Helena Bottemiller Evich had a story in her newsletter last week that left me open mouthed. Whatever bad things you think Big Food might be capable of, this is worse.

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A long time ago now, I determined to pickle my own cucumbers, not in vinegar but a proper salt pickle, and none of your effete new greens either. This was actually a while before the Great Fermentation Renaissance, and recipes were few and far between. I asked my sister, who was in Moscow at the time, if she could get something like a recipe from one of the women who still, then, sold pickles from a barrel. She did, but it was way too imprecise for me to use. In particular, how much salt? was met with enough and, after further pressure, enough to float an egg.

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Our terrace is a constant source of joy, let me be upfront about that before I move to its failings, just one of which is that the space is so finite. In an actual garden, there’s always room to cram in one more plant. On a terrace, not so much, which inevitably creates trouble when there are excess plants which, at this time of the year, is the result of potting on and thinning out. Some we leave by the garbage and usually they are gone in a matter of hours, which is nice. Others we give away. Yet others, we cram in. None of which detracts one bit from the even greater joy of seeds.

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As you drive on the A1 out of Rome (and especially when returning to the city, there is a hugely impressive mountain to the west of the motorway. It rises up, floating on the plain and dominating the landscape. This is Mount Soratte, which Wikipedia tells me is an isolated limestone ridge, about 5.5 km long and boasting six separate peaks. It has been a draw for artists ever since Camille Corot changed landscape painting with his dazzling portraits of the mountain.

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Many countries have academies in Rome, the most famous of them probably being the American Academy in Rome. Artists of various stripes enjoy a stipend and a variably good life, generally working on something to do with the city, and the various academies open their artists' studios to visitors from time to time. These are usually great fun, for art and for socialising. Last night was my first time at the Spanish Academy in Rome.

Wow!

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