Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
9th May 2020
Noble Truths
For me there are some wonderful people in Wales who I consider to be ‘cornerstones’; Max Boyce is one and during our recent conversation, he mentioned another. He told me, “I remember Roy Noble telling me that he grew onions so big that when he peeled them in Aberdare, people in Merthyr were crying.”
Obviously I had to speak to Roy next.
As always, he was engaging and generous with his time. I wondered how he was coping with lock down. Had he been spending more time in the garden?
“No, I don’t do any gardening, I suffer with hay fever – or use it as an excuse anyway. Elaine (his wife) is our gardener. We’ve got a nice lawn, shrubs, flowerbeds, some hefty conifers and an oak.”
He calls to Elaine to ask what the beautiful tree at the front was.
“That’s right,” he comes back to me, “Copper beech. It was beautiful. The tree surgeon said it was dead but I said ‘It’s still got leaves on it – can’t you give it an injection of Aloe Vera or something?’ Apparently not. It came down.
“Where I grew up in Brynamman, we had a terraced house and the toilet was semi-detached with Mrs Prices. There would have been no toilet paper shortage then. We used to use newspaper. If you were posh, you cut it into squares.
“The garden had rows of potatoes, peas, runner beans, broads beans, cabbages, cauliflowers, spring onions, radish, lettuce and we even had chickens – oh, and soft fruit at the end of the garden. The house was overcrowded – we were a big family – but I was the only child and lucky that everyone else took care of the garden. I had the odd spate of digging but I just got in the way.
“Everyone had a big garden then and there was always spare veg for everyone. But the big social leveller was the washing out on the line. It would always go the full length of the garden following the path. Mrs Jones next door used to put her bloomers on the line in the pillowcases – my mother told me.
“A woman was ‘of good grain’ if her washing line was something to behold.”
During lock down, as well as broadcasting for BBC Radio Wales out of his study, Roy has also been writing.
“I’ve written a couple of books for children. The B Team is out this month and ‘Walking with Bamps’ has already been published (both available at www.graffeg.com)
Walking with Bamps is about a grandfather walking with his grandchild and sharing his years of wisdom. Did you know the difference between stars and planets is if it twinkles it’s a star; if not, it’s a planet. And I’m not so sure about this one but, apparently, if you are ever lost on a mountain, find a cow. If bored, cows face north.
“I have also got a new website www.graffeg.com/letter-from-aberdare-roy-noble
I can share my opinions in the guise of lots of different characters. I enjoy that.
“Oh I do have a gardening story,” he suddenly recalls. “I had an adventure with a dried pea. My father used to put them in a hairnet and then in a bowl of water to soak before planting and I put one up my nose. Mrs Jones (of the bloomer-in-the- pillowcase fame) turned me upside down to get it out.”
I asked Roy for any advice for us during these odd times. He didn’t hesitate.
“Catch up with people. I think this virus has brought communities closer together but send a note to friends and family. Ask how they are. I had ‘seemingly’ been too busy to contact some old friends until recently, and sadly it was too late on two occasions. Keep in touch. Get back in touch. You do have time.”
See what I mean? A ‘cornerstone’ of Wales. Bless you Roy, it was good to be back in touch.
Give Peas a Chance
Roy’s pea story reminded me that the best peas to use for sowing outdoors are in fact the Leo’s dried peas that you can buy in a box from the supermarket.
You can sow them straight into the ground now. Or even into the flowerbeds or containers – now is a great time to experiment. You’ll be amazed where things will grow. I’ve seen cabbages grown in the soil joints in paving and tomatoes grown in dry stone retaining walls. All they seem to need is something to anchor themselves into, water and the will to live. Not unlike us really.
Peas are one of those seeds that really require a lot of moisture before they will germinate. So the idea behind soaking your pea seeds before planting is to give them a head start. If you soak pea seeds for 12 hours or so they will already be soft and moist and ready to germinate and start growing right away.
Just don’t be tempted to put any up your nose.
Which Sandwich?
Whilst chatting with Roy, he reminded me that a favourite meal of the family’s used to be just a bowl of runner beans and bread and butter. This led on to the recollection of his mother putting slices of cheese on a plate and putting in the oven so it ‘congealed into cholesterol’ – as a treat. He then shared that his favourite sandwich as a kid was condensed milk. “A gang of us boys would head off into the hills with our condensed milk (it was like syrup, see) sandwiches and a bottle of Dandelion and Burdock.”
I will often just take a few wraps to work and then fill them with a mix of foraged leaves, like dandelion, bitter cress, Jack in the Hedge and sorrel but Roy’s sweet treat prompted me to ask a few friends about their unusual sandwich fillings. One friend loves a Brussels sprout sandwich, another enjoys lettuce and sugar. And apparently a well-known supermarket was offering a strawberry and clotted cream sandwich last year.
Although weird, I think the latter options are much healthier than Roy’s ‘artery attack’ – I must tell him about the alternatives when we keep in touch.
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