Supermarketmantra

So, what’s the point of all this?

Haven’t I got more important things to do?

Time’s precious enough as it is!

Taken by my friend Gary in his back garden

Sure, time is precious, so I spend as much time as possible doing stuff I love, like climbing trees with my kids. I love it, they love it. Just connecting with nature, making sure they know stuff like fruit grows on trees!

Pussy Willow - you can't eat this but it looks great!



Don’t get me wrong, I’m no Luddite. I write this on a computer and use the internet to reach you. I record all the fruit trees that I spot on a Google map and you can call me on my mobile phone, but I also have an idea what time high tide is tomorrow - and I know that plum blossom tastes like marzipan.

More from Gary's nice garden

In the same way, it does not matter much to me if the Earth orbits the Sun or the Sun orbits the Earth as long as Day follows Night follows Day and Autumn follows Summer, follows Spring, follows Winter….

Blackthorn gives us very pretty flowers and then Sloes for Sloe Gin

I'm not a big fan of supermarkets, even though I use them occasionally. They don’t have seasons, or souls or any mystery, only promotions. There’s no sense of wonder in unwrapping the cellophane from a pepper, even if it was picked last week by a peasant in Morocco. Lazy marketing is becoming more ubiquitous, and it is not benign.

When the gift becomes an afterthought, the person you give it to becomes someone you have not considered properly. We should make our cards, not buy them in the petrol station on the way home. Granted, I’d take a diamond encrusted Rolex over a biscuit, but you know what I mean.

A lovely Mother's Day painting by Gary's friend

A tree full of apples takes a year to grow and ripen, and when you have watched, and waited for it – you sure as hell will savour them. I love giving food as a gift and even better being given it as a gift. Last year I gave my friend Jill some pears when she visited, and this year she gave me a pot of pear jelly made from them – it was sweet, sticky and didn’t last long!