Philippa and I will freely admit that after a four month battle we were mentally prepared for defeat. The panel whose job it is to choose which designers will be allowed to show their gardens at Chelsea showed us no mercy at all as they insisted on three re-drafts and two name changes before, finally, today, giving us the utterly delicious news that we are IN. The original idea, of a garden built around a Victorian aviary, has remained the same throughout and we have sometimes struggled to understand the panel’s thinking as their requests for changes made us alter the title from “A Bird Lover’s Garden” to “An Aviary Garden” and finally to “A Victorian Aviary Garden”, but however great the torture, the end result is worth it. Quite why I’m using the phrase “end result” when we are actually only at the beginning is beyond me. Will it all have been worth it when the medals are dished out in five month’s time? I’ll be able to say on May 24th next year.
Archive for December, 2009
Monday, December 14th, 2009
Organic Chickens from Lowther Castle
If Slow Food gave out medals to local food heroes then Richard Price, the farm manager of Lowther Estates would be near the top of the list to receive one. When he took over the management of the estate he was faced with enormous sheds, each containing 25,000 broiler chickens, a business established by his boss the eccentric Earl of Lonsdale. Richard persuaded the Earl to start a side line in organic chickens and after the foot and mouth crisis in 2001 the whole 3,500 acre estate turned organic- not just chickens, but sheep, cattle, turkeys and deer.
When I first thought of keeping chickens I went to see Richard and he very kindly showed me round the farm It was the first time I’d been inside a battery unit and believe me the sight, sound and smell of 25,000 battery chickens is one I’ll never forget. In a nearby field were the organic chickens, whose lives were a complete contrast- they were pecking contentedly on the grass, in complete freedom. It costs three times as much to rear an organic chicken as a battery one, because they take twice as long to mature and their feed is much more expensive. Nevertheless Richard was convinced that he had to move away from the battery system and in time Lowther became the main suppliers of organic chickens in Cumbria. Richard’s example was an inspiration to me in establishing my farm.
Now Lowther Estates have taken the decision to forego their organic status. This is unfortunate and is no doubt due to the high price of organic feed- but one thing is certain, the welfare standards of the farm animals at Lowther will not be compromised.
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
Terra Madre Day
![Rambling Damsons 001[1]](http://www.slow-life.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Rambling-Damsons-0011-1024x768.jpg "Rambling Damsons 001[1]")
Today is Terra Madre Day and Slow Food is celebrating its 20th anniversary with over 1,000 events in 120 countries. Here in Cumbria we are celebrating with a lunch at the Mason’s Arms, Strawberry Bank, and a walk exploring the Damson orchards of the Lyth Valley.
70 years ago most of the farms in the Lyth valley specialised in damson production and 250 tons were produced. Now the crop is down to barely 20 tons and Slow Food are supporting the Westmorland Damson Association in encouraging farms to re-plant their orchards. Our local fruit is unique, smaller and tastier than other damsons and the conditions here are perfect for its cultivation. There is an orchard at the Damson Dene Hotel and on 29th August this year four of us picked 46 kilos of fruit in an hour. Pictured are Steve and Vicky Dickinson, Peter Jackson (our Chairman) and Mark Richards on the Damson trail, and a basket with some of our August haul, now made into jam. For those Slow Life adherents who don’t have their own damson tree- the hedgerows in the Lyth valley are full of wild damson trees, whose fruit is not only free, but is often left unpicked.
![Damsons[1]](http://www.slow-life.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Damsons1-300x200.jpg "Damsons[1]")
Terra Madre – http://www.terramadre.info/pagine/welcome.lasso?n=en&-session=terramadre:D92BD4DB1da411E3D3xGj229FDFD
Slow Food – http://www.slowfood.org.uk
Westmorland Damson Association – http://www.lythdamsons.org.uk/
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
L’enclume
The Daily Telegraph’s food writer Jasper Gerrard has asked whether our local eatery, L’enclume is the best restaurant in England. Its only rival he says is Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck, but he prefers Simon Rogan’s L’enclume. I don’t think I’ve ever read an article about L’enclume that hasn’t included the observation from Simon Rogan that the locals don’t go there. I wonder if Simon doesn’t realise that locals might read what he says.
In the early days L’enclume did seem rather cold and unwelcoming and expensive. I remember when we had a family meal there my mother saying in a loud voice that it was pretentious rubbish. When L’enclume was awarded a Michelin Star all the locals were proud of the fact but they had been there once and didn’t see why they should bother again. I like Simon – we even discussed, briefly, going into business together when I was trying to buy Miller Howe.
Last year Simon opened a bistro just round the corner from L’enclume called Rogans. It’s excellent, definitely one of my top three places to go for a meal and yes, the locals do go there.
The other two, in case you’re wondering are Gilpin Lodge and The Punch Bowl, Crosthwaite.
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
Bees
All maybe well in the world of bees after all. I’ve been as guilty as anyone this year in milking for all it’s worth the scare about the decline in the bee population as a means of publicising my ‘Bee Keeper’s Garden’ at Hampton Court. The highlight of the campaign was when Professor Ratnieks, Britain’s only Professor of Apiculture was interviewed by Joe Swift in the Bee Keeper’s Garden for BBC 2. All sorts of pressure groups have jumped on the same band wagon including campaigners against climate change, against agricultural pesticides and against GM Crops. Now, at a conference this week Professor Ratnieks has dismissed the claims of all these groups and has said that the main reason for the decline of bees here is that there are fewer wild flowers. Meanwhile, an article in Current Biology, which has been helpfully made intelligible in The New Scientist shows that the world wide bee population has increased by 45% in the last 5 years. Phew, another crisis over.
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
Tobias Ellwood- Shadow Minister of Tourism
As there’s an election in the offing we are being courted by the politicians. I spent today with Tobias Ellwood, the Shadow Minister for Culture Media and Sport, whose brief includes tourism. His pitch is that if the Conservatives get in there will, for the first time, be a dedicated Minister of Tourism. Tobias and I were interviewed by ITV news at the Windermere TiC, which the local Lib-Dem council are planning to close (see Oct 16th posting). The TiC Manager said he was utterly non-plussed by the closure proposal as they get 1,000 plus visitors through their doors every day in summer. Tobias made all the right noises, short of an actual pledge to keep them open.
In the evening we hosted a dinner for 60 at the Damson Dene, with Tobias and Gareth McKeever as the guest speakers. The best line came from Yvonne, the Head Receptionist at the Damson Dene who said she was delighted to meet the Shadow Minister, if only because when he became the real Minister she could say that she knew him when he was a shadow of his former self.
The video shows the Lookaround piece on ITV News, which features Tobias’ interview, starting off with short clips of Colin Monk and myself.