Not since the second world war, and I'm not quoting from personal experience :-) have people genuinely considered how to keep the costs of their weekly shop down; Not counting past recessions where deep fried chips became the order of the day, driving the current trend in obesity. In reality we are a million miles from the black-market trading of groceries which was common-place in the 1940's, but we are mindful of the rising costs of particular items due to a plethora of international issues and incidents. Therein lies one of our first problems, or dependencies; imported food.
I like spring onions; also known as scallions or salad onions; I'm always amused to see that they have come from as far away as Mexico. How hard is it to grow these in the UK? Green-thinking aside, the cost of transport is going on my shopping bill... or is it?
This week's fruit and veg shop: Spring Onions (Egypt), Broccoli (Spain), Apples (France), Bananas (Ecuador), Grapes (Chile or India), Mushrooms (Poland), Carrots (Israel), Leeks (Turkey)
I did look to see if they had any UK varieties, but sadly not.
Are the only UK-grown greens the "Organic" variety; which are invariably more expensive? With limited exceptions, almost all of these greens can be grown all year round. Is it about economies of scale in the producing countries or is it simply because in the UK everything is over-priced and under-quality, due to a greedy labour-force and high-taxing Government.
To help combat the economic hardship in the new millennium I'm trying my hand at growing-my-own; modestly starting with the much loved Spring Onion (Allium fistulosum L.), albeit a Japanese variety called Tokyo Bunching
Onions often referred to simply as Negi.
These seem pretty hardy; certainly no problems with this year's mild spring weather. More to follow (hopefully) once I pull my first crop.
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