Episode 2 Countryfile Spring Diaries

Across the UK, days are warmer,

brighter and longer.

In the countryside, the air is filled with birdsong

and the scent of flowers.

Spring has sprung.

It's the time of year when nature wakes up.

And there are new beginnings everywhere you look.

It's a time to plant and sow.

And to get out and enjoy everything

our wonderful countryside has to offer.

All week, we're travelling the length and breadth of the UK...

It gets us out the house.

It's just changed my life completely.

..bringing the very best seasonal stories that matter to you.

That is amazing.

He likes it better if it's just a quick takeaway.

-Oh, of course he does.

-He just grabs and goes.

We all like a quick takeaway!

A very warm welcome to the most joyous of seasons.

This is Countryfile Spring Diaries.

Here's what's coming up on today's programme...

Margherita and the battle of the cream teas - Cornwall versus Devon -

but which one will come out on top?

-I'd choose that one.

-That...

..is uniquely delicious.

Absolutely yummy!

Paul discovers how feeding bread to ducks is actually harmful.

Bread is not good for birds, it's junk food for them,

it has no nutritional value.

We need to stick to what is closest

to what a duck would find in the wild.

Whilst I'm in Jersey, finding out how golf

can help conserve our wildlife.

What a wonderful place to enjoy spring in all its glory.

This is North Devon, where I'm going to be all week.

Not surprisingly,

eight million of us flock to this beautiful county every year...

..to walk along its spectacular coastline...

..across the wild moors, and through its ancient bluebell woods.

So far this season, many of us have had some lovely sunny weather,

but the big question is, is it going to last?

Are we in for a barbecue summer?

Over to Keeley, our weather expert.

Spring weather, one minute it's glorious sunshine, the next...

..we're being hit by April showers.

Wouldn't it be nice if we really knew what we were in for?

In my job as a weather presenter,

we're given detailed scientific forecasts from the Met Office,

but even then, we sometimes get it wrong.

It's been so chilly, everybody's been moaning about it.

Yeah, we did get it wrong, we often get it wrong in this situation.

When it's high pressure

and the cloud's not associated with the front, it can be very tricky.

That would have been a stitch-up on you, wouldn't it?

Who hired her?! What we do know is spring in the UK

is definitely getting warmer,

by as much as one degree.

Now, that doesn't sound like an awful lot,

but what it does mean is that blossom like this

could be flowering at least two weeks early.

That might be nice for us,

but is it such good news for our countryside and wildlife?

Someone who's been looking into this

is Steve Marsh from the Woodland Trust.

So, if spring is getting warmer,

what kind of effect is that having on the countryside?

So what we're seeing is that for every one-degree temperature rise,

flowering advances by five days.

So, for example, hawthorn is flowering

up to 12 days earlier than it did.

It's now about the 29th of April,

whereas, traditionally, it was around about the 11th of May.

Even though climate's getting warmer,

some years, it's going to be a really cold spring,

some years a really warm spring. Does that have an effect on it?

Yeah, of course. What we do is, we look at the long-term trends,

and what we've seen is that over the last 25 years, on average,

spring is getting earlier.

This can have serious consequences.

If these woodland flowers appear too early,

the insects that pollinate them might not have emerged.

There was some research at the moment which looks at...

..which species will fare best,

so which ones are the most adaptable,

and which ones are the least adaptable. In that case,

worst-case scenario for the species that don't adapt so well,

is we could lose them.

Our native bluebells are one flower that Steve's concerned about.

So, as with all our other flowering plants,

bluebells are getting, on average, a little bit earlier.

However, with bluebells, they face a number of other threats, as well,

which could jeopardise them.

Habitat loss, we're losing a lot of our ancient woodlands,

which bluebells are an indicator of.

They are hybridising with the non-native Spanish bluebell,

which is a worry.

And we're also not sure

how they are actually going to respond to the changing climate.

For example,

if the trees above us leaf earlier and earlier,

and the bluebells don't flower, that could cut out the sun.

We're not really sure what effect that would have on these guys.

Taking all of those factors into account,

that a species that's so synonymous with spring, like the bluebell,

could, in future, be wiped out?

Yeah, it could spell disaster for these guys.

We have half the world's population of bluebells in the UK,

and I'm keeping my fingers crossed

these beautiful flowers will be carefully managed

for future generations to enjoy.

So, with a change in climate it pays to be adaptable,

and that includes us and the way we think about the weather.

With its famous unpredictability,

perhaps we should return

to more traditional techniques of forecasting.

Someone who clearly thinks so is ex-copper David King, a self-taught,

self-appointed weather detector.

-So, David...

-Yes.

Tell me how you got into this.

Many years ago, I moved to Croydon and there, there's countryside,

and I learned about animals and birds and the different seasons,

and over the years, I decided that I would try and teach myself

to tell the weather

like our forefathers did a thousand years ago,

just using what is around us.

Despite this unconventional approach, David's had some success.

Last year, for the Great Yorkshire Cycle Race,

I said the first day would be in snow, and that was 90 days ahead,

and they all laughed.

And the first day of the

Great Yorkshire Cycle Race last year,

it was snowing. So I'm not doing too bad.

David, in my job I'm always asked what the summer's going to be like,

so I need your help.

-Yes.

-Can you take me around this area,

and show me some signs that are going to help me

do a really good, accurate summer forecast?

-Yes, I think so.

-Cool.

This is a briar rose, a wild rose, briar rose.

And how do you know what the summer weather's going to be like

by just looking at this?

It's growing beautifully,

it's going to produce beautiful flowers later on,

because we're going to get loads of flowers, quite a reasonable summer.

Nature is very economical and it will grow this on.

If it wasn't going to be a very good summer, it wouldn't bother.

It's not long before detective Dave uncovers another clue.

Hey presto, we have found one!

Cuckoo plant. It's also called a lady's smock.

The legend is that when that flowers,

the cuckoo is 48 hours away.

What does this tell us about summer, then?

Ah, well, the earlier the cuckoo arrives, the earlier it leaves.

It normally arrives about the 14th of April

and leaves the first week in July.

But it arrived early this year?

Yeah, it arrived 20 days early, so it's going to depart 20 days early,

which tells me the end of June

and the beginning of July are both going to be wet.

So the cuckoo knows when it's about to turn wet,

and knows that there won't be very many bugs,

and so he's going to fly off?

Yes.

So I've got one for you, Dave.

My grandma used to tell me that if the rooks make their nests

really high up in the trees, it's going to be a nice summer.

-What do you make of that?

-Yeah, it's not going to be a very windy summer.

If it's going to be a very windy summer,

then they'll bring it down to where there's a big fork,

that way the nest can be supported two ways,

and it won't get blown out the nest.

And another one, while you're on birds,

is in the morning,

when the blackbird's singing outside the window at four o'clock

and keeping you awake, if it's going to be a fine day,

it will sit at the highest point.

But if it's going to get rainy later on, it will sit a bit lower down,

because then he's got the branches or cover,

to keep him dry when it rains.

Taking into account everything that we've looked at today,

what is this summer going to be like?

It's going to be warm, and it's going to be damp.

It's not going to be torrential floods like we have had in the past,

but neither is it going to be barbecue weather.

But it's going to be quite pleasant.

And if I go out on air and give that as my forecast,

-I'm not going to get fired?

-No.

Are you sure?

Because they never get the weather right, do they?!

HE LAUGHS

Perhaps that's the fun of it.

If we got the weather right every time,

what on earth would we have to talk about?!

I'm not sure I buy into everything that David's said to me.

I might stick to more scientific methods,

but it makes sense, doesn't it,

to use the signs of nature?

Much like our ancestors would have done.

So, has David got it right this time?

Watch this space.

Now, there are plenty of Brits, round about four million, actually,

who are more than happy to be out and about,

no matter WHAT the weather,

just as long as they're out and about on a golf course.

And now, these courses are, surprisingly,

becoming vital in helping to

protect some of our endangered species.

Jules has been to Jersey to get into the swing.

Us Brits are crazy about hitting tiny balls

into what seem to be ever smaller holes.

So crazy, in fact,

that golf as a business is now worth a staggering £3 billion.

But who would have thought that one of our best-loved sports

would score a hole in one...

..for our wildlife? Ah! Unlike me!

My putting skills may leave a bit to be desired,

but on a gorgeous spring day,

I can definitely see what draws players

to the UK's 3,000-plus golf courses.

They cover a massive 400,000 acres, and are full of wildlife habitats,

including almost 15,000 acres

of protected Sites of Scientific Interest.

Ecologist Sophie Vukelic works with greenkeepers

to help manage these precious spaces.

When you come onto a course like this,

you can see how these areas of wild rough,

the infamous rough that seems to catch so many golfers out,

actually create the course and define the fairways and the greens.

But it's the wild bit that you're really interested in?

It is. So on this course we've got a real mosaic of habitats,

everything from the dune grassland,

which is managed to make sure

that the wild flowers come through naturally, to the scrub,

which is managed so that it retains nice and tight and dense

for nesting birds, and also the other areas in between.

So we've got this great diversity of habitats,

and with that, obviously, comes a diversity of wildlife, too.

So give us an idea of the wildlife

that you're particularly interested in, here.

So we're looking at the cirl bunting, which is a Red-listed bird,

which we thought had gone missing from Jersey many years ago

but now the golf club have actually managed to conserve

and bring back to the golf course, and to Jersey in general.

And there's also the green lizard, which is endemic to Jersey.

We've got quite a good population,

particularly here on the golf course.

And what are you doing, in terms of the strategy

that you're helping the greenkeepers to implement?

So, a few years ago they built a hibernacula

under one of their tees.

Now you're probably wondering what a hibernacula is, right?

I'm trying to take that apart, a hibernacula, go on.

Yes, so, basically, over winter,

reptiles need somewhere to hibernate,

and a hibernacula provides them with a safe, warm haven.

It sounds like the perfect rural des res.

-Where is it?

-Well, follow me, and I'll show you.

The tongue-twisting hibernacula

has been built in the most unlikely of places,

right under the fourth tee.

Now, to me, that looks like an ancient stone wall.

It doesn't look like much, does it?

But it's what's behind the wall that really counts.

So there's a nice structure of honeycomb breeze blocks

and they go right back under the tee there,

and creating these lovely little cosy chambers

for the lizards to winter in.

But it's built underneath the tee,

which obviously gets visited quite a lot during a day,

but they're obviously not bothered by noise

or golf balls flying around.

No, the hibernacula's quite deep underneath the tee there,

and there's some wood chips in there

which will help to negate any sounds.

It's the perfect set-up, isn't it?

I mean, you know, a coastal home with a beautiful sea view.

I mean, this is expensive lizard real estate, really?

It really is. Do you want to move in?

Well, if I were a lizard, I know exactly where I'd be going!

In an effort to ensure the resident reptiles get a good square meal,

the golf club has also planted the area with insect-attracting species,

such as marram grass and gorse.

All that should be enough to pull in a lizard or two.

Now it may be my hearing,

but I'm sure I heard something rustling over there.

But because they're so shy and so well camouflaged,

they can be tricky to spot.

-Can you see down here?

-That green is incredible.

He's just basking in the sunlight there, warming up for the day.

I'm amazed at how big he is, actually.

Yeah, it's actually the biggest lizard that we have in the UK.

Are they quite sociable creatures?

I mean, where there's one, will there be two?

Well, at this time of year, as we're right in the breeding season,

we quite often see the males fighting with one another.

They get quite aggressive defending their territory,

so there's every chance there could be another male around here,

and perhaps a female.

I mean, here we are, I know we're outside their hibernacula,

but I honestly didn't think one would pop out,

particularly as we're here talking and making a bit of a noise.

It's fantastic. It just shows, as well,

that they're using this hibernacula,

so what the club are doing is really working.

And it's not just the lizards

that are living a life of luxury in Jersey.

Thanks to the work of greenkeepers like Ben Blampied-Smyth,

birds also thrive here.

Well, what golfer doesn't love a birdie?!

The cirl bunting is a bird I'm not particularly familiar with,

for a very good reason, because it's on the Red list, it's endangered.

-Yeah.

-But you've managed to encourage them here.

About 15 years ago, the first breeding pair was found

and since then, we've been managing the area

round where we found that pair and encouraging gorse back into areas,

managing grass lines.

MAN YELLS

Do you think that was a hole in one?!

Do you think, Ben, the players that are out here

enjoying the course today

are aware of the wildlife element,

or are they solely focused on their golf?

A lot of them are interested in what we're doing

and ask a lot of questions,

and they'll send photos in to me, saying,

"I've seen this on the golf course, what is it?"

Yeah, they are quite interested.

So what are you working on at the moment?

Actually, we are building another hibernacula.

You can give us a hand finishing it off, if you'd like?

I'd love to. Get a lizard's-eye view

-of what exactly goes on, on the inside.

-Yeah.

So, Ben, just talk me through the basic structure.

What are you trying to create?

So at the front we've got granite.

-Yeah.

-And then behind the granite, we've got a stack of house bricks,

and then we've got straw,

that's just to make a bedding for them,

and keep them warm through the winter.

And then somehow they make their way into this?

Yeah, so we've got... Every metre we've got a pipe...

-Ah, clever.

-..which runs from the outside and into the structure.

And it's as simple as that?

-Yeah.

-Right, let's get going, shall we?

A few more bricks along here, then?

-Yeah.

-A bit more hay.

Brilliant. And then we'll just start layering that up.

Right then, granite.

The lizards like to sit out when the granite gets hot.

This is the terrace, isn't it?

This is the terrace on the hotel.

With the basic structure in place,

it's just a matter of covering it with a membrane and a layer of soil,

before planting marram grass on top.

It's always the finishing touches to a home, I find,

that make all the difference.

Those lucky lizards.

Did they choose the colour of the kitchen, as well?

Probably the wife's thing, that!

To be honest, I've always thought of golf courses

as overly manicured bits of grass,

but now that I've discovered

that they can harbour such exotic wildlife,

well, I might just need to revise my opinion.

I might even take up golf.

How hard can it be?

From golf tees to cream teas.

You know, when the sun comes up and the countryside starts to warm up,

there's nothing nicer than to sit outdoors

and enjoy that finest of West Country traditions,

tea and scones.

But just what does it take to make your tea-time favourite

absolutely perfect?

Well, Margherita is on a very enjoyable mission to find out.

# I like a nice cup of tea in the morning

# For to start the day, you see

# And at half past eleven

# Well, my idea of heaven

# Is a nice cup of tea... #

Since it arrived in the 17th century,

we Brits have loved our tea.

We drink a staggering 165 million cups every single day -

that's the equivalent to 300,000 bathtubs full of the stuff.

# For a nice cup of tea! #

But would you believe that some of our favourite brew

will soon be home-grown right here in Devon?

To quench our thirst for a cuppa,

we import about 160,000 tonnes of tea every single year,

mainly from East Africa and Asia.

Now, tea plants thrive in hot, humid conditions,

so you might think that growing tea here in Britain

would be a nonstarter.

Well, maybe it's time to think again.

When Jenny Tunley Price took her dog for a walk one summer's day in 2005,

little did she know that she was about to make

a life-changing discovery.

She stumbled across an overgrown walled garden

that had been untouched for the past decade,

and with the help of the local community,

she's now turning it into Devon's very first tea plantation.

How many people have worked on the garden?

Because there's quite a lot of it.

Probably 400, maybe, individuals.

-My goodness.

-And I have a little band

of local volunteers who come and pitch in.

So hundreds of people helping bring this garden back to life, really?

Back to life and ready to grow tea.

The plant our tea comes from is the Chinese camellia

or Camellia sinensis,

which thrives in sheltered spots like Jenny's garden.

Jenny, for those of us that would like to have a go

at growing our own tea at home, where do we start?

There are quite a few nurseries now where you can get them from.

So if you were to do an internet search

for tea plant or Camellia sinensis sinensis,

then it should come up with a stockist that's local to you.

It's not the same plant as the colourful camellia

we all love to grow,

so make sure you check,

and it's a good idea to put in more mature plants,

as they'll be hardier and ready to harvest sooner.

They like to be moist but not wet,

and they probably prefer not to have too much direct sunlight.

Is there any soil prep involved, or is it just straight in?

You need to know what the pH of your soil is,

so it needs to be an acid soil.

We need to make the soil a bit fluffier than it currently is.

-OK.

-So we're going to do that by adding a bit of lovely compost,

just very slightly tickle the roots out.

-OK.

-Because, otherwise, they'll have a tendency

to just go round and round in circles.

Give it a bit more compost round the roots like that,

and then we'll give it a drop of water in a minute

when we finish planting the rest.

And how long am I waiting for that harvest?

For a properly decent harvest,

we're probably looking at about seven years before we get there.

-Long-term investment.

-Yeah.

Can't wait THAT long for a cuppa!

Luckily, in her beautiful garden,

Jenny's got all the ingredients to hand.

Here on the plate I've already just picked for you

the beginnings of a cup of tea,

which is essentially a bud and the two leaves

that come from behind it.

All the teas that you know, green tea, white tea, black tea,

all come from the same plant.

-Just from the one plant?

-Just from the one plant.

And how do we get the different flavours?

It's the difference in processing.

The more the cut leaves are exposed to oxygen, the darker they become,

developing those strong tannin-type flavours.

But Jenny's using fresh leaves to make green tea.

You don't need to have lots of fancy equipment.

You roll them in your hand.

You don't really want to break them too much,

you just want to bruise them.

So you just warm it up a little bit in your hand, tip it into the cup...

..pour on some hot water,

and unlike anything your grandmother told you about

it having to be at boiling point,

it actually needs to be between 75 and 85 degrees.

For the perfect cup of green tea,

leave it to steep and then drink away,

and it should taste a bit like the smell of a freshly cut lawn.

Wow. Thank you so much for all your advice, I really appreciate it.

Well, that's my West Country tea in the bag, but my quest isn't over.

Join me later when I discover how science

is helping answer the sticky question that divides our nation...

is it clotted cream or jam first in the perfect cream tea?

Just like Devon, Cornwall is also home to another age-old tradition -

fishing. For the last 600 years,

Newlyn's fishermen have been a vital part of the community.

Today, it's one of the top ports in the country

and has found a revolutionary way to sell its wares,

as Anita is about to see for herself.

This place is steeped in history, and the heritage here

means the fishermen are some of the most experienced there are,

but I'm about to meet a couple of chaps

who are doing things a little bit differently

and breathing new life and a bit of digital wizardry

into this age-old tradition.

Meet Andrew Stevens and Louis Mitchell.

Hello, chaps.

They call themselves Dreckly Fish.

In these parts, "dreckly" means it will happen...soonish,

but for these boys, speed is of the essence.

They sell their catch directly to customers,

even whilst they're pulling it out of the sea, via Twitter.

Now, this is so beautiful, Andrew, this is absolutely stunning.

-How long have you been fishing?

-You want to know?

I do, yeah.

40-odd years.

But we were getting the same money 20 years ago.

-Nothing's changed.

-So you've basically got rid of the middleman,

-is that what's happened?

-We haven't fell out with anybody,

it's just that we fancied having a go at our own enterprise.

In bypassing the fish market,

the boys can get their catch from coast to customer within hours.

And today, lobster is on the menu.

If we have a lobster in the first pot,

that's what we call a Jack Henry start.

Why Jack Henry start?

There used to be a grumpy old fisherman near here

and that's what everybody used to say, "It's a Jack Henry start."

How many lobster do you get on a normal day?

Well, that would be telling, that would.

But a good day can be 80, that's a very good day, that.

And a bad day can be two, or nothing.

So we just really don't know what we're going to get today.

Here we go.

-Is there one in there?

-Yeah.

-Yes!

-There you are.

Look at that.

So that's what we call a Jack Henry start, that is,

-first pot of the day.

-That is a beast!

Let's get the product onto the market.

First we need a photo,

to show buyers on social media what's available.

Do you just take it in the pot?

Yeah, I just take a photograph like that.

Let's take a picture of it straight away.

I think that's worth putting online straight away, don't you?

The pictures are uploaded straight from the boat,

and by selling high quality to select buyers,

the fewer they have to catch to make a living.

Good for all-round sustainability.

So you offer them up to your special customers first?

-We do.

-OK, I see, I see.

-PHONE RINGS

So you need to get on the in-list.

Oh, there you go.

-That fast?!

-That fast.

-That's how quickly it works.

-Wow.

-Yeah. So...

Is today a good day? It seems like we've got a good haul.

Oh, you're our lucky charm.

Then it's back to the harbour to get these beauties packed up

and shipped out.

But now I'm off to meet

one of the fishermen's loyal customers, just a mile away.

Bruce Rennie is king of the fish dish,

and today he's making our fishermen lunch.

A spring salad, with lobster as the star of the show.

The temperature's the critical part of cooking this dish,

because that's what makes it nice and soft.

And for you this is an absolute gift, isn't it?

I love it. It's why I do purely seafood,

because of the location we're in, where we're at, and it's the best.

Lobster, sliced heritage tomatoes...

-The secret water.

-Yeah.

A drizzle of chilled tomato and basil presse...

This kind of makes it between a soup and a salad,

but it really adds a nice zing to everything.

And a few edible flowers for a true taste of spring.

Bet the boys will love that!

We'll see how that goes.

Hello, gentlemen.

Have you ever had your lobster look like that, for starters?

Not with primroses, no.

Right, well, I don't know about you, but I'm desperate to try this.

-Shall we give it a go?

-Yeah.

Very nice.

-What do you think?

-Beautiful.

Absolutely beautiful, superb.

So sweet, it just melts in the mouth.

It's incredible, Bruce, it really is.

That is absolutely divine.

-I'll try that.

-I've never ate a primrose before!

From one West Country delicacy to another.

Earlier Margherita enjoyed a cuppa

fresh from Devon's first tea plantation.

Now she's finding the science that goes into the perfect cream tea,

and she'll be asking the big question -

which comes first, the jam or the cream?

Now I'm crossing into Cornwall,

where for some Devonshire cream tea purists,

I really am stepping into enemy territory.

The great British cream tea comes in two varieties -

the Cornish and the Devonshire.

The most famous difference between them is that in Cornwall,

the scone gets the jam first, while in Devon it's cream.

But let's leave the tussles

over the finer points of presentation until later.

I want to find out more about that special ingredient

that elevates the humble scone-jam combo to such lofty heights.

I'm talking, of course, about clotted cream.

Cornwall is world-famous for its clotted cream.

20 years ago, the owners of this dairy

decided to have a go at making clotted cream,

when quotas left them with more excess milk

than they knew what to do with.

Today it's producing 25% of the county's output

and is run by their sons, George and Francis,

who've invited me over for tea.

The dairy you're running at the moment is huge.

How did your parents begin the operation?

They were dairy farmers, and they decided one night

to start processing some milk and making some clotted cream.

It was literally a tiny amount,

enough to supply just one or two shops, and it's grown from there.

And what are you producing now?

A little bit more than our parents did back in the day.

We're peaking at around about

four tonnes of clotted cream a day at the moment.

My God, we Brits love our clotted cream!

We do - they keep on eating it, so we keep on making it.

And what makes yours so special?

What is it about Cornish clotted cream?

For Cornish clotted cream to be made,

it needs to be made from Cornish milk, in Cornwall,

to a traditional recipe, and that is protected in EU law.

We work with fantastic farmers that really help us.

We have 25 herds within 25 miles that we collect milk from every day.

Each of the herds have different breeds, from Jersey to Friesian,

and those together, blended together,

really create that extra-special flavour.

Is there any way that I could possibly make this at home,

in the way your parents first started out, or...?

So, to make it properly you need to be in the dairy,

but I can, with some cream that we'll take up to the farmhouse,

show you a cheat's way of making it in the kitchen.

I'm up for that - anything for an easy life!

So where do I start?

OK, so the cream we brought from the dairy is whipping cream,

so you can buy that off the shelf.

What we want to do is pour about an inch deep into this open pan

-before we then put it in the oven.

-'Cream, in the oven?'

-Just straight in?

-Yeah, straight in, keep going.

The cream needs to heat up, needs to kind of evaporate

a little bit and create that gorgeous golden crust on the top.

'Ah, so that's the secret...'

And that's where the clotted cream will eventually come from,

-that special layer on the top?

-You've got it, you've got it.

That's what's different about clotted cream to whipping cream.

We're giving it a good two hours in the oven

at a temperature of 100 degrees,

then it should come out looking like this.

Wow. So it's still quite liquid.

This is liquid, so this is hot cream,

but the crust has been formed,

and you can see that there and you can smell it through.

The big kid in me just wants to scoop...

I wouldn't, you'll burn yourself!

OK. And that golden layer on top is eventually what we're after?

Absolutely, so that's effectively the fat going to the top,

evaporating, leaving that beautiful nice cream on the top.

-So this really is about being patient?

-Correct.

Everything to do with cream is about being slow and gentle.

So that would need to go into the fridge overnight.

'Although patience is a virtue, we haven't got that much time.

'Luckily, here's one the guys prepared last night.'

This is it. Scooping it off the top is the delicate bit.

A little bit of skill involved here.

-Absolutely.

-One chance to get it right?

-One chance only!

-OK.

-Here's a spoon.

-All right.

-Here's a bowl. Good luck.

THEY LAUGH

Oooh...

Ohhh...

-That's it, you've got it.

-That's the good stuff.

Look at that!

Wow, that's good stuff.

That's really thick. Beautiful.

Yeah, I need two, don't I?

'And there we have it - DIY clotted cream.'

Guys, thank you so much for showing me

the cheat's way of making clotted cream.

Here's a pot from the dairy, you can have it.

You've got to promise that it's jam first, though.

And the reason for that is

because when the scones come out of the oven, they're really hot,

so the jam is used as a sort of an insulator,

so when you put the cream on, it doesn't melt.

Science behind the tradition.

-Absolutely.

-Thanks so much.

-Brilliant, great to see you. Thanks.

-Bye.

I've got my key ingredients, but to create the perfect cream tea

I'm heading back over the border to Devon,

where apparently it all began.

Now, legend has it that in the 11th century the monks at Tavistock Abbey

in Devon were the first to come up with the idea

of adding clotted cream and jam to bread.

There's not much left of the abbey now,

but its culinary legacy continues to exercise 21st-century minds,

amongst them, food scientist Dr Stuart Farrimond.

Stuart, I'm here for my science lesson on the perfect cream tea.

You're the man to come to, I understand.

Margherita, you have come to the right place.

You don't need your lab coat or your lab goggles.

There is some serious science behind the cream tea.

Why do we love them so much?

It's that combination of sweet and fat, essentially.

So anything that has fat in it just tastes good,

so if you get the right ratio,

the right amount of clotted cream to jam on our scone,

we could have the perfect cream tea.

Great. Can you show me how I make the exact perfect cream tea?

We've got our clotted cream.

-Yeah.

-We've got our jam, and we've got our locally baked scones there.

So you get your scone nicely warmed, wait a minute before you cut it,

because otherwise the steam will be trapped inside

and it will all fall apart.

So it's nice and hot to touch. We're going to do it the Devon way,

so we're going to put the cream on first.

My mouth is watering.

'Cream first?! I don't know what my Cornish clotted cream guys

'will make of that...'

So two centimetres of scone base.

Yeah, that's right, then a centimetre of clotted cream.

Here's the jam.

And so there we have the perfect ratio.

There is a 28% sweetness to this, which is ideal,

and providing it's warm, at around 35 degrees C,

that is when our taste buds are most sensitive to the flavours in this.

So this is cream tea scientific perfection?

Heaven.

Time to put the science to the test.

Stuart's scientifically perfect cream tea in the Devonshire style,

and I've also got the Cornish style - worth a taste.

Which of our two will the residents at Tavistock prefer?

So which one of these two versions...?

-I think the red one.

-You're liking the look of that?

-Yes.

Cream teas, what do you normally go for, what appeals to you?

Jam first and then cream.

-Can I tempt you?

-Lovely as they look...

-How do you like yours?

-The Cornish way.

-I'd choose that one.

-That...

is uniquely delicious.

Absolutely yummy!

So that one, the Cornish way, always a winner for you?

Yes, it definitely is.

Is it a thumbs up all round, either way they come?

-Fantastic.

-Either or.

Double thumbs up!

Well, if the proof of the pudding's in the eating,

I think I can definitely say we've got a draw, but one way or another,

in 2017, the British cream tea

is most definitely still proving a winner.

On a lovely spring day like this,

a favourite pastime of both young and old is feeding the ducks,

but according to a recent report,

that could be doing them more harm than good.

So Paul and his family are going to the local park to find out more.

For years now we've been coming here as a family to feed the ducks,

to get rid of the leftover bread.

It's a bit of a family tradition, really.

Right, Meredith, there you go. Dyl...

Right, guys, let's find the ducks.

Good day for it.

Many of us have happy childhood memories of feeding bread

to the ducks. However...

In parks up and down the country,

signs are springing up saying, "Do not feed the ducks".

Now, what's that all about?

To find out, I've arranged to meet Jamie, who's an RSPB officer.

I want to know if the nation's duck-feeding days are over.

So, Jamie, is it time for me and my family,

and indeed other families up and down the country,

to stop feeding ducks? And if so, why?

There's no reason to stop feeding ducks,

it's a great way for families to get close to nature

and see these wonderful birds really close up.

But bread is not good for birds, it's junk food for them.

It has no nutritional value.

Ducks foraging on water are looking for the kind of food

that they would naturally find in the aquatic world,

and bread wouldn't really occur there.

Ducks fall into two categories -

the dabblers, who feed on the water's surface,

and the divers, like tufted ducks, who feed underwater.

Most of the ducks we see in our local ponds are the dabblers,

especially the mallard,

so any food we give them needs to float on the surface.

What do we need to feed them?

Well, we need to stick to

what is closest to what a duck would find in the wild,

and that could be pieces of greenery, so salads.

People buy these big bags of salad, you can't always get through it -

bring your leftover salad leaves down.

It's also important not to overfeed them,

so whatever you're putting into the pond, make sure they're eating it,

don't just leave it lying there.

If food builds up it can either sink to the bottom

and build up all sorts of nasty bacteria, or it can attract rats,

which aren't really good for ducks.

And the other interesting thing is that by feeding them too much,

you're artificially changing their habitat.

So you're building up large numbers of birds

in an area where there wouldn't actually be enough food for them

-and that can cause all sorts of problems.

-They get aggressive.

They get aggressive. You should never feed a duck by hand, either,

because that makes them bold, so they'll start chasing after people,

which we don't really want to happen.

But having too many ducks in one area is a big problem for them

and they can't breed, they can't nest successfully

-and it doesn't really work out for them very well.

-Sure.

So now we know bread's a no-no,

I've asked Jamie to show me

what a duck's perfect packed lunch might look like.

First on the menu, cooked sweetcorn.

Lots and lots of good vitamins in there for them,

-really, really healthy stuff.

-Brilliant.

So sweetcorn, sweetcorn suits us both.

Next, porridge oats.

This is the kind of thing you can also feed your garden birds -

uncooked rolled oats are perfect.

Peas, I see peas, I love peas.

-We all love peas.

-My mum always said greens are good for you.

Yeah, and they're good for the birds as well. Little balls of nutrition

and vitamins, these are, absolutely perfect.

Nice, bright colour, they'll easily see those,

they can pick those up off the water and gobble them up.

This is beginning to look like the healthiest duck cafe ever.

We'll soon have them queueing up.

With the lettuce, I tend to shred it up a little bit,

make it into much smaller pieces.

-Bite-size.

-Yeah, bite-size, beak-size,

so they can easily gobble that up.

That will go down very well, they love lettuce.

Next, the hearts of sunflower seeds.

The hard shell's been taken off,

making it much easier for birds to eat.

And last but not least...

-Super-healthy superfood, curly kale.

-OK.

Again, I'd shred this a little bit and make it easier to digest,

but great for us and also great for ducks.

I guess we've always fed bread to the ducks

because, let's face it, bread goes stale.

You don't want to just throw it away -

"Let's give it to them, feed the birds, feed the ducks."

Don't do that any more, keep that for the bread pudding

and give the birds and the ducks this kind of food.

So, it's time to change our duck-feeding habits.

'Out with the bread...'

Right, you know what to do, Dyl, put it in.

'..and in with the greens.'

Jamie, meet the kids. This is Meredith and Dylan.

-Hello.

-Say hello. Jamie's going to help us make up some goody bags

so we can hand out to people in the park,

so they can feed the ducks properly.

Let's get all of these out and start filling up some bags.

-Look at that, look at that!

-Oh, brilliant - well done, Meredith.

Oh, yeah, that's going to feed a happy duck.

I think we've got enough now. We've got about 15 to 20 goody bags.

The challenge now is to convince the people around here,

and in other parks, that this is actually good for the ducks.

-So, are you up for this?

-Yeah.

-Look, there's a load of people up there,

let's hand out our goody bags and show them what we've got

and hopefully they can pass the message on.

-Yeah?

-Yes.

-Come on, then.

Hi, can I just stop you for a second?

My name's Paul Martin, these are my children.

We've been making up some goody bags to feed the ducks with,

because we want to encourage people to feed ducks all sorts of things,

-like what, guys?

-Sweetcorn.

Peas, kale, oats,

-sunflower seeds.

-Chopped-up lettuce, all sorts of things,

-because it's bad to feed ducks bread.

-I know.

-You know that, don't you?

-I know that, because I live in Devizes

and the swans were so fat they couldn't take off.

And it pollutes the water.

Right, so can we give you a couple of these,

so if you're walking along you can feed the ducks?

-Do you mind?

-Not at all.

-Look, we've made these up, so have them.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

These are for you, there's one there and there's one there.

Would you like a couple of bags as you stroll along the river bank?

-Yes.

-You can feed a few ducks.

-Thank you. Pass the message on, won't you?

-We will.

It's great to know that my family and yours can carry on

that wonderful tradition of feeding the ducks,

and the best bit about it is,

what we're feeding them now is actually good for them.

So, don't stop feeding the ducks,

just make sure you give them the right things.

And that's all we've got time for today,

but please do join us again tomorrow, when...

Joe Crowley will be finding out why one village in Worcestershire

goes mad for one of our favourite spring vegetables.

How would you cook me asparagus?

Simply boiled, with a knob of butter, brown bread, just the job.

Margherita meets land girls past and present

to discover if the future of farming could be female.

-Would that have come in handy?

-I don't know.

And I'll be getting some expert advice

on how you can guarantee a bumper crop of fruit

-from your trees this year.

-Until then, goodbye.