The FoodScape

A day with the Royal Highland Educational Trust (RHET) and Field to Fork at the Hirsel Estate in Coldstream.

Agriculture dominates the Scottish Borders landscape, but fewer and fewer people are choosing careers in farming and more of us want to know where our food comes from.

Organisations like RHET and the Field to Fork programme at the Hirsel, engage children directly with the realities of food production and estate management. I join around 100 students from Berwickshire High School as they de-breast pheasants, mee prize Highland cattle, bake bread and have a tour of some serious farm machinery.

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In this episode:

www.rhet.org.uk

* RHET operates across Scotland, aiming to familiarise children with the world of farming and food production.

www.fieldtofork-hirsel.co.uk

* The Field to Fork programme runs year round at the Hirsel estate in Coldstream, bringing kids from the south of Scotland and northern England to experience estate life.

Special thanks to Anne Redpath, Leslie Mason, Sally Fleming and all the staff and students of Berwickshire High School.

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Produced & Presented by Charlotte Maberly

Music by Iain Fraser from his album Koterana

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Thank you to the Borders Food Forum for their continued support.

An interview with Jessica and Richard Keeling of Three Hills Coffee, at their coffee school and roastery near Gordon.

Coffee isn’t exactly a local product, but here - as across the world - it has become integral in our daily routine. Many of us can’t countenance getting through a day of work, or even getting out of bed, without it. And in our rural region where the drink-drive limit is zero, meeting for a coffee in one of our many independent coffee shops is fast becoming the most common way to gather with friends. Nowadays we expect barista-made real coffee as standard, but it hasn’t always been so easy to get a good espresso in the Scottish Borders.

In this episode I look at how drinking coffee has become part of Borders food culture, and meet with two entrepreneurs seeking to further improve our espresso-sipping experience.

The Keelings have been sourcing green beans direct from producers, roasting them, and serving up cups of coffee in the Borders for 8 years. More recently, they’ve realised how important it is for their whole business to offer coffee barista training. They’ve set up one of Scotland’s only coffee schools in the central Borders, to help more people understand how to get the best out of their beans.

We discuss coffee-drinking history, the importance of honouring the product by overseeing the process from farm to cup, latte art, how to hone your senses, and the delightfully complex, geeky world of making a decent coffee. 

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In this episode we mention:

* Three Hills Coffee

* https://www.threehillscoffee.com/

* Specialty Coffee Association

* https://sca.coffee/

* Learn more about AST (Authorised Specialty Coffee Training) here: 

* https://education.sca.coffee/trainers-how-it-works

* Coffee Tasting Notes

* https://sca.coffee/research/coffee-tasters-flavor-wheel

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Produced & Presented by Charlotte Maberly

Music by Iain Fraser from his album Koterana

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Thank you to the Borders Food Forum for their continued support.

An interview with Anita and Ed Withers on their smallholding near Kelso. 

The Withers raise Oxford Sandy and Black - a rare breed of pig, as well as goats, chickens, bees, fruit and vegetables. Being smallholders was never the plan, but as their operation grew they realised that being responsible for most of what they ate - from planting to harvest, and from birth to death - had changed the way they saw the food system and there was no turning back.

We discuss the value of rare breeds, the challenges of facing life and death as a smallholder, and how to deal with the reactions of school kids when you show them where sausages come from.

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Mentioned in this episode:

The Oxford Sandy and Black Pig Foundation Charity

* visit the website and find out more about the breed Ed and Anita raise

RHET [Royal Highland Educational Trust]

* the educational organisation that aims to get every primary school pupil in Scotland onto a farm. RHET regularly bring groups of school children to Clifton Lodge. Visit their website.

The Rare Breed Survival Trust

* For more information on rare breed livestock and how eating them could save them. See their Scotland website.

Ed and Anita sell their pork to local restaurants and shops in the Scottish Borders.

* You can find out more and message them directly on their Instagram.

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Produced & Presented by Charlotte Maberly

Music by Iain Fraser from his album Koterana

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Thank you to the Borders Food Forum and Abundant Borders for their continued support.

A day out at the Borders Organic Gardeners’ Apple Day, and an interview with Laprig Valley Apple Juices.

For many, apples are the quintessential flavour of autumn. But if we do eat an ‘apple-a-day to keep the doctor away’, it often comes from a selection of just 5 varieties available in supermarkets, which are usually imports.

At a local apple festival I peruse around 130 varieties currently growing in the Scottish Borders, learn about our unique apple heritage in this region, the most delicious way to eat apples, and the vital need to protect and restore orchards here and across the UK.

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Featured in this episode:

Robert and Carla Bailey of Laprig Valley Apple Juice

* Visit their website, Instagram and Facebook

* and take a look at Ruberslaw Wild Woods Campsite, where many of their apples grow in a 1914 walled garden

Borders Organic Gardeners’ Apple Day

* Visit their website to read more about their work and become a member

Woodside Garden Centre

* visit them for inspiration, advice and very nice cake in their tearoom

John and Elizabeth Towner’s wonderful book, on apples and orchards:

* “Apples and Pears: a history of orchards in the Scottish Borders and North Northumberland”, by John and Elizabeth Towner. Published in 2024 by the Berwickshire Naturalists Club. ISBN 978-0-9516434-9-5

Thank you also to, Borders Forest Trust, Andrew McCarthy of Anton’s Hill Walled Garden, and the Crailing Community Orchard

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Produced & Presented by Charlotte Maberly

Music by Iain Fraser from his album Koterana

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Thank you to the Borders Food Forum and Abundant Borders for their continued support.

An interview with David and Claire MacTaggart of Hallrule Farm, discussing their venture into venison farming and how this has also come to support their agritourism offering; Tiny Home Borders.

We delve into the the differences between farmed and wild, venison’s reputation as a tough meat to cook, the long shadow of ‘Bambi’, why - given that we are overrun by wild deer - we still eat venison imported from New Zealand, and deer cheese.

I also take my mic in amongst the stags and hinds in ‘rutting season’ and get up close and personal with ‘Number One’; the charismatic and fragrant darling of Hallrule farm.

If you’d like to know more about Hallrule Farm and Tiny Home Borders, you can visit them on Facebook, Instagram and at:

TinyHomeBorders.co.uk

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Thank you to David and Claire MacTaggart of Hallrule Farm.

Produced & Presented by Charlotte Maberly

Music by Iain Fraser from his album Koterana

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This podcast was founded with the help of the Borders Food Forum, and is grateful for the continued support of Abundant Borders.

An interview with Lucy Wilson at Wilson’s Farm and Kitchen, discussing their transition from running a traditional Borders beef farm, to also becoming a food-focussed agritourism destination.

We question why on-farm food experiences are so rare in the Scottish Borders, and whether the region could do more to celebrate its own produce.

We mentioned:

* GoRuralScotland.com

* ScottishAgritourism.co.uk

* SSDA - South of Scotland Destination Alliance

And if you’d like to know more about Wilson’t Farm and Kitchen, and the feasts and food events they offer, visit:

* Wilson's Farm and Kitchen Website

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Thank you to Lucy and Robert Wilson of Wilson’s Farm and Kitchen, Morebattle.

Produced & Presented by Charlotte Maberly

Music by Iain Fraser from his album Koterana

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This podcast was founded with the help of the Borders Food Forum, and is grateful for the continued support of Abundant Borders.

After four months of gathering food stories, sounds and flavours from across our region, it's time to step back and take a look out over our FoodScape.

This episode is a tasting menu celebrating the people and places encountered so far, and the ways in which they are shaping our land and our lives through food. 

And if it's your first time listening to the podcast, perhaps it will whet your appetite to listen back through the episodes so far... 

The podcast will return in September, after a short break to gather more ingredients for future audible feasts. 

In the meantime, stay in touch via social media @FoodScapePodcast or contact Charlotte Maberly directly at [email protected] with any comments or suggestions for the future. 

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Produced & Presented by Charlotte Maberly

Music by Iain Fraser from his album Koterana

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Thank you to Abundant Borders for their continued support with this podcast.

Looking for some holiday reading? 

Seeing as it's the Borders Book Festival in the middle of this month, here are a handful of food-writing classics to whet your appetite. These are all fantastic reads into the politics, philosophy, science and culture of food. 

Buon apetito!

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The FoodScape Recommended Reads:

'How to Cook a Wolf' - MFK Fisher, 1942. North Point Press.

'Rooted: How Regenerative Farming can Change the World' - Sarah Langford, 2022. Penguin.

'The Virtues of the Table: How to Eat and Think' - Julian Baggini, 2014. Granta.

'First Bite: How We Learn to Eat' - Bee Wilson, 2015. Fourth Estate.

'Sitopia: How Food Can Save the World' - Carolyn Steel, 2020. Vintage.

'The Diet Myth: The Real Science Behind What We Eat' - Tim Spector, 2015. Orion.

'The Hidden Half of Nature' - Montgomery and Bikle, 2016. Norton.

'Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation' - Michael Pollan, 2013. Allen Lane.

'The Art of Fermentatoin' - Sandor Katz, 2012. Chelsea Green.

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Presented by Charlotte Maberly

How we produce food around the world in the 21st century, is widely accused of being one of the main causes of climate change. Agriculture and nature are now seen as being at odds, and in the UK our government is putting pressure on farmers to change the way they operate and be more nature friendly. In some cases, this means ceasing to produce all together, planting trees or re-wilding previously productive land.

Do we have to make a choice between nature or food production?

I visited Woodend farm in Berwickshire to speak with regenerative farmers John and Louise Seed who share the ups and downs of their journey into a different farming approach, and their thoughts on the future of farming in the Borders. 

Thank you to John and Louise Seed of Woodend Farm, Berwickshire. 

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Produced & Presented by Charlotte Maberly

Music by Iain Fraser from his album Koterana

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Thank you to Abundant Borders for their continued support with this podcast.

It's loud, it's fast, and when the auctioneer begins his call you've got to have your wits about you! 

I accompanied Mary Howlett of Going Native to the Newtown St Boswell's mart on one of her regular missions to buy native breed cattle. We experience the raw energy of the mart, discuss the importance of traditional breeds and animal welfare, and why these are vital in creating the tastiest steak. 

Thank you to:

• Mary Howlett of Going Native, Hawick


• The Newtown St Boswells Mart 

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Produced & Presented by Charlotte Maberly

Music by Iain Fraser from his album Koterana

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This podcast was founded by the Borders Good Food Partnership with support from Abundant Borders.