The Fervour of Fermentation

The seasonal fermentation of my October passion becomes more fervent, and I am more observant as her larder, fully stocked, is temporarily unlocked: piles of acorns underfoot; hedges full of autumn fruit; birches seed and conkers brown, sycamore helicopters tumble down; and, multiplied by recent rain that’s made the grasses green again, hordes of mushrooms […]

Tuscan Sunset

Summer lingers: a few green leaves the colour of basil and fennel seed in thyme-scented September hedges; a flurry of saffron around the edges of a stilted, shrivelled sunflower; unharvested corn, a dirty ochre, and moon-yellow unmown grass gild autumn. A mural of flavour, a kaleidoscope of colour. Kim M. Russell, 20th September 2022 Tuesday […]

Tell Me True

My grandmother always peeled an apple with grandfather’s penknife, careful, keeping it all in one piece. I watched it twirl and curl, with a whiff of sweetness, pinched between her fingers. She taught me a rhyme, that we said every time: apple peel, apple peel, tell me true, who am I going to get married […]