Foodies in the Time of Covid Q&A: Ginny Barnfield
I first met Ginny when I ran the Folk House Café on Park Street in Bristol. The Folk House is a haven in this (normally) bustling world, a place of adult education just for its pleasure, live music, and good food. Ginny was one of the many students who frequented the cafe, and it was always lovely to chat with her. Still, it wasn’t until I began working at the Stockwood Food Club where Ginny volunteers that I really started to know her and learn more about her incredible life and her huge and generous spirit.
She is a big part of her community, active and willing to dive into anything that helps, from growing food, making conserves to sell at the food club or even litter picking.
Ginny is author of a recipe book, now in its third print run, called Steam in the Kitchen: Recipes with a Railway Flavour, illustrated by her late husband Peter, artist, photographer and writer - don’t miss the chance to try Porter’s Potage, Locomotive Lentils or Station Master’s Biscuits, just three of the inexpensive and nourishing recipes.
Who are you, and what have you got to do with food in Bristol?
Born in a tiny village seven miles south of the Bristol/Somerset border during the Dig for Victory! Years of World War Two, l have been accustomed all my life to homegrown food. With apple trees, soft fruit and all the vegetables we could eat, grown by my father, plus our own hens, we had a very healthy diet.
Bristol’s relations would visit at weekends, especially for my Mother’s Victoria plum jam and apple tarts. I learned early on that surplus food was for sharing, not selling. When, as an enterprising child, I hung a notice on the front gate LETTUCES 3d. (1.2p in today’s money). This was very quickly removed, a lesson I never forgot. The first voluntary work l remember was gathering rose hips to fill the tin bath, usually hung on the wall outside our cottage. These were collected by the appropriate Ministry Officer to make rosehip syrup, rich in essential Vitamin C because imported oranges were scarcely available during the war.
Nowadays, l work voluntarily in our local Community Garden, Stockwood Growing Together, funded largely by donations given for the organic produce offered to Stockwood Food Club members on Tuesdays. We have been making and selling preserves during the winter, and as I had an abundant apple crop, I’ve so far produced almost 100 jars of jams, chutney, curry sauce, red cabbage, etc. You can invent an amazing range of food with apples!
Has covid affected your work or business, and if so, how?
Retired for several years, I had been volunteering as a Lifeskills Guide, teaching Year Six children safety in nineteen different scenarios occupying the fourth floor of the Create building in central Bristol. But school visits and the need for Guides have sadly ceased since lockdown, although the work continues in video form.
Has lockdown had any benefits, to do with food or otherwise for you personally?
Very definitely, through the discovery of the Community Garden and the Food Club, held weekly in the adjacent Learning Centre, where I now also volunteer, assisting with the distribution of food donated via FareShare and from our local Coop.
Have you done much more cooking at home than usual through lockdown, and if so, what has been your favourite home-cooked dish?
Yes, a tremendous amount of preserve making, for Community Garden funds and as gifts, also homemade sweets and cakes for birthdays. For myself, enjoying a Keto low carb diet, my favourite dish is scrambled eggs, mushrooms and broccoli.
What else have l been doing? Litter picking! In this, I and many others will never be “unemployed”, and at least 90% of the litter is due to food and drink packaging. With pubs closed, alcohol is obtained from shops instead, the bottles dumped, often smashed, so I carry a small dustpan and brush in my backpack, together with official sacks from Bristol Waste, which can be left by any public roadside bin for collection.
Have you made use of any of the local restaurant’s creative responses to order any special takeaways? If so, from where and what was it?
No, because for me a restaurant has always been somewhere to meet friends for pleasure, as a special treat, not currently possible. Otherwise, I prefer my own cooking.
Back in the real world, how do you see your work/business flourishing in the years to come within the Bristol or wider food scene?
Volunteers are needed within the food sector now as never before. I do not foresee this changing, and I welcome how so many efforts are being made to save waste, getting food out to those who need it most. I hope to be able to continue to play my own tiny part in this scene.
Do you feel that maybe, just maybe, there has been some good come out of all this, and if so, what do you think it is and how can we make use of it?
I personally am benefiting tremendously because Community Volunteers or lovely young neighbours have done my shopping for almost a year now, allowing me time to volunteer in safe ways, mainly out of doors, to make my own contribution.
This sort of support has become very evident here, with the founding almost a year ago of The Greater Stockwood Alliance, bringing together all the groups and organisations in the community so that we can all help to support one another. Our Health Centre, the area hub for vaccinations, has been almost overwhelmed with volunteers for carpark marshalling and post-vaccination patient care.
Icicles in my hair was a new experience! One young Mum has set up a Facebook page, Anything that Helps, through which people can donate food, clothing, toys, bedding, literally anything in good condition which may be needed by someone else. Brislington has a Community page, as do we, offering all sorts of information, keeping everyone in touch, so I expect there are many others in Bristol.
Another very noticeable benefit is the significant increase in the number of people exercising regularly by walking, not just dog walkers, whose pets take them out at least twice daily as a matter of course! Whole families are discovering the joy of exploring the woods and meadows that surround us in our wonderful Open Space, managed jointly by Avon Wildlife Trust and the Council, which can only be good for everyone.
Back in 1977, I responded to a letter in the Bristol Evening Post about eating well on a low budget. I was then interviewed by Barbara Buchanan for a full-page article with a family photograph (just three of us) entitled, if my memory serves correctly, Eat, drink and be merry on £1 a day! As mum at home, I had time to cook everything from scratch, with two sacks of bread flour, wholemeal and white, in the garage, two apple trees in the garden, which were very productive, and I also grew soft fruit and vegetables on an allotment nearby.
Yes, l was very fortunate in having the luxury of time. Perhaps for those who do not consider it a luxury, unfortunate to be unemployed and on a reduced income because of COVID, this unlooked-for and unwanted time on their hands can be spent in similar ways. However, l realise that many will also have the stress of homeschooling.
Have you got a recipe you’d like to share with us?
SPICY RED CABBAGE WITH APPLE AND ONION
Ingredients:
500g red cabbage, finely shredded and chopped
250g apple, peeled and chopped
One onion, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons vinegar, apple cider, red wine, balsamic, whatever you have
Pinch of mixed spices, salt and black pepper to taste
Method:
Toss the ingredients, cover and microwave on full power for 15 minutes. Stir it twice throughout. I cook it 5 minutes at a time, then stir. You are aiming for some crunch, not a mush!
This is quite a lot for one person, so I freeze it in small containers, keeping one jar in the fridge for immediate use.
A friend who does not use salt, is not an onion lover and had no apple available, substituted them with sultanas and used Chinese five-spice seasoning plus lots of black pepper — an entirely different but delightful result. Use your imagination!
Written by Liz Haughton
Bristol resident for twenty five years, Liz ran the Folk House Cafe in Bristol for 13 and half years, adding Spike Island Cafe in along the way, until August 2019. Liz is currently working part time for the Children's Kitchen encouraging nursery school kids to play with their food and writing blog posts and recipes for Betty Bites website (https://www.bettybites.co.uk ). Liz is a cook, writer, painter and general dabbler in all things creative.
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