The trouble with endless taste tests is that we can't taste it, "um I prefer those potatoes", "well I like the other ones". I'm glad that it will be coming back next year but the production team really need to come up with some new ideas, or maybe the people of Scotland love the format I know that it has traditionally been tailored for the Scottish audience?
Well @barry island - when you consider how different the climate is up here to the south of England, or warmer parts of the country generally [and the east side is also different to the west side] many of the 'jobs to do this weekend', or the sowing seed, planting out, type of items on Gardeners' World [and other programmes] is often pointless for those of us who garden here, or indeed , in many other areas of the UK.
It's why it's useful for many others too, not just Scots
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Absolutely. My seasons - timing, temperatures, rainfall, frosts - are very different but I've always found Beechgrove to be very practical and have gleaned info and ideas. Monty's garden conditions and style are very personal to him and less transferable I find.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Gardeners world covers all of the UK and sometimes even the rest of the world as they have viewers in parts of Europe and America too, when I mentioned Beechgrove being tailored to the Scottish audience I was referring to the planting teapot gardens and potato taste tests maybe that's what the audience want to see.
Well that's what they provide so maybe that's what the audience want, personally I can't see the attraction of planting teapots or fairy gardens but that's just me maybe everyone else wants to see that sort of thing.
I don't want to see teapots etc either, and I doubt if they ask viewers to offer ideas and opinions about what they'd like to see on the programme. They've certainly never asked me, and I always subscribed to the newsletter when they did it. I doubt they do it for any gardening programme.
Lots of people all over the UK grow potatoes too, so I can't see how it would be purely a Scottish audience who would want to know about comparisons of varieties. They've always done these comparisons with fruit and veg. It's not new.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
That's the point really how can anyone decide which potatoes to grow just by the Beechgrove team having a taste test, for one thing a potato tastes different according to the growing conditions, the potato tasting is a quirky thing that Beechgrove does every year just a bit of fun really I think that is a part of the Beechgrove U.S.P so someone must like taste testing fruit and veg, planting teapots and Indonesian cooking, they must get feedback from the viewers in some form.
Was watching a World at War episode, it was towards the end of the war, American blockage had had the effect that the civilian population were on the point of starvation, the women were planting potatoes not rice, I suppose they were quicker to get to maturity than rice but potatoes it was!
Every single plot holder grows them on our allotments, and they will mention them, good crop, good taste or what ever else, they never seem to mention any other crop!
This was taken off the internet, question what was the top 10 food crops?
Answer 1: F. Corn
It’s a staple food, and it has tremendous genetic diversity and can grow in a wide range of climates.
(Extra Credit: Photo #7)
Answer 2: C. Wheat
It’s called the staff of life because of its importance in bread-making.
(Extra Credit: Photo #1)
Answer 3: J. Rice
China, Indonesia, India, and Thailand produce the majority of this crop, which grows in humid tropical climates.
(Extra Credit: Photo #8)
Answer 4: E. Potato
Russia and China lead in production of this starchy tuber that grows
from “eyes,” dormant buds in the potato’s underground stem, rather than
seeds like most commercial food crops.
I understand that the government never rationed bread in England during WW2 although bakers were required not to sell it fresh as fresh bread is too moreish, bread was in short supply in Germany and it was common to add sawdust to bulk it out.
Posts
It's why it's useful for many others too, not just Scots
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Lots of people all over the UK grow potatoes too, so I can't see how it would be purely a Scottish audience who would want to know about comparisons of varieties. They've always done these comparisons with fruit and veg. It's not new.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Answer 1: F. Corn
It’s a staple food, and it has tremendous genetic diversity and can grow in a wide range of climates.
(Extra Credit: Photo #7)
Answer 2: C. Wheat
It’s called the staff of life because of its importance in bread-making.
(Extra Credit: Photo #1)
Answer 3: J. Rice
Answer 4: E. PotatoChina, Indonesia, India, and Thailand produce the majority of this crop, which grows in humid tropical climates.
(Extra Credit: Photo #8)
Russia and China lead in production of this starchy tuber that grows from “eyes,” dormant buds in the potato’s underground stem, rather than seeds like most commercial food crops.