Hey team,
It’s finally happened. As I’m writing this, the unheard is about to happen. It’s late afternoon on the day before this article is going out, and I am soon to complete a full 24 hours without a layer of shine on my face. We’re on what, week 52 of summer, and it’s finally taken a short break from the intense heat. It’s most likely returning today.
In this little newsletter, I thought I’d set the scene of what summer on the water has looked like for us over the last couple of weeks - and share with you a much-needed, delicious new iced tea recipe that we put together on one of the most exciting, and hottest, days of the year so far.
Gabby xx
Welcome to This Tiny Life. Whether you’ve found our little Substack after following us on YouTube, or whether you’re a native Substacker and have stumbled across our little page — thank you! We’re Jack and Gabby, and this is where we share seasonal recipes, mostly from content featured on YouTube, but also any new product launches (our allotment honey is on its way!). It’s our little creative written outlet too, so expect a few other scribbles along the way. If you don’t already, we’d love it if you’d tap subscribe and join the community!
Did you know that moorhens have two batches of babies each year, and that the first-borns stick around to help raise the second hatchings?
We’ve just had the second cohort emerge from the reeds opposite the boat, and they just make summer for me. Their tiny, fluffy bodies don’t look remotely capable of the ridiculously loud squarking that accompanies their frantic swimming as they follow Mummahen around. The first batch, back in early spring, feels so novel at the time - and then, somehow, the second is equally uplifting. There’s something about seeing these tiny little families appear on the canal that makes the whole season feel properly underway.
It’s not just the babies which are loud, either. The canal is pretty busy at the moment. Lots of boats moving about, mostly in the morning before the heat gets too much and people realise they’ve made the questionable decision to be stuck to a tiller in the midday sun. There’s a confident heron about at the moment too. I find these birds so intriguing to look at. Is it just me that thinks they’ve somehow managed to stick it out from the Jurassic Period?
Our allotment, on the other hand, isn’t quite so lively.
With no water supply and empty rain butts, our veg patch hasn’t had the best summer. The radishes bolted almost immediately. The courgettes seem to have called time on their fruits. The water butts are empty, and there’s no water supply, so every now and then, when we manage to lug a couple of 5L water bottles from the boat to the allotment at the top of the village, it all goes on the tomato plants we’re prioritising.
I actually had my first three red tomatoes from the plants today - and I savoured every last millilitre of viney, herby juice in my mouth.
But something very exciting has been happening at the allotment.
A one-minute walk from our patch, past a few vibrant plots that one can only assume have somehow tapped into an underground stream (their plants look far too healthy considering the lack of water), and our friends Sarah and Colin’s wildflower plot - where we love to watch the honey bees spending so much time - is our beehive.
And here, our little girls have been the busiest of all. They’ve absolutely filled the hive with honey.
So, on a dry, hot summer’s day a week or two ago, Jack got suited and booted to harvest it. Jack has his own unique method. He shakes the bees off each frame, then sprints from the hive, one by one, to a nearby bedsheet, where the honey-filled frame is immediately covered to keep the bees away.
We had two supers worth, which is a lot. I could barely lift one super’s worth - and if you’re new to bees, which I think most of us are, just know that is really quite heavy. And it’s almost entirely down to the weight of the honey inside.
We then carried these heavy frames back to the boat, which became our Honey Harvest HQ. All windows and doors closed. Pretty ridiculous timing, really, bearing in mind we’re in week 52 of summer. So hot. Tin can.
But there was something quite magical about the whole thing too.
I de-capped the frames using a specific little tool - essentially a roller covered in tiny metal prongs which unseal the wax caps - and then Jack would spin the honey. You put four frames in at a time, with the uncapped side of the frame facing the edge of the bucket. As you spin, the honey is released from the comb, hits the sides of the extractor and slowly oozes down to collect at the bottom.
Rinse and repeat. Two supers. Nine frames in each.
By the end, the whole spinning bucket was full of honey. It was so, so special to see. Pure liquid gold. Watching the honey slide out of the extractor, through the little tap at the bottom, and drool elegantly into the filter below was just spectacular.
It’s amazing what nature can do to produce this stuff. And it’s bloody delicious.
Our honey is now just filtering and settling, and should be ready to jar up very soon. We’re a little behind schedule, so it’ll actually be a few weeks before it’s ready to buy, but we’re really excited to be able to share it with you. We mentioned in our YouTube video that we’ll have our allotment honey available to buy, and because this little Substack has become our own mailing list of sorts, you lovely lot will be the first to know when it’s ready.
And if you’d like to see the whole thing rather than just hear me ramble about it, our latest YouTube video is going live today, and it follows this whole little slice of summer - from the honey harvest to the iced tea we made afterwards. We’d love it if you could give it a watch!
This brings me neatly to the second part of this particularly sweaty day. The perfect summer’s day drink.
To break up the heat of the honey extraction, we made an iced tea. It was nice, but it was missing something. Honestly? It was honey. A teaspoon in each of our glasses, and suddenly it was just perfect.
It’s one of those recipes that came together quite organically from what we had around us - strawberry tops from dessert the night before, herbs from our boaty garden, and, of course, our very own honey. It tastes like summer without being overly sweet. And, as a bonus, it uses something you’d normally throw away.
So here’s the recipe.
Makes 750ml
Ingredients
2 tea bags
20ish strawberry tops (eat the strawberries, but save the leafy tops you cut off)
1 tbsp honey
A small handful of basil leaves
2–3 sprigs of mint
A pinch of fennel seeds
Method
Start with some fresh strawberries. Eat the strawberries — obviously — but save the leafy tops you’d normally discard. Steep the strawberry tops in around 300ml of boiling water. Leave overnight, or for at least an hour if you’re making this on the same day, to give the strawberry flavour plenty of time to infuse.
When you’re ready to make the tea, pop your teabags, herbs and honey into a jug or jar and pour over around 450ml of boiling water. Leave to steep for about five minutes.
Pour in your strawberry infusion and give everything a really good stir.
If you have time, pop the whole thing in the fridge to cool for an hour or two. If not — like us, because apparently we had better things to do than wait for tea to cool — you’ll just need to add a little more ice when serving.
Pour through a sieve if you want it to look fancy, into glasses filled with ice, and finish with a little sprig of mint.
Ta-da.
A very good summer’s day drink, if I do say so myself.
If you give the iced tea a go, I’d really love to know what you think. Or, if you have your own favourite flavour combinations, pop them in the comments below. I’m always looking for an excuse to make another batch.
Thanks so much for spending some time with us, wherever you are.
And see you next time.
Ttfn,
Gabby xx
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