Category Archives: Postcards 2023

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Tomatoes and India and climate change

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My new interest in tomatoes has taken me to reading about the situation for the crop in India this year. It’s left me embarrassed to think that I’ve been fretting over a few tiny plants here in England, while in India entire crops have been wiped out by either too much rain, or too much heat, or both.

I can’t imagine Indian cuisine without tomatoes but apparently the price of tomatoes in New Delhi is now up by as much as 500% which, while excellent for those farmers whose crops did not fail, must be shocking for shoppers, and almost impossible for the budget end of the restaurant trade.

And it must be difficult for the tomatoes themselves to cope with shifting weather patterns. I never realised that the plants don’t really like the heat, apparently growing best in temperatures between 18C(64F) and 25C(77F). Even English summers now have patches that are hotter than that, as my own plants can testify, having been through their own mild summer hiccup – too much wind, too much heat, and sudden dollops of rain.

If their growing efforts are proving ‘difficult’ here in England, what is the word to describe the conditions faced by plants in India, the country that recently became the most ‘populous’ in the world?

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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A few thoughts about the letter ‘X’

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The letter X is getting a good airing these days. Feels like we’re all dragging it out the cupboard to have another look at it now Elon Musk has decided to stand it in place of the small, tweeting blue bird.

I’ve been pondering why the letter means so much to him. It might be all the usual, slightly ominous, or techy, ‘X’ factor reasons, but I’ve come up with another theory, so I thought I’d add it to the pile.

I’m wondering if Elon Musk’s affection for the letter X might have started in South Africa, where he grew up. He only left at the age of 17, and I’m assuming he would have heard a lot of the language isiXhosa, one of the most widely spoken in South Africa, and famous for its use of clicking sounds. His own name in English, and the name of the Canadian province his mother is from, Saskatchewan, both feature the English equivalent of a clicking sound, and in isiXhosa these are represented by an X.

The language has always fascinated me. Perhaps it does him too.

Here’s another link to a South African site with a little more about the isiXhosa language

And for a final treat, a little further from the letter X, here is Miriam Makeba singing the ‘click’ song

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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Postcard book review: Marcus Rashford, You Can Do It

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How to find your voice and make a difference

Here is another book that I have enjoyed reading. This time it was with a young footballer. Together we learned so much from this book, thanks especially to the way it encouraged discussion about the ideas being suggested.

This is the first Marcus Rashford book I have read, and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for books that might interest children whose main enthusiasm is football. The content is told from Marcus Rashford’s point of view, highlighting lessons he’s learned on his journey to becoming one of England’s greatest strikers. The other insights in it are around how to develop your voice off the football pitch. It is written with respect and understanding, both of the challenges faced by those caught in less affluent parts of society, and of the value of support given, particularly around food.

The writing is clear, and there are black and white graphics on every page to help break up the text.

(The book is a Macmillan Children’s Book, published in 2022)

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023