PHILOSOPHICAL MUSINGS

PHILOSOPHICAL MUSINGS- Profound truths are those that go deeply and significantly into their areas of concern, which unfortunately does not necessitate them being take particularly seriously. Very little for example of the scientific understandings of electromagnetic theory have any impact on the majority of those who demand a highly reliable electricity supply. The light switch must work... and that is all that really matters.

EDUCATION, EXAMINATIONS, AND BRUSSELS SPROUTS.

In mid-August of the year 2020 events were unfolding in the United Kingdom that made me wonder if the human race deserved a place on this planet.

The events involved what were said to be some of the cleverest 16 to 18 year old prospects in the land getting really angry with those who had passed through that stage and gone on to prestigious jobs in politics, government agencies and all manner of responsible positions in education.

Then there were the Brussels Sprouts. why were they there?

The young people were angry with the old people. The Brussels Sprouts were too young to know what was going on.

A sub-microscopic entity had rampaged across the planet, and one of the consequences was that the younger generation had been unable to congregate in examination rooms to demonstrate the intellectual prowess that would allow them access to the University education they believed was so vital to their futures.

Generations who had passed through the education system before them, and obtained positions of authority, decided to make an “educated guess” at what the results would have been had the examinations taken place.

Some did not feel those doing the “educated guessing” would guess with satisfactory accuracy. They had a plan, which wasn't really a plan, it was an algorithm. It may as well have been a Brussels Sprout considering the stink it caused. (I'll discuss aphorisms, adages and analogies elsewhere).

As this discussion is under a banner heading of Horticulture and Gardening do you think I have gone a little off topic? I have not, so let me explain-
Horticulture and Gardening are not ranked highly in the careers industry, they are regarded more as vocations for those who like the idea of working in fields, nurseries and garden centres. The pandemic that stopped the education system also stopped many migrant workers travelling to jobs that the British do not seem to care to apply for. Jobs gathering the harvest of fruit and vegetables are not the sort of tasks expected to be undertaken by A-Level students after they obtain their Oxbridge degree.

Unfortunately the fiasco over the grading of A-level results demonstrated the real fiasco behind our bizarre belief that we educate young people to be fit for purpose. Those responsible for the problems are those who were once themselves the countries best and brightest schoolchildren, passing from schools to colleges and universities, now demonstrating they are not fulfilling societies expectations.

So, Brussels Sprouts and societies expectations.

After 16 to 21 years of education the young adults go out into the world of work. They all like a Christmas break, giving them a chance to eat Brussels Sprouts for dinner. Some gain business experience and now head up or have Management roles in Garden Centre Groups, companies with multiple outlets and multimillion pound turnovers.

This is where the Brussels Sprouts come in.

What do you know about Brussels Sprouts? - If the answer is "not a lot", you may qualify for a senior position at a Garden Centre. Junior positions at Garden Centres are paid at minimum wage, putting them into the "unskilled labour" category. Being unskilled, they may know a little about Brussels sprouts, but if you want a senior position it seems the humble Brussel is not worth understanding.

It is over twenty years since I first questioned what I thought was a bizarre practice that Garden Centres still indulge in today.

You can go to major British Garden Centres at the August Bank Holiday and they will sell you........ Brussels Sprout seedlings!!!!

Should you have the temerity to ask why they are doing so...

"Because it's a winter vegetable!!!!

This is Horticultural and Educational incompetence of the highest order.

It bothers me because I have tried asking "why are you selling these plants when its heading towards Autumn?" For 20 years I have asked, and they don't seem to care! Is it a conspiracy? Has not a single Senior Manager, Purchasing Manager, Supplying Manager, Regional Manager, Garden Centre Manager, or member of the "Gardeners Question Time" team ever noticed this is going on... or even has the foggiest idea why I regard them as utterly inept in their jobs???

The point in asking this, and linking it with the arguments over the British 2020 A-Level examinations is that the management of both business and government is a reflection of the attitudes and competence of the individuals who comprise "society". The young ranting at the old about their lfe opportunities being threatened by incompetence will grow up to replace those they accuse of incompetence. If society is not to be subject to simply more of the same, the education system needs to know how to distinguish cleverness from intelligence.

I discuss this matter elsewhere and will link to the source when it is uploaded. For now I will just point out that pupils gaining A-star grades to gain Oxbridge education are very clever... but that says nothing about their ability to act intelligently. The managerial hierarchy in many enterprises, including Garden Centres, are "well educated" but seem to operate in a closed world of self-importance. The chains of communication they will assure you run from shop floor to the boardroom are astoundingly ineffective when Brussels sprouts infiltrate the system.

The sale of so-called winter vegetables in the autumn doesn't even rank as a clever marketing ploy. It is not an intelligent action. It is a desire to make financial gain from an ignorant public. A task perpetrated by those who really should know better.
Here, for those who wish to know something about Brussels Sprouts, is a short guide.
The Brussels Sprout has a long growing season. It needs to produce lots of leaves. One for each little cabbage-like creation growing on its stalk.

This photograph was take on August 17th 2020.
It illustrates how your Brussels Sprout crop should look

Below is what you may be offered for purchasing in Late August at some of Britains largest Garden Centres.

The seedlings pictured above are being marketed as a "winter vegetable" item.

They have not a hope of cropping before Xmas...

they must be biologically very confused.

Brussels sprouts are botanically classified as a biennial plant. They spend their first year producing 30 to 50 or more leaves spiralling up a very strong central stalk. In each leaf axil an over-wintering structure, the "sprout" develops. It comprises of small tightly overlapping leaves that over-winter as a dormant structure until the lengthening and warming days of spring result in a flowering inflorescence forming from each leaf axil. We eat them before they reach that stage.

The seedlings pictured above need to develop a strong central stem with at least 20 leaves to produce a crop. This normally takes about 4 months of good summer growing conditions and another 2 months for the "sprouts" to develop in the leaf axils.

Falling into a category of "winter vegetables" also leads to the sale of Broad Bean seedlings that tend to look like this in August and September-

They are straggly and collapsing over the edge of their container, growing too quickly from sowing too early.

Unlike the Brussels sprouts, that are 5 months to late, the Broad Beans are 2 months too early!!

Put simply--August is a stupid time to market winter vegetable seedlings!!

RESPONSIBILITIES

Asking who may be responsible for the inappropriate sale of the humble Brussels Sprout raises the question of exactly what we mean when we talk about responsibilities.
The fact that our question concerns a business activity opens up the discussion to a broad spectrum of ideas that hold (or fail to hold) society together. Responsibilites are the motivating, or de-motivating force that dominate life for almost everyone. So much of what we do every moment of the day often comes down to what we consider to be our responsibilities.
The need for a constant cash flow gets people out of bed and determines where they go most mornings- its a working life for the majority. Once at work there are a host of responsiblities to consider, and what I feel is a very unfortunate aspect to life... Hierarchy.

Responsibility and Hierarchy sit together to structure our lives, our behaviour and our thought processes.

Misused they are a very destructive combination, and they are misused on many occasions, every day.

Hierarchy is about order. It is also about dominance and subservience.

In our concern for Brussels Sprouts a mistake or misunderstanding at a higher level (the idea that something that is eaten as a winter vegetable should be marketed as winter approaches) results in the subservient layers in the hierarchy not questioning the practice. Many actually do this out of simple ignorance, very few people know what a Brussels Sprout actually is, even those working in the horticultural industry. But once informed the error remains, because hierarchies generate many layers of fear.

(This will take us into the realms of pschology, Greek mythology and a lot of divided opinion- a seperate entry will be linked here soon.)

This is drifting away from horticultural matters, such is the power of the Brussels Sprout. I think it is time for another topic... but perhaps we should not go without mentioning Celariac.

Do you know what Celariac is? Well, Celeriac is what they might try to sell you when they have sold out of Brussels Sprouts in September!

Pictured above, photographed on 13th September 2020, are a pack of seedling Celeriac being sold as a "winter vegetable". After reading about the Brussels Sprout debacle above would you buy this offering?

You might if, like the Garden Centre Management you are horticulturally naive.

It states on the label on the pack of seedlings above that the crop can be harvested from October to March. From seedling to harvestable crop takes around 100 days. October is just 17 days away for these plants... not quite long enough. They need to have produced a harvestable sized root before the cold weather arrives and are best with a covering of straw for frost protection if they are to be left in the ground rather than lifted for winter storage.
Celeriac is a biennial (like Brussels Sprouts) and given a cool over-wintering period, if they survive, they will go to seed.

So try not to take the Garden Centres offer very seriously.

The image below shows one of the Brussels sprout seedlings shown above (sold in September) after 8 weeks in the ground, photographed on the 1st of December.

24 days before Xmas dinner, this "winter vegetable" isn't going to provide any sustanence.

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