The wheat suddenly sprouting up. It's well watered but needs some sunshine to make it swell. The melon fields on the brow of the hill covered in grey plastic. The plastic raises the yields but has a dire environmental impact. Rain flows off the poly tunnels and carves deep grooves in the soil; this then channels surface runoff onto the roads. The little track at the foot of the hill covered in five inches of silt. Even worse, acres of used plastic melon covers aren't easy to dispose of. Another gain today, pay tomorrow innovation. The PONs of course are oblivious to all this; they're simply happy rushing in and out of the tall forest of grain playing hide and seek.
Far away, somewhere out towards the coast, great anvil head clouds are building up. At six thirty in the morning they must already be 30,000 feet high. A sign that another wave of thunderstorms is rolling towards us.
The bakers have a more exciting range on offer this morning. No croissants - they're not ready yet - but the PONs get some choux pastry slivers and an ear tickle from the young lady behind the counter. Both are well received.
Of all magazines why is it that The Economist is the one which most lyrically remembers the lowly and unsung ? : https://www.economist.com/obituary/2018/06/02/lini-puthussery-died-of-the-nipah-virus-on-may-21st
8 comments:
So many unintended consequences, from melons to technology.
Thank you for that obit.
Polytunnels are prevalent in parts of Eastern Scotland. (Particularly Angus, in fact). I had always imagined they were only resorted to by farmers in parts of the world where warmth and sunlight is at a premium. But as so often, I read this blog and learn something new.
Cheers, Gail.
If you travel further south, from my part of Spain, to the Murcia region, the whole area - kilometre after kilometre, is covered with polytunnels which provide at least two yields a year.
Choux pastry slivers and a tickle behind the ear - better than nothing to start the week !
Oh my gosh my arteries exploded. I could eat it all at the bakery today. I like the looks of the italian meringue and the strawberry tarts.
Hari OM
Having friends in Kerala, the news has been tracked. They are two hours drive South of there, but still. Worrying. As is the plastic thing. Maybe I need a sliver of pastry and an ear tickle to brighten things a bit. YAM xx
The writing in The Economist is always exceptional. Frustrating in a way that there's never a byline.
I've been thinking about your sunflower fields lately because we have one growing under our bird feeder which is valiantly trying to bloom.
Not sure what will happen this year - the flash floods have decimated the seedlings. There again sunflowers are the most robust of crops but even they need some sun.
Angus has sadly been taken over by large farming combines from Edinburgh who have ploughed in the field boundaries and now farm on massive un-native sized fields. Soil erosion is endemic.
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