War Time Farm

[lookoveryourshouldernow]

..last one today - have really enjoyed this series.

It brought home to me why my Mother never threw anything away - she was a hoarder (and unfortuntaely I have inherited her habit).

Anybody else - enjoy this series of programmes ???

I have enjoyed the series, but have yet to watch the last two, they've been sky+ed!

I haven't managed to watch it but a veeeerrrry long time ago I used to do Living History with Ruth.
She was as splendid as she seems in the programme btw - enthusiastic and fun no matter what is going wrong.
We fired a bread oven that hadn't been used for a hundred years. Happy days

Oh I'm it's finished; a fabulous programme; I've watched the others too they are sooo informative in an easy to digest way but not talking down to the audience (which makes a change ).

My mum was a young teenager through the war and she was a country girl she never mentions that they all helped on the farms I'l have to ask her!

Tunip I like Ruth she does seem fun. I like Peter too.

Both dd1 and me have liked this series. It came out the right time as DD1 has been doing WW2 at school this term.

We've enjoyed the other series they have done as well.

tunip we've got a medieval bread oven is it easy to fire them? I keep meaning to try but it was the sealing of the outside of it that seems very hard as ours is outside!

Do you mean sealing the door? Does it have a door? You use strips of dough round the cracks.
What we did was to make faggots of dry brushwood and light them inside the oven, then you rake them out and quickly put the bread in before sealing it up.
What I can't remember is how we got the timing right, other than that it was trial and error.

Perhaps it's just me. But Alex and Peter seemed to become more earthy and vigorous as they spent more time working the land.

tunip thanks no there isn't a door that I can see (we're in Fr.) so I spose we'd have to make one. I remember the bit about sealing with dough but wouldn't take longer to cook if it was outside than the bread inside it?

scarevola I agree and less bullying on Alex's part (in the older programmes he seemed to be having a 'go' at Peter a lot. That might be just me

I'm not sure I follow re taking longer to cook?

I think I've seen people use bits of wood cut to roughly the rights size, as doors. If you soaked it in water first maybe it wouldn't burn. It wouldn't have to fit exactly because of the sealing with dough.

Well the temperature outside would be much lower than inside I spose if you removed some of the dough round the door and checked the INSIDE of it. Thinking about it it must 've been a miracle if the bread in those days wasnt burnt or underdone How long did it take to heat the oven so it had enough residual heat for the bread?

I think it would be too complicated but a great idea to accompany our bonfire party!

oh i enjoyed this. following this i bought a tin of spam and fried it. everyone loved it, including myself, despite my misgivings.

I love this programme, as does DD. We have watched the Victorian and Edwardian ones too, all so interesting. It's just the kind of thing that the BBC (with the OU, I think) does really well.

I only saw one of these last week and am so upset I have missed the series.

I wonder if they will repeat.

Oh I get it ppeatfruit. The sealing with dough isn't really any use as an indicator of how long it takes to cook, it's just a handy way to keep the heat in.
The faggots blaze up really quickly so the preheating doesn't take long, just a few minutes IIRC.
You know what, I reckon you could use a probe-type oven thermometer to check the heat inside to give you some idea. Mine is from Ikea and cost about £10 and it's on a wire so the temperature-measuring spike goes inside the oven and the main unit stays outside. It wouldn't tell you if the bread was cooked but it would tell you the temperature of the oven so you would be able to make a good guess based on recipes/your experience of baking in normal ovens.

I always felt sorry for Peter too in the other series. He has a bit of a wounded puppy face sometimes!

Soggysummer I am positive it will be repeated. They're always repeating the others.

Thanks Tunip . Yes soggy I agree about the repeats. You have to keep a look out for them though.

I haven't enjoyed this series quite as much as the other ones not sure why. I'm afraid I CANNOT stand Ruth; it's like watching (and listening to ) a manic, 'matey' stoat and her nails are always too long and mucky for cooking. Have soft spot for Peter though

I hate it when they talk off camera, Ol' Stoaty particularly bad for this and in our house we all shout "over here, OVERRR HEEEEEEEEERRRRE"

Oh we love this series!
We have tales from green valley, Victorian and Edwardian farm on DVD and I have pre ordered wartime farm too.
Ds1 who is 9 loves them :)
I think Victorian farm was my fave, not been so fussed about wartime farm.
The Xmas Victorian farm is good too, some great ideas for decorations etc.
Thank goodness someone else thinks Ruth's fingernails are a disgrace!!
Every time she cooks I tell ds1 I wouldn't eat anything she had handled...the slattern!
Peter is mine. Btw pudden :)
Alex is a bit if a moaner isn't he?

DH is like you about Ruth pudden but I like the fact that like Mary Beard she's not another blonde, highly made up, big tits young presenter and she allows herself to show REAL enthusiasm and knowledge. (her laugh is a bit sometimes though [hgrin]