The Exbury Egg preserves the fruits of its research in glass jars and vitrines, suspended in a 70% magenta tinted methanol solution; drawing out the red of unripe blackberries from the continuing abundance of my crop at N 50˚47.142′ 001˚24.450′.
Category Archives for Home Made
Blackberry Reds
I washed dyes extracted from the juice of blackberries onto paper boards. The brighter hue is made from pure blackberry and is very fugitive. In a few moths it will fade to a pale washed out blue. The darker colour was created with the addition of lye, which according to the seventeenth century botanist Culpepper made a permanent black for colouring the hair. I enjoy the reciprocity between their relative warmth and degree of transience.
La Maison d’Oeuf
Production will begin shortly of a limited edition of six bottles of Vin de Mûres, made from specially selected blackberries ripened on west facing bushes along The Gateway to the Egg. The fruits have been hand picked and the fermentation process is imminent for this new wine, from La Maison d’Oeuf.
Table
Most of yesterday was spent making a new work table that folds down to form a door to the underbed storage. It is made or birch ply and supported on two hinged legs of 2×1 softwood that are located on the floor with velcro strips. It is really uplifting to have a space to spread out paper, photographs and thoughts… a proper station for serious work. The next practical task will involve book shelves.
Marshmallow
Marshmallow rises up through the tall grass within twenty metres of the Egg (N 50˚47.142′ W 001˚24.449′). The French began to use pith from the stems of this plant, boiled with sugar, as a chewy sweet in the 19th century. They later tried whipping the pulped roots with egg white and rose water to create the light airy confection that todays purely sugar and gelatine marshmallows are derived from. The plant may be scarce in this environment and need to be left untouched, but if more are found nearby I will make my own confection as an after dinner treat – and as a further reminder of our long cultural relationship with all that is living around us.
The Exbury Egg Conserves
Morning ripened berries were selected from an east facing bush on the Egg Gateway. They were thoroughly washed and examined by hand for bits of thorn and other unwelcomeness. They were then lightly crushed in a bowl.
A sachet of pectin with a quarter cup of sugar was added to the berries and brought to the boil for a minute. Seven full cups of sugar were then added and boiled again for a short time, until the nascent jam began to set on a cooled spoon. Froth was skimmed from the top and the mixture carefully poured into two pre-prepared sterilised jars.
nb. It is important not to pick blackberries after Michaelmas on September 29th after which time they increasingly become a home to maggoty creatures. It has been argued that the devil renews a curse on the plant on this day every year, after landing on it when ejected from heaven by archangel Michael.
Media
Eight cups of berries (crushed to fill six cups)
Seven and 1/4 cups of sugar
One sachet of pectin
Two clean glass jars
Two labels (to be applied)
Samphire
To the west side, the story is about marsh samphire whose tips are ready to be picked. A few succulent stems made breakfast today, cooked for a few minutes with a small amount of butter, pepper and lemon juice. It stands like a miniature forest of fresh, succulent and bright green cacti (without the prickles).
I have also got a small patch of sea beet beside the pontoon to the Egg, and my thicket of blackthorn could well result in a few bottles of Exbury Egg Sloe Gin or maybe jam…
For some amazing sounding recipes for samphire take a look at the following link:-
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/jun/30/features.weekend
New Sleeping Arrangements
The hammock and camp bed between them have resulted in a lot of sleepless nights, so I decided to solve the problem by building a new mezzanine floor at the stern of the Egg as the base for a new bed. The taped together pages of an old newspaper made a template for a new foam mattress that exactly fits the curving shape. I have now had two consecutive nights of restful sleep as I dream of new shelving for the bow.
Eggshell Finish
I needed a symbolic form that would evolve and change though time as it is bleached by the sun, scoured by the wind and rain and below the waterline accrues algae, worm and barnacles; an evolving form that echoes changes to the surrounding landscape itself and turns the egg into a natural calendar of the seasons.
Inside, my own journey will be catalogued in collections of digital imagery, found objects, drawings, maps and natural colour that are all derived from this particular estuary location. During the next twelve months the egg will evolve, until it becomes a sculptural element in a time based happening, integrating inside with outside in a creative archive that reduces the distance between people and nature.
Local colour made from sawdust created during the construction of the Egg at Battramsley Farm and used to paint interpretations of how the Egg might look when completed.
The Exbury Egg 