nufsaid

July 2010 - Posts

• Blog flogging

  I haven’t written much on here in the last week or so as I figure you’d heard enough from me during my North American blogging marathon. To use the time you perhaps would have otherwise spent perusing my site, perhaps you’d care to mosey... Posted Jul 28 2010, 10:08 PM by NufSaid Select Tags... SaveCancel Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Nuffield, Travel, Nuffield Scholarship, burning bras, Natural England, soil, Princess, Blogs, HLS [Edit Tags]

• Where’s Wally?

  Here she is: I’m getting the insults in before Gob of the Wash does. It’s a peach of a hat, innit? Bet you’re wondering why I have a scrunched up piece of felt and a feather protruding from my bonce, don’t you? Every year the Farmers... Posted Jul 28 2010, 09:24 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Farmers Weekly, Weird, Countryside, hats, Gob of the Wash, Famers Weekly, Where's Wally, CLA Game Fair [Edit Tags]

• Bitter, much?

  I’ve just seen Lembit Opik – the asteroid-fearing former weather forecaster fiance, Cheeky Girl squeeze and Lib Dem MP - speak at a debate at the CLA Game Fair in Warwickshire. “With a CV like that,” you’re no doubt thinking... Posted Jul 24 2010, 02:26 PM by NufSaid Filed under: farming, Politics, Food, Lib Dems, Cheeky Girls, Lembit Opik, Country Land and Business Association, CLA, Game Fair [Edit Tags]

• Sabotage

  Before I went off on my Nuffield adventure, the lovely Nick Padwick – Co-op farmer and FW Farmer of the Year – spent a week in FW Towers as guest editor. Aside from seeing how many times he could get his mug in the magazine (I haven’t... Posted Jul 21 2010, 12:20 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Farmers Weekly, Agriculture, farming, peppers, the co-op, Nick Padwick, Young Rolf, plants [Edit Tags]

• Back to Blighty

  I’m writing this a few thousand feet over the Atlantic. Despite usually having narcoleptic tendencies whenever I board any kind of transportation, I’m annoyingly wide awake. Plus I’ve managed to pick the one seat on the plane where the... Posted Jul 18 2010, 07:15 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Communication, Nuffield, Travel, Nuffield Scholarship, Canada [Edit Tags]

• Wining about local food

  This area of Ontario around Niagara has traditionally been a fruit-growing region. It has chalky soils, warm summers and less harsh winters in comparison to the rest of Canada because the lake, so it’s perfect for growing things like cherries, peaches... Posted Jul 17 2010, 02:07 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Travel, Food, Canada, niagara on the lake, wineries, vineyards, grapes, vines, regional food, wine, local food, ice wine, sommelier [Edit Tags]

• Viva las Niagara

  Heaven forbid that I would ever be accused of having a romanticised view of things, but I just didn’t expect Niagara Falls to be surrounded by a town that can only be described as as a cross between Blackpool, Las Vegas and Mablethorpe. My hostess... Posted Jul 17 2010, 12:28 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Travel, Food, Countryside, Canada, niagara falls, fruit, niagara, las vegas [Edit Tags]

• So close…

  When I was eight we did a class project at school on Canada. It largely entailed making a totem pole out of cereal packets and shoe boxes and learning that a moose and a mousse were two different things, but as part of the project our teacher got in touch... Posted Jul 16 2010, 11:05 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Travel, Celebrities, Toronto, Canada, niagara on the lake, pen pal, lake ontario [Edit Tags]

• Miss Bee Hivin’

  See what I did with the title there? Nice outfit though, eh? One of those might come in handy when I’m in Australia trying to cope with the sand flies. I was back at Guelph university yesterday to see some of the work that’s being done there... Posted Jul 16 2010, 03:57 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, Communication, farming, science, Canada, University of Guelph, bee decline, bees, bee hives, colony collapse disorder, bee beard [Edit Tags]

• Sneezy going through Canadian farmland

  Maybe I was asking for trouble when I took my Matthew Williamson handbag with me on a trip to a goat farm. Maybe it was my own fault for getting so close to try and take a photo. Anyway, lesson of today, in case you didn’t know dear readers, is... Posted Jul 15 2010, 01:13 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Nuffield, Travel, Food, Countryside, sheep, Canada, Guelph, lamb prices, Matthew Williamson, New Holland, goats, mennonite [Edit Tags]

• Agricultural speed-dating

  No ice cream, but beer and chocolate cake (by a tortoise-shaped lamp) – a much better way to get my strength back. I’ve had a pretty exhausting day of meetings with various media types and professors from the University of Guelph. Guelph is... Posted Jul 14 2010, 01:05 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, Nuffield, Travel, GM, Food, ag, science, Canada, University of Guelph, Guelph, plant genetics, agricultural science, genetics, genitic modification [Edit Tags]

• The Guelphster

  In homage to my chum, Mr Timothy Relf, I thought I’d use rhyme to talk about my stay in Guelph. Then I came to my senses and realised there’s no way I could hope to match the Relfster’s poetry prowess (Sally Gunnell and poly tunnel?... Posted Jul 12 2010, 09:53 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Communication, farming, Travel, communications, science, Canada, tim relf, University of Guelph, research, owen roberts, Guelph, spark [Edit Tags]

• Toronto, eh?

  The good thing about London, is that the weather’s always so dodgy that most touristy stuff is designed so you go indoors to allow you to shelter from the rain/sleet/snow. Not so in Toronto. Obviously they’re so used to nice weather that they... Posted Jul 10 2010, 03:08 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Travel, Toronto, Canada, CN tower, blue jays, baseball, rain [Edit Tags]

• Posh rounders

  I went to my first baseball game yesterday. This is the Rogers Centre, home of the Blue Jays and shadowed by the CN Tower: I managed to get seated next to a lad from Kent who patiently explained what was going on throughout the game. It turns out baseball’s... Posted Jul 09 2010, 02:22 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Travel, Toronto, Canada, CN tower, blue jays, rogers centre, rounders, baseball [Edit Tags]

• Oh Canada…

  After the Planes, Trains and Automobiles-esque escapades of yesterday (things would’ve been so much better had John Candy been involved), I’m ready to wave goodbye to the US and head on to Canada. I had planned to arrive in Chicago with enough... Posted Jul 08 2010, 08:35 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Nuffield, Travel, Chicago, chicago hostels, Toronto, hostel, Canada [Edit Tags]

• Tea and sympathy

  Seeing as he told me he doesn’t read blogs, I think I’m safe to say what I like about farmer Steve, who I met today. This is him overlooking the lake on his farm: I think Steve’s actually a closet Englishman, as he’s the first... Posted Jul 08 2010, 02:03 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, Communication, farming, United States, Travel, Food, Countryside, Illinois, education, corn, soya [Edit Tags]

• Any GM volunteers?

  I thought I’d use my unexpected rest stop at Champaign train station to catch up on a few blog posts. I’m swinging wildly from finding this escapade hilariously funny to getting really narked about my travel-related incompetency, so I don’t... Posted Jul 08 2010, 01:40 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, United States, Travel, GM, Food, Illinois, corn, soya, roundup, farmer, genetically modified, GMs [Edit Tags]

• No escape

  I’ve got a horrible feeling if I turn around one of these things is going to be lurking behind me: I’ve been trying to leave Champaign and get back to Chicago for the last four hours. Three buses have failed to turn up and when the Chicago... Posted Jul 08 2010, 01:14 AM by NufSaid Filed under: Nuffield, Travel, Chicago, Champaign, train, Greyhound, bus, the prisoner, travel disaster [Edit Tags]

• Shootin’ the breeze

  I had my first taste of home-made icream-making today (I believe my official role was foreman): We were joined for dinner by my my hosts’ (Jim and Marlene) neighbour Dave, an arable farmer who lives next door. Dave’s son has taken over most... Posted Jul 05 2010, 04:58 PM by NufSaid Filed under: United States, Illinois, icecream [Edit Tags]

• Popping corn (not corks) in Champaign

  While my host, Jim, has spent most of his life working for the University of Illinois, he’s continued to dabble in farming. His father, Walker, was interested in growing popcorn so Jim has followed in his footsteps and grows about half an acre of... Posted Jul 05 2010, 04:45 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, farming, United States, Travel, Food, Illinois, Jim Evans, University of Illinois, popcorn [Edit Tags]

• The corn belt

  I’ve travelled about three hours south of Chicago to a place called Champaign, Illinois. Part of the United State’s corn belt, the countryside of Illinois is very flat, with a perfect mixture of sunshine and rain to be able to grow corn exceedingly... Posted Jul 04 2010, 09:24 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, Communication, farming, United States, Nuffield, Illinois, communications, Jim Evans, University of Illinois, Champaign, ag communications [Edit Tags]

• Laters, Windy City

  No meetings yesterday so Kev, an Irish scholar who happens to be passing through Chicago, and I spent the day together doing some proper touristy stuff. First though, we had to head back tot he airport so he could pick up his hire truck. Apparently he... Posted Jul 04 2010, 03:20 PM by NufSaid Filed under: United States, Nuffield, Travel, Chicago [Edit Tags]

• A taste of Chicago

  I reckoned I could spend ages writing about all the stuff I did on Friday, so here’s a photo summary, cos it’s not like I don’t take enough pictures…. Read More... Posted Jul 03 2010, 07:46 AM by NufSaid Filed under: United States, Nuffield, Travel, Chicago [Edit Tags]

• Educating a city about farming

  I met an amazing chap this morning called Orion Samuelson. Think an American version of ‘Big Dog’ David Richardson and you wouldn’t be far wrong. He’s an agricultural journalist who, for the last 50 years, has reported on farm... Posted Jul 02 2010, 05:37 PM by NufSaid Filed under: Agriculture, radio, Communication, farming, United States, Nuffield, Travel, Chicago, chicago tribune, Orion Samuelson [Edit Tags]

• Chicago-a-go-go

  Well that was a lame headline, wasn’t it? I’m not at my writing best today thanks to my brain thinking it’s 2am and the fact I’ve been taking a cocktail of Lemsips every few hours since I left London. I always seem to get the lurgy... Posted Jul 02 2010, 02:22 AM by NufSaid Filed under: United States, Travel, Chicago, anish kappoor, frank gehry [Edit Tags]