Herefordshire Interesting Articles.

Why Choose Organic
Because it tastes better
Many people buy organic food because they believe it tastes better than non-organic food. No one is quite sure why this should be. It’s thought it might be because organically reared animals and fruit grow more slowly and the fruits have a lower water content than non-organic ones.

Because it’s better for you and your family
Research suggests that organic milk is very beneficial to health and well-being. Organic milk is typically higher in vitamins and beneficial nutrients. It includes more Omega 3, vitamin E and beta carotene (which the body converts to vitamin A) than non-organic milk.Eating organic food also means you’re reducing your exposure to potentially harmful pesticides, additives and antibiotics.

On non-organic farms, over 440 pesticides can be used. Their residues can often be found in the food they produce. The Soil Association only allows organic farmers to use four pesticides – and these can only be used as a last resort. Instead, organic farms control pests using natural predators. They maintain fertile soil using traditional methods such as crop rotation.

Non-organic animals are routinely fed antibiotics to help speed up their growth. These antibiotics are linked to bacterial resistance to the same and closely related antibiotics in humans – making any antibiotics we may take when we’re ill less effective. Soil Association standards prohibit the routine use of antibiotics.

Because it’s better for the environment
Organic farms have 44% more birds and five times as many wild flowers as non-organic ones, helping to preserve biodiversity.

The UK government has admitted that organic farms cause less pollution from sprays and create less dangerous wastes. They also admit they produce less carbon dioxide, the main global warming gas.

Because it’s better for the animals
No system of farming has higher levels of animal welfare standards than organic farms working to Soil Association standards. All organic farmers aim to keep their animals happy, comfortable and contented.Unless they are ill, organic animals are never given antibiotics. This means that they grow at a rate that is natural and healthy. As a result they live longer and have a better quality of life. If our dairy cows are treated with antibiotics, they’re removed from the herd and their milk is not used until the antibiotics have cleared their system. Organic dairy cows produce more milk over their lifetimes than non-organic ones. Written by The Dairy House Weobley

.Ludlow is the first Cittaslow or ‘slow town’ in the UK, which means it is part of a growing international network of towns ‘where it is good to live’. Ludlow has also built a major reputation for gourmet food, so no surprises that it has an active Slow Food Convivium that will be organising Taste Workshops at the festival, essentially tutored tastings of a wide range of traditional English foodstuffs from perry to black pudding.If you are after a great day out then a trip to the Ludlow Marches Festival of Food is a must.You can spend the day enjoying new taste experiences in the impressive grounds of this Norman stronghold, taking the occassional break to stroll round Ludlow's streets and shops to enjoy a host of fringe events. Take a look www.foodfestival.co.uk .

Home Swap Holiday- Herefordshire to Australia. Sounds good yes!!
 

A group of Kangeroos.Not quite what i expected to see in the garden, on the first morning of our home swap to Australia. As you can imagine the children were delighted. Me, I just wanted to know if they could bite, and would they come into the house. We had already had our first night disrrupted by possums playing on the roof.
But this is what we came to Australia for. To live as a local , with the comforts of home. We had exchanged our modest cottage on the Herefordshire/Welsh borders for a Queenslander house in Yeppoon ,on the sunshine coast of Australia. We spent the next five weeks cramming in everything Australian. Barbecues on the beach, crocodiles at the zoo, kangeroos and koalas galore, it was everything we had expected and more. We travelled in June supposedly the Aussie winter, but we spent lazy days on the beach fishing and diving .The locals thought we were mad!

And how was my home left in the hands of an australian couple? Absolutely fine, they loved the cottage and the areas, could not get over how green it was!!!!. So much so ,they are returning next year. We now have new friends on the other side of the world. For anyone thinking of doing this i would just add a few words about the exchange process to bear in mind.
There are a lot of points to consider before you enter into a home swap holiday,and speaking from experience I will give you some help in the right direction. The most important factor I believe is COMPATABILITY. There is no point swapping your 200 year old cottage for a penthouse appartment with white carpets and sofas when you have two boys! Once you have chosen the destination you want and placed your home onto the web it is a case of trying to find the swap that suits you. You will have to trawl the web pages of numerous sites, send numerous emails,but you will hopefully hit upon a swap that you would like.
The next step is to make contact usually via email initially.You must be HONEST.You should build up a repore between you and feel comfortable with the arrangements.
So the swap is on what do you do next? Well i cleaned the house from top to bottom ,it was a good excuse to have a big clear out really. I drew up a home manual to explain all of the appliances etc and left a large collection of things to do leaflets which i got from the local tourist information center.
I infomed the house insurance people and as we were swapping cars the car insurance company aswell.
I finally arranged for a friend to be at the house with the keys and show my swappers around,pointing out the little quirks that all houses have.Dont put the microwave on at the same time as the dryer you will blow the fuses etc.
It was a big step to take to do a home swap but i dont regret it at all and in fact we have since been back to Australia and this year we are going to France.
And if you are wondering did anything go wrong. We lost a beach towel out to sea and my swappers broke a candle holder in the bathroom. I did feel sorry for them as they spent a week around the antique shops trying to replace it and it only came from Boots!

For a family holiday you can travel the world for a fraction of the cost. Please contact if you would like to know more about Home Swapping Holidays.