Episode 1 Landward

The sun is out, flowers are blossoming, crops are growing,

calves and lambs are playing in the fields,

and Easter eggs are but a distant memory.

It's spring, and Landward is back.

Hello, and a very warm welcome to the programme from Perthshire.

In a moment, I'll be meeting a dog lover behind

a rescue service for unwanted gundogs.

But first, here's what else is coming up...

Euan tries his hand as a flower farmer...

So you just pinch that at the bottom?

Yeah, just pinch at the bottom, and just pluck.

So...

80 million to go.

..Sarah meets the competitive young farmers

who've spent the winter pampering their livestock...

He's had the radio on every day.

-Does he have a favourite tune?

-Erm...

Well, I suppose he does quite like Ex's & Oh's.

He does, sort of, perk his ears up to that.

..and I hit the shoreline

in search of shellfish.

-Well done, that man.

-There you go.

-Hey.

-There you are. There you are, Dougie,

that's your first lobster.

Over the years, we've featured many types of working dogs -

from sheep dogs, rescue dogs, to gundogs.

Now these animals are incredibly intelligent, obedient,

and hard-working.

But what happens to them when they come

to the end of their working lives?

It's hard to believe,

but all of these dogs were unwanted by their owners...

and that's where Carol Begg comes in.

WHISTLE SOUNDS

She runs the only rescue service

solely for gundogs in Scotland,

and she's seeing an increase in demand.

Come on, Heidi.

-Carol, how are you? Here's Heidi back.

-Thank you.

How did you come to have these

beautiful dogs in your possession?

Well Bryn and Drew, who are cocker spaniels - brothers, but from

different litters - they came in to us

-from a family breakdown.

-Uh-huh.

And they had a few dogs, and they could no longer keep them.

Heidi is sister to one of our pointers -

a litter sister -

and it was discovered that Heidi has hereditary cataracts,

and her owner felt they couldn't cope with this, because

she was bought as a dog to work - to do deer tracking and stuff.

And what about Rosie?

Rosie is a clumber spaniel.

She is affected by a condition called exercise induced collapse,

so they were worried in case maybe somebody unscrupulous

got a hold of her, and maybe bred from her.

She is quite timid, though, isn't she?

She's very timid. She's very, very scared of people,

but I'm determined that I'll get her to be a working gundog.

She's got all the proper instincts,

and she loves it.

The dogs may come from gamekeepers who have retired

or lost their jobs, and have to give up their dogs.

Sometimes, they haven't quite made the grade as working gundogs,

and Carol takes on their training.

'Today, she is attempting to train me, as well as Drew.'

-If you want to throw it...

-OK.

..and he should remain sitting there...which he's not.

Naughty boy.

-Drew.

-Drew.

So tell me, how did you get into training

and rescuing dogs in the first place?

Well, rescuing animals I've done since I was 15.

I was one of the kids that came home with every stray animal

under the sun, much to my mother's horror.

Is there a typical story behind the dogs that you rescue

and end up training, or are they all, kind of, individual tales?

There isn't really.

You know, there's 101 reasons why people give up a dog.

Whether it's been somebody that's taken on the likes of

a working cocker, and not really researched the breed fully,

and then they find out, by the time the dog's got to 9-18 months,

months, they've got this absolute live wire on their hands

that they can no longer control.

Carol is seeing an increasing number of dogs coming to her

from owners who can't cope with the demands of a gundog breed.

We do have an issue with spaniels

showing aggressive behaviour,

which, some of the time, it's because they're

not getting the mental stimulation that they need.

So it's like a child being bored - they get into trouble,

and it's the same with the dogs.

-OK.

-OK?

-No bother.

-So sit up.

'No danger of boredom for Drew.'

It's time for whistle commands,

'and another chance for me to show him who's boss.'

So what are the signals?

For Drew, all we have is just a "peep-peep" on the whistle.

-And...

-That'll bring him over?

-That should bring him back.

-Are you wanting to...?

-Shall I give it a go?

-Yep.

Drew... PEEP-PEEP

He just sat there.

THEY LAUGH

Drew 2, Dougie 0, I think.

Carol reckons she takes in about

50 rescue gundogs each year.

Some stay with her for good.

But she's able to let most of them go to new owners,

either as working dogs, or as family pets...

which goes to show there can be a happy ending for every TAIL.

The sun in Perthshire is welcome after a long winter.

But a sure sign that spring has arrived is the site of daffodils.

Euan's been to Angus to discover how the golden flower

has become one of Scotland's hidden export successes.

Most of us will pick the odd bunch of daffodils

when you're out for a walk.

But here in Angus, as you can see,

daffodils are really big business.

Over 80 million of these stems are going to be hand-picked,

chilled, sorted, and then sent

all over the world in just six weeks.

During the daffy season, 300 people are involved in picking and packing

here at Grampian Growers near Montrose.

-Peter?

-Peter Salmon, pleased to meet you.

-So this is your field of daffies?

-Yeah.

'Second-generation daffodil grower Peter Salmon is going

'to put me to work in the fields.'

So when did these ones come out?

These are just first picked today, on this variety.

And how many are you growing here?

We grow about 70 acres on this farm.

-That's a lot of daffodils.

-It is.

What about weather like this?

Is it a serious problem for you?

Because the air, it's raw.

The snow has stopped, but the hailstones keep on coming.

It's not a serious problem for the daffodils.

It's not great for picking them

when they don't grow a huge amount in these cold temperatures.

But from a health point of view, it doesn't affect them that much.

Are these ready for picking?

That one there, yeah, ready for picking.

You want to pick them as what we call pencils -

-before they burst.

-You've got different heights, as well?

-Does that affect it?

-Yeah, we want a certain height.

We're looking for about a 30 centimetre length.

So what's the technique? Cos presumably it's not that simple.

Generally, hold with one hand,

and pluck with the second hand,

get them into bunches of ten,

-and put an elastic band round them.

-These are a bit small, aren't they?

But we'll try it anyway.

-So you just pinch that at the bottom?

-Yeah,

just pinch at the bottom, and just pluck.

How hard is it? I'd imagine, on a beautiful spring day,

this is an absolute joy.

The reality of today is that it's about four degrees.

-It must be hard.

-It is a hard job. It is a hard job.

Long hours, carrying them all to the end of the rows,

putting them all in trays, ready for dispatch, as well.

So...

80 million to go.

Those 80 million Scottish daffodils

are sent all over the world.

-Mark?

-Morning, Euan.

'Mark Clark is going to show me the massive logistical effort involved'

in ensuring their fresh arrival

on the other side of the globe.

What's going on here?

Yeah, this is our flower pack house.

We've got three separate orders.

We've got a supermarket order on the left,

we have an export order going to mainland Europe,

and then we actually have a USA order being packed today,

on the right-hand side of the line.

-So we can go and pack some American ones?

-Yes.

Everything is cold store,

so once it comes in from the field in this state...

You don't have to cold store them in this weather - it's freezing.

They come out to get packed, they go straight back into the cold store.

They're then transported in refrigerated transport,

they go into a cold store at Heathrow...

-So they'll fly out?

-They'll fly from Heathrow to Boston.

So they will fly on Sunday morning.

So this could be on somebody's dining room table by,

what, Wednesday?

Tuesday/Wednesday, that'll be in someone's house in America.

So why do the Americans want Scottish daffodils?

They do produce their own, but their season tends to be quite early.

So they rely on UK - in our case Scottish production -

for late in the season.

-So are your ones better?

-Absolutely.

-Scottish is always better.

-How much are they going to cost?

A dollar a bunch, so it's quite expensive.

By the time you get air freight, the labour, the picking,

it's quite an expensive bunch of daffodils

by the time it gets into the household in America.

See, I would disagree with you.

I think a dollar for a bunch of Scottish daffodils

is not extravagant. I think it's good.

I think it's good value for money.

What's that worth to the Scottish economy?

In terms of bunches, they would be on average

about 8-8.5 million bunches

of Scottish daffodils produced every year

in a 6-7 week period.

To the industry, it's probably worth about £2.5 million.

-As I say, a very short period.

-So it's quite significant?

It is significant, yeah.

When are they going to turn into proper daffodils, with flowers?

If you were to put that bunch in a vase of water,

roughly 48-72 hours

that would be in full bloom.

So they look a little bit like a bunch of leeks at this point...

They're not impressive at the moment, are they?

They will turn into something...

something quite stunning.

You know, it's hard to imagine that these humble Angus daffies, in just

a few days' time, will be in vases across Europe and North America.

And, you know, despite the weather, it's really good to know that

a little ray of Scottish sunshine is spreading across the globe.

It's 7.30 in the morning,

I've just struggled into a pair of waders, and the more observant

amongst you will have noticed that I've not got a fishing rod with me.

That's because I'm going to be getting a lesson

in an alternative way of fishing called cleeking.

I'm here to meet cleeking enthusiast Derek Cowie.

-Derek, how are you?

-Nice to see you, Dougie.

-Yeah, you, too.

'He's on the Fife coast near Anstruther,'

where I'm joining him on the hunt for crab and lobster.

Is this a good day for cleeking?

Yeah, I think we'll have some good fun.

Tide's on its way out, so maybe we'll get some lobsters.

-Let's rattle on, shall we?

-OK.

These rock formations are perfect for these lobster holes.

Down at the bottom here, you can see...

there's lots of these little types of holes.

They don't look very much, but, to be honest,

as long as there's a bit of water in the back...

Uh-huh?

Oh, actually, there's something in there.

I don't think... It'll probably be small.

This is what we just call a green crab.

We don't take 'em.

-There's nothing spectacular about these things.

-Uh-huh.

Derek, tell me, what is cleeking?

Cleeking, basically, it's a method of catching lobsters

and crabs without using pots or traps.

That's the cleek in your hand?

This is the cleek. It's nothing special,

just about a six-foot-long, six-millimetre bit of bar,

with a smallish hook at the back end of it. Nothing too dangerous.

I go down at low tide, and I can get to the little crevices

and cracks, put the cleek in behind them,

work it across the hole, and hopefully pull out a lobster.

How did you get into this in the first place?

Well, kind of a funny story. I was just...

digging for lugworm back down here, when I was a little boy.

And two young guys came, and either side of where I was digging,

they pulled out lobsters.

I thought that was amazing.

So I went up, told my mother, and...

I'd never saw her move so fast - she took a couple of pound out her wallet,

came rushing down here, bought the lobsters off the guys.

This was 1978, I'd never seen my mum spend £2 before in my life.

So I thought, "I'm having some of that."

OK, right, so I'm pretty sure we've got something here, I can feel him.

So this is going to take a little bit of...

-getting out, because now he knows I'm here.

-SPLASHING

-You hear that? Do you hear that?

-Yeah.

That's him bucking and trying to go somewhere.

Well, he's got nowhere to go.

-There he is.

-There he is.

-There, see him?

HE PANTS

Come on.

-If you pull him slowly in through the mud...

-Uh-huh.

..I'm not damaging him.

There you go, here we come.

There we are...

-Well done, that man.

-..one lobster.

He didn't put up too much of a fight?

No, maybe when they're a bit cold.

-HE BLOWS

-But see how fast?

That's one's quite quick. That one will crush you.

No, absolutely, I'll keep my hands out of the way.

'You need a licence for cleeking

'if you plan to sell what you catch.

'Derek, though, only takes what he intends to eat.

'Small lobsters have to go back.

'If they're less than 9cm from the eye socket

'to the back of the head, or are carrying eggs,

'Derek has to return them.'

'I love the fact I'm out here in the...

'in amongst the elements,

'but also I really love the fact that you can go down on any day

'and sit by the beach, and go down cleeking,

'and, before you know it, pull a couple of lobsters,

'chuck them on the fire, and we're having lobster for lunch.

'And it's the freshest lobster you'll ever taste in your life.'

Not a bad one again.

All right, Dougie, I think it's your turn to have a shot at this.

-We've got a nice hole here.

-Okey doke.

Keep the cleek with the head pointing that direction,

and go right into the back.

Start off at this edge here, and...

give it a... Hold it with a nice bit of vigour.

And then back and forward, back and forward,

moving along the back of the wall.

-Until...

-Think I'll move a wee bit closer in.

-Yep, that's it.

-There you go.

-Oh, hello.

-Can you feel that?

-Oh, I can.

-Yeah, you can.

-He'll either grip you, which is great...

-He's gripping me.

He's gripped you.

Come on, come on. Oh, he's let me go.

Ah, well, there you go. You go back in and do it again,

or you can do it from the other way. You can do it from any way.

I guess the thing about a hole like this

-is they can't really go anywhere.

-No, no...

He's coming out, no matter what. There he is.

You get him? DEREK GRUNTS

-Yes.

-There you go.

-Well done, that man.

-Hey.

-There you go, there you are.

-There you are, Dougie - your first lobster.

-My first one.

-He's right on the borderline.

-Uh-huh.

He's about as small as we can take.

Well, we've got a couple for the pot, that was great fun,

and we're going to head to Derek's for a lobster breakfast.

Later in the programme, I'll be joining Nick Nairn in the food van.

He'll be cooking up some lobster

and crab to find out which one the people of Perth are partial to.

-I'm preferring lobster this morning, though. Let's go.

-Let's go.

And if you've got any ideas for things you would like to see

on the programme, you can get in touch via our Facebook page

or e-mail:

Throughout the series, as I crisscross Scotland, I'm going to

be stopping off to show you some of my favourite spots for a pit stop.

This location today is so fantastic, I'm willing to get up really early.

It's 6.30 in the morning...

Yeah, I know.

..and that is Loch Leven.

Famous for being the place where Mary Queen of Scots was held

prisoner, these days, Loch Leven is a national nature reserve.

Showing me the amazing birdlife is RSPB site manager Uwe Stoneman.

Loch Leven's the biggest lowland loch in Scotland.

It serves two functions for birds.

One is it provides food, and the other one is it provides shelter.

With it being a big loch, you can sit in the middle,

and you're safe from predators.

What we're here for today is just to have a look at our lapwing here that are breeding.

So tell me what I'm looking for in terms of seeing lapwing.

A good thing about the bird is it's quite obvious.

They like open spaces, they like short grass,

and they're sitting there on eggs at the moment.

They do have a call, which is brilliant, which is

where they get their Scottish name from, which is peewit.

There's one there.

LAPWING CALLS

Just kind of like, "Pee-wit!"

Breeding season continues until July,

but you can see and hear lapwing at Loch Leven all year round.

LAPWING CALLS

Pull!

Now, as we've seen on Landward in the past,

Scotland's young farmers like a bit of fun.

They're also a competitive bunch, and Sarah's been to Aberdeenshire

to see them putting their livestock skills to the test.

SARAH: Every young farmer's got to learn their trade,

and this is one of the ways they do it.

CATTLE LOW

These animals all belong to members of young farmers' clubs,

who are about to compete against each other in the annual

overwintering show and sale.

Back in the autumn, young farmers came to Thainstone

to choose and buy their calves for the competition,

and we sent a camera along to see what happened.

Among the dozens of young farmers desperate to buy a show calf

at Thainstone Mart last October was veteran competitor Sarah Balfour.

The reason I enjoy it most, I suppose,

is you come to the sale, you pick the calf, you try and buy it

hopefully, and then you feed it through the entire winter, you

look after it, it's solely yours, and then you take it to the sale.

Hopefully to win a prize, but at the end of the day,

hopefully to make a profit.

There'll be over £2,000 of prize money up for grabs,

but only if Sarah can secure the right calf.

Despite stiff competition, she gets the beast she wants.

AUCTIONEER'S PATTER

Really pleased. This is the calf I wanted.

It was really the only one I wanted today,

and I've got what I came for, so I'm happy.

Hoping to beat Sarah in the competition are sisters

Anne and Catriona MacArthur.

Catriona has her eyes on a male calf - or stott -

she hopes to bag for under £950.

AUCTIONEER'S PATTER

Got one!

I bought a stott for £900, a limousin cross stott.

And she got a stott as well.

-For 920.

-For 920.

She's quite happy with him as well, the correct shape,

and what we are looking for.

Hopefully weight's on, put weight on and make money, we'll be happy.

Five months on, we've come to see how they've all fared

over the winter.

CATTLE LOW

Mine's roughly put on about 160 kilos, which I'm happy with,

yeah, it's good.

So what about yours, Catriona?

Mine's put on 180 kilos, so they're roughly about the same -

they were bought at a similar weight.

The calves have all done really well. He's put on 138 kilos.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yeah, I'm happy with that.

What have you been doing to, sort of,

get him ready for show performance?

We've spent the last, sort of, fortnight, three weeks, every day,

on the halter, just getting him used to all different sights and sounds.

He's had the radio on every day.

-Does he have a favourite tune?

-Erm...

Well, I suppose he does quite like the Ex's & Oh's tune,

it's got quite a catchy tune, I suppose.

-Ex's & Oh's.

-Yeah, he does sort of perk his years up to that.

MUSIC: Ex's & Oh's by Elle King

After months of care and preparation, it's time for the show.

The competition is fierce with every young farmer keen

to get their hands on the rosettes and prize money.

A class of five feisty steers, one of which -

this one here - is Anne's.

Anne's stott comes fourth in his class,

and Catriona's earns a respectable third.

There she goes.

It's Sarah's moment of truth.

Ooh! Good luck!

Looks like all the training has paid off.

Sarah's calf behaves impeccably in the ring, earning her a first prize.

Thank you very much.

It's not just about the prestige.

A red rosette can add hundreds of pounds to the hammer price

when the calves are sold at auction.

Fantastic news for Sarah, and the other girls did well, as well,

but I suppose the real test comes tomorrow,

when they all go to be sold.

The auction is the culmination of months of hard work.

First up is Anne.

She paid £920 back in October, and she sells for a respectable 1,050.

AUCTIONEER'S PATTER

Sarah's prize-winner is up next.

The beast cost her £960, and goes for 1,180.

It's Catriona who is the big winner on the day, though.

She paid just £900 for her animal, and sells for 1,220.

The margins might be small,

but all three of our young farmers have managed to turn a profit

while learning the stockmanship skills

vital to the future of the industry.

You need to make money, you need to cover your costs for feed,

labour, all the work you've put in.

-So are you going to come back again next year?

-Hopefully.

-Smiles on your faces now cos you've got the cheques.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Are you happy?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

At least we're not paying the mart back, or we wouldn't get enough profit, I think.

And you will be able to see more of the young farmers

when they appear in series two of The Mart,

coming soon on BBC One Scotland.

CATTLE LOW

DOUGIE: Earlier in the programme, I was on the Fife coast at low tide,

learning how to catch lobster and crab.

Now I need to find out how to cook them,

and who better to show me than Nick Nairn?

He's in the Landward food van, and this time,

we're hitting the pavements of Perth.

-So, Dougie.

-Yes?

-As ever, good to have you as my assistant.

-Lovely to be here.

We have a beautiful Scottish lobster, not the one that you caught,

cos you ate the one that you caught!

We did kind of have it for breakfast, yes.

Scottish brown crab.

The question is, which do you think the great citizens of Perth prefer?

Well, I think they'll go for lobster,

because I prefer the taste of lobster.

However, there is a certain sort of thing about crab,

it's quite meaty and lovely, so who knows?

It's also a third of the price.

-I prefer the crab.

-Me too!

So, two claws, you need to take the claws off.

-Just...

-Just here?

-Yeah, that's good.

And...

twist it apart and take the tail off.

-Did that work?

-It did, yeah!

-Good.

I was expecting you to be a little queasy.

Now, these have been pre-cooked. How did you cook them?

The lobster first of all went in the freezer, put it to sleep,

into a pan of heavily salted boiling water for five minutes,

then left to cool at room temperature.

We cooked the crab for 15 minutes,

and then let it cool in the water itself.

The crab, much thicker shell, more meat in here,

takes longer for the heat to penetrate it.

So the meat in the lobster is in the tail, is in the claws,

not much in the head.

-With the crab, most of the white meat is in the claws.

-OK.

-But you need to get started. Do you remember how to do this?

-No.

-Would you like me to show you?

-Yes, please.

-Right, so...

Into there. Twist the knife, which opens up the claw...

pull this away, and that makes it nice and easy,

the meat comes out, and in there it goes.

-Delicious.

-So you're just going to take this and crack it in.

Down here.

THEY CHUCKLE

I'll be fine, I've got another shirt with me.

Use your thumbs in here, pull this apart, out it comes,

and then you can just pull...

NICK LAUGHS

I believe you've just done it for me!

Oh, and me with the good shoes on, too! I'll just give them a little wipe down.

Nick's just off to towel down after the lobster biting back.

That's it, and twist now.

-There it you go.

-That's it.

'To make our lobster and crab dishes look similar to our tasters,

'we're only using the white meat from the crab,

'but the brown meat is edible, too, and delicious.'

Oh! There we go.

-What's next?

-We're going to make a cocktail sauce to bind it with.

Good dollop of mayonnaise, that's the heart of it.

But you can take shop-bought mayonnaise, and make it a bit more...

-More, more, more, more, come on, get it!

-Proper dollop.

Now, we can make this a little bit more interesting by adding

a little bit of smooth grain mustard,

a few drops of lemon juice...

We're just going to add a little bit of rapeseed oil.

And now the secret ingredient, the ketchup.

About a quarter of the amount of ketchup to mayonnaise.

And stop.

'Nick adds some Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco,

'then mixes the dressing in with our crab

'and lobster meat before serving it up to the people of Perth.

'But what will they prefer?'

-I think the crab's going to take it.

-You think?

-I do.

-I think the lobster's going to win.

-Game on!

-Let's do this!

Right, plating up.

-Sorry, you look as though you're Hank Marvin.

-Yeah, yeah.

Down the hatch it goes.

What do you think?

Prawn.

Number two.

Which did you prefer?

-First one.

-First one?

-Yeah.

-The lobster!

-The lobster.

-Lobster, that one there?

-Yeah.

1-0, lobster!

-The first one.

-The first one, that's the crab!

Now, I want to just to take your time.

-That's the best.

-That one, there?

-Mm-hmm.

That would be the lobster, then. That's 2-0 to the lobster!

THEY LAUGH Come on!

You prefer the crab! Ho-ho-ho!

Straight in there, no messing.

-First one.

-You liked the first one? OK, that's absolutely fine.

-I don't like...

-Oh, you don't like it?

Lobster.

Speaks for itself.

-Second one.

-The lobster, the one that I prepared?

-Second one.

-Second one! Ha-ha-ha-ha!

Now, just take your time with this.

Did you prefer the first shellfish, let's call it shellfish A, or B?

A.

Oh!

DOUGIE LAUGHS

I like them both.

So, Nick, how did you get on?

Erm, well...

I got four votes for crab and two for lobster.

OK, well I got four votes for lobster, one for crab,

and a dead heat.

NICK SIGHS

-Which means...

-Yeah!

-..lobster wins by half a vote.

-Absolutely, it does.

But, you know, crab is half the price,

and I would suggest to you that that's a moral victory for the crab.

You can say that, but the most important thing is, Scottish produce, people are loving it.

Big smiles on everybody's faces.

Except yours, cos you're the loser! HE LAUGHS

And I will wallow in the warmth of victory,

and tell you now what's coming up on next week's programme.

Sarah is out on the gallops near Leslie

with the next National Hunt star.

So how are they looking this morning?

I'm very pleased with all of them, yeah, everything's going up nicely.

There's Bertie Milan on the right with the green cap.

And I get up early again

to find some out-of-the-ordinary fish for Mr Nairn.

I think it's just tradition.

It just seems to be a nation thing,

everyone's always eating cod and haddock,

but I can see trends changing.

-Thank you for doing the shopping, Dougie.

-It's a pleasure.

And that's all we've got time for.

Yeah, we'll be back the same time next week -

Friday night, 7.30 on BBC One Scotland.

In the meantime, from all the Landward team, from Nick, from me,

and the Fair Maid of Perth, thanks for your company, bye for now.

Bye for now.