Monday 30 September 2013

My Parcel has arrived


Here are my new toys

 
Taper cutters
Pfiel sccorp, 3cm width.

I have  been watching the series "Vikings" on SBS.Now before I find myself shunned for this, just let me say one thing. GEESE.  Yes the cothing is innacurate, the view of government a little skewed and there seem's to be an awful lot of threeway action happening...But, there are geese in just about every episode. I am fairly sure that it's the same flock as well.

Saturday 28 September 2013


Well, I've been experiencing difficulties with posting so I will give a quick update. No pictures unfortunately :( So I have some of my tool, I can't complete the stools but I have being learning how to use my scorp. In other news I am really looking forward to teaching next term, I even get my own class room!

Also I happen to have got my Learners license! Bet you didn't see that one coming!

Friday 20 September 2013

Creatures of the night:

Night Stalk: spotlighting trip 1

Went for a walk to Gunghalin hill nature reserve, which is just behind Crace and spent over an hour spotlighting.

Tonight we saw..... 3 micro-bats and heard many, 14 grey kangaroos, 3 Brushtail possums, one on it's own and a mother with a baby on her back, 1 cockatoo, three wood duck and 3 foxes. Definitely going out spotlighting for Nightstalk again!
 Another cool thing from last nights "Nighstalk" was playing recorded animal sounds and listening for a response. We had minimal luck... except for a moment in the forest of eyes where we played a recorded fox call. I don't know what the recorded fox was saying, but it made the local foxes a bit excited!
We tried the same technique with a Tawny Frogmouth call and a Southern Boobook call but had no luck.   The Museum of Victoria has produced an iphone App called the "Field Guide to Victorian Fauna". I'm not in Victoria but many of the species are the same.
 Link to: Field guide to Victorian Fauna

Thursday 19 September 2013

Carved wooden Bowls: in search of a style


I want to carve some relatively simple wooden bowls, and since my "audience" is the SCA I really need to find an appropriate style from before 1600 a..d

This is not the only reason of course, or even the main one. Trying and learning different styles will be fun and teach me more about the craft.  This will of course remain a work in progress.

The Oseberg Ship Grave wooden household artifacts ( C 834  a.d)

"kitchen utensils include four wooden trays, two whole and two fragmentary, two large cauldrons
with chains and an iron tripod to put over the fire, three barrels for storage of food and liquid, a frying pan, a set of variously sized troughs for flour and bread production, five wooden ladles, two bowls.."
 From the Viking Age Queen, an article by Kirsten Ruffoni.
The images below are from Pinterest, I had trouble finding the original sites. The lack of scale is also an issue, however I will be able to copy proportions. Some of the other wooden objects look like they could be fun too


 
casket with lid
 The Bowl is 4 to 4.5 units wide and 9 units in length,
with an outside height of 1.5 units.   What is a unit? well basically I measured the images at a certain size on the screen and while those measurements are in centimeters, I can use them to scale up or down the size of the bowl. This has no reflection on the real size of the bowls, sadly this is unknown to me.

References

Hello


Hi,

just throwing an offer out there! Are there any topics you would like me to Blog about?

Wednesday 18 September 2013

The Beets go on


A Profile of the Beets

 

Modern scientific: Beta vulgaris

Family CHENOPODIACEAE

Common names: Silver beet, Beetroot, Beet, chard, Swiss chard, spinach.

Origins

To most Auatralians the term beet, or at least beet root conjures up images of think red slices lurking in tins.  But far from being a recent introduction to our tables the Beet, it's root and its leaves have formed an important part of the human diet. Beets have their origin in the wild sea beet Beta vulgaris subspecies maritima a native of the European coast from Norway down to the eastern Mediterranean (Facciola 1998). From their seaside roots beets have been selected into two broad forms:

-Leaf Beets Beta vulgaris Cicla group, known as, Swiss chard, Chard, spinach beet, and probably even more names (Facciola 1998). These "spinaches" were in use long before true spinach arrived in britain.

-Root Beets Beta vulgaris Crassa group, containing Beetroot, sugar beets and a variety of beets called Mangel wurzels which are generally used for stockfeed (Facciola 1998).

  

A Woman collecting the leaves of beets. The illustrations are from late 14th Century northern Italian manuscripts published in The Medieval Health Handbook: tacuinum sanitatis (NY: George Braziller, 1976).  Image sourced from http://www.buttery.org/marian/14th_c_ital_baskets_2.html



Uses

Originally use may have been limited to medicinal uses, especially in the case of the root, however by the 3rd Century AD this had apparently changed and beetroot is mentioned as a wholesome food by Apicius (Hedrick 1919).

A recipe from Apicius .

Aliter betas elixas (Beets another way)
Cook the beets with mustard seed and serve them well pickled in a little oil and vinegar.

In Le Managier de Paris  we find Black beets served  with: "Beef pies and rissoles, black beet, lampreys in cold sage soup, a German meat soup, a white sauce of fish, and the coarse meat of beef and mutton."
In addition there are several mentions of white beets and of dishes containing the leaves of beets.:

"BEET SOUPS. There are three kinds of beet-leaf soups according to cooks who speak of them, white, green, and black."

The Archaeological record.

 In the British Archaeological record beet seeds are relatively common and while differentiating root and leaf beets from the seeds is not readily done, the presence of seeds away from the coast immediately indicates that they are cultivates as the wild sea beet is only found naturally on the coast (Greig 1995).

Beta vulgaris sub-species appear frequently in archaeological finds in Britainfrom the 15th to 16th centuries, Alexander Neckham and several other literary sources dating from around the 13th and 14thcenturies also mention beets (Greig 1995).



 
A slection of sources which mention varieties of Beta Vulgaris.

 

 
 
The Varieties,
Black, red and white Beets are metioned. I would suggest that we can use this as an indicator of these colourations being available as beet leaves, if only by virtue of the leaves from root beets also being edible. I cannot say that other colours were not know but feel that I need to look into this further .
I am having trouble finding references to identifiable varieties (beyond colour) further than the 18th century. So far we have "Early blood turnip beet" known in America in 1774 a close relative of the variety "Bulls blood" which I have seen for sale as seed.

References

·         Facciola 1998 Cornucopia II: A Source Book of Edible Plants, Kampong Publications ISBN-10: 0962808725

·         Greig J 1995 “Archaeobotanical and historical records compared- a new look at the taphonomy of edible and other useful plants from the 11th to the 18th centuries A.D.” Circaea, the Journal of the Association for Environmental Archaeology 12 (2) pp211-247
·         Oyen, L.P.A., 2004. Beta vulgaris L. [Internet] Record from Protabase. Grubben, G.J.H. & Denton, O.A. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa / Resources végétales de l’Afrique tropicale), Wageningen, Netherlands. < http://database.prota.org/search.htm>. Accessed 8 January 2009.

 ·         Hedrick, U.P. editor. 1919. Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants. Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for the Year 1919 II. Albany, J.B Lyon Company, State Printers. [References Available]FOOD RESOURCE
COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SCIENCES, OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

And now to wait for the parcel to arrive!



I have ordered a small scorp and a set of tapered mortise cutters. So I'm on my way to having the tools I need to make stools and bowls.


Why do I do this? It's not all about recreating furniture from the past. In fact it is less about that than you might think. The SCA certainly gives context to what I do by providing an environment where the objects I create are appreciated.
 What I really get from this type of woodworking is a massive sense of enjoyment. I really get a kick out of being able to look back and see the pictures of my work when it was a log.
 In this day and age it feels like a subversive act to split, carry, shape, cut etc all by hand. And all from a log of timber from an introduced tree species which had been left to rot.
It's delightfully ludicrous. The excitement of learning this craft s still with me, I have learned so much, and so often by doing things the hard way. But the joy of it all is still there. I am not seeking perfection, I am not seeking mastery, I am having fun!

Some links relating to my current and upcoming projects.
The Lund stool
A viking Table

And
 Daegrad Tools, a UK  reenactment tool supplier!

Monday 16 September 2013

Stools and Bowls


 I will have all of the tools I need for upcoming projects within the next week, so It's time to get busy! 


I wish it wasn't raining, I would be able to split some timber for bowls and maybe stools. Half of the Billets I brought back for legs developed splits.
My 1st attempt at a an English horse
In other news, I think it is time to revisit the English Horse.

Shaving horse Canberra wood show
Together with my Dumb-head Horse, I think this will give me a versatile workspace and allow me to have helpers, coworkers and students.

And Just because I can here is the sequence of work in making the stools!













Wednesday 11 September 2013

Reenactors home gardens!





This is just a short partial answer to a question !

What to plant, Plant things you know you will use, plant things you need for recipes you wish to try and plant them all where they can be easily picked.

Leeks: more of a winter plant

Spinach: Originating in the middle east Spinach Spinacia oleracea Did not reach England until the 16th century. However, Silverbeet (or chard) Beta vulgaris var cicla and Orach Atriplex hotensis were used in the same way.

Beans: The common garden green bean Phaseolus sp, was a very late arrival in Europe and I would question it's use in any recipe before Columbus. However It is a really important and tasty summer garden crop. Broad beans Vicia faba and some beans belonging to the genus Vigna, which includes the cow pea, black eyed pea and snake bean were available during the SCA time period.

  Stay tuned for more

Tuesday 10 September 2013

The Air is restless Tonight

 
 
 I could be floating on an ocean of wind. 
I remember standing in a tall forest, seashell wave sounds came to me as the wind crested the trees. Like some small creature of the kelp forest I gazed up at the branches, the sense of a world above them was strong.
Tonight I feel I am ashore, perhaps in a fibro shack behind the dunes. Or could I be high on a grassy hill. The world has shrunken to my own four walls and the sounds of the ocean of wind.


Monday 9 September 2013

Raising Capital

 Kick-starting

 Bowls and stools. I want to do a couple of things to earn a bit of extra cash. More importantly I want to improve my skills and practice techniques. To do this I need Some new tools. I have been largely unsuccessful in making these myself.  I have managed to create tools which work to some degree, but have been unable to fine tune them enough that they work consistantly. Essentially I now  understand the theory and application of these tools and would eventually like to make my own. Right now though I'm not achieving this and without the tools I require I am not happy with the safety and quality of the items I am creating.

So I need to purchase three items.  I could potentially buy only

this $47 Scorp and this Reamer for $50 . But it would make sense to buy this set of Tenon Taperers for $35 .
 Currently I do not have the money to spare. I was wondering about a Kick starter style capital raising experiment to see if people were interested in helping me out! This is an odd feeling, it's not really like begging or is it? However it may just make this possible.

Options could range from a short term no interest loan, or an advance payment for a bowl.
  These are just ideas of course!

Sunday 8 September 2013



Hope is like a finding a rock in the ocean.

Our hopes can be something we grasp and cling to, but which will ultimately drown us.

Or they can be an island amidst the vast ocean.

Wednesday 4 September 2013

Madagascar




Lemurs are among the most loved animals in the world, naturally we see keeping them and their habitat as extremely important.  But we go to bed at night with full bellies and if we dream of Madagascar the chances are our minds don't wander far beyond lemurs with their delightful behavior and cute looks.

But what about the people who live there? They are an amazing mix of settlers from the Malay Archipelago, Africa and India, who began arriving in Madagascar around 200 ce.
Madagascar is home to 20,713,819.0 people, with 69% living in rural Areas (World Bank). 
     4 years ago the current regime came to power and political turmoil ensued. In this period the country has lost much of it's foreign AID as well as commercial investment. Food shortages were already on their way when a new problem arose. Locusts. With up to 1/2 of the island affected by locusts food resources are decreasing and many Madagascans are surviving by exploiting the islands natural resources. 


 This means Lemur Habitat is being lost to illegal logging, both for export and local use. It also means that Lemur is now on the menu.


In these circumstances it will take a great deal of work to safe guard both the people and wildlife of Madagascar.What is needed to create this is political stability and  the reinstatement of government authority throughout the country. The recently announced Presidential Election on the 25th of October gives me hope that we may not be to late to save an amazing island and it's inhabitants.
 

Tuesday 3 September 2013

Pre 1600's plant history Part 2 Fennel




A profile of Fennel and it's uses prior to 1600




The modern scientific name for fennel is Foeniculum vulgare Which refers to common Fennel commonly found as a weed of roadsides and untended ground both in Australia and abroad. The second type commonly called sweet or Florence fennel is classified as Foeniculum vulgare Azoricum group, these fennels have a more developed “bulb” of fleshy stems at the base and  somewhat sweeter flavour (Facciola 1998).

Common fennel growing wild.




Its relatives :

Fennel is a perennial plant belonging to the same family as parsley dill and carrots, the APIACEAE family. The distinguishing feature of this is the upside down umbrella arrangement of flower stalks. Fennel flowers share this shape and have yellow flowers clustered at the end of each flower stalk making a perfect landing platform for pollinating insects.

 

 Its uses:

All parts of this herb can be used from the fleshy stem bases or bulb to the anise flavoured seeds. Modern usage is as broad as it’s historical use which shall be discussed shortly.


Archaeological evidence:

Fennel seed is a hard seed able to pass through the human digestive tract without being destroyed to the point of being unidentifiable.  Given this fact and the ability of archaeologists to locate cesspits and sewers it is possible to find locations where fennel seed is part of the archaeological record and is most likely there due to the human digestive system.
Table 1 a list of combined culinary/horticultural texts and archaeological evidence for the presence of Fennel at specific times and in specific regions

The cuilnary use of fennel

 

How was fennel used across a wide raange of locations and cultures? 


  

Table 2 A selection of  Texts with culinary information indicating the types of dish fennel has being used for.

Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook: 13th Century spain (Andalusia)
This perhaps provides a most distinctive use of fennel, partnered with citron leaves (Citrus media) in 11 dishes, also with coriander, onion, rue, saffron
Stalks are the most common part indicated, leaves are mentioned once and chopping of stalks mentioned twice. The most common method of preparation mentioned for fennel is in the parboiling of foods which are then baked or simmered in the coals.
18 dishes Used cooked, used as a garnish but only with one mention
o   9 poultry dishes, 7 Chicken, one Goose and one Crane
o   1 vegetable dish (Eggplant)
o   3 unspecified meat
o   2 Lamb
o   1 large fish
o   2 Rabbit
Le Menagier de Paris  : 1390    France  
Fennel is only mentioned in a few recipes in this text.
  • An omelette, egg dish, along with celery, tansy, mint lovage, sage, sweet majoram, parsley, silver beet, violet leaves, spinach, as the majority of the ingredients are generally used as fresh leaves I would suggest that in this case the leaves be used.
  • Used in a preserve, possibly two one which could is a recipe for mixed vegetable/herb root compote and contains green walnuts the second which is a recipe for pickled walnuts. The description of how to prepare roots may indicate that the root/lower bulbous stem of fennel is the part intended for use, although in the later part of the recipe fennel seeds would be as appropriate.
  • o   Pork sausages. The fennel called for is ground, which makes fennel seeds more likely particularly as they are then mixed with powdered spices.
Wel ende edelike spijse:  Late 15th Century Dutch
Two recipes contain Fennel
o   Vegetable stew, which uses fennel seed in addition to several spices in a dish of cabbage, figs and parsley roots.
  • Sturgeon with fennel. The name says it all, catch and cook your sturgeon, and sprinkle it with fennel, fresh leaves or seeds are not specified.
So it becomes clear that fennel was a widespread and most likely universally known condiment, ingredient and medicine throughout Europe and across diverse cultures prior to the 17th century.

References
·    Marta Bandini Mazzanti · Giovanna Bosi , Anna Maria Mercuri , Carla Alberta Accorsi ,  Chiara Guarnieri : (2005)  “Plant use in a city in Northern Italy during the late Mediaeval and Renaissance periods: results of the archaeobotanical investigation of “The Mirror Pit” (14th–15th century a.d.) in Ferrara”  June 2005, Vegetation  History Archaeobotany 14:442–452
·     Pegge, Samuel, 1704-1796  The Forme of Cury, not the original manuscript but a  copy made at this time.

A Roll of Ancient English Cookery Compiled, about A.D. 1390 Produced by Tobin Richard, Charles Franks, Greg Lindahl, Cindy Renfrow and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/8102 
·    Le Menagier de Paris translated from the French edition of Jerome Pichon published in 1846. Footnotes marked JP are by him; those marked JH are by Janet Hinson, the translator; those marked DDF and EGC are by David Friedman and Elizabeth Cook, respectively. (c) Janet Hinson http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Menagier/Menagier.html
·    ms UB Gent 1035 "Good and noble food" Wel ende edelike spijse" http://www.coquinaria.nl/kooktekst/Edelikespijse0.htm
·    An Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook of the 13th Century Translated by Charles Perry. http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Andalusian/andalusian1.htm
·      Sylvia Landsberg, The Medieval Garden, British Museum Press, Thames and Hudson, Italy. ISBN 0714120804
·    The Saint Gall Monastery Plan http://www.stgallplan.org/
·    . Strabo, Walafrid. Hortulus. Translated by Raef Payne. Commentary by Wilfrid Blunt. (Pittsburgh: Hunt Botanical Library, 1966)
Facciola, Stephen. Cornucopia: A Source Book of Edible Plants. 1990. 677 pp. Paperback. (LC 90-92097, ISBN 0-9628087-0-9). Kampong Publications,
·    A HISTORY OF GARDENING IN ENGLAND. by The Hon. Alicia. Amherst ... A History Of Gardening In England. by Hon. Mrs. Evelyn. Cecil (Hardcover - 1 Jan 1896 reprint 1969

Monday 2 September 2013

Scorp or curved Adze for bowl making.

 

Which to buy when I can only afford one?  Kind of afford!



Curved Adze
So my it appears the question I need to ask myself is which one? Both are suitable, the thing is, I can't afford all of them, which would be ideal, the adze for roughing out, the scorps for finishing and giving a surface which can be used. I am going to say Scorp here, because I can probably rough out with a hatchet and then use the scorp, But which scorp? the small onehander, the 65mm one hander or the two hander.

My current thinking is a one hander scorp, and price is seriously making me consider the smaller 33mm blade. I would certainly be able to make improved versions of what I have made so far and it is wider tha any gouges I own. The stool tops also need a "seat" shape which this could be used to achieve.



Sunday 1 September 2013

Canberra Timber and Working with Wood show


 One good turner deserves another.

No not that Turner, although his works have been on display in the National Gallery I believe. Today I made the journey to EPIC, the Acronym for what is basically Canberra showgrounds. Up the hill to the  bus and then down to Northbourne  avenue where the bare branches of the Hawthorns even now have the occasional red berry. And then North to Epic.  

I have always dabbled in woodwork and over the past year I've found enjoyment in green woodwork. My skills are quite basic but I'm slowly getting there. There a few tools I need But they are fairly basic so I will get them or find a substitute.

 I'm sorry to say but my first thought when I entered was "it's all about cabinet maing and joinery" Yes I am an inverted snob
Rare Chairs had an interesting exhibit, Harold Archbold  from Moonan Brook in the Upper Hunter makes wooden chairs, specifically Windsor chairs using traditional methods. I didn't dare ask for the cost of a commissioned chair, but I will have to look into one of the 8 day chair making courses he offers.

Below are some details of the pole lathe which they use



 This the shaving horse, a dumhead type, One of the chairs is in the background on the left.

I'm considering buying a bowl adze from Henry Eckert. It's $160 and certainly looked like it quality wise. It would make bowl making very easy indeed and I could probably make that money back in a short period of time. I would need to make 16 bowls or so, or charge over $15 a bowl, whih may not be too bad a price. If I can make them work the way I want to, and finish them well. I intend to have a crack at making a big bread raising bowl.
 So overall it was a fun day and has broadened my awareness of all things wood.