Archers thread #171: Harvest's nearly over – but will George ever reap what he has sown? Discuss The Archers here.

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Thank you, @PseudoBadger, for kicking off this long, long series of Archers threads.

All views on The Archers welcome here! New blood welcomed, and of course we are always delighted to welcome back former or occasional listeners/posters. We don't all agree on all points, although we do mostly try to be civil about it. Most of us are posting tongue in cheek a lot of the time, so don't worry about revealing that you'd have been delighted with a hand-painted squirrel tray for your 40th, as shown below, or other unusual views.

Spoilers: not on this thread, please! We don't wait for the omnibus to discuss the weeknight episodes, but we do try our best to avoid cross-contamination from https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/radio_addicts/4636789-the-archers-spoilers-thread-7-cant-wait-for-702pm-join-us-here, where spoilers are positively welcomed!

For newer listeners, lurkers or those who just have no idea what we're talking about, @DadDadDad has created this useful thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3557323-For-Archers-fans-a-guide-to-acronyms-on-the-long-running-discussion-threads-and-any-other-meta-thread-questions-you-may-have - BOOP point for him! (See thread for explanation.)

All I have to say about current storylines for now is that I want the George Alice crash stuff to come to a resolution, sooner rather than later, and I also want to hear very little indeed of Alistair, Denise and Paul maundering on. More of Jakob would be very welcome. His brother can come back any time too.

I now declare this thread open for business!

I celebrated my 70th birthday a few weeks ago and my thoughts have naturally strayed occasionally to how much longer I might have before I shuffle off my mortal coil, etc. I am starting to wonder if I will live long enough to discover the truth about Rochelle or even to hear the end of the Bridge of Doom saga at the rate things are going. Especially as listening to TA at the moment does tend to sap the will to live.

A belated Happy Birthday! to you @Godesstobe . May you live well beyond the Bridge of Doom saga.

Isn’t Justin involved in the EV station (worked in the shop to gauge village reception to it…)? Or am I confusing him. I rather naively hoped he might be able to push Fallon a bit more firmly into action. That said, given all his character flips I still think it could go either way.

Happy birthday @Godesstobe

Is great granddad Horrobin (autocorrect to horrible) another 'silent' off sound character like Roy or Maris in Frasier?

and Carlotta speaks just to say goodbye.

Excellent!

🎉Many, many happy returns, @Godesstobe! May you live to see the progeny of Ben and Chelsea in ripe middle age besting The Villain Jack in a battle for the soul of Ambridge!🎉

Isn’t Justin involved in the EV station (worked in the shop to gauge village reception to it…)

Yes, that’s why F must have been talking through her new business idea with him. He didn’t sound bowled over by the vegan idea so hopefully he will talk her into broadening the scope of her venture. A lot of people seem to rely on Fallon when they need a cake for a celebration so is she going to go full vegan for that service too? She would have to if she opens the cafe to keep it all on-brand but not everyone is going to want a vegan cake for their birthday parties. In my experience they have a heavy taste of
coconut oil which is fine occasionally but in no way a satisfactory substitute for a good Victoria sandwich.

I have no recollection at all of Fallon being particularly passionate about plant based cooking but perhaps I've missed that. I think a vegan cafe is a dreadful idea - there was an excellent vegetarian wine bar in our local town which did the best food, even committed meat eaters loved but then it went plant based and it's gone rapidly downhill. It just seems to cut out a huge swathe of potential customers by limiting your cuisine to that extent...

It just seems to cut out a huge swathe of potential customers by limiting your cuisine to that extent...

I agree. One of my biggest restaurant grumbles is places switching their only non-meat option to be vegan because they can only be bothered to provide one such option and veganism covers everyone, right? They don't seem to have considered that vegetarians eat dairy and eggs, and cutting these out (usually in favour of a UPF, over-priced* meat substitute) takes away those choices.

Still, it does mean an end to the ubiquitous goat's cheese tartlet

(* I was reading a column recently by - I think - the brilliant Jay Rayner but I was annoyed to read reference to non-meat meals having a higher profit margin. What that means is they price it the same but it costs them less - the cheek!)

A chain French brasserie pissed me off when they changed their veggie offering to a vegan burger. And the only other option was a mushroom dish. Any chef who thinks mushrooms are the answer should be shot

Any chef who thinks mushrooms are the answer should be shot

Or pelted with mushrooms until they've seen the error of their ways. I don't mind mushrooms but a lot of people hate them and they can often be very badly cooked in restaurants. There's nothing more depressing than a watery flaccid mushroom <boak>

i like mushrooms but I’m so sick of them because it’s all that you seem to get as a veggie!

There always seems to be the idea of "Well, you'll like all vegetables because you're a vegetarian" which is like saying that all meat-eaters should like tripe

My motto is that a cheeseless meal is a joyless meal.

I love mushrooms. What I can't stand is a whole winter of butternut squash and associated gourds. I sometimes go for them on a restaurant menu, purely on the grounds that they taste ok but are not worth the effort they take to prepare at home (and I refuse to pay £££ to buy them pre-cubed), but my heart sinks when they're the only veggie option for 8 months of the year.

Hear! Hear!

@BrightYellowDaffodil , Maybe vegans could be offered an ubiquitous oat's cheese tartlet.

@Fink, isn't it usually butternut squash, beetroot or mushroom, depending on the restaurant, and usually in a risotto?
Interpreted by chefs and non-veggies as 'Vegetarians love butternut squash/beetroot/mushroom risotto'.

Mushrooms aren't plants, they're fungi, aren't they?

Gosh, that's just about perfect! Get that application to join the scriptwriting team in asap. I'd like a mob wielding pitchforks to chase Clive out. Perhaps he could fall into the bottomless waters of the Am and drown, and George could perish trying to rescue him.

Belated many happy returns, @Godesstobe! Let's be optimistic. I think this storyline will be resolved before you reach your centenary.

Re vegetarian food in restaurants catering for omnivores: I don't know if this is still the case, but a lot of people automatically go for meat or fish if they eat out because it's a treat. My husband is one of the rare exceptions. He isn't a vegetarian but eats very little meat or fish and quite often chooses the vegetarian option if we're out.

I'm with the majority and rarely would, on the grounds that I make very good vegetarian food at home and I'm frankly not optimistic that most restaurants can do anything better. As we don't have much meat or fish at home, I take the opportunity to have some when eating out.

Anyway, I can well believe that restaurants would lose money by having more than one main course option not containing meat or fish because not that many people will order it. I suspect a lot of them take the opportunity to make that one dish also dairy-free and gluten-free so that they tick all the boxes for people on special diets with just one dish - and hence, risotto with some sort of vegetable! Job done.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g , but the ubiquitous goat's cheese tartlet is the equivalent of chucking some sausage rolls from the freezer in the oven.

The risotto with veg is the one-size-fits-all kaftan of a dish. The joy of forking out £15 or so for a plate of slop.

The whistle in Uncle Clive’s voice is playing havoc with my tinnitus

I really like both risotto and goats' cheese tarts. Just not for every meal.

@PedantScorner yes, taxonomically they're fungi, but they tend to be lumped with veg when it comes to nutrition/cooking.

Happy belated birthday @Godesstobe

He’s going to blackmail them all

Is great granddad Horrobin (autocorrect to horrible) another 'silent' off sound character like Roy or Maris in Frasier?

Bert Horrobin. Father to Susan, Tracy, Clive, Keith, Gary, Stewart (I think - I'm a bit vague on the end of that list.) I have a feeling he may may have spoken a couple of times - but only a couple of times) years ago, but he is definitely mostly a silent. For which I suspect we should be grateful.

If I was going to voice any silents, it would be the Button sisters.

@Fink , I wouldn't choose to eat either of them. I'm sure that they can be delicious but they probably aren't.

@EBearhug , a Button sister might end up at Brookfield or Bridge Farm.

Which brings us back to mushrooms.

Before I start choosing which silents to voice, I have a long list of previously speaking characters who have disappeared!