The October meeting of the Gardening Club were treated to a practical display of how Turkish farmers preserve their summer surplus of fruit and vegetables and make mouthwatering food too.

The meeting of the October Gardening Club took place in Kayakoy near Fethiye.

The club members met at Chris and Steve's house and then, after a short walk, visited a nearby small farm in the valley to see how the summer surplus of fruit and vegetables were processed for use during the winter.

The club members saw red peppers drying in the fields and were shown how some were turned into a thick pepper paste and how others were selected for further drying and turned into a pepper powder.

The process of making Tarhana, a staple of Turkish winter soups and casseroles, was demonstrated and explained.

This was then followed by a tasting of the soup together with freshly baked bread, which the club members saw being cooked over an open fire earlier, home made yoghurt and pickled aubergines.

Afterwards the club members were shown how to make aubergine pickles which were then given as a present to club members.

Finally the group were shown how Pekmez was made from treading the grapes to reducing the resultant juice over an open fire and tasting the final result.

The club members were also shown some home made and hand made carpets which were of excellent quality using their own wool and vegetable dyes.

Those who still had time made their way back to Chris and Steve's for English tea and cakes!

The next date for the Gardening Club is provisionally THURSDAY 3rd November. More details will follow.