Move over Marigold....

Lynda Brown - 18 December 2011

As some of you may have twigged, I'm trying to move to the Stroud area, which means regular visits househunting. Making time to do a BIG shop at Abbey Home Farm's Organic Farm Shop, Cirencester (and the recently finally – got-round-to – The Veg Shed, just outside Tetbury, which is an organic veggivore's cornucopia) has become the highlight of every trip.

I can happily spend hours there, soaking up everything it has to offer and stocking up on their gorgeous organic grub. (I note from the last two blogs, the Soil Association's organic apprentices obviously rate it too.) For me, though, it's often the small things that can effect big differences that makes my heart jump for joy most. This time, it was a pair of Traidcraft outdoor rubber gloves, made from fair trade rubber latex, harvested by small scale farmers in Sri Lanka. The gloves are great: really comfortable to wear, with a cotton liner that feels nice on your skin, durable, made to last, and well worth a fiver. The story is even better (see www.traidcraft.co.uk). Don't you just love purse power: I'll never buy a pair of Marigold gloves again.

Lynda is an award-winning food writer and broadcaster, and keen advocate for organic living. She is author of several food books over the last twenty years including Planet Organic: Organic Living, The Cook's Garden, and The Modern Cook's Handbook, as well as writing The Preserving Book that was published in 2010 in association with the Soil Association. Lynda is an expert on food and nutrition and a seasoned broadcaster, regularly speaking on food and farming both on the radio and television.

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