What have you done today with your Austin Seven

[Reckless Rat]

I don't bother buying tomatoes at this time of the year, they are generally forced and have little taste. I grow my own in the summer - they are so much nicer.

Better to eat fruit & veg that's in season. Rather than (for example) a bunch of asparagus that's been shipped all the way from Peru. (I kid you not).

I remember once being in Ston, Croatia with the family (my daughter in law's family is from there) - she said "can you get me some apples from the market - go to that guy because his are fresh and they're not sprayed" - I replied where in the name of the wee Man do you get apples in Croatia that are freshly picked in August? Nowhere. They're not harvested until September or October and it's too bloody warm in Croatia for apple orchards anyway (unless I'm wrong). The apples have probably been in cold storage since the previous year.

[Duncan Grimmond]

Unfortunately we have been made (I choose the word carefully) to expect fresh produce 12 months in the year. Strawberries at Christmas? Asparagus in October? WTF is going on? Led by the nose to slaughter at the hands of the all-consuming capitalist machine!

[Ivor Hawkins]

Very rare for me to agree with your radical views Duncan, but I wholeheartedly agree with you, you are right on the money!

Seasonal produce, enjoyed seasonally, makes it all the more special doesn’t it?

[John Mason]

Well I like strawberries at anytime. Must confess though English strawberries in the British summer are best. There are no bad strawberries (unless they are going rotten.) but English ones are best.

John Mason.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

A quick fill up (reminding myself how small this car is), some lunch and then a shopping trip with our eldest (14).

14 year old Willow declared the Coupe a “good car”, as it did not mess up her hair like the Cup Model.

           

[Reckless Rat]

Whilst I don't miss much apart from proper fish & chips and a good curry ( I make my own these days, including the nan bread) You just can't get Jersey Royal new potatoes here in Macronland. I did try sowing some earlies last year, but they just don't taste the same. I guess it's the seaweed they feed them on. It's really too dry here for maincrop spuds. We're still in drought conditions that were imposed last summer and restrictions haven't been lifted. The tomatoes and courgettes are brill though, grown ouside of course, with french beans, spinach, onions, garlic, peppers, chillies, rhubarb, lettuces and some chard.

I just eat French, now.

[Ivor Hawkins]

A quick fill up (reminding myself how small this car is), some lunch and then a shopping trip with our eldest (14).

14 year old Willow declared the Coupe a “good car”, as it did not mess up her hair like the Cup Model.

The more I see of the Highland Coupe, the more the lines grow on me...sadly, ruffling up my hair isn’t such a problem these days!

[Howard Wright]

A quick fill up (reminding myself how small this car is), some lunch and then a shopping trip with our eldest (14).

14 year old Willow declared the Coupe a “good car”, as it did not mess up her hair like the Cup Model.

The more I see of the Highland Coupe, the more the lines grow on me...sadly, ruffling up my hair isn’t such a problem these days!

Ditto Ivor, but keeping my shiny bald pate warm is another matter!

Cheers

Howard

[Tony Griffiths]

Duncan, interestingly, it's the same system of trade (and the incredibly complex matrix of air and sea trade) that spreads higher standards of living most efficiently. For example, it allows farmers in what were once improvised parts of Africa, to find a market for their products (though not unfortunately into the EU where massive tariffs are imposed to protect their overworked farmers). To take just one example, every day around 350 tons of vegetables and cut flowers are flown into the UK from Kenya; this trade employs around 70,000 Kenyans and around 500,000 people in total benefit from the activity. We sometimes forget that it's not just the growers and sellers here who benefit. e.g. one ton of the famous mange tout provides the farmer with £630, the exporter £290, packaging £280, air freight and handling 1040, the importer with £620 and the supermarket with £2500 giving a total input of £5360 - and creating goodness knows how many jobs in the process. Add in all the other stuff that's brought in from such places and relax in the knowledge that, as you delight in eating out-of-season fruit and vegetables, you are supporting far less fortunate people and giving them foreign exchange to spend on importing desirable vintage cars from the West.

[Duncan Grimmond]

"(and the incredibly complex matrix of air and sea trade)"
which is responsible for a disproportionate amount of CO2 and hence global warming...
If only the poor growers in Kenya could see a little more of the bloated profits of UK Supermarkets I wouldn't mind so much.
Today's paper brings news that Morrisons may be going under having been sold of to underfunded and over-indebted "investment " companies, no doubt owned by those bastions of the capitalist system, Insurance companies which don't actually make anything other than rich dividend receivers. Old Ken from Bradford (whose motto was to expand from profits, not debts) will be turning in his grave.

Still love that beauty the Highland Coupé...