Farmer's Market of the Month

The Countryside Magazine team have decided that they love Wednesdays. Outdoor Editor Jo thinks its because the joy of a new weekend is on the horizon and she’s just about recovered from the last one. I was born on a Wednesday but am not, as the popular nursery rhyme suggests, full of woe. Adam Stone, staff-writer, says its because he’s a fan of any day with a silent D, but as he’s leaving the magazine on Friday to head off for pastures new we’re humouring him.

No, there’s a reason I’m not full of woe on a Wednesday. It’s Bristol Farm Market day. Every week I head out to stretch my legs and aim only to buy a cup of soup from the soup man and every week I come back groaning with produce.
Today’s goodies include soft fruits (strawberries, blackberries and raspberries), peas-in-the-pod and corn-on-the-cobs, forest mushrooms and a pack of pigeon breast. Oh, and a cup of soup – pea and mint today, yum!.

The only downer was that my favourite stall – Day’s Cottage apple juice and cider – weren’t there as they’re on well-earned hols. (You can read more about them as they’re one of our Local Food Heroes 2008, crowned in the next issue of Countryfile Magazine on sale next Tuesday.)

I can’t help it. Perhaps it’s an addiction, but I can’t walk through the place without getting sucked into the stalls. I suppose there are worse things to be addicted to.

What about you? Are you a farmers’ market addict? If so, why not nominate your favourite market for our Farmers’ Market of the Month. Every issue, we feature a reader’s recommendation for a market along with a photo of themselves by their favourite stall or the going-ons at the market. It’s a great way to give your local producers some welcome publicity.

Why not send in your own nomination, along with a photo to editor@bbccountryfile.com or post it to: Farmers’ Market of the Month, Countryfile Magazine, 9th Floor, Tower House, Fairfax Street, Bristol, BS1 3BN.

Food vs. environment

"‘At the moment we are in a position where we can devote our countryside to the environment and import our food but you can’t have it both ways," says Agricultural analyst Mark Hill in last nights Our Food Our Future on Radio 4. "You can’t have cheap food and a nice environment at home if global food production is in short supply. You will, one day, have to make a choice as to what is important to you.”

I listened with interest. Since the abolition of set-aside and the rising price of crops is it any wonder that farmers have decided to plough up the grasses of set-aside to plant profitable produce? Sure there may be lapwing’s nesting there, but should their habitat take preference over our food? These are tough questions to answer.

Of course, as you expect, conservation groups are quick to point out that commercial farming can be wildlife friendly. In a recent issue of Countryfile Magazine when discussing the finalists of the Nature of Farming Awards, Dr Darren Moorcraft wrote, “These aren’t nature reserves, they are commercial farms that are producing food. If the UK is going to be sustainable then these farms show the sort of management that we should be aspiring to.”

So, is the future conflict in our fields not going to be fuel vs. food as many have thought but environment vs. food? Did our reliance on cheap food mean that we had the luxury of habitat protection?

Me on Countryfile

Well , that's it, after a year of editing Countryfile Magazine I finally made it onto the show. Well, almost. I'm seen lurking in the background of our 20th Anniversary shoot and then sharing a drink with the presenters in Adam Henson's farmhouse.




Well, everyone has to start somewhere...

One of our chocolate bunnies is missing...

Countryfile magazine is about to organise a man-hunt – or should that be bunny hunt. It’s a sad day here in the office as I’m about to reveal.

My tale of woe began with a happy event. It’s always exciting opening the post here on Countryfile as you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get. Will it be a new pair of Alpaca woollen socks, a packet of self-cooking Chicken Tikka Masala (for when you desperately need a ruby while camping) or a book on how to become a gurning champion? My first ever freebie in the post when I started work on the magazine was a she-wee which was a strange omen of things to come, but still, it’s always nice to get a parcel.

It was exceptionally nice to get one particular parcel last week. It was yet another bleak, grey day with rain lashing against the windows when the box arrived on my desk. With a growing feeling of excitement I ripped it open and, I’m not ashamed to admit it, squealed like a two year old girl. Inside, safe in bubble-wrap, was a seven-inch milk chocolate bunny sent in by Betty's to promote their new range of seasonal novelties.

The little fellow soon attracted a lot of attention from colleagues who decided, while licking their lips, that I was suddenly their best friend to members of neighbouring magazine teams who grumbled that they never received chocolates in the post.

I fell in love with my new chocolatey chum. Ignoring the advice of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in his recent Chicken Run series I even named the critter I was intending to eat. And there Snuggles sat, waiting for his fate.

Imagine my horror when I came in this morning, after a lovely day yesterday up in the Countryfile TV offices up in Birmingham, to find that Snuggles had vanished. No-one knows what happened to him but there were a few stray crumbs of chocolate in his place. I’m fearing the worst but still live in hope that Snuggles is out there somewhere. I’ll let you know how the case of the missing bunny progresses but in the meantime I’m going to continue glaring suspiciously at the Gardens Illustrated team…

BBC Countryfile magazine

Today we've announced the identity of the top secret project I've been working on.

In October BBC Magazines will be launching BBC Countryfile magazine, based on the BBC One programme of the same name, with yours truly as Editor.

The Media Guardian did a great story on us here

It will be a practical, people-centric lifestyle mag covering all aspects of country life and green, sustainable living and I am very, very excited.

More news to come...