Tenderstem farm in Jersey

This week we visited the beautiful isle of Jersey, to see for ourselves how Tenderstem broccoli is grown and harvested.

Although Tenderstem is grown overseas, in countries like Kenya, Morocco and Jordan, the crop is also grown across the UK, which will this year account for 25% of total Tenderstem sales. Farms in Herefordshire, Worcester, Kent, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Eire, and Jersey, are busy producing the crop.

We visited farmer Richard Le Cornu, at his farm Devon Villa in St. Martins, where he grows Tenderstem.
Working in synergy with the Tenderstem, Richard also grows Jersey Royal potatoes – the Tenderstem can be planted after the Jersey Royals have been harvested, from the end of May until September and benefit from the nutrients remaining in the soil from the production of Jersey Royals. The Jersey Royal crop then benefits from the lime added to the soil when the Tenderstem is planted.

We went out to see the crop being picked and got to try the Tenderstem straight from the field, as fresh as you can get it and it was delicious. Perfect lightly steamed with a little butter, thrown into a stir fry or eaten with dips – the veg is so tender it can be eaten raw, from top to toe, unlike traditional broccoli.

After our visit to the fields we went onto Green Island restaurant in the coastal parish of St. Clement, where we enjoyed beautiful food and sunshine, right next to the sea.

For Tenderstem recipes to try out at home visit www.tenderstem.co.uk and if you are visiting Jersey it is well worth taking a ride down to Green Island restaurant, visit http://greenisland.je/

If you are currently searching for a new home, you may be interested to know that BBC’s Britain’s Empty Homes is back for a second series and Ricochet Ltd, the independent television company producing the series, is looking for people to take part.

With almost a million empty properties waiting to be discovered, Britain’s Empty Homes aims to breathe life back into some of these properties by bringing them back into use and revealing how they can be transformed into dream homes.

So, if you are currently house-hunting and would consider buying an empty property, or if you have successfully renovated a property which was empty when you bought it, then the team at Ricochet would love to hear from you. If you would like to find out more about the series and how you could take part, call 01273 224 820* or email property.series@ricochet.co.uk

*Standard geographic charges apply, calls from mobiles may be higher.

Ditch your gym membership for a new domestic routine

Molly Maid, the domestic cleaning company, has devised a workout that combines exercise with housework – allowing you to ditch your gym membership with a clean conscience.

The Molly Maid Workout, designed in partnership with a physical fitness expert, combines domestic chores such as dusting and vacuuming with simple yet vigorous exercises such as stretches, lunges, squats and bends to help increase fitness levels. This workout claims to enable women to burn up to an extra 150* calories an hour, making it ideal for busy women who find it difficult to find the time to do housework and exercise.

Below gives you an idea of the number of calories different cleaning exercises can burn:

20 minutes dusting = 50 calories

30 minutes cleaning the bathroom = 75 calories
Figures show average calories burnt per exercise based on a 10 stone woman.

Fran Silver, a Register of Exercise Professionals (REPS) personal trainer at FS Fitness, has the following top tips for taking part in the Molly Maid workout:

Always ensure you start by warming up and get the blood pumping – put on your favourite music, and dance while you dust.

Use vacuuming to ensure you are also working larger muscle groups – quads, glutes and hamstrings.

Finish off by focusing on the smaller muscles groups – shoulders, biceps, triceps (work surfaces).

To cool down, walk round your house for five minutes admiring your handiwork. Stay away from the sweet treats as a reward though.

For more information visit www.mollymaid.co.uk

* Calories burnt based on continuous exercise. Calories burnt also depends on the weight of a person and how vigorously they clean. Sourced from Fran Silver, who is a Register of Exercise Professionals (REPS) personal trainer at FS Fitness

WWF’s Earth Hour takes places on Saturday 27th March 2010 at 8.30pm.
This annual event aims to raise awareness of global climate change by the simple yet effective gesture of turning lights off for one hour. Now in its fourth year, this event is growing in popularity with individuals, businesses and national landmarks all getting on board in recent years, changing the night skyline significantly for one hour. If you would like to take part or want to find out more information on the event visit http://earthhour.wwf.org.uk

Are you the next Home Baker of the Year?

The Ideal Home Show is launching a nationwide search for the UK’s next home Baker of the Year.

If you love baking and want to share your passion, the Ideal home Show are looking for entrants to their Baker of the Year competition.

To enter, all you need to do is send in your all-time favourite home baking recipe, with a picture of your baked masterpiece and an explanation about why you think it’s a winner. Recipes can be anything from brand new ideas, or variations on traditional classics. It may be your take on how to make a Victoria sponge that’s as light as a feather, the secret behind your winning chocolate brownies, or a family recipe that has been passed down from generation to generation.

The first 100 entries will receive a pair of tickets to the Ideal Home Show and the chance to attend a champagne reception at the Ideal Home Show on 25th March 2010. A panel of expert judges will select the five best recipes to be put forward for the live bake-off final at the Ideal Home Show, on 30th March 2010.

The winner of the bake-off challenge will receive a chance to be published in Ideal Home Show’s official recipe book to be launched at the show in 2011, as well as a cake decorating course with Baketique chef Mychelle in her London-based kitchen, a VIP one night stay for two at Hotel Rafayel, London, including dinner for two and a spa treatment in the hotel’s beauty spa.

Entry deadline is 10th March 2010 and is open to anyone over the age of 16. You can submit your entry online at www.idealhomeshow.co.uk/home_baker or email: homebakeroftheyear@stuart-higgins.com

Sophie Conran

If you are keen to learn more about spring bulbs and how to display them in your home, you may be interested to know that on 24th February 2010 The International Flower Bulb Centre is hosting a spring bulb design workshop with home design expert Sophie Conran.

Sophie will take a small group through how she uses potted spring bulbs, such as narcissi, hyacinths, lily of the valley and muscari in her home, and will demonstrate some display ideas for Mother’s Day, Easter and spring. Sophie will demonstrate how to use different containers and combinations of bulbs to create some stunning displays, and you will get the chance to pot up some bulbs in a container of your own or in a container provided.

The workshops will be at 11.30am and 2pm on Wednesday 24th February at Clifton Nurseries, Clifton Villas, W9 2PH.

To join Sophie for a glass of bubbly, a cupcake and some great advice on using spring bulbs contact The International Flower Bulb Centre on 0207 244 1950 to reserve a place – tickets £10 per person.

Luxury cupcake specialists LOLA’s Kitchen have teamed up with Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity to develop a cupcake especially for the Kiss it Better appeal – a national campaign to raise money to fund research into the causes and treatment of childhood cancer.

Lola's Kitchen Kiss it Better cupcake

The Kiss it Better cupcake was designed by former patient of Great Ormond Street Hospital, four year old Jessica, and boasts a fluffy vanilla sponge bursting with chunky chocolate chips, heavenly butter cream icing sprinkled with miniature Smarties™ and topped with a piece of Cadbury’s chocolate Flake™.

Victoria Jossel and Romy Lewis, founders of LOLA’s Kitchen said, ‘Spending time with Jessica at the bakery was an absolute joy, she is a wonderful and brave young girl and we were super impressed with her creativity when she was choosing the ingredients and sprinkles for her cupcake. The Kiss It Better appeal for childhood cancer is an amazing cause and we are delighted to help in any way we can.’

LOLA’s Kiss It Better cupcake is on sale now until March 29th 2010, at the LOLA’s cupcake bar in Selfridges London, Harrods and the LOLA’s Kitchen website. Priced at £2 each, 30% of the retail price from the charity cupcake will go straight to support the Kiss It Better appeal.

To find out more about the Kiss it Better appeal and how you can lend your support, visit www.gosh.org/kissitbetter

The new W+W

Created by the Roca innovation laboratory together with the designers Gabriele and Oscar Buratti, W+W is a truly exciting new product from Roca.

Highlighting its commitment to design and innovation, Roca has created W+W, an all-in-one washbasin and WC designed to maximise space and conserve water.

This groundbreaking idea incorporates Roca’s new ‘water-reuse’ technology – using waste water from the basin to fill the WC cistern. This reduces water usage by up to 25% compared to a standard 6/3 litre dual-flush WC.

A relatively simple yet innovative design means that the basin has two wastes, one that goes to the main waste outlet as normal and one that goes to be recycled by being stored in the cistern ready for the next flush.

When the grey water is selected to be reused, it automatically passes through a double filtration system, which filters particle debris as well as chemically treating the grey water in order to eliminate bacteria and odours.

Once the water has been filtered and treated, it is then stored in the grey water reservoir and used to fill the cistern as required.

This clever water-saving idea is sure to catch on, as we become increasingly aware of the need to cut back on the amount of water households use.

The W+W will be available to buy in the UK from January 2010, for approximately £2,645. This price reflects the groundbreaking nature of the product and its sleek design. However, it is likely that in the near future similar products will become available at a more affordable price.

Research reveals, a clean and tidy home can add £5,000 to house price

As the UK property market begins to show signs of recovery and more houses go up for sale, new research among Britain’s leading estate agents and buyers reveal that a clean house is guaranteed to sell more quickly and for the top asking price.

The survey, conducted among 200 leading estate agents and over 2,000 UK adults, proves that sellers quite literally need to clean up their act if they’re to get their asking price.

Of those that visited houses in a dirty or messy condition almost half (45%) were totally put off buying the property and one in four (40%) would knock £5,000 off the asking price, according to research from the makers of Domestos 24HR.

The main reason for buyers reducing their offer would be a bad smell (86%), a filthy, unhygienic bathroom (67%) and a messy kitchen with dirty dishes still left in the sink (64%).

Of the estate agents quizzed more than half (61%) said that a dirty, badly kept house would not get its asking price, with one in ten claiming that mess can result in a loss of between £5,000 and £10,000 from the final offer.

The message is clearly getting through to house sellers, with 76% of them making it a priority to give the house a thorough clean and tidy before showing it to buyers.

Sarah Beeny, property expert and founder of property website Tepilo says, ‘You don’t have to spend loads of cash on expensive changes to your property; often concentrating on the little things will have the biggest impact. I have seen thousands of properties over the years which fail to achieve a good price because they were quite simply dirty and smelly. It’s such a simple one, spend a bit of time cleaning and reap the monetary rewards.’

For more advice on how to get the best price for your home, read Sarah Beeny’s top five tips on how to increase the value of your home

Build your own Pudsey

Following the success of last year’s campaign, Build-A-Bear Workshop is once again teaming up with BBC Children in Need to give you the opportunity to make your very own Pudsey Bear

Carrie Green, Partnership Manager at BBC Children in Need comments, ‘We are delighted to work with Build-A-Bear Workshop again after the success of last year. Children are at the heart of our charity and it’s wonderful for kids and adults alike to be able to make their very own Pudsey Bear.’

So, if you fancy making a Pudsey Bear this year, gather a few friends, take a trip to your nearest store and have fun getting creative. New this year, you can make your bear extra special by dressing Pudsey in a t-shirt with an all new BBC Children in Need design and a fabulous pair of mini boxer shorts.

£5 from the sale of each Pudsey Bear will go directly to the BBC Children in Need Appeal and an additional £1 from the sale of both the t-shirt and boxers will also be donated to the charity.

Find your nearest Build-A-Bear Workshop store by visiting their website www.buildabear.co.uk