I've been away for a week in the Netherlands on a cycling holiday. I was really impressed at how widely they did "local" there. The seasonal speciality at the moment is of course asparagus, and they had whole asparagus menus, and asparagus festivals, even with asparagus deserts! It was wonderful to cycle past so many veg plots and allotments, and their allotments seemed really well organised - tidy and with matching sheds, all with water butts. It was really interesting to see the different areas specialities, eg cheese, vegetables, flowers etc. Our favourite place was Leiden Hortus Botanicus, the oldest garden in Holland, dating from the late 1500s, and I was particularly taken with this Ginkgo Biloba which was around 400 years old but had had a female branch grafted onto the male tree about 70 years ago. Ginkgos produce edible nuts and I have planted a couple at home this year, but I don't think I'll live to see them to this size.
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