TAS Diary Archives
July 14, 2005
Raspberry Rain
I've been picking raspberries every morning for about a week now, but this morning I needed to get into work early to prepare for a training course I was delivering, so they didn't get done. So tonight when I came home from work, despite the torrential rain, I threw on my Barbour and (bad) cowboy hat and got stuck in.
Rain has never really bothered me, maybe because when I worked as a forester I had no choice in the matter. When you're stuck up a hill 4 miles from the nearest mud track and it's chucking it down you don't really have a choice.
The result was a few pounds of prime Scottish rasps, with probably another half pound down my neck! They were perfectly ripe, and as sweet as honey - give me the choice between any confection under the sun or a bowl of these and the fruit wins every time. Most will end up in the freezer, but we had our first summer pudding last weekend and it was fab, so a good number will be kept back for this weekend's effort.
This afternoon also saw our first ripe Super Sweet 100 tomato of the year. Since it's R's birthday tomorrow and I haven't bought her a present or a card (bad man) I bestowed it upon her, and judging by her reaction it was better than anything I could have bought her anyway.
July 10, 2005
The Hunger Barrier
It may be two years old but Tim Bray's 'The Hunger Barrier' is as relevant today as it was then, perhaps more so given the G8 and Live8. Read it here and understand why an end to farming subsidies is so vital:
http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2003/07/11/AfriFood
July 4, 2005
Looking for blether?
If you've arrived here expecting to find the book review site Blether, I'm sorry to say it is now closed. It ran for more than 6 years, but latterly had failed to receive as much attention from me as it deserved. The net has changed a lot in that time, but unfortunately blether didn't keep up. A big 'thank you' to the 200+ reviewers who contributed to the site over the years.
The reviews may appear elsewhere in due course, but not at blether.com - this domain is going to be used for something new in the near future, but for now will point here. If you're interested in fruit, veggies, hens or pigs then stick around! Otherwise you might like to visit one of these fine book review sites instead: