Self Seeded Kale

On the shoot on Saturday there was a section in the between two parts of the woods that had been sown with a cover crop. 

In amongst the weeds there were hundreds of kale plants standing about 4ft tall, I'm afraid my picture isn't very good but you can just about see a big kale plant on the end of the row. 

When I asked about this one of the guys who runs the shoot said they cleared this patch of land and sowed some kale five years ago, since then they've left these patches to their own devices. The plants have been growing, flowering and setting seed all by themselves, despite the heavy weed competition and how it's bound to have been predated on by bugs and birds. 

Pretty amazing I though. 

It just shows that if you can find a bare patch of land that's not going to be touched then a guerrilla type gardening style could help to feed you! 

What plants do you have that keep coming back year after year from self set seed?

Shoot

I had a great days shooting today. 

I didn't take many pictures today - this is one from last time! 

Back in the summer I worked on a hotel extension and worked with a cracking group of lads (I've mentioned them before when I went clay shooting a few months back). One friend I made is really keen on his shooting and when he heard that I liked to shoot he invited me along for a days shooting. I jumped at the chance!

This shoot is just the other side of the hill from me and was set in some beautiful countryside and woodland, as always it was just a joy to be outside, watch the dogs work and have some good company, but I did manage to shoot a few pheasants as well.

It's also the first time on a shoot where I've had an offer of marriage! This happened when I brought a full tray of Chelsea buns that I baked this morning with me, covered in icing. To start with they wouldn't believe that I made them, and then, once convinced, people were offering to buy trays from me, before the one guy got very affectionate about my cooking! He wasn't my type anyway! 

They seem quite keen for me to come back on another day, good cake is always a good way to make friends and influence people! 

The bag today, not huge but every bird collected - 12 brace of pheasants, 2 brace of pigeons and a squirrel. 

I came back with a brace of pheasants on my shoulder and a smile on my face, a good way to spend a day. 

I did have a comment on my Facebook blog page asking how I could feel pleased with myself for killing our wildlife, I can understand why people feel like this when not faced with all the facts and it's tricky not to get into an argument where both sides have already made up their minds. Here was my response:

Arguing against someone that is against shooting is generally not worth it as both sides already have their minds made up. All I will say is that although you see the product at the end of a days shooting, what you haven't seen is the weeks of work that have gone into maintaining the woodland where we shot by the people that run it. Today we shot around 30 birds but they breed and put down around 400-500 on this shoot every year to have nine days shooting. Spending time in these woods today I could see countless habitats that have been created because of these shoots, big patches of kale and over cover crops that provide food and shelter for far more than pheasants, areas cleared to let young tree grow, wood left to rot to provide habitat for other wildlife. Even the RSPB has said that well managed shoots benefit other wildlife (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/.../Row-erupts-as-RSPB-claims...). This isn't to go into the economical benefits that shooting brings to the countryside. This isn't me looking for an argument, just stating how I feel about something I feel quite passionately about.

I guess I'm always courting controversy when I post these type of posts but sod it, this is my record of how I live. 

Is anyone else going shooting this year or already been? 

What is your favourite game dish?