Our W&BA Vice Chair Melinda Appleby shares her thoughts on wonderful local fruit and veg
So here we are. On our third week of ‘stay at home except for…’
Time to get creative in all sorts of ways. Yesterday I popped out for the first time to my nearest shop – a farm shop. Not the sort of farm shop groaning with 50 different relishes and jams, exotic chocolates and luxury biscuits. But a shed on a small holding where the farmer sells his own home grown fruit and veg, plus some extras he buys in from the wholesalers. There is no calculator in sight and you help yourself to the veg.
I took my own basket – a flower gatherer basket I made about ten years ago from Suffolk willow (Brittany Green). Perfectly suited to display the mouth-watering array. Just look at the colours and shapes – inspiration for a still life painting? Then imagine the tastes and smells; how does each fruit or veg feel – knobbly or smooth, papery or waxy – food for the senses and maybe the start of a poem.
The dog couldn’t resist having a look – what is he thinking? Is there a story waiting to be told?
Now to the cooking. I have already made a huge casserole and am just embarking on beetroot soup. Creativity in a different way. Putting the culture back into agriculture.
Linking back to our Bugs & Blossoms campaign – how many of these fruit and veg are insect pollinated? How many suffer from insect predators- carrot fly for example.
How many can you name – here’s a clue: there are 12 different fruit and veg in the photo.
All those creative opportunities from my one basket of fruit and veg. And many thanks to the growers out in all weathers when I think it’s too cold, too hot, too wet or too windy to be in my veg plot.
Is it time to reconnect with the land, to appreciate where our food comes from and to celebrate it?