’d also stumble across unwanted radios. He says: “For 20p you couldn’t turn them down! And once you’ve got more than two of something, you’re on your way to a collection.”

At the peak of his habit, Carl “went to every market in London, every Sunday morning, with a hangover” as well as making trips to the USA and Paris. But he now has a more measured approach: working as a designer

and photographer, he also edits The Bulletin, the British Vintage Wireless Society (BVWS) newsletter.

“The BVWS is a really broad church,” he explains. “Some people are much more concerned with the insides of the radios, and some are more superficial, a bit like me, and admire the way they look. It’s a good atmosphere. We have lots of gatherings and most proceeds go to the British Vintage Wireless and TV Museum in Dulwich – it’s an amazing place.

However, fatherhood persuaded him to cull his precious collection considerably; he now adds to it rarely, and with caution. He says: “I’ve been very fussy and buy just one radio every two years or so. If one comes in, one goes out. I’ve never bought a set from eBay. I’d rather speak to one of the people I know in the States. There are a lot of fakes around. ”

His current collection of 34 sets is a stunning showcase of the differing styles of British, French and American manufacturers. “The British sets are a bit more bowler hat, with broader curves, reminiscent of Issigonis’s design for the Morris Minor.

“The American radios are smaller, as they use 110 volts as opposed to 240 volts. They also fall into two distinct schools: Architectural, which really do look like buildings; and Streamlined, where they seem to have more movement in their appearance.

1: French LMT type 1840, late 1940s

2: Philco 49-501 ‘Boomerang’, 1949

3: Unknown, Czech set, possibly late 1940s

1 2 3

Words: ANNA BRITTEN Photography: CARL GLOVER

OBSESSION

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“When we sit down to eat I like everyone to help themselves. I want them to feel at home and comfortable and not guilty about going back for seconds or even thirds.”

THE PERFECT EXCUSE TO SHARE HEARTY FOOD,

CANDLELIGHT AND CARD GAMES

supperwithfriends

Recipes and photography: CHANTELLE GRADY

C asual supper drifting into a game of cards or dominos is just the way Chantelle Grady likes to spend time with friends. “I love really rustic food that doesn’t look too perfect on the plate, something you

can dig into and enjoy. For this evening I wanted a warm and homely menu. Chicken pot pie is one of my favourites (and my husband’s) as it’s easy to do and always leaves tummies full and satisfied.” “I really enjoy setting the table but I’m very

simple with my styling. A handed-down linen tablecloth, vintage cutlery, candles filling the table with light are all I need for a welcoming setting. “When I started cooking I found it really hard to talk to guests at the same time. Now I’m a bit older it’s easier and I enjoy having people around my kitchen. My husband doesn’t enjoy cooking and can unintentionally slow down the process! “I love it when guests relax with a bottle of beer and the smell of cooking fills the air. Everyone is happy and I like that.” »

MENUCourgette and potato

fritters with tomato relish

Chicken pot pie and roasted carrots

with thyme

Fudge chocolate and raspberry brownies

GATHERING

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BABY CARROTS – WITH TINY TRIMMED TOPS – MAKE A WONDERFULLY FUSS-FREE SIDE DISH

Roasted carrots with thyme

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).

2. Spread the carrots across a large flat baking tray.

Drizzle with oil and toss with thyme leaves. Dot with

butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for

20–30 minutes or until carrots are tender and brown,

turning occasionally.

Serves 4

1kg baby carrots, leaves

trimmed, washed

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1 tbsp butter

Sea salt and cracked black

pepper

“Chicken pot pie is easy to do and always leaves tummies full and satisfied. I’ve tried a few different recipes over time and changed ingredients here and there and this one has become my favourite.”

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).

Grease a large pie dish.

2. In a large frying pan over high heat,

heat half the butter. Add mushrooms,

thyme and garlic to the pan and sauté

for five minutes or until mushrooms

are soft and slightly golden. Remove

and set aside.

3. Add the remaining butter to the pan

and cook chicken in batches for two to

three minutes or until golden. Remove

with a slotted spoon and set aside.

4. Reduce the heat to medium and add

the leek to the pan. Cook for two to

three minutes, scraping the pan to

combine the leek with the chicken

sediment and juices and cook until the

leek softens. Return the mushrooms

and chicken to the pan and cook for a

further two to three minutes.

5. Add the flour to the pan and stir to

bring ingredients together. Slowly add

the stock and stir until well combined.

Add the cream and parsley and

combine. Reduce heat to a simmer

and allow to cook for another two to

three minutes or until the mixture

thickens. Season with salt and pepper

and spoon into the pie dish.

6. Place the sheet of puff pastry over

the top of the dish. Trim the edges with

a knife leaving a little to overhang and

discard trimmings. Prick, then brush

the lid with egg-wash and bake in oven

for 25-30 minutes or until pastry is nice

and golden and puffed.

Serves 4

80g butter

500g chestnut mushrooms, stems

removed, quartered

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1 clove garlic, chopped

500g skinless (boneless) chicken

thigh fillets, cubed

1 leek, white part, sliced

1 tbsp plain flour

250ml chicken stock

250ml single cream

1 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 sheet ready-rolled puff pastry

1 egg, lightly beaten

Chicken pot pie

NO NEED FOR PLANNING, THIS IS A SIMPLE PIE YOU CAN RUSTLE UP IN LESS THAN AN HOUR. PREPARE, THEN RELAX AND CHAT

GATHERING

Trees are not all there is or all that matters, of course, but they are indispensable. Treat them well – individually and collectively – and we, humanity, can reasonably expect to occupy this Earth for many thousands of years to come. But if we treat them with

contempt, regard them as a ‘resource’ to be turned into money, or as an inconvenience to be swept aside, then, frankly, we’ll have had our chips. The only proper attitude towards them is one of gratitude, because we really do rely on them for our own existence; and of reverence, because they really are wondrous and, in the end, however excellent our science may become, they are beyond our ken. I am sure that this is how most people, in their bones, feel towards trees. It’s odd that in a world that aspires to be democratic we allow our governments and industrialists to treat them so badly.

For my part, I’m a tree groupie; I have sought them out all around the world. Yet I hadn’t appreciated their full magnificence until I was taken by a local friend around the kauri forest of New Zealand’s North Island. All the kauri trees were magnificent – but then, out of the gloom, like a lighthouse, loomed the daddy of them all, Tane Mahuta, which had a trunk like a lighthouse with a girth of 45 feet (14 metres). High in its branches lodged an entire ecosystem – epiphytic ferns and lizards and goodness knows what else. Tane Mahuta is estimated to be around 2000 years old, which means it had reached 1000 years when the Maoris first arrived.

Yet many a yew is just as old as Tane Mahuta – including one I happened upon in a churchyard at Fortingall in central Scotland. The Romans were in those

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WHY TREES MATTER

WE NEED TO TAKE THE WORLD

MORE SERIOUSLY. IT WOULD BE A

GOOD IDEA TO BEGIN WITH TREES.

BIOLOGIST COLIN TUDGE IS OUR GUIDE

parts, apparently, and there’s a notice by the tree ingenuously asking “Did the young Pontius Pilate play in its shade?” (Probably not, but you can’t blame the tourist board for trying.)

Most striking of all, though, is the cooperativeness of trees. Tennyson’s all-too resonant line: ‘Nature red in tooth and claw’, just doesn’t seem to apply. So it is that in southern Spain, near Cota Donana, the flat-topped pines of the kind that Goya liked to paint, seem to grow straight

out of the dunes. This is possible only because their roots are pervaded by the hyphae of mycorrhizal fungi, which in effect become part of the root: hugely extending its range, and the variety of nutrients it can draw upon. Pines in general – including the vast, boreal forests of Canada and Siberia – rely absolutely on mycorrhizae. So indeed do all trees, and most land plants. Without their cargoes of fungi they wouldn’t be here and neither would we.

Symbiotic relationships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in their roots are just as important – turning atmospheric nitrogen gas into soluble nutrients. Such bacteria are found most famously in plants of the family Fabaceae, formerly known as the Leguminosae: and so it is that ‘leguminous’ trees are among the principal denizens of all tropical forests and the ‘fixed’ nitrogen they produce »

“ Treat them well – individually and collectively – and we, humanity, can reasonably expect to OCCUPY this Earth for many thousands of YEARS to come”

PASSING ON TR ADITIONS

Making thumb sticks by ANNA BRITTEN

AS A CHILD, quiet country walks with my grandfather would be broken by his declaring: “That’s a good ’un!” He’d then veer from the path to tug a long, Y-shaped stick from the undergrowth and, with his penknife, trim the ends to leave a small, thumb-sized V at the stick’s apex. He’d snap a length off the bottom to adjust the height, and hand it to me. Later, he’d find one tall enough for himself, despite the fact a bunch of such thumb sticks already stood in an umbrella-stand by his front door – the best ones varnished. Like him, I’m starting to realise you can never have too many things to lean on. Note to self: get a penknife.

feeds all the rest. Yet not all nitrogen fixers are legumes. Alders are not legumes but they have their own kinds of nitrogen-fixing bacteria – and hence they form marvellous forests in the dank soils of Latvia.

The Latvians use alder for everything from barn doors to pianos. Worldwide, trees of thousands of kinds provide us with hundreds of forms of timber for all purposes from pit props to the finest veneers – plus drugs and resins and pigments and goodness knows what. The more we are able to grow what we need, with the aid of infinitely renewable sunlight, the better, and on land at least, trees are the most accomplished sunlight trappers of all. They also provide what are bureaucratically known as ‘ecoser-vices’: regulating rainfall, controlling floods, cleaning groundwater, preventing erosion, soaking up CO2 and storing it – they provide our greatest protection from global warming. In cash terms, it’s estimated that nature’s ‘ecosystem services’ are worth two or three times the total GDP of all the nations in the world.

But that’s not the right way to look at nature. We should perceive what a privilege it is to be part of this world, and to share it with creatures as complex and as magnificent as trees. There should be more and stronger laws to protect nature, of course – but laws are only means to ends. It shouldn’t simply be unlawful to destroy our fellow creatures as casually as we do. It should be unthinkable.

COLIN TUDGE is author of The Secret Life of Trees (Penguin). His

latest book is Good Food for Everyone Forever (Pari Publishing).

www.colintudge.com

Thumb stick:n. a tall walking stick with a forked thumb rest at the top.

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LIGHT & SHADE

Words: MARIANA SCHROEDER Photography: DAGMAR MORATH

MIXING DARK WITH LIGHT, OLD WITH NEW, DAGMAR

MORATH USES HER PHOTOGRAPHER’S EYE TO

GROW THE STYLE OF HER BERLIN APARTMENT

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DINING ROOM Entertaining comes naturally to Dagmar and Randy. Informal dinners are the rule and friends will often bring dishes for a pot-luck supper.

HOW WE LIVE

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