Black Butter Days...

The apples are harvested, peeled and the Elms gets the fires burning. Once again it's Black Butter time. A unique Jersey event. 36 hours of continual stirring to produce small pots of a local delicacy.
The Elms also hosted a genuine Jersey mini village. Live music, delicious food, hot scrumpy and pumpkin carving.

Time for a visit...

The cauldron bubbles black butter...

Hamptonne - La Fais'se de Cidre.

Finding Hamptonne...

The last two days have shown what happens when you re-discover a lost treasure. The enforced closure of Hamptonne removed one of Jersey's most cherished Heritage sites. 

This week-end the doors were swung wide to invite islanders to witness the old traditional horse-drawn method of extracting apple juice for cider and crushing apples for black-butter making. The love for this place was palpable.

Everybody was catered for. Little people adorned with leafy crowns watched the Morris men or competed to spin plates. They guessed the weight of a pumpkin or munched their way through a Hog-roast bap. Crepes were a big hit as were the local sausages and burgers.

The apple theme ran through everything. Sadie cooked steaks in cider over an open fire for the cider-press crew. Camra provided cider and perry for the more seasoned drinkers. Sticky toffee apples and jars of home-made marmalade and Black Butter.
Warm autumn sunshine bathed the whole event. If you missed it there is still the Black-Butter making at the Elms next week-end. See you there.

Guess the weight?

Jersey Wonders