'In the autumn hazelnuts were shaken off the trees around Cuckfield, then stacked in their shells in a jam jar between layers of salt. With the lid on, they were buried in the garden until Christmas.
The hedgerow harvest produced crabapples and blackberries for jelly. Wine was made from produce from field or garden at no cost except for the sugar. A Sussex speciality was made from pea-shucks, also oak leaves, sloes, bullaces, cold tea and a bee wine. A local farmer provided mangels for wine so that when returning from market he could call in for a sample.’
Source: West Sussex within living memory, West Sussex Federation of Women’s Institutes, 1993.
There are many more delightful recollections in the West Sussex book.
Photo by Simon A. Eugster [Creative Commons licence]
Contributed by Malcolm Davison .
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