Sprouts are nice to eat! Sprouts are good for you! Who says?

William Haines, whose family have been farming sprouts for three generations in Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds is persuading children that sprouts are nice to eat.

Sprouts are like Marmite - you either love them or hate them - there is no in between. The sprout was voted Britain’s least liked vegetable in 2002 but William believes that people always say that they don’t like sprouts but that is because they only have them once a year at Christmas and then they don’t know how to cook them. The old varieties were bitter but new types are much sweeter and therefore more appealing to all.

He tempts the children by serving recipes with hidden sprouts- sprout fritters, sprout cake and battered sprouts - and has a 80% success rate in converting them over to the benefits of the sprout.

The sprout is one of the few fresh vegetables on our plates in the depths of winter and they are a nutritious treat when properly prepared. They are very low in fat and sodium and high in dietary fibre and vitamin C. Weight for weight sprouts have three times the level of vitamin C of an orange and just four to six sprouts contain the adult daily dose of vitamin C. They are also a good source of vitamin D and folic acid during pregnancy and have specific health-promoting compounds called glucosinolates which may help to prevent cancer.

All in all they have a lot going for them so get some in for Christmas and also get all the family to eat them throughout the winter months.

Sprouts are part of the cabbage family and British farmers produce more than £30 million worth of sprouts a year. Sprout tops, once a poor man’s food, are now one of the most fashionable vegetables around and can be found on the menu of many top-class restaurants throughout the UK.

Tags: food | christmas

Caroline Ballinger and Claire Blizzard are dreaming of a clean, green Christmas.

Cotswold District Council’s two new Environmental Wardens are urging householders to recycle as much of their waste as possible over the festive period – including their real Christmas trees.

The Council has joined forces with Dobbies Garden Centre at Siddington, near Cirencester, and Fosseway Garden Centre, Moreton-in-Marsh, to set up collection points for trees which will then be shredded and turned into compost.

Householders can also chop their trees into sections and put them in their green garden waste wheeled bins or take them to the Household Recycling Centres at Fosse Cross and Horsley.

“We all love Christmas but it’s traditionally a time of year when we all produce much more waste than usual,” said Caroline

“Hopefully, the residents of the Cotswolds will make a resolution to recycle more than ever this Christmas – including their trees.”

Caroline and Claire took up their new jobs at the start of December. They have been given a wide variety of tasks, from advising the public on waste and recycling issues to investigating environmental offences such as fly-tipping, dog fouling and littering.

“The Cotswolds is a beautiful area and most people are keen to help us keep it that way,” said Claire

“We are both really looking forward to working with residents to ensure that the District is kept as clean and green as possible.”

Real Christmas trees can be recycled at Dobbies and Fosseway Garden Centres until Sunday, 13th January, 2008. After that date they can still be put in green garden waste wheeled bins or taken to Household Recycling Centres.

For details of waste and recycling collections in the Cotswold District over Christmas and New Year, visit www.cotswold.gov.uk or call 01285 623123.

Tags: christmas | recycling

Eat, drink, and be merry – and then recycle all your empty cans and bottles.

That is the message to householders in the Cotswolds this Christmas and New Year.

Cotswold District Council and its contractor, SITA, have published waste collection arrangements for the holiday period and they are hoping for plenty of festive cheer from the District’s keen recyclers.

Cllr Mark Tufnell, Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “We will try to ensure there will be as little disruption as possible to residents’ waste and recycling collections during the Christmas period.

“We realise more waste is generated at this time of year but would urge everyone to do their bit for the environment by recycling as much of their rubbish as possible after enjoying the festivities.”

Every home in the District will receive two collections of non-recyclable household waste during the Christmas and New Year fortnight. However, there will be no collections of garden waste between 24th December, 2007, and 4th January, 2008.

Residents whose normal collection day falls on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day will have their non-recyclable household waste collected on another day.

If your usual collection day is a Tuesday, your revised household waste collection dates will be Thursday, 27th December, and Wednesday, 2nd January, before returning to Tuesdays on 8th January.

If your usual collection day is a Wednesday, your revised collection date will be Friday, 28th December, before returning to Wednesdays on 2nd January.

Residents whose fortnightly recycling collection day falls on Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day will not receive a collection of recyclables during the Christmas fortnight. However, they will be able to put any additional recyclable materials out in plastic bags alongside their recycling boxes on their next collection day.

If your usual recycling collection day falls on Christmas Day, your next collection will be Tuesday, 8th January. If your usual recycling collection falls on Boxing Day, your next collection will be Wednesday, 9th January, and if your usual recycling collection day falls on New Year’s Day, your next collection will be Tuesday, 15th January.

Residents are also reminded that Christmas wrapping paper cannot be recycled because of its low quality and the fact that it often contains non-paper additives.

Full details of Cotswold District Council’s waste and recycling collection arrangements over the Christmas period can be found by visiting www.cotswold.gov.uk or by contacting the Council on 01285 623123.

Tags: recycling | christmas

Get creative this Christmas in Moreton-in-Marsh with the Corinium Museum’s Outreach Service.

Outreach Officer, Helen Arbon will be holding a ‘Festive Fun’ workshop at Cotswold District Council’s Moreton Area Centre on Thursday, December 20th.

Suitable for 7 to 12-year-olds, ‘Festive Fun’ is a creative, art workshop with a Victorian theme from 2.30pm to 4.00pm.

Children will have the opportunity to make Victorian style cards and decorations for their Christmas tree – just in time for the festive season.

There will be plenty of sparkle on offer, with gold and silver paper, sequins and glitter as well as doilies, coloured feathers, tissue paper and other art materials.

Spaces are limited, so to avoid disappointment please contact the Moreton Area Centre on 01608 650881 to make a booking.

The workshop costs £4.00 per child or £2.00 for annual season ticket holders or Friends of the Corinium Museum.

Tags: christmas | moreton

The Spirit of Christmas fund raising evening will run from 4pm till 8pm on Tuesday 4th December encouraging people to raise funds for charity while enjoying the traditional spirit of Christmas with festive stalls, Father Christmas, carol singers and a nativity tableau to name but a few of the event’s attractions. Our fundraising events will include the Rotary Club tree of light, an indulgence tree, pony and trap rides, a prize draw and cracker trails.

The event will open with Father Christmas traveling from the Guild in Sheep Street at 4pm and there will be entertainment throughout the evening, the length and breadth of the High Street including our own Morris Dancers, a living nativity tableau, carol singing, North Cotswold Community Radio, drumming by Year 6 from St. Catharine’s School Come and enjoy mulled wine, a pig roast, hot dogs and stalls selling seasonal produce including wreaths, lavender gifts, old fashioned toys, and much, much more.

Enjoy a pony and trap ride from the Guild to Court Barn (or Court Barn to the Guild) then take part in the children’s or adults’ cracker trail, visit Father Christmas, win an amazing prize from the indulgence tree or enjoy Playbox’s seasonal production. Don’t miss Nell Gifford and her husband Tito, both of Gifford’s Circus, who have kindly agreed to attend the evening and to help us with the switching on of the lights.

Programmes with a full listing of events and locations will be on sale from mid-November and every £1 paid for a programme will go directly to the Luke Jeffrey Memorial Trust (Regd. Charity No. 1120375). The programme contains a form for free entry into a prize draw (be sure to fill this in) and a form for the Rotary Club’s tree of light.

Proceeds from the Spirit of Christmas fundraising activities this year will be going to the Luke Jeffrey Memorial Trust. The Luke Jeffrey Memorial Trust is a local charity set up in memory of Luke Jeffrey - a fifteen year old swimmer and an Olympic hopeful who tragically lost his life in a swimming accident last year. The fledgling Trust’s first project is to initiate a UK awareness campaign in water safety through production of a national curriculum linked DVD to be circulated to every primary school in the UK. At a regional level, the charity is providing bursaries and scholarships to help children make the leap to competitive swimming and is sponsoring and promoting a mentoring scheme for young swimmers. The charity’s initial target is to raise £20,000. Let’s help them do it!

This is a great opportunity to complete all your Christmas shopping in a single trip, as the vast majority of shops in town will be staying open until 8pm, while raising funds for a very worthwhile cause. We look forward to seeing you on 4th December!

(From the noticeboard section of the Chipping Campden Bulletin. Reproduced with kind permission of Jeremy Green)

Tags: chipping campden | christmas