In article ,
says...

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Christina Websell wrote:

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
. ..
For those who like to read of rescues, here's the Seed Saver's Exchange
description of Blaby:

https://exchange.seedsavers.org/cata...spx?itm=137071

I'm growing a foliage turnip, Horpaczi Lila, that a friend got some
years
ago from the East German seed bank.

The mind boggles at what must be stashed at the Svalbard bank!


Exactly.
I sowed two Blaby tomatoes, one germinated. Huge plant, some massive
tomatoes. I got the seeds from my German friend who always sends me
interesting seeds from the Netherlands seed bank every Christmas for a
present, I have some rare beans, mainly French types waiting to be sown.
Tried to swap runner beans seeds, but they don't do well there. Because
when it's summer, it's hot for weeks and I don't think the continental
climate is suitable. French beans do well there.

Runner beans actually prefer higher temperatures than French! But
they require regular water and a higher humidity, so they often do
badly in hotter conditions. French beans are more tolerant of dry
conditions.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I know all of that. You should be in the wilds of Germany and realise how
the farmers have to pay for water

Maybe you don't realise how much farmers here have to pay for water.

Janet

"Janet" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
says...

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Christina Websell wrote:

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
. ..
For those who like to read of rescues, here's the Seed Saver's
Exchange
description of Blaby:

https://exchange.seedsavers.org/cata...spx?itm=137071

I'm growing a foliage turnip, Horpaczi Lila, that a friend got some
years
ago from the East German seed bank.

The mind boggles at what must be stashed at the Svalbard bank!


Exactly.
I sowed two Blaby tomatoes, one germinated. Huge plant, some massive
tomatoes. I got the seeds from my German friend who always sends me
interesting seeds from the Netherlands seed bank every Christmas for a
present, I have some rare beans, mainly French types waiting to be
sown.
Tried to swap runner beans seeds, but they don't do well there.
Because
when it's summer, it's hot for weeks and I don't think the continental
climate is suitable. French beans do well there.

Runner beans actually prefer higher temperatures than French! But
they require regular water and a higher humidity, so they often do
badly in hotter conditions. French beans are more tolerant of dry
conditions.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I know all of that. You should be in the wilds of Germany and realise
how
the farmers have to pay for water

Maybe you don't realise how much farmers here have to pay for water.

Janet

But they have a quota over a couple of years there - so no matter how much
you pay you can't get any more. The diifficulty seemed to be "should I use
a lot of my quota now to save my crops and hope it will rain more next year?
or risk not watering enough to have some quota left"
Their climate is such that when it's summer, it's mega hot and stays like it
for weeks, it hardly rains at all. I went there once in August and nearly
fried.

In the wilds of lower Saxony, The Wendland, it's very hard to earn a living.
It looks similar to The Fens, acres of potatoes: a lot of the farmers grow
herbs, like parsley, chives etc ahere is a herb factory a couple of miles
away. Plus they have wild boar out every night digging the crops up. Every
field has a big wooden tower in so the farmers can get up there and shoot
them. At least they can have some pork ;-)

Oh. and then they have voles, not like our field voles. They seems to be a
sub-species of our water vole, they look the same, but they are a major
agricultural pest in the Wendland. They eat the roots off everything.

I did visit there the first time thinking it wouldn't be very different from
England. Maybe in the big cities it isn't, but out in the sticks there, it
is very different indeed.

Tina

On 09/11/2015 09:48, Martin wrote:
On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 01:07:14 -0000, Janet wrote:

In article ,
says...

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Christina Websell wrote:

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
For those who like to read of rescues, here's the Seed Saver's Exchange
description of Blaby:

https://exchange.seedsavers.org/cata...spx?itm=137071

I'm growing a foliage turnip, Horpaczi Lila, that a friend got some
years
ago from the East German seed bank.

The mind boggles at what must be stashed at the Svalbard bank!


Exactly.
I sowed two Blaby tomatoes, one germinated. Huge plant, some massive
tomatoes. I got the seeds from my German friend who always sends me
interesting seeds from the Netherlands seed bank every Christmas for a
present, I have some rare beans, mainly French types waiting to be sown.
Tried to swap runner beans seeds, but they don't do well there. Because
when it's summer, it's hot for weeks and I don't think the continental
climate is suitable. French beans do well there.

Runner beans actually prefer higher temperatures than French! But
they require regular water and a higher humidity, so they often do
badly in hotter conditions. French beans are more tolerant of dry
conditions.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I know all of that. You should be in the wilds of Germany and realise how
the farmers have to pay for water

Maybe you don't realise how much farmers here have to pay for water.

and the pathetic amounts that they are paid for what they produce.

See Hugh Feranley-Whittingstall program on Food Waste - it should now be
on i-Player

Malcolm

"Malcolm Race" wrote in message
...
On 09/11/2015 09:48, Martin wrote:
On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 01:07:14 -0000, Janet wrote:

In article ,
says...

"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Christina Websell wrote:

"Gary Woods" wrote in message
...
For those who like to read of rescues, here's the Seed Saver's
Exchange
description of Blaby:

https://exchange.seedsavers.org/cata...spx?itm=137071

I'm growing a foliage turnip, Horpaczi Lila, that a friend got some
years
ago from the East German seed bank.

The mind boggles at what must be stashed at the Svalbard bank!


Exactly.
I sowed two Blaby tomatoes, one germinated. Huge plant, some massive
tomatoes. I got the seeds from my German friend who always sends me
interesting seeds from the Netherlands seed bank every Christmas for
a
present, I have some rare beans, mainly French types waiting to be
sown.
Tried to swap runner beans seeds, but they don't do well there.
Because
when it's summer, it's hot for weeks and I don't think the
continental
climate is suitable. French beans do well there.

Runner beans actually prefer higher temperatures than French! But
they require regular water and a higher humidity, so they often do
badly in hotter conditions. French beans are more tolerant of dry
conditions.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I know all of that. You should be in the wilds of Germany and realise
how
the farmers have to pay for water

Maybe you don't realise how much farmers here have to pay for water.

and the pathetic amounts that they are paid for what they produce.

See Hugh Feranley-Whittingstall program on Food Waste - it should now be
on i-Player

Malcolm

I knew the minute that that poor parnip producing family went on Tv against
Morrison's on Hugh's program that it would be the death knell for them, and
so it proved. They are now out of business. It's disgusting, the hold the
big supermarkets have on small farmers who maybe thought it was a good idea
to have a contract with a big supermarket and then found out it wasn't.
I don't believe, at all, there there is any need for a supermarket to insist
on a certain length or size of vegetable. I am sure that "wonky" vegetables
would be quite acceptable to most people once they know how badly the
supermarket policy of perfect is affecting the farmers.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Morrison's have a bit of a downturn in
sales after that program. If I used them, I'd probably boycott them, but I
supposed all the big supermarkets are the same. Farmers are probably happy
at first to get a big supermarket buying from them. but then they just
squeeze them later when they are committed.
I nearly wept along with that family of parsnip farmers. The mother cried,
the son cried. Because of Morrisons stupid idea of "perfect parsnips"
So that's me never spending any money in Morrison's again and good on Hugh
for bringing it to light. Although, it's lucky for him that he didn't
approach me and throw my vegetables away. Nothing goes to waste here. I
have hens. If there something veggie that is more elderly than I want to
chance eating, they get it and turn it into eggs.
Tina



..

Christina Websell wrote:

I don't believe, at all, there there is any need for a supermarket to insist
on a certain length or size of vegetable. I am sure that "wonky" vegetables
would be quite acceptable to most people once they know how badly the
supermarket policy of perfect is affecting the farmers.

Not to side with the supermarkets, but they must have based that on what
was left on the shelves? Same happens for anything where you let the
customer self-select, e.g. look at all the banana-wood piled up in Wickes.

On Wed, 11 Nov 2015 09:32:18 +0000, Andy Burns
wrote:

Christina Websell wrote:

I don't believe, at all, there there is any need for a supermarket to insist
on a certain length or size of vegetable. I am sure that "wonky" vegetables
would be quite acceptable to most people once they know how badly the
supermarket policy of perfect is affecting the farmers.

Not to side with the supermarkets, but they must have based that on what
was left on the shelves? Same happens for anything where you let the
customer self-select, e.g. look at all the banana-wood piled up in Wickes.


Soup makers should not be too worried about wonky vegetables so I
would have thought that could be an outlet for products who aren't
the plant equivalent of a supermodel. Judging by the demand for food
banks we'll soon have a need for as many soup kitchens as we can get.

G.Harman

wrote in message
...
On Wed, 11 Nov 2015 09:32:18 +0000, Andy Burns
wrote:

Christina Websell wrote:

I don't believe, at all, there there is any need for a supermarket to
insist
on a certain length or size of vegetable. I am sure that "wonky"
vegetables
would be quite acceptable to most people once they know how badly the
supermarket policy of perfect is affecting the farmers.

Not to side with the supermarkets, but they must have based that on what
was left on the shelves? Same happens for anything where you let the
customer self-select, e.g. look at all the banana-wood piled up in Wickes.


Soup makers should not be too worried about wonky vegetables so I
would have thought that could be an outlet for products who aren't
the plant equivalent of a supermodel. Judging by the demand for food
banks we'll soon have a need for as many soup kitchens as we can get.

ain't that just the truth. we have a trolley in the local supermarket for a
food bank and it's usually full. we are all only a few pay cheques away
from needing it. I put something in there every time I go there.
Because maybe what if it was me that needed it?

Christina Websell wrote:

I am sure that "wonky" vegetables would be quite acceptable to most
people once they know how badly the supermarket policy of perfect is
affecting the farmers.

Get yourself down to ASDA then ...

http://your.asda.com/news-and-blogs/wonky-fruit-veg-boxes

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 23:39:36 +0000, Malcolm Race wrote:

See Hugh Feranley-Whittingstall program on Food Waste - it should now be
on i-Player

No thanks.
--

Martin in Zuid Holland

Yes, I know he is irritating, but it's worth watching. Try it and see what
you think.
Tina

On 11/11/15 10:24, Martin wrote:
On Tue, 10 Nov 2015 23:36:44 -0000, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 23:39:36 +0000, Malcolm Race wrote:

See Hugh Feranley-Whittingstall program on Food Waste - it should now be
on i-Player

No thanks.

We aren't allowed to access iPlayer.

Yes, I know he is irritating, but it's worth watching. Try it and see what
you think.

I read the comments in The Guardian about the factual errors in the programme.

The Grauniad complaining about someone else's "factual errors". Talk
about the pot calling the kettle black!!!

--

Jeff

On 12/11/15 08:36, Martin wrote:
On Wed, 11 Nov 2015 19:28:48 +0000, Jeff Layman
wrote:

On 11/11/15 10:24, Martin wrote:
On Tue, 10 Nov 2015 23:36:44 -0000, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 23:39:36 +0000, Malcolm Race wrote:

See Hugh Feranley-Whittingstall program on Food Waste - it should now be
on i-Player

No thanks.

We aren't allowed to access iPlayer.

Yes, I know he is irritating, but it's worth watching. Try it and see what
you think.

I read the comments in The Guardian about the factual errors in the programme.

The Grauniad complaining about someone else's "factual errors". Talk
about the pot calling the kettle black!!!

The Guardian doesn't write the comments the readers do.

It is responsible for anything that appears in it. It can choose which
comments appear and those which don't.

Many years ago a company I worked for was involved in something
controversial. Most newspapers took a neutral line, pointing out the
pros and cons, But The Grauniad chose to come down strongly against
what the company was doing. Fine - that's its prerogative. But it
"quoted" independent published work which proved what the company was
doing was wrong. But the quotes were completely inaccurate, so the
company wrote a letter to the editor pointing out the errors, and asking
for a correction to be published. Not only was the company letter not
published, the Grauniad's editor said that there was "no space available
to print a correction".

Nothing changes...

--

Jeff

"Martin" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 10 Nov 2015 23:36:44 -0000, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"Martin" wrote in message
. ..
On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 23:39:36 +0000, Malcolm Race wrote:

See Hugh Feranley-Whittingstall program on Food Waste - it should now be
on i-Player

No thanks.

We aren't allowed to access iPlayer.

Yes, I know he is irritating, but it's worth watching. Try it and see
what
you think.

I read the comments in The Guardian about the factual errors in the
programme.
--

And he was in a supermarket taking some of the vegetables out of the
shopper's trolleys and throwing them away. When challenged, he said
something like "well, that's what you're going to do anyway, I'm saving you
the trouble"
I hope he had a security person nearby.

He took some stuff away from an elderly woman and I'm not up for that (and
neither was she, by the look in her eyes). Had the cameras not been there,
and she wasn't polite, I think she would have swiped him round the head.
I hope he reimbursed her. IME elderly people don't waste much food and are
very good at using the last bit of everything because pensions don't go far
plus they know how to cook.
I'm not quite elderly yet, but almost nothing foodwise is wasted here. I'm
glad Hugh didn't try it with me.
Whilst it's a good idea to alert us to food waste, which is rife in the
people-who-earn-a-lot, taking veggies from a pensioner is beyond the pale.

Tina

"Martin" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 14 Nov 2015 18:40:34 -0000, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"Martin" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 10 Nov 2015 23:36:44 -0000, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"Martin" wrote in message
m...
On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 23:39:36 +0000, Malcolm Race
wrote:

See Hugh Feranley-Whittingstall program on Food Waste - it should now
be
on i-Player

No thanks.

We aren't allowed to access iPlayer.

Yes, I know he is irritating, but it's worth watching. Try it and see
what
you think.

I read the comments in The Guardian about the factual errors in the
programme.
--

And he was in a supermarket taking some of the vegetables out of the
shopper's trolleys and throwing them away. When challenged, he said
something like "well, that's what you're going to do anyway, I'm saving
you
the trouble"
I hope he had a security person nearby.

He took some stuff away from an elderly woman and I'm not up for that (and
neither was she, by the look in her eyes). Had the cameras not been
there,
and she wasn't polite, I think she would have swiped him round the head.
I hope he reimbursed her. IME elderly people don't waste much food and
are
very good at using the last bit of everything because pensions don't go
far
plus they know how to cook.
I'm not quite elderly yet, but almost nothing foodwise is wasted here.
I'm
glad Hugh didn't try it with me.
Whilst it's a good idea to alert us to food waste, which is rife in the
people-who-earn-a-lot, taking veggies from a pensioner is beyond the pale.

There have been articles in the press and programmes on TV about wasted
food for
years.

We are both retired. We don't waste food. The generation that does
probably
doesn't watch programmes like this.
--

Martin in Zuid Holland


Nothing is wasted here but it's good idea for some folks to be reminded.
My black bin (non recycables)_ would take a year or more to fill up.
When they come to empty it every two weeks they say it's not worth tipping
it into the lorry because there nothing in it.

In article ,
says...

Martin wrote:

There have been articles in the press and programmes on TV about wasted food for
years.

I agree, and I suspect the numbers on waste have been jiggered to include
the entire distribution chain. Fresh veggies have a lot of loss and waste
just in the trimming. Years ago, I volunteered at a food co-op. We
charged double the wholesale price for produce, and that was just about
break-even.
Of course, we "mature" frugal types make soup/stock/compost with the
trimmings, so it isn't _really_ wasted!

I don't know anyone in the UK baby-boom generation who does throw
stuff away; we were brought up with food rationing, "make do and mend"
and "passing it on" etc and those habits were ingrained in us. We're the
Squirrel Generation of savers, recyclers, menders, skipdivers,ironers of
wrapping paper, knotters of used string, etc.

Janet.

"Janet" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
says...

Martin wrote:

There have been articles in the press and programmes on TV about wasted
food for
years.

I agree, and I suspect the numbers on waste have been jiggered to include
the entire distribution chain. Fresh veggies have a lot of loss and
waste
just in the trimming. Years ago, I volunteered at a food co-op. We
charged double the wholesale price for produce, and that was just about
break-even.
Of course, we "mature" frugal types make soup/stock/compost with the
trimmings, so it isn't _really_ wasted!

I don't know anyone in the UK baby-boom generation who does throw
stuff away; we were brought up with food rationing, "make do and mend"
and "passing it on" etc and those habits were ingrained in us. We're the
Squirrel Generation of savers, recyclers, menders, skipdivers,ironers of
wrapping paper, knotters of used string, etc.

Janet.

Ain't that just the truth. I only get a black bin (non-recyclables) empty
every two weeks, and the dustbinmen now look inside it to see if it's worth
the trouble of picking it up. It never is.
Although I say it myself, I rarely waste anything. I'm very good with food.
Bought a poisson on it's sell by date for £1., roasted it for a nice meal,
then used the rest of it to make soup with carrots and onions & herbs which
did lunch for for two days, plus the skin and stuff that was wasn't eatable
when I was picking the bones made a meal for my cat. I did however put the
bones in the bin.
Any veg trimmings go to my hens who turn them into eggs. I can't remember
the last time I wasted any food.