Herbs and Bread

As my most loyal reader may remember, when I first moved to this cottage, I got some pots of herbs from the supermarket and them planted them up. With the winter being as hard as it was, even the mint and sage are looking pathetic now. So when I went to the supermarket today, I was pleased to see that they had a special offer on growing herbs. While individually they are three times the price they were two years ago, at two for two pounds I decided to get some more. Personally I like to have fresh herbs growing out side the kitchen door, that way if I want a couple of leaves for something I am cooking I can pluck them when needed.

So the first thing I did was to water them by standing the pots in water as the compost was bone dry. The mint was already seriously wilted recovered in a couple of hours and tomorrow I will pot them up, and with a bit of luck, in a week or so I will have the growing away happily. When I went to the Farmers Market at Gibside, I was tempted to get some herb plants, but the problem would have been transporting them home safely. While there are a few people I can call to give me transport, or even call a taxi, I am sensitive about the carbon impact these choices cause. Therefore, I prefer to plan any purchase so that I can get it home without it requiring special arrangements that create more CO2. With these four plants today, I could do that alongside my normal shopping.

While I did not have much to get from the supermarket, there are items I can not get elsewhere. For example I wanted some Coconut Milk, I have a tempting recipe that I will be filming for the cooking videos, and I needed Bread. While I can get plastic flavoured Wholemeal loafs from shops in the village, the only semi decent loaf is nearly two pounds for a loaf. Yet the cheap rubbish is just under fifty pence in the village. Therefore, going to the supermarket I can save two pounds by buying two loafs from there. I must admit it does cause me a dilemma, as the only decent vendor of bread is the supermarket now. I would make my own bread, but the only place that's a constant temperature to allow the dough to prove is also where the cat likes to sleep. Therefore I risk needing to shave the bread before eating it.

I know that there are bread making machines, but I prefer making bread by getting my hands into the dough and I don't really want or have room for loads of gadgets anyway.

As I write this, it reminds me. When I went into Newcastle last weekend, I was shocked to see that the organic shop was selling flour, for bread making at over twelve pounds (sterling) per bag. While they looked to be five kilo bags, that price is more than double what could be considered a reasonable price. I am aware that organic foods are slightly more costly to produce, and the farmers need to make a reasonable return, but far to often the organic label, in Britain, has become a way of ripping off the public. I have no problem with business making a profit, it is profiteering that I object to.

As I want the farming industry to take better care of the countryside and the environment and organic production is the least environmentally damaging system we have, then I am prepared to pay a little extra for organic. But when the difference is four times the cost of the non organic equivalent, then someone is extracting urine without using a catheter.

I suspect that many of the farmers and producers became organic in recent years just to “Milk the Gravy Train” of the organic label, while never really being committed to the underlying principals. This has created a situation where across the organic board, people have assumed that they could ask whatever price they wanted. Yet if the Soil Association, the charity that is the statutory body appointed by government to ensure organic standards are maintained, really believes that organic agriculture and horticulture can be a major part of reversing environmental degradation, then it needs to stop the profiteering Organic has to be affordable for everyone and not just the rich.