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Heritage fruit and vegetables

• Message 1. 

  Posted by hereisabee (U2342191) on Monday, 19th March 2012

  If you are in the Oxford area there is a talk at the Literary Festival on Saturday,
  
  "Toby Musgrave, a leading authority on garden history and design, tells the fascinating stories behind our rich food heritage and celebrates the work of growers who are rediscovering older varieties of fruit and vegetable. And he explains why older varieties often have significant advantages over the new."
  
  
  

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• Message 2

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  Posted by hereisabee (U2342191) on Saturday, 24th March 2012

  The talk went well and we were entertained by royal flavours and favours from history. Cardinal Wolsey is the first to be recorded serving strawberries and cream. Queen Victoria's favourite fruit were myrtle-berries. Capability Brown planted the Black Hamburgh grape at Hampton Court and George Stephenson of the Rocket fame, developed the cucumber glass to keep the fruit straight!
  
  This web-site was recommended for researching crops from history,
  
  

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• Message 3

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  Posted by As-If (U15116884) on Saturday, 24th March 2012

  I`m no where near Oxford unfortunately, but mention of this talk reminded me of reading I`d done about the loss of so many of our old orchards.
  There were old orchards dotted about all over the mainland, right up until after the 2nd world war, and they were a magnet for bees, birds, insects and all sorts of wildlife. Some old orchards had been on the same site for centuries.
  Most of them have been grubbed up though, and a lot of old fruit varieties lost. Our fruit is generally imported now.
  There is a bit of a movement in some areas though, to replant orchards, and it seems this is one of the best things we can do for wildlife habitat.
  I`d love to be in a position to plant an orchard,
  Apart from anything else, just imagine how lovely the blossoms would be in spring!!

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  Posted by hereisabee (U2342191) on Sunday, 25th March 2012

  Equally life would be hard for agricultural based commuinties in New Zealand and South Africa if we did not buy their apples?
  
  On a parallel in 1860 every town had a brewery, there were 14 in Oxford and 70 in Oxfordshire as a whole. By 1910 this had dwindled to 18 and today they have all gone except for the new Wychwood Brewery at Witney which bought Brakspear's fermenting vessels from Henley. The outlook though is not so gloomy because out the ashes of this industry have sprung many micro-breweries which are all thriving.
  
  Similarly small orchards are thriving and the great collection of apple varieties at Brogdale save by HRH Prince Charles is there to supply such varieties as Winter Queening, Ironsides, Green Costard and Catshead which are planted at Lyveden New Bield.
  
  The media will be reving it's engines over cash for access to politicians, but one of the real issues of the day is food. Should food be of very high quality, expensive and therefore never wasted or over indulged in. Or is cheap food a priority and that the latest technologies should allowed in to produce crops that require less husbandry and have a lower carbon footprint?

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• Message 5

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  Posted by hereisabee (U2342191) on Monday, 26th March 2012

  I have missed out the Hook Norton Brewery which was founded in 1849 and is still powered by a steam engine.

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  Posted by marinelilium (U8293024) on Monday, 26th March 2012

  Oh, for a glass of the original (not corporate Interbrew chemically ' enhanced') Flowers IPA.
  
  Barley crops are still something we do export millions of tonnes of. China buys vast amounts of spring barley as they have a growing taste for beer.
  
  Heritage? How about crops? Celts have been happily knocking back beer for over 10,000 years but maybe wheat, oats, sugar beets, maize etc will have to replace the vast areas we give to winter barley cattle feed as food shortage becomes more critical. The amount of grazing space to forage feed a herd can produce a lot of loaves!
  
  Grow your own food may well become a necessity for our grandchildren if we don't get human population growth reined in! For today at least, eat, drink and be merry.
  
  MLx

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• Message 7

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  Posted by hereisabee (U2342191) on Monday, 26th March 2012

  Yes there is a huge incentive to grow some of your own food these days, to feel connected to nature. Although we cannot always restore what once was, we have still much to appreciate. Apples were selected not just for taste but the ability to store and suitabilty to local climates. There is nothing to stop the sowing of appleseeds again and starting the trial and error process to create new varieties?

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