Month: March 2026

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Casseroles aren’t just for winter – this light, vibrant one-pot is packed with spring veg and herby pesto and then spring forward into a delicious cake using forced rhubarb coming into season.

Spring Chicken In A Pot

Ingredients (serves 4) 

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion chopped
500g boneless and skinless chicken thigh
300g small new potato
425ml veg stock
350g brocolli
350g spring greens
140g petits pois
Bunch of spring onions sliced
2 tbsp pesto

Method

Heat the oil in a large, heavy pan. Add the onion, gently fry for 5 mins until softened, add the chicken, then fry until lightly coloured.
Add the potatoes, stock and plenty of freshly ground black pepper, then bring to the boil. Cover, then simmer for 30 mins until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked.
Add the broccoli, spring greens, petit pois and spring onions, stir well, then return to the boil
Cover, then cook for 5 mins more, stir in the pesto and heat through.

Rhubarb And Pistachio Syrup Cake

Ingredients, 

370g caster sugar
1 large lemon -grated zest and juice
200g rhubarb, trimmed and sliced 2cm
160g shelled pistachios, plus extra to decorate
150g plain flour, plus extra to dust
90g semolina flour
2 heaped tsp baking powder
150g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
3 medium free-range eggs
130g thick Greek yogurt

Method

Put 215g of the caster sugar, the lemon zest, juice and 200ml water in a small saucepan over a medium heat.
Stir until the sugar dissolves, then increase the heat to high and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low-medium and simmer for 2 minutes or until the syrup thickens. Stir in half the rhubarb, then set aside to cool.

Heat the oven to 160°C fan/gas 4. Grease and line the bottom and sides of the springform tin. Whizz the pistachios in a food processor until finely ground. Sift the flour, semolina and baking powder into a large bowl, then stir in the ground pistachios.
In a separate bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter and remaining 155g sugar until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour mixture and yogurt until fully incorporated, then add the remaining rhubarb pieces. Spoon the cake mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean.
While the cake is still warm, use the skewer to pierce holes all over the surface. Pour the rhubarb syrup over the cake, reserving the soaked rhubarb. Set aside to cool in the tin. Transfer the cake to a serving plate and top with the reserved rhubarb and any remaining syrup. Sprinkle with extra chopped pistachios to serve.

 

 

 

Desperate To Go Out into the Garden

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

Desperate To Go Out into the Garden

March brings longer days but not necessarily better weather. We are desperate to go out into the garden and get it ready for Spring. We need to be sowing annuals and getting veg beds ready to plant carrots, turnips, beetroot, peas and broad beans. I’ll be planting some more tomato seeds to replace the ones planted earlier in Feb when I couldn’t wait to get started, then didn’t take enough care of them. Get a couple of pots of French tarragon and leave on the windowsill, this is lovely for fish dishes and will keep growing back when you use it. Hostas will be putting up new shoots now, so will need protecting from slugs. Purchasing copper rings and tape are expensive and not very effective. Sand and ashes will deter the little blighters but best of all are containers with beer in them as they can’t resist it and you can rest assured that they passed away in good spirits.

This month is the best time to prune back the roses and being careful where you prune will give a brilliant display by the end of May. Also, a slow-release fertiliser containing seaweed will help them to be at their best. This type of feed would benefit most shrubs, except for the likes of blueberry, azaleas and rhododendrons which need an ericaceous feed (acid loving). If in the unlikely event the weather is kind enough, we can repair some of the bare patches on the lawn, in my case caused by the jackdaws looking for leatherjackets in the late Autumn. I considered buying nematodes to kill the leatherjackets, but you have to do this annually, so decided to let the birds do it for me. The only way to solve this problem is to add more drainage to the lawn, which is not always good considering the summers we’ve had in recent years as it means more watering. So I will just live with it.

Any early Spring bulbs which are going over will need to be deadheaded, preferably before the seed head forms and then give the leaves a liquid feed to ensure a good show the following year. When the likes of Alex Cooper and Barry Oliver were in Wenvoe school there wasn’t a daffodil out to pick for St David’s Day. Everyone wore a leek and chewed at it which used to stink out the classrooms. They’re both getting on now, but are well which proves the benefit of fresh produce, even unwashed. Nowadays daffs are in bloom on the village green before Christmas.

I know I keep on but just resist those tender young plants on show in the shops and garden centres until the weather improves, think twice buy once.

 

Take care and happy gardening.

“I Am Malala ” by Malala Yousafzai

OFF THE SHELF

“I Am Malala ” by Malala Yousafzai

For this month’s book, I Am Malala, an autobiographical work by Malala Yousafzai co-written with Christina Lamb, was a powerful and deeply moving read. Beautifully written and highly informative, it combines personal memoir with a clear-eyed account of politics, culture, and the transformative importance of education.

Alongside the political narrative, Malala’s lyrical descriptions of the Swat Valley – its mountains, rivers, and close-knit communities – bring a strong sense of place and poignantly underline what was at stake when extremism took hold of such a beautiful region.

Malala’s story powerfully exposes the oppression of the Taliban, particularly their attempt to silence girls through fear and the denial of education. Several of her words stayed with us long after closing the book. When she writes, “I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard,” she captures the quiet moral authority that runs through the entire narrative. Her story is never about personal heroism for its own sake; it is about responsibility, solidarity, and the necessity of speaking out when silence allows injustice to flourish.

The idea that “One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world” lies at the heart of her message. Even under brutal repression, Malala shows how education remains a quiet but formidable force. Her simple assertion that “Education is education” cuts through ideology and extremism.

Overall, I Am Malala is inspiring without being sentimental, informative without being heavy, and hopeful without ignoring harsh realities. It sparked thoughtful discussion in our group and left us with a renewed appreciation of the power of education – and of voices raised not to shout, but to be heard.

We rated the book 9.5/10.

 

Film Reviews “Palestine 36” And “No Other Land”

ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST

FILM REVIEWS “PALESTINE 36”
AND
“NO OTHER LAND”
(TOGETHER WITH SOME FAMILY INVOLVEMENT)

Further to my recent WO article on how conkers played their part in the creation of the state of Israel,

I now bring my further insights on the conflicts that ensued through the medium of family photographs and cinema films.

Palestine 36 is in essence a fictionalised account of the events during the Arab revolt against British colonial rule in Palestine in the 1930s. It was put out on limited cinema release at the end of 2025 but is currently available to stream on a number of platforms.

The film embodies a reflection of real-world issues faced by the people within Palestine – both then and now. The film unfolds within a divided society that balances between strife and hope, illustrating the day-to-day realities encountered by its characters.

Centred around a small community in Palestine, and the hard-line Christian Zionists in the British administration and army, the film provides a view of political struggles.

It challenges viewers to consider the impact of political decisions on individual lives, urging contemplation of empathy, coexistence, and the potential for reconciliation. By shedding light on personal stories amidst political narratives, the film humanizes a conflict often reduced to headlines and statistics.

In conclusion, and through the lens of the 90 years since, the British Mandate does not present a good optic. On the whole they failed to preserve one of the central tenants of the Balfour Declaration, namely, that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities.”

No Other Land is a Best Documentary Feature Film Oscar winner in 2024 co-produced by the Palestinian National Authority with assistance from sympathetic Israelis and the Norwegian Film Institute. The film was recorded between 2019 and 2023 and shows the destruction of a Palestinian community in the occupied West Bank, which had been resisting displacement after an Israeli “firing zone” was declared on their land. The sub-text appears to be an excuse to remove these Palestinians in order for a Jewish settlement to be established. Again, this film is available for streaming on a number of platforms.

My interest and trying to avoid “taking sides” in these ever present intractable events, is as a consequence my late father-in-law “GWC” being a Regular soldier stationed in Palestine in 1936. He left many photographs. Some show the aftermath of terrorist bombings (he was in the Royal Engineers and tasked with clearing the debris). Others were of the main religious sites – Jewish, Muslim and Christian. The ascribed texts are the words he wrote on the backs of the photo prints.

 

Tony Hodge

 

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