Vegetables (Jason's turnip obsession)
All the vegetables we use for display and cooking are grown from our own allotment and garden. In the 15th century most village houses would have had their own allotment style garden that produced the food that was needed for the whole year. We decided to find out what challenges faced a medieval gardener as he attempted to provide a year round supply of food for his family.
Herbs
Elenna is the herb fanatic. Everywhere she's lived she's grown herbs. They are essential for cooking, medicinal use and of course perfumery.
Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Marjoram, Parsley, Tarragon, Selfheal, Wormwood, Southernwood, Motherwort, Mint, Hyssop, Bay, Chives, Fennel, Fenugreek, Milk Thistle, Woad, Flax, Mulberry, Caraway, Lavender, Gooseberry, Redcurrants and Angelica. Many herbs were grown and most were used like vegetables. The herb patch at home seems to have taken over the top part of the garden but at the allotment it's still establishing itself due to the heavy clay soil. Whenever we cook with herbs on the LH we usually take more than is necessary as you will always be asked by the public what herbs you are using so to have a bunch on display makes explaining it easier.
Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Marjoram, Parsley, Tarragon, Selfheal, Wormwood, Southernwood, Motherwort, Mint, Hyssop, Bay, Chives, Fennel, Fenugreek, Milk Thistle, Woad, Flax, Mulberry, Caraway, Lavender, Gooseberry, Redcurrants and Angelica. Many herbs were grown and most were used like vegetables. The herb patch at home seems to have taken over the top part of the garden but at the allotment it's still establishing itself due to the heavy clay soil. Whenever we cook with herbs on the LH we usually take more than is necessary as you will always be asked by the public what herbs you are using so to have a bunch on display makes explaining it easier.
Soft fruit and the Quince tree.
Illustrations and contemporary writings often show fruit trees and bushes included in the garden. Before refined sugar was introduced most of the sweet element of the medieval diet was provided by fruit or honey so these items would be essential to add variety to the diet of our gardener and his household. Whilst many modern fruits are little changed from their medieval counterparts we have concentrated in trying to grow varieties that are less familiar to us today. The first of these to reach maturity has been our Quince tree, the illustration shows a developing fruit from our first crop. Since Britain's climate is not as conducive to the growing of vines most of the alcoholic beverages produced would have been fruit or grain based, however archaeological evidence and surviving records show grapes were grown in this country during our period of study so a vine has been added to our experiment and we are eagerly awaiting the first fruit.
Peas and Beans
Peas and Beans would have been the bulk crop for a medieval gardener representing the highest yield to seed ratio available with some ancient varieties like the Martock Bean offering a better return than medieval wheat. Peas and Beans dry well and would be stored to keep the family fed throughout the winter. Our success with Beans has been limited by the exceptionally cold winter of 2010 during which all of our over winter crop was destroyed or eaten by wildlife. A replacement crop was hastily replanted in the spring but there was a gap in our crops in 2011 which would have represented a time of great hardship for a medieval householder. Peas have been productive this year from two staggered plantings although more soil improvement during the winter and a greater proportion of the plot needs to be given over to this useful and easily preserved crop.
Leaf Crops
The predominant leaf vegetable in Britain during the medieval period would have been a type of Brassica called "Colewort". Whilst it remained popular right up to the early part of the 20th Century it is now thought to be extinct. Our research suggests this plant was exported to the American colonies and it's descendant, Collard Greens, is still popular particularly in the Southern states of the US and this has been used as our main crop. Collard Greens/Coleworts produce a tall stem, rather like a Brussel Sprout, with large fleshy leaves but no defined head. The whole plant can be pulled or individual leaves can be cut to ensure a constant supply. These plants are quite hardy and resistant to pests producing a harvest from early summer to late autumn and late plantings can even survive into December. Cabbages were also popular, medieval round varieties being green with a looser head than the drumhead cabbages popular today although pointed varieties are also shown in some period illustrations. Our experiments with cabbages have suffered considerable damage from slugs and caterpillars, without access to modern pest control technology much of a medieval gardeners time would have been spent removing and destroying these pests by hand. From period herbals and Monastic texts we find Spinach and Chard were also known at this time and have been used to provide early and late harvests and add variety to our diet.
Perennial Pot Herbs
Research into medieval recipes and plant lists compiled by contemporary authors show a number of perennial vegetables that are unfamiliar to our modern palate. Smallage (illustrated) and Lovage, (both relatives of our modern Celery,) Good Kinge Henry (a Spinach like leaf vegetable), Sorrell and Skirrett (a perennial root vegetable) would all have been found in the Medieval culinary garden. Currently we have thriving Sorrell and Smallage beds and we intend to add Skirrett in the next season. Perennial vegetables are less labour and soil intensive than annual crops and the saving in labour particularly would have been of great benefit to our medieval gardener.
Onions, Garlic and Leeks.
The humble onion, which is often these days only considered as a herb to add flavour, was immensely important to the medieval diet. Easy to grow and store it could well be the only fresh vegetable available to poorer households in the bleak winter months and it was prized for it's medicinal properties as well as for culinary use. Onions grow well in the garden and are a popular crop with all of our neighbors in the allotment association. Garlic appears to have been more commonly grown than was previously thought, although perhaps not in all areas of the country. We grow Garlic as it seems to like the well drained clay soil of our allotment site. Leeks were also a popular medieval crop, poorer households trimming the leaves from growing plants to add to pottage and stews throughout a long season whilst richer diners enjoyed the status of eating the white lower part of the plant. By consuming a young, tender, whole plant that could, if carefully managed, provide food for a much longer period the diner demonstrated his affluence and resource, a common feature of higher status cooking in the periods before industrialized farming.
Root Vegetables.
When you are hungry what you want on your plate is quantity. Root vegetables were an excellent filler to bulk out a pottage as well as the basis for many other medieval dishes. In a world that had not yet discovered the Potato, the humble turnip would be far more familiar to a Medieval peasant than it is to us today. The Swedish Turnip or Rutabaga had not yet been developed so a white or yellow turnip would be the norm. Two varieties were selected (Golden Globe and Snowball) both of which produce a root similar to period illustrations. There has been much debate about the availability of carrots and what form they would have taken in the Medieval period. The native wild carrot (Daucus Carotta) is edible whilst young and there is evidence to suggest that a cultivated form of this was available to the medieval gardener. There has also been speculation that a form of purple carrot was available but this seems unlikely as the earliest strains of purple carrots occur largely in the Middle East. Similarly it has been purported that orange carrots were not available until the 17th Century (A common assertion being that they were developed in Holland to honour Prince William) however there are both illustrations and written accounts to suggest that a red or reddish orange carrot was available, in Europe at least, from the 14th Centruy onwards. Having considered all of the evidence we selected a slim, white variety of modern carrot (White Satin) as being a suitable substitute that would provide both an acceptable visual prop for Living History displays and return a decent yield for household consumption. Radishes and beets were also known in various forms and we have planted a variety of white radish (White Icicle) with some success.
Foraging
Whilst our medieval householder laboured to produce cultivated crops there is considerable evidence that he was not too proud or foolish to ignore the bounty offered by divine providence. Hedgerows and woodland abound with herbs, fungi, fruit, nuts, eggs and grains all of which would have been collected to bulk out meals. Mustards and nettles for pottage or salad herbs would be collected in season. Beech mast, hazel nuts and even acorns were harvested and stored, sometimes roasted or used as ingredients in other recipes, sometimes ground to eke out dwindling flour stocks in the months before the grain harvest was ripe. Wild strawberries, currants and raspberries would be especially prized treats in the times before sugar was freely available and gooseberries, damsons, plums, bullaces, wild cherries and crab apples would be collected to be used in pies and tarts, to make sauces for meat or to ferment into wine. England's pastures and woodlands yield a wide variety of edible fungi even today and, with careful research, can still provide us with delicate flavours and textures that surpass modern cultivated varieties. Some fungi would have been eaten immediately, others are suitable for drying to add flavour and bulk to winter stews.