Lemons, peppers, almonds and buses

Photo: Randi Hausken

There were a few "what's not to like" factors for me when I picked up Driving Over Lemons. The first was that the company I worked for had just been acquired by a Spanish parent company and I was hungry for anything on the geography and culture of my new employers, the second was having more than a passing interest in farming/horticulture and the clincher was that Chris Stewart was an-ex drummer of Genesis. He played on their first single Silent Sun and a few other pieces although they were barely more than a glint in Jonathan King's eye at the time. Genesis had a few other forgotten drummers before Phil Collins finally filled the seat but Chris was one of the five originals. He chose a different path and, whether or not it was as lucrative as some, you have to admire the rich and rewarding life he has built for himself and his family at the remote farm of El Valero in the Granada province of Las Alpujarras.in Andalucia.

In the Last Days of the Bus Club he writes engagingly about serving Wild Boar to Rick Stein, how not to start a tractor, doing an author tour with a sheep shearer, having to consult a hands-on faith healer about his inflamed private parts, the devastating affects of flash floods and most poignantly about having to let his daughter out into the wide world (the bus club of the title being the end of meeting fellow parents at the school bus).