Which is doubtless why I found this tomato amusing. I’ll get over it.

For three days now thunder has rumbled around Rome, always on the horizon, promising much, delivering nothing. Until now. I was hoping for the best, and hoping too that the old umbrella voodoo ¹ would not be effective. And I was right. We were down on the flatlands, the dog and I, when big fat dro...

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One of the big problems facing the improvement of agriculture in poor areas is that governments and aid donors have cut back on their support for extension systems. Extension agents are people who transfer new ideas and approaches that have been shown to work to the farmers who might benefit from th...

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Yesterday was not the longest day; it just felt that way. Meetings all day (and half the night), the ostensible purpose of which was to “eliminate hunger and achieve food security for all”. Right.

The representative of a government much in the news lately (and no, he wasn’t wearing a green balacla...

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... if you like your excitement slow and gradual. So slow and gradual, in fact, that it has taken a week to get round to recording it.

Back in April I recorded that the magic frangipani’s leaves had started to stir around 21 March. Boasting about this with Simon the Gardener, who has forgotten m...

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