the green gal

Forget food miles, what about wine miles?!

There's been much publicity about food miles and how it's better for the food, CO2 emissions and British businesses for us all to buy food, where possible, that's been grown or produced in the UK rather than flown from a faraway country. (As bananas don't grow too well in the UK you can feel good about buying Fairtrade bananas.)

But what about the glass of vino you wash down your delicious locally-sourced meal with? A bottle of Australian sauvignon blanc seems a little incongruous now, doesn't it?

Well, without suggesting the UK abandon all New World wines, how about replacing the odd bottle in your shopping basket with one produced a little closer to home? Europe has been making fine wines for many a year before the trend for Antipodean plonk really took off. Or how about wine made from grapes grown on this very isle? The horror stories of English table wine are a distant memory, I'm pleased to tell you. Vineyards in England and Wales are producing some top wines that are really worth you tasting. 

According to English-wine.com, there are 400 commercial vineyards in England and Wales. Only a few miles from me is Denbies Wine Estate in Surrey, the largest vineyard in England. Among the wines they produce is a delicious fruity white – Surrey Gold – as well as three sparkling wines and three red. The Estate offers a tour of the vineyards, tasting sessions and 

a guide to how the wine is produced, plus a well stocked shop of course. Just a walk around the vines themselves is free and a pretty lovely way to spend an hour or two. 

Although the local supermarkets, farm shops and off licences sell Denbies wine, I don't know if their distribution reaches the far corners of the country. But with so many producers in the country there is bound to be a bottle or two on your local shop's booze shelves. Try it for a change, you might be pleasantly surprised!

For more info on Denbies Wine Estate go to www.denbiesvineyard.co.uk. For a list of English and Welsh wineyards go to www.english-wine.com

10 ways to take chemicals out of your home

1. Ditch the bottle of limescale remover and use white wine vinegar instead. Use it neat on tough stains or mix an equal amount of vinegar and water in a spray bottle. The vinegar smell disappears once dry but you can add a squeeze of lemon juice to disguise the smell as you clean. 

2. Instead of using kitchen and bathroom cleaner, try baking soda (also knows as bicarbonate of soda or sodium bicarbonate). Sprinkle it on the surface or on the cloth, whichever is easiest for you, and wipe as usual. 

3. Try pouring vinegar neat into the toilet and swill around the bowl instead of toilet bleach and scrub away.

4. Don't spend your money on fabric softener, simply add a splash of vinegar to the rinse cycle instead. This is particularly good for people with sensitive skin. 

5. If your dishwasher is getting clogged up, rather than buy a bottle of dishwasher cleaning chemicals, put a cup of baking soda into the machine and run it on a rinse cycle.

6. If you're the house-proud type who likes their wooden furniture to shine, it's really easy to make your own furniture polish. Mix one cup of olive oil and half a cup of lemon juice in a spray bottle. Spray a small amount on a cloth, you don't need much, and polish. Use another cloth to polish the surface dry. 

7. Keep your shoes smelling sweet with a baking soda bag. Fill the toe of an old sock (check for holes!) and tie up. Sit the bag in the shoe overnight and it will absorb the smell.

8. To descale a kettle, pour in a mug of water, a mug of vinegar and three tablespoons of salt. Boil the kettle and leave overnight. Rinse out several times before using it to make your morning cup of tea.

9. For super shiny stainless steel, rub on a teeny amount of olive oil.

10. Shake and vac the easy way by sprinkling baking soda on your carpet. Leave for a couple of hours and then vacuum.