| Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption |
| Behemoth |
Kanzi ApplesIn an effort to keep us tame an healthy we're provided with free fruit at work. I'm pleased to say that we've been getting English apples though we had to complain about the cox's as their texture was very mushy and flavour poor. They were replaced with something called 'Kanzi' which i approached with trepidation. I've never heard of them but was pleasantly suprised. Crisp, juicy and a very good flavour, clean and fresh with a sharpness around the edges. |
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| Marts |
Gala Braeburn Cross apparently
http://www.orangepippin.com/apples/kanzi.aspx |
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| Nick |
Re: Kanzi Apples
Does this mean that water bill payers (everyone) is subsidising the apple producing industry, then? OP will be pleased! |
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| Behemoth |
Judging by the results it's an experimental biogas project. | ||||
| orangepippin |
When I used to work at a well-known retailer we got free doughnuts every morning - not on the taxpayer though.
Yes Kanzi is a nice apple. Is there anything to indicate the apples actually come from the UK though - I had not heard they were being grown here? Why not plant a few apple trees outside your offices instead? That would be less of a burden on the taxpayer, and less food miles importing them from Holland or wherever, and the trees would help offset your biogas experiment too. |
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| tahir |
They're definitely being grown here, can't remember the acreage but it's increasing |
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| orangepippin |
I didn't know that. Jazz is being planted, but when we tried the UK-grown ones last season they were not as good as the French-grown ones. Since Kanzi and Jazz are sibling-varieties I'm not sure that the UK climate is really suitable - but would love to be proved wrong. | ||||
| tahir |
It was in one of the trade mags, there's a grower in Kent who's very happy with it. They also reckoned that by next year Cox will not be the top English grown variety. | ||||
| Behemoth |
Funny you should mention that, I'm working on it. It's been done at other sites, they'd be a token effort though as there's not a lot of space. The Kanzi are labeled as British apples. I hope that means grown rather than packed here. |
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| Treacodactyl |
More details about the English grown apples: http://www.responsesource.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=45892 | ||||
| orangepippin |
Thanks. Very interesting article.
None of these apples are "English", but at least they are being grown in England. I'm looking forward to trying them, to see how well they compare to ones from warmer climates.
Hmm ... |
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| orangepippin |
Plant some trees on the M27 rootstock. You'll be able to get 20 trees in a space 7m x 7m and each tree will be roughly the size of a person. |
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| Behemoth |
Thanks - we've got an area about twice that size that I'm lobbying to use. It had a portakabin on it for years but was rejuvinated with a load of composted sludge. Now laid to grass. Unfortunately facilities seem to want to keep it in their pocket in case we need space for a portacabin again. There are various verges and edge of parking areas. Not ideal. the principle objection seems to be that the man with the mower will have to make a bit of effort. Chip chip chip..... | ||||
| orangepippin |
M27 trees will reach full-size within about 3 years and you'll get quite a lot after 2 years. You could perhaps just go ahead on your portakabin area and take a chance they don't need it for a few years. | ||||
| Behemoth |
Do you know if there's any current campaign, local or national, that I could ride on the coat-tails of? There's nothing like a bit of positive publicity to open a few cost codes. | ||||
| orangepippin |
No I don't unfortunately. However I think what you are trying to do is worthy of publicity so if I can help let me know. Encouraging organisations to grow their own apples to promote healthy eating is a good idea, and I doubt that it would harm commercial growers either because the UK is currently a net importer of apples. It may even encourage more people to eat apples and thus increase demand. This is the kind of thing where public sector organisations might be well-placed to take a lead, so perhaps we could setup some kind "Growing apples in the workplace" scheme.
I am still surprised that you are getting UK-grown Kanzis. It seems odd. This is a premium apple which I think would get the grower better prices through the supermarkets than through the public sector purchasing agencies (I'm guessing this must be an off-shoot of the fruit for schools etc). I am surprised the marketing organisation behind Kanzi has allowed it to be "dumped" through this channel. Also, it is not really in season either at the moment. I've criticised the fruit for schools scheme in the past because it has tended to import apples and pears from places like Portugal rather than sourcing locally. Perhaps they are second-quality UK-grown apples which have not met supermarket quality standards. |