Just watched an excellent documentary about peak oil and it's implications for the future of farming in the UK. It is the first I've seen of it's kind to be shown on TV and hopefully it leads the way for many more as we begin to wake up to the coming crisis. Presented by Rebecca Hosking it goes through all the key points in a clear and concise way, opening with the lines, "An approaching energy crisis will likely force a revolution in farming that will change the British countryside forever. It will effect what we eat, where it comes from and even the alarming question of whether there will be enough food to keep us fed." From an interview with a geologist comes the conclusion that what matters is not the exact timing of the peak, but that whether it is in 1, 5 or 10 years there will be a peak in the production of oil after which oil will become more difficult to extract, more expensive and that this will have huge implications for every aspect of our lives. She uses a simple example of a ham sandwich. The oil needed to power the tractors to plough ...

A trip in a small boat to the floating markets of Cai Rang on the Mekong Delta was to provide the setting for the next of our adventures in fruit (WOOP! Just realised what I have just written - how cool this trip is!!) . These markets are incredible. The river was buzzing with life. Hundreds of boats gather piled high with produce from pumpkins and cucumbers to star apples and jackfruit. Each boat has a pole with a sample of the boat's wares tied up high so it can be seen from afar. We spent some time drifting wide eyed through the boats. We hired a guide to come with us so we could ask any questions as we were bobbing along. He told us a lot of the people lived on the boats. As we looked we noticed some were set up barge stylee with pot plants and deck chairs. I'm sure it's not all quite the jolly boating holiday though. These people have little money and live very simple lives. To me on a visit this traditional way of life that has gone on for hundreds of years seems like a beautiful treasure to cling on to. But it is ...

I think this was the part of the trip so far that we were both the most excited about. We were to board the Trans-Siberian train in Moscow, and would not be getting off for over 5000km, a journey which would take 86 hours, spread over 5 days. We had a 2nd class 'Coupe' compartment, meaning we had a small room with 4 beds in it, basically a set of bunk beds at either side of a small room. During the day the bottom bed is used as a seat, there is a small table and storage space below the bed. Apart from that there is nothing else in the room. The compartment measures around 6 1/2" x 5 1/2". We had no idea who we would be sharing this with. There is a restaurant car to escape to if you fancy a break every now and then. Also the train stops every few hours for 20 minutes or so. During this time you can hop off and buy various foodstuffs from people on the platform. It's not a great idea to flash laptops and other expensive items around on the train, so this post will be a little different from the rest. ...

It's been a while since the last post, but there has been a reason for this. For the last couple of weeks I have been busy working on a project that started off as me wanting a way to calculate how much any particular recipe might cost to make, but ended up showing me things about ways of shopping that I never really expected, some of which I can't quite believe. What I started with was an idea for quite a simple spread sheet. I wanted to create a table which would work out how much a certain recipe would cost by calculating how much a specific amount of each ingredient would cost according to the amount used and price per kg and then add them all up to give the price of the recipe. So off I went to the shops with pen and paper in hand, happy that my life style now allows me to indulge in these odd ideas as and when then enter my head rather than just thinking "Hey wouldn't this be great!" only to forget a few minutes later as I get distracted by some important task... such as picking the dirt off the bottom of ...

After some debate over whether what we were finding really were chantarelles, or the similar looking, but rather less tasty and occasionally hallucinogenic false chantarelles we have finally given them a go. We'd gone to visit one of our friend Viv's old lichen hunting grounds near Glen Coe and were clambering around old mossy woods near a disused crypt when we found a few good patches of them hiding in amongst the fallen autumn leaves. Luckily with our edible mushroom expert to hand we were able to confirm they were the real thing and gathered a few dozen to take home with us. Chantarelles have to be one of the prettiest mushrooms there are. So brightly coloured, they can be hard to spot as they are alsmost the same colour as the leaves they hide in. They have a very distinctive fruity smell, like apricots. There are a few other distinguishing features, the gills separate into twos or three and occasionally rejoin, I believe doesn't the false chantarelle gills ever rejoin. They also are a more irregular shape, although until I've seen a false one I'm not sure how obvious this would be. As yet I'm still cooking the wild mushrooms I ...