A Gardener’s Miscellany

This week it’s:

Stir-up Sunday

We look at the ingredients used in Christmas fare

THIS weekend we have ‘Stir-up Sunday’ (22 November). It’s the day, five weeks before Christmas, when traditionally family or friends get together and make a Christmas pudding. It started in Victorian times when, it was said, wishes would come true on this day. In time, Christmas cakes and the mincemeat for pies and tarts also was made on Stir-up Sunday. So, let’s look at the ingredients for Christmas puds, mincemeat and cakes, and see how, as gardeners, we can put our own spin on them.

■ Traditionally, when stirring the Christmas pudding mix, the spoon should start at the eastern-most point, stirring towards the west, in honour of the three wise men who visited the baby Jesus.

Meat puddings

CHRISTMAS pudding has its origins in medieval England. Meat was an important early ingredient, as the idea was to use it up before it went off. There was little in the way of sweet content. After mixing, the contents were usually stuffed into the stomachs of animals, like haggis.