Not long to go- next Friday 9th it all starts. There is going to be a massive tea party at the heart of the show. Do please come if you’re anywhere near London.
You can use this code RA86R700 to get discounted tickets at www.realfoodfestival.co.uk
And if you happen to be passing Earl’s Court look how big for my Vivienne Westwood shoes I have become
Sorry for the long silence but I was away in South Africa visiting the Wild Rooibos Farm. This time I was making a film for The Guardian Online Travel section.
Dr Strauss, the farmer I buy the Wild Rooibos from is a great advocate of sustainable farming practices. To protect the delicate eco-system of the Cedarberg most of the farm work is done on horse-back. The rooibos is harvested wild, by machete and the rare Cape Leopard’s is protected. They do eat a few of his sheep, now and then, but he’s prepared to lose a few to keep the leopards.
You can stay on this incredible farm- as I do. Not in plush lodges but in simple workman’s cottages. Outside there is nothing but open land and mountains under a vast sky. If you want to ride a horse, a guide will take you out on the same horses the farm workers use. They are really beautiful animals. This is non-impact tourism at its best.
The film will be out in a few weeks so you can see for yourself - its tea-v but not as you know it.
I’m off to South Africa again to visit the farm where my Wild Rooibos grows.
A bush fire tore through the farm earlier in the year. I was devastated but Dr Strauss, the farmer and local GP, had a different way of looking at it:
we were very fortunate. The top part of the mountain is totally burnt out, but most of the bottom part with large patches of wild tea was saved. The top part last had a burn many years ago and the fire was, therefore, not all bad. In fact this is the normal cycle of fynbos veldt and fire is needed to germinate certain plants. So all and all we were very fortunate.
There is a lot I could learn from Dr Strauss. He’s one of the loveliest men I’ve ever met. I’m making a film about his farm for the Guardian so soon you’ll be able to see for yourselves.
The really good news is his Wild Rooibos will be available at selected Waitrose from 5th May. Should you not want to wait that long you can buy it online now.
This week I have been in Morocco drinking quantities of green tea sweetened with sugar and flavoured with fresh herbs. This man makes the tea for the entire souk in Marrakech. Trays of battered pots and delicately painted glasses are carried through narrow alleys and over the heads of bewildered tourists.
The tea is carried in a constant stream to the stallholders and craftsmen of the souk and absolutely vital to sustain them. Tea is made fresh for each customer and served in a pot. He uses only leaf green tea and fresh herbs, of course. When I asked if he used teabags he was genuinely horrified and I realised even the question was an insult. 
I’m not used to all that sugar but I do love green leaf tea with a few leaves of fresh herbs. The topmost leaves of a sprig of mint are the most delicate. If you use a delicate green tea like my Whole Leaf Green Tea it’s not bitter so you don’t need sugar. But of course, its up to you.