Pick of the picnics

What with this being Warburtons National Bread Week, why not fill up a hamper and uncover your favourite picnicking spot. Then you can submit it to Warburtons for inclusion in its Golden Slice Picnic awards.

Awards will be given to the best site across a number of different categories, including rural picnic spot, urban picnic spot, picnic spot view, family picnic spot, picnic spot with the best disabled facilities and the top children's picnic spot. The overall winner will collect the Picnic Spot of the Year title 2007 and a limited edition Warburtons red picnic bench as well as being entered into the national final, which will be judged in July 2007.

So, eat al fresco and enjoy.

Up date from Rod and Bens

Thought and Guile
We were hoping for a proper down pour. Not rain that almost evaporated before landing. We have to make a decision this week whether to plough the brassica land,
or gamble and wait until it rains. We can still get the plough in the ground now but it will plough up “a bit like it” as they say in our local. Ploughing up “a bit like it” means that the soil will turn in clods and not a fine tilth. This then leads to us having to mechanically breakdown the soil, which is harder work. However if we gamble and we do not get any rain the plough will not go in the ground and the boxes will be some what empty next year.

We have been planting all week beetroot, lettuce and spring onions. As we plant we irrigate, to ensure the plants get off to a good start and so their roots, search deeper for moisture lower down. The potatoes are just poking there dark green leaves out of the soil the lack of rainfall makes things slow to grow, as a result the new potatoes could be a week or two later than normal.

On Sunday Ben and I both did different shows to promote our business, we are always looking for more customers, to make sure that we keep a constant demand for our produce. Local food and Organic food has attained terrific momentum, and you are all great testament to that, but its important that we keep campaigning and explain our point of difference. We welcome all the new customers that have recently joined. Please remember that this is the hungry gap and that the more exciting produce is on its way.

I was at a trade show to promote our Seasonal Foods to shops, we have a local distributor now Hawkridge Dairy Foods, they are based in Coldridge, Crediton . They are driving round many small local shops, farm shops and restaurants with there products and many other peoples. This is a real break for us, it means that we can supply small amounts to many small shops, so if you see our products in the far corners of Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset. Be sure to know that , the products sat in a full van, sitting next to other local products using the same system.

As I left early on Sunday morning to go to the show our neighbouring farmer was just pulling into the field adjoining us, the thought went through my mind of how diverse our industry is. When I returned he had just finished ploughing the field and was starting to roll it to keep the small amount of moisture in the soil. He waived I expect he thought I had been out on a jolly all day. The truth of the matter, of course we were both working hard in an industry which requires much thought and guile, at all levels.
P.S The Cactus have gone

Farm shop around

Because we trawl around the best of the other sites to give you a look into what the heck's going on in the wonderful world of Devon food and drink, we thought you might be interested in this little offering about where to get the best of the farm shop.

Home of food

Food is a fundamental part of the Devon landscape. Well, ok, farming is the fundamental part of the landscape - but it's the food that the farming produces which keeps the farms - and the landscape - the way we want it. To that end would you believe, 'a key element of the Discover Devon Naturally sustainable tourism project is the local food & drink initiative'. Huzzah. Sustainable tourism and sustainable food. Maybe all this isn't just hype.

Rod and Ben's round-up

The latest news from the Kenn farm, according to their weekly newsletter.

This winter has been the second warmest in England and Wales in three and a half centuries, figures have showed. Temperature records for England and Wales date back to 1659. The only warmer winter since then was 1868/69, in the middle of Queen Victoria's reign when temperatures averaged 6.8C (44.2F).

Temperatures averaged 6.5C (43.7F) this winter, from December to February, MeteoGroup UK - the weather division of the Press Association - said. The winters of 1833/34 and 1988/89 were just as mild as current temperatures.

The main reason for the persistent warmth over the past few months has been a higher frequency of winds from the south and south west, bringing in mild, moist air from the sub-tropics. These have been extremely strong, and as polytunnel owners particularly worrying. I used to enjoy the forces of the wind, (surfing, flying kites) but now it scares me, it can be very destructive. The energy you need to rebuild something which has been destroyed by nature, always seems to be twice that required when building a fresh.

Michael Dukes of MeteoGroup UK said: "This winter's exceptional warmth is made even more remarkable by that fact the preceding autumn was the warmest on record. Indeed, the non-calendar year from 1 March 2006 to the end of February 2007 is the warmest 12 month period England and Wales have experienced since temperature records began in the 1650s. Although not proof of human-induced global warming, these records are yet more evidence in support of a rapidly warming climate."

The Met Office point out that this winter has been the second warmest in the UK as a whole since 1914.

Instead of a chilly winter, average temperatures hit 5.47C - only the winter of 1988/9 was warmer at 5.82C.

I hope many of you saw the lunar eclipse last weekend, I should have mentioned it before, I will in three years. Still think it odd that the earth and moons diameter is exactly correct to block out the sun, lunar and solar eclipse…..

Thank you to Rowan Welch, age 7 months who sent his first email, telling us how “Yummy” the vegetable puree he is eating is.

TB or not TB.

Rod and Ben's round-up. Check out their organic farm and box scheme and soups and everything.

"Our Parish (no. 10/435) is in a yearly testing zone for TB in cattle. Our cattle are once a year tested for TB and every other year tested for Brucellosis.

In December 2005 the Government announced new measures to tackle the spread of bTB (bovine tuberculosis) in England, including the pre-movement testing of cattle, changes to compensation procedures and a consultation on the culling of badgers for control of bTB. Further action to improve the testing of cattle for bovine TB was announced on 10 August 2006, including wider use of the gamma interferon blood test. The new measures build on the Government's TB Strategic Framework, published in March 2005, which aims to bring about a sustainable improvement in control of bTB in Great Britain over the next 10 years.

‘Tuberculosis’ (TB) is a serious disease of warm-blooded animals arising from infection by organisms of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) complex. This is a group of closely related bacteria that includes.

* Mycobacterium bovis (responsible for TB in cattle and other mammals)
* M. tuberculosis (the primary agent of TB in humans)
* M. bovis - BCG (an attenuated strain of M. bovis used as a vaccine against human TB)

Although both badgers and cattle have been shown to carry bTB there has been much debate around the transmission of the disease between the two species.

In November 1996, Professor John Krebs and the Independent Review Team began a scientific review on behalf of the Government into the link between bTB and badgers.

The Krebs group concluded that “the sum of evidence strongly supports the view that, in Britain, badgers are a significant source of infection in cattle”. The group recognised, however, that scientific data were lacking and recommended that an experiment, the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT), be set up to establish the effect of culling badgers on TB in cattle. This work is still being carried out and as yet still has not proved scientifically that badgers are the main source of infection.

What is definitely true is that the numbers of badgers is rising, quite why nobody seems to know. I like the badger, he can be annoying make no mistake, they will eat chickens and destroy certain crops, but they do not like electric fences so we can protect our crops and poultry. However as farmers we sometimes have to control elements of nature to ensure that we protect our livelihoods and that of our animals. I wish that vaccination was seen as a better alternative, either of the badgers or of the cows. Other animals carry TB, such as deer, surely we can not start eradicating whole groups of animals? I feel myself walking into deep water near the end of the page. So I leave it for you to discover more.

The facts of this came from the defra website www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/abouttb/badgers.htm. What is clear is that many Badgers are healthy, do not carry TB and therefore do not transmit TB to the cattle. I watch our badgers frequently, they seem very fit and well, poor sighted, but fit and well. We find out on Friday whether any of the cows have TB. I must make it clear that the badger is highly protected and the above experiment was carried out by the Government.

The cauliflowers are small this week because it has been cold and dry, even if left they would not get any bigger, but they are very tasty.

Refresh and resuse not refuel

The latest newsletter from Rod and Ben's organic seasonal foods. And hey, just a thought, you can order online.

I carried out my RSPB birdwatch survey whilst manning the Plymouth farmers market last Saturday. It proved that the common Gull is indeed common, the plucky Jackdaw full of wit and vigour, the Robin still a successful urban dweller. I did not see any unusual sightings, but fun none the less. How did you get on?
We have been attending Plymouth Farmers market for about 9 months now, why? I hear you ask. The simple fact is in the summer many of you go away on holidays, which is when we have our widest range of produce.
The bustle of Plymouth never wanes, there are less regular customers but plenty of new ones, the market can help us maintain sales through the holiday season and avoid wastage. We are also building the box scheme in Plymouth on a very small scale, with the Well Hung Meat Co. delivering the boxes for us. We deliver their meat boxes for them in Exeter.

Boxes, (I have to stop, take in air and sigh) why do they not come back? a large proportion of the boxes do not return, we have spent a considerable amount of money on these, please return them, if you see them in your friend’s house get them. If you are embarrassed by the number you have drop them off at the farm and we will laugh about it, but the boxes are to be refreshed, reused. Refuelling is expensive ecologically and financially.

The standard boxes often have vegetables in them that Ben and I (and all that work here) now take for granted. I will from now on put a note in the diary if a vegetable is being included in the boxes, which is more unusual.
This week is pretty straight forward, but does include an orange ball. This is a squash and provides a wonderful nutty sweet flavour when roasted. Squash are planted mid June, and are a member of the curcurbit family, which includes cucumbers, courgettes and melons. The great thing about squash is that they store well. As long as they are kept away from the cold they will store well in to the spring and beyond. I remember my grandfather giving us a knobbly coloured 'thing' when we were younger . The gourd can be stored for a number of years.
Squash
To prepare, peel and cut into cubes.
• There are many uses and ways of cooking squash.
• Cubes of flesh can be fried in oil and garlic or put in a pan with a little butter and oil and left over a low heat to steam in their own juice.
• They will cook inside 15 minutes. Squash can be boiled for about 20 minutes, until tender, then mashed and served with butter and salt and pepper.
• Cooked squash can be seasoned and puréed to use as a sauce or basis for a soup. Crown prince is the basis of our squash soups.
• Whole squash can also be stuffed and baked or a delicious but simple alternative is to roast or bake cubes either on their own or with other vegetables for about 30-45 minutes.

Rod and Ben's

They nose, you know

We all love Red Nose Day for belly laughs (ha ha...), now our bellies can love it in their own right - and our consciences can all rest easy too.
Sainsbury's will be producing 8 million Chocpix chocolates (that's 40 tonnes of cocoa), which may well be part of the red nose itself, from Ghanaian Fairtrade cocoa.
These Chocpix will be white chocolate with a Wallace and Gromit or Dr Who character somehow visible.
The supermarket with an art gallery named after it has, according to its blurb, been at the forefront of Fairtrade produce for ages and is the leading retailer by value and will be stocking 100% Fairtrade bananas by July.
The Fairtrade chocolate squares are available with the Red Nose together with fun stickers from Sainsbury’s, Oxfam and online at www.rednoseday.com – costing just £1.