Using multi-media to research local natural resource uses Cider making in Kent

1. Using multi-media to research local natural resource usesCider making in Kent

2. Cider • Alcoholic drink: 3-9% • Fermented apples, Malus pumilla • Origin: Central Asia- Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan (Harris et al.2002) • 5,000 BP Epic of Gilgamesh (Sandars 1960) Sidre-daughter of Sun God prepares fermented beverages tempt Gilgamesh forget his epic quest

3. Cider culture in the UK • 9th century: mainland Europe, Norman conquest • 13th century: established production & trade, monasteries • 15th century: decline of apple orchards • 16th-17th century: agricultural revival, apple trees from France • 1763: cider tax- production ceased • 19th century: renewed interest, publications • WW1: decline in farm labour, substitutes, land development • 1960’s: consumption reinstated, low status • 21st century: contemporary interest in local produce

4. Cider cultures Argentina • Sidre, very popular in the festive season Austria • Most, Cider region, north-west of Lower Austria’s 'Mostviertel’ • Europe’s largest continuous apple and pear orchards Italy • Pomada,producedin Northern Italy's apple growing regions • Decline during fascist rule- law banning the industrial production of alcoholic beverages derived from fruits of less than 7% ABV, which was aimed at protecting wine producers

5. Cider production • Scratting Apples collected, ground down: mills, machine, pommace • Pressing Cider press, cloth, 10-12 wooden racks, minimum exposure • Fermentation Low temperature, siphoned into new vats • Blending Different varieties, spices • Bottling Addition of sugar, bottles, natural carbonation

6. Apple varieties • Ashton Bitter • Ball’s Bitter • Ball’s Bittersweet • Bramley • Bulmer’s Norman • Cox • Devon Red • Golden Russet • Morgan Sweet • Pig’s Nose • Worcester Pearmain 82 varieties (Reedy et al. 2009)

7. What’s in a name? • Fanciful names • Cider’s Lady finger, Slack-ma-Girdle • Place names • Fair Maid of Taunton, Hagloe Crab • Apple’s characteristics • Ashton Bitter, Brown Snowt • Seasonality • Burrow Hill Late, Wooten Late • Person who originated the cultivar • Ball’s Bittersweet • Directory of Apple cultivars (Crawford 2001)

8. Cider production in Kent • Badgers Hill Farm, Chilham • Biddenden Cider , Biddendenwww.biddendenvineyards.com • Big Tree Cider, Hartley www.cclweb.co.uk/cider • Broomfield Orchard, Broomfield Road, Herne Bay • Castle Cider Company, Chiddingstone • Chafford Cider, Fordcombe • Crippledick Cider, Boughton • Double Vision Cider, BoughtonMonchelsea , Single varieties in 500ml bottles - Cox, Gala, Katy • East Stour Cider Company, Hanover Mill, Mersham, Newly established in 2008 they are producing traditional cider from Kent apples. • Johnson's Farmhouse Cider, Isle of Sheppey (01795 665203) As well as his normal blended cider, he has small quantities of cider from his own orchard for the first time in 2008. (5 gallon kegs) • Kent Cider Company, www.kentcider.co.uk • Neal's Place Farm, Canterbury • Pawley Farm Cider, Painters Forstal, Dry/medium/sweet/spiced only available in bottles • Pippins Cider, Pembury • Rough Old Wife Cider, Old Wives Lees, www.rougholdwife.com Developing an old orchard with over 250 mixed variety apple trees, producing below 1500 litres http://www.camra-afrm.org.uk/kent-cider-producers.html

10. Methodology for documenting plant use in the context of social institutions • Participant observation • Interviews Unstructured, Structured, Semi-structured • Questionnaires • Consumption surveys • Diaries • Land surveys, mapping • Archival research • Data: qualitative and quantitative (Bernard 2006, Research Methods in Anthropology)

11. Research ethics • Prior informed consent • Intellectual property rights • Research deliverables • Dissemination: online and offline

12. Using multimedia to enhance research methods • Video • Image • Audio • Research outputs • Elicitation tools

13. Question time!

14. Do you think that cider still has an important role in the culture of East Kent? • Yes • No • Undecided

15. 2) Production of traditional Kentish cider is the focus of much knowledge.A. Is the transmission of this knowledge secure? • Yes • No • Undecided

16. B. Can purely corporate mechanisms protect this knowledge as well as family based business? • Yes • No • Undecided

17. C. Does it matter to Kentish culture if Kentish cider actually originates from Kentish culture? • Yes • No • Undecided

18. 3) Can we call cider production methods that uses modern equipment 'traditional'? • Yes • No • Undecided

19. 4) Is the drinking of cider a Kentish thing to do? • Yes • No • Undecided

20. 5) How important is cider to the perception of Kent in the rest of the United Kingdom? • Not really • Somewhat • Significant • Very important

21. 6) Is culture in East Kent the same as culture in traditional society? • Yes • No • Undecided

22. 7) Do you think these questions would have had different responses 100 years ago? • Yes • No • Undecided

23. 8) Do you think these questions would have had different responses 400 years ago? • Yes • No • Undecided

24. 9) Does traditional cider have a role in East Kent for the future? • Yes • No • Undecided

25. Cider Ethnobotany Projects School of Anthropology and Conservation • http://stirling.kent.ac.uk/awiki/bin/view/Main/Cider+making Department of Botany, University of Hawaii https://sites.google.com/site/ciderethnobotany/