Sweet chestnuts

Thinking that the fungi season would be up and running by now, I've been out skulking in the woods with my basket, only to be disappointed.

However a mammoth find of sweet chestnuts (Castanea sativa) was an unexpected bonus. I've collected about 3 Kg, which I've stored in a cool, dampish corner to delay the shrivelling process. Historically chestnuts were an important food crop throughout much of southern Europe, having spread westwards from Asia Minor most likely with the Romans. In some places they still are: on Corsica I've sampled chestnut bread, cakes, liqueur and even beer.

I normally don't bother with these in the UK, since mostly they're too small to be worth the effort of scoring and peeling. However this year, they're swollen and plump. I cut a small cross on the curved side with a sharp knife, shove them in an old colander and roast them on the embers of the wood-burning stove for 20 minutes or so. Delicious.

Boletus erythropus

The season for this is normally late summer to early autumn, however I found one this evening while out hunting for kindling wood.

Most people don't pick this mushroom, since it has the red pores which are normally associated with the (possibly deadly) poisonous Boletus satanas, and the (merely) poisonous Boletus satanoides. However I do, as I suspect do all the commercial fungi collectors who pick the stuff which ends up as dried 'porcini' at Waitrose at £5 for 100g.

Boletus erythropus causes stomach upsets when raw but is edible - and good - when cooked. Hence the reason why shop-bought dried mushrooms must always be thoroughly cooked, since you really don't know what's been sneaked in there under the guise of 'cep'.

Spring / summer heating

I can't justify using the gas-fired £100-a-month central heating in April, and there are no logs for the woodburner to be had anywhere.

As a child I remember my parents' house being full of candles in winter, and the surprising amount of heat these generated.

Good quality tealights are £5 for 100 from Waitrose and burn for 4 hours each. 10 or so dotted about the place beautifully light a draughty old barn after dark, and heat it in the process for 50p.

Compared with the cost of running the central heating for 4 hours = £3. A no-brainer.

However, since paraffin wax is a by-product of crude oil, candles aren't particularly 'green' - though every Grand Designs eco-hovel seems to have them in profusion... Tut, tut.

Vegetable wax candles are available, but while they're 10 x the price of the paraffin wax variety, I shan't be buying them. Hence the title of this blog.