This made me put this years tomatoes next to the vent for our boiler – just in case in CO2 is emitted. Another technique they used was wrapping the plants around the strings/cables they were growing up. I have also used this idea by wrapping my tomato plants around their bamboo supports – the bamboo isn’t quite long enough but there’s always next year.

I like the way the programmes have shown how some farmers have dealt with their changing markets some going back to basics and opening farm shops or some using science to provide a unique product or make the production of the product more efficient.

Another idea picked up from the programme which I have tried using before is companion planting. The idea is that you plant certain plants together and they help each other. I have heard of planting marigolds with tomatoes before but there is a whole load of things you can do to help control the bug and creature that eat your crops. The programme talked to a couple who run an organic farm in the south west who think that you should be able to buy all your food locally(I’m trying to remember what the farm was called but it escapes me at the moment!). They plant nasturtiums with their brassicas(sprouts,broccoli etc) to help control the pests – this is something I will be trying out next year as I have had terrible trouble with caterpillars this year.

I think we hear too much about farmers being beaten down by the supermarkets and getting hassled over GM so it’s nice to see that there are farms and farmers out there that could inspire the next generation to carry on in this great British tradition.

Something else I saw recently which I really like the idea of id urban farming in Detroit. I have actually been to Detroit as I have family there. It has been through a bad time and shown in Roger and Me where Michael Moore investigates the slowing of the automobile industry in the area. What they are a doing in the Detroit is very similar to what ‘organopónicos‘ are doing in Cuba. It is strange that you have two societies that are politically opposites but the people are trying to grow food in an urban environment. I think this shows that politics itself is pretty removed from many peoples real lives and many people just do what they need to get by.

I think the idea of urban farming seems to be growing. I guess in the UK there has always been some sort of urban farming as allotments seem to be growing in popularity. I have a bit of space in the back garden where I grows stuff but in the future this area may get smaller. To prepare for this we have put our names down on the list for Longbarrow Allotments which are pretty close to us and when visited were immaculate. Unfortunately there is a two year waiting list and I think this is a fairly common wait for many of the allotments in the Bournemouth area. This is why I am kind of experimenting with growing stuff in pots. This year I have grown peas, salad leaves and tomatoes in pots. I bought some strawberry pots for my strawberries last year – these haven’t actually been that productive but I am hoping that’s my lack of skill rather than the idea not working.

If are considering trying to get an allotment I should say that it is hard work and not something you can put down and pickup. They need constant attention, with the right weather it will only take week or so for a pristine weed free plot to turn into a jungle. I think this is why many allotment holders are slightly older. If you are thinking about try it out a smaller scale in your own garden first and see how it goes. If you are happy with this then go the whole hog.

You may have seen a trailer for The Big Food Fight. I was looking forward to an amusing documentary with the three celebrity chefs scrapping but it is a collection of programmes about food and where it comes from. I haven’t watched Hughs Chicken Run which was the first of the series but hopefully I will get a chance tonight.

Apparently we waste up to a third of all food bought in the country. This campaign gives ideas ideas on how to reduce this waste. It has recipes, meal planners and tips on understand sell by and sell by dates. I have to admit we do waste food in our house hopefully it’s not a third of a food though. Any food waste that is suitable goes on the compost heap which I think is probably most of it. This makes me a feel a little less guilty about the waste but is does annoy me throwing away unopened packages of stuff!

For a campaign site this actually looks pretty useful to me – I am sure a will be referring to it regularly to get some ideas for not wasting food.

Something that I think we all should be doing. It’s easy once you have the composting bin. With all this talk about wasting food and reducing the waste going to landfill and the length of time between waste collections this is something that is really easy and really will help save the world.

Composting reduces the amount of waste going to landfill. Any food you do waste can be recycled in your garden – by looking at how much food you put on your heap you might start questioning what you are buying. It also gets over the the hygiene problem a bit by reducing the amount of tasty morsels that attract vermin to your bin. This assumes you are composting properly and not attracting the vermin your compost heap instead.

It’s very fulfilling putting home-made compost on the garden!

Although I think it is probably true that it is not necessarily better for you. I think in some ways this misses the point though. Organic farming is good because it looks after the land and looks after wildlife as I understand it anyway.

If all farms were organic perhaps there were be fewer chemical factories producing nasty pesticides. Perhaps the decline in farming that is always talked about might reverse and create more rural jobs and post offices?

The fact that it has less chemicals in is an added benefit as far as I am concerned. I think the organic organisations miss a trick by not emphasising this enough.

Anyway to follow up that post coincidentally I am about halfway through the sequel cleverly named More Scenes from a Smallholding. This is just as good and I can’t help daydreaming about cows or chickens living in my back garden. Unfortunately being realistic this not going to happen apart from my garden being to small my daydreams don’t really take account of the hardwork involved in growing stuff!

It does bug me that you can buy organic produce from a supermarket but the produce is packed plastic that doesn’t bio-degrade.

Numbers of plastic bags that supermarkets generate bug me too – I think I might have mentioned this before. I stand grinding my teeth when I am waiting to be served in one particular place I go as the cashiers pull out bag after bag ready for their next customer and then almost force one on me – of course I politely refuse and try and stuff everything in by backpack or pull out a pre-used bag that I just happen to have with me! (perhaps not all the time to be honest but I try!)

As well as detailing their five main aims the site also provides addresses and a templated letter so you can write to the supermarkets to air your views.

I think this will do wonders for the image of the WI. When you usually hear about them it’s about jam or cakes but I think this idea is pretty cool and will be added to the list of campaigns on this site.

BTW I have updated the this site with a new theme which I built – there might have a few teething problems but I am trying to fix any problems as I find them!