PinnedWant to be a great writer? The secret is other people (and practice)Have you heard of the 10,000 hours hypothesis? It was first proposed by music theorist Anders Ericsson in the 1980s; the simplified and popularized interpretation of his work suggests that if you dedicate your time to something for 10,000 hours you’ll become an expert or virtuoso. I wondered if it…Writing Tips6 min readWriting Tips6 min read
Jun 27, 2018A simple cheat to making great liqueursIf you make sloe gin or elderflower liqueur you may sit back and have a sip and think this is good, but I know I can do better. You may think that mixing the elderflower with peppermint or even spruce tips would make a huge difference. Of course you may…Recipe3 min readRecipe3 min read
Jun 27, 2018How to improve your sloe ginBy far the best sloe gin I have tasted was during a talk I gave at the country’s largest branch of the WI. The maker had not added sugar and had left the berries infusing for 18 months. It was tart, complex and the colour of a good Claret. …Sloes2 min readSloes2 min read
Jun 27, 2018Hedgerow Booze — Elder & Blackberry wine and Hazelnut ManhattanThe smell of the autumn starts wafting in around early August; you can almost feel a shift in the momentum of the undergrowth. The heady floral scent of summer, the smell that mingles with suntan lotion, cut grass and perhaps a faint whiff of salty air is replaced with the…Recipe6 min readRecipe6 min read
Jun 27, 2018How do you like them seven thousand apples?Apples are more genetically diverse than humans and if you planted every apple pip from one apple they would grow genetically different fruit. This is why we cultivate apples, grafting branches from one tree onto the rootstock of another. There are around 7500 apple in the world that have been…Cider7 min readCider7 min read
Jun 27, 2018Seaweed — The first foodLying face up on a rocky Hebridean island coast as the Atlantic crashed at my feet I realised that wearing a pair of brown leather brogues, pin striped trousers, a tailored shirt and a Harris tweed jacket might have made me feel the part, going someway to look like an…Seaweed5 min readSeaweed5 min read
