iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Dr Christopher Monk

Orchard Notes @orchardnotes.com · 04/10/2026

Anyone for a spot of #autumn colour, courtesy of our back garden #blueberry bushes? All the crimson, scarlet, maroon, orange and gold you could possibly crave. A few more pics on the blog: orchardnotes.com/2026/10/04/g... 🌱

A row of potted blueberry bushes with leaves in various shades of orange through bright red to deep maroon, against the background of a wood-panel fence.

Blueberry foliage, with leaves in various shades of bright red to deep maroon.

Blueberry foliage with leaves in various shades of orange through bright red to deep maroon.

A pair of bright red to deep maroon coloured blueberry leaves, speckled with raindrops.

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Orchard Notes @orchardnotes.com · 27/09/2026

The Apples and People project, on @museumofcider.bsky.social's heritage orchards in Breinton. "Varieties have been collected and grafted from trees across Herefordshire, the West Midlands and South-West ... All varieties are being genetically tested to help confirm their identity."

applesandpeople.org.uk

Savouring Old Apple Varieties

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The Delicious Legacy Podcast @deliciouslegacy.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Perfect to start your day, eating your brekkie or on commute to work! 22 minutes of what is happening on the 2nd Serve it Forth Food History Festival! (online only, you can attend from all over the world!) 17th of October! Ticket link in the show notes! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t... #history

podcasts.apple.com

What's on the menu of Serve It Forth 2026?

Podcast Episode · The Delicious Legacy · 11 September · Bonus · 24min

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

*You can buy it from several places online, I meant.

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I occasionally bought some from Gazegills organic farm. You can buy it in jars online. It's pricey. But you might be able to get unrendered kidney fat from a local butcher, but you'd have to render it yourself.

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I'm off the deep fat fried stuff at the moment, raspberries or not. Btw, did you know that leaf lard (posh lard from around the organs) doesn't really have a porky flavour or smell? So it's an option if frying in lard puts folk off.

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Reposted by Dr Christopher Monk

Andy Marshall @fotofacade.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

✨ For me - the crowded window and improvised petrol station bring back Open All Hours – Arkwright’s shop, Granville’s till – and some of those pub, grocery and funeral director combinations I once came across in Ireland. But where is it? 🤔 Find out here: www.digest.andymarsh...

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

An interesting raspberry doughnut recipe via @orchardnotes.com. I don't have a glut of raspberries from my own rather old patio plants, though they've been very tasty. I just tend to pop them unadorned into my mouth, to be honest. But if you've a sweet tooth... orchardnotes.com/2026/09/17/e...

orchardnotes.com

Elizabeth Raffald’s 1769 Recipe for ‘Raspberry Fritters’ – Orchard Notes

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The Delicious Legacy Podcast @deliciouslegacy.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

What are the weird and wonderful foods of Philippines? What are the rare artisanal ingredients that we need to preserve, and learn about! Dinosaur egg salt, kaong vinegar, cordillera black pig, pickled wild bananas... Listen all about them in the latest episode! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

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The Delicious Legacy Podcast @deliciouslegacy.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

I love, love, love miso and soy and the subtle deliciousness that are imparting in my dishes. Japan has a 1200 year long history of perfecting both, but even before this, China has 2000+ of seasoning their foods with their ancestors! Listen here to learn more: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Japanese sketch with instruction on how to make miso

Traditional barrels made of cedar and tied with bamboo in a traditional soy sauce brewery. These are quite massive as there are ladders leading to the open top so a person can mix the fermenting soybeans!

Small clay pots with fermenting beans halfway through the process of becoming miso.

Traditional "kioke" (cedar barrels) pressed with a pile of stones, on the top while the miso paste is fermenting

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

What an excellent resource for all things fruit. Many thanks to @orchardnotes.com for his work on this. orchardnotes.com/links-library/

orchardnotes.com

Links Library – Orchard Notes

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

All the butterflies enjoy verbena, which grows wherever it wants to. The one butterfly I've not seen many of is peacock. I'm trying to become better with names, but there's probably been a dozen types. Moths liked the sweet rocket, which I'm also just letting seed wherever it wants. Love its scent.

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Dr Cinnamon Remote @cinnamonremote.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Still have a few gorgeous butterflies flitting about, there were even three hummingbird hawk moths the other evening.

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Aren't those hummingbird moths just the most amazing little things? For us, it's been a great year for butterflies and moths, which is down to having a bigger garden, since we moved, and having a good range of nectar plants. Hoping to improve it even more. Need honeysuckle.

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

I love reading about medieval life, especially from primary sources. In my latest blog post, you can find out what went on in a thirteenth-century monastic bakery. You can read the medieval sources for yourself (my translations thereof). Fascinating stuff!

modernmedievalcuisine.com

Bread for the monks, perks for the senior bakers, and stripping off to bolt the flour

Would you like to know what went on in a thirteenth-century monastic bakehouse? Read on.

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

modernmedievalcuisine.com

Bread for the monks, perks for the senior bakers, and stripping off to bolt the flour

Would you like to know what went on in a thirteenth-century monastic bakehouse? Read on.

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Reposted by Dr Christopher Monk

Derbyshire Record Office @derbyshiredro.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

You can find this delightful guide to Castleton from 1948 in our #LocalStudies library. It has been beautifully illustrated with pen sketches by the Rev. S. J. Heald. #LocalHistory #1940s

Front cover of a pamphlet called 'About Castleton' by Eric S. Evans. It was published by The Kinder Press. The cover is illustrated with pen and ink drawings of various people throughout the ages, such as a knight on horseback, a woman in a Victorian pink dress and a man wearing a 1940s suit, sitting in a armchair, reading a book.

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Reposted by Dr Christopher Monk

Jens Helmstedt @jenshelmstedt.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

A deep dive into the 8th-century BCE Late Hittite rock relief, portraying King Warpalawa standing in humility before the weather god Tarhunza. #Anatolia #DocumentaryPhotography #CulturalHeritage #Archaeology Central Anatolia - Time Capsule 2005 anatoliaphotography.substack.com/p/the-hittit...

The Hittite Rock Relief of İvriz near in Ereğli. 8th-century BCE Late Hittite rock relief carved above a roaring mountain spring, portraying King Warpalawa standing in humility before the colossal weather god Tarhunza | Central Anatolia - Time Capsule 2005

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

It's great finding things in our new garden. The blackberries were popping out of the top of our beech hedge 😋. Some fallen bramleys (yes you can cook them if unripened) and a few damsons from a neighbour's tree. Unexpectedly, I found myself making crumbles this morning. ☺️ They'll be cooked later 😋.

Me prepping Bramley apples at the kitchen counter.

An orange-red bowl with blackberries and several damsons.

Two enamel pie tins filled with apple and blackberry crumble, in the fridge, ready to be cooked later.

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Reposted by Dr Christopher Monk

Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

In case you missed this. ☺️

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

But the headlines are probably a lot cooler/sexier/dafter/arresting (take your pick)

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Yes. But there's no raging debate. 😉 And I didn't actually do any counting of penises. 🤔 I wrote an academic essay years ago about how we might interpret nakedness in the borders of the BT, and it included a discussion of a clothed male figure with dangling genitals, which Prof. G evidently missed.

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

I've had it on a couple of pears. Apples have been OK.

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Reposted by Dr Christopher Monk

The Orchard Project @theorchardproject.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

🌳 Are you passionate about orchards, communities and sharing your skills with others? Applications are now open for The Orchard Project's free Consultant Development Programme 👉 www.theorchardproject.org.uk/community-or... #CommunityOrchards #TrainingOpportunity #SouthWales

One person examining an old apple tree in winter to determine where to prune while another looks on

Three people in an orchard in winter with pruning tools in hand

Group of orchardists in a winter orchard with pruning tools in hand

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Reposted by Dr Christopher Monk

Josh Coulthard @joshcoulthard.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

We look forward to hearing your rabbit holes!

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

My latest blog post. A short read about fishing in the River Medway in medieval times. There's also a new translation of the royal writ you see in the picture below (Textus Roffensis, folio 187r, Dean & Chapter of Rochester Cathedral). modernmedievalcuisine.com/2026/06/22/f...

modernmedievalcuisine.com

Fishing rights in Rochester

After filming for a children’s TV programme, Dr Monk explains how Henry I stepped in to protect the fishing rights in the River Medway.

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

I've never been to Norwich, but if I do, I will pay it a visit.

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Reposted by Dr Christopher Monk

Nicola Harris Author 💙📚💙📚 @nicolaharrisauthor.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

💙📚⏳ Today's #wallsonwednesday was taken in the courtyard of Strangers Hall Museum in Norwich UK.

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Dr Christopher Monk @medievalmonk.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

modernmedievalcuisine.com

Fishing rights in Rochester

After filming for a children’s TV programme, Dr Monk explains how Henry I stepped in to protect the fishing rights in the River Medway.

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