LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

      No! A tight, shining skin may belie woolly flesh underneath. Smell the apple – a fusty, wet-cardboard aroma is an indication of this.

      Where should I buy apples?

      Buy British in season, to support growers competing against lower-priced imports. The UK could be self-sufficient from the Cox harvest and supplies Bramley apples year round, but continued demand for popular imports, among them Golden Delicious, Braeburn, Gala and Granny Smith, inhibits loyalty to British orchards. Meanwhile, new nations join the fray: apples from Chile, the Czech Republic and Poland are here; the Fuji variety from China in the northern hemisphere is a particular threat to our growers. Outside the British season, it is best to choose apples that have travelled the least distance and have been shipped rather than air freighted. Customer service departments at supermarkets should supply this information if asked.

      What the supermarkets say

      Waitrose has a commitment to selling 70 per cent British produce when in season and stocks Cox’s apples in all stores from October to March, grown on their own Leckford Farm in Hampshire. During the autumn months Waitrose sells heritage varieties from the Brogdale Horticultural Trust, plus organic apples. Leckford Farm also sells apples at the ‘farm gate’ in autumn – the farm is located on the A30 between Stockbridge and Sutton Scotney.

      Booths sells as many British apples as it can possibly find in season and has a policy to source locally where possible. Willington Fruit Farm in Cheshire supplies specialist varieties to this northern supermarket chain and the stores host occasional apple tastings.

      Budgens banned all French apples from their stores when the French stopped importing British beef after the BSE crisis and has never reintroduced them. In the British season, it buys 65 per cent British apples and no imported variety that can be grown in the UK. It also sells a number of traditional varieties, including Worcester Pearmain, Egremont and a North American-bred apple, Cameo, from a longstanding Kent supplier.

      Sainsbury claims to prioritise English produce if it deems the quality acceptable. It also imports, and therefore transports by air, apples from all over the world. However, it states that it only imports apple varieties that are not grown in the UK, according to customer demand. It does offer an organic supply of apples.

      Marks & Spencer imports apples from five different continents but states that it has a preference for UK-grown fruit when the quality meets customer expectation.

      The Co-op sources its apples primarily from Europe and is working with UK growers to use crops whenever they are in season. The packaging is biodegradable and compostable. All apples are delivered by road and sea freight

      Tesco sources apples from the UK, US, New Zealand, China, Australia and South America but states it prefers to buy UK produce if it meets their specifications. It claims to buy more UK apples than any other retailer (but this is probably due to its size). It sells organic and also claims to sell a fairly traded apple ‘when available’.

      Where to buy British apples

      Farmers’ markets are a good source of apples during autumn, and the place to find those elusive British organic ones. For details of your nearest market, check www.farmersmarkets.net (tel: 0845 458 8420), or www.lfm.org.uk (tel: 0207 833 0338) for London. Alternatively, find a source of local apples through www.bigbarn.co.uk – put in your postcode and apples and suppliers will be displayed on a map.

       Broomfield’s Apples, School Plantation, Holt Heath,Worcester WR6 6NFTel: 01905 620233www.broomfieldsfarmshop.co.uk

      Grower Colin Broomfield will send a 5-kilo box of apples anywhere in the mainland UK. Unusual varieties include Winter Gem, Crispin, Lord Lambourn and Jupiter.

      

       Charlton Orchards, Charlton Road, Creech St Michael,Taunton, Somerset TA3 5PFTel: 01823 [email protected]

      Traditional good keeping types include Orleans Reinette, Ashmead’s Kernel, Adam’s Pearmain and Egremont Russet. They will send out a 56-apple crate (four varieties).

      

       Crapes Fruit Farm, Rectory Road, Aldham,Colchester, Essex C06 3RRTel: 01206 212375

      150 different apple varieties, available at different times throughout the season. Home delivery available.

      

       Park Fruit Farm, Pork Lane, Great Holland,Nr Frinton-on-Sea, Essex CO13 OESTel: 01255 674621www.parkfruitfarm.co.uk

      Choose from 40 apple varieties, including D’Arcy Spice, George Cave and King of the Pippins, packed carefully in layered boxes. Mail order available.

      

       Yorkshire Orchards, White House Farm, Bolton Lane,Wilberfoss, York YO41 5NXTel: 01759 305079www.yorkshireorchards.co.uk

      A new orchard with over 60 apple types, both traditional and modern. The website includes an Apple Chooser, which selects alternative varieties to favourite supermarket ones. Farmer Richard Borrie recommends Rajka, a new red apple developed in the Czech Republic that has a hint of strawberry in it; also Topaz, an extra crisp and juicy James Grieve. Apples can be posted to most UK locations. Apple tree rental available – a treat for the apple-passionate who do not want to tend their own tree. An annual fee will guarantee home delivery of all the fruit from one well-tended mature tree or three years of fruit from a young tree.

       ASPARAGUS

      Sometimes the British climate has its benefits. Our spring emerges out of winter so slowly that plants struggle to get going, battling against unexpected droughts, frosts or freak torrential rainfall. With asparagus, the outcome of growing in such crazy conditions is a vegetable with a feistier flavour than its southern European rival. But that’s not the only reason to buy British…

      Why should I buy British asparagus?

      Before our season begins, the majority of our spring asparagus comes from an earlier growing season in Spain. Spanish asparagus is also grown outdoors but, while some can be very good indeed, it grows faster in Spain’s warmer climate and its taste will never be as intense as that of British asparagus. All asparagus must be cooked as soon as possible after picking or the stems will become tough, so imports, which of course take time to travel to the UK shops, are at a disadvantage. Asparagus from Spain can have several centimetres of tough, inedible stalk.

      Air miles can be a serious problem for exported asparagus. Spanish asparagus is transported by lorry but asparagus from other exporting countries, including Thailand and Peru, is air freighted. Environmentalists point out that this is a high fuel–oil cost for a low-calorie food – meaning is it worth the environmental cost to ship a nonessential food? I’d argue that there is more justification in shipping bananas or citrus fruit. The best line to take is to choose imported – preferably outdoor-grown Spanish – as an occasional luxury.

      When does the British season begin?

      Usually around the end of April, running to a cut-off point in the third week of June. Growers must leave enough stalks in the ground to ‘go to seed’ and so provide a good crop for the following year.

      Why is boiling now better than steaming?

      Newly developed breeds of asparagus have a uniform tenderness along the stalk that allows them to be snapped at the base during harvest, not cut. It was the case that the old

Скачать книгу