91Èȱ¬

Spring flowers – we all welcome the colour they bring to our countryside as winter recedes. So Matt’s travelled to Lincolnshire to see how innovative technology is helping one family business compete with international suppliers, growing one of our favourite cut flowers – the Tulip. The fields of vibrant coloured blooms were once a destination for UK day-trippers looking for their spring flower fix, but competition from Dutch imports saw them almost disappear. But now, British growers are making a comeback.

As spring brings new life across the land, the season transforms the sea as well. Beneath the waves, plankton blooms signal the start of a marine feeding frenzy and the arrival of some unusual visitors. Ellie joins a team of marine wildlife experts tracking down one of our most mysterious sea-creatures – the jellyfish. She embarks on a wildlife safari with a difference, taking to the water in a sea kayak.

Spring - one of the best times of the year to forage for wild foods and the pressure is on to find new ways to tantalise our taste buds. John Craven joins professional foragers chasing the seasons to provide the nation’s top chefs and the Wild Beer Company in Somerset. This pioneering farmhouse brewery has created a range of seasonal beers using unusual foraged ingredients. John broadens his beer-drinking horizons, tasting their first batch of Spring Beer made with Linden and Beech leaves - capturing the taste of spring, in a glass.

Every spring countless visitors head outdoors to enjoy the best of our countryside, from our shorelines, to our highest peaks. We join the UK’s only female Fells Ranger, Sarah Anderson, on her journey to the top of our highest mountain – Scafell Pike. Spring for the Fells Rangers signals the start of the Fix The Fells project. With the help of a highly skilled helicopter pilot, Sarah and her team must move hundreds of tonnes of stone and rock up the mountain to the fell pathways, to ensure we are all able to enjoy walking them, for years to come.

Back in Lincolnshire Matt’s with the Ellis family they’re leading the way in cut flower production with their giant glasshouses, hydroponic growing systems and the only machine in the world that can automatically create multi-coloured bunches of tulips. But what about the flowers still produced out in the fields? An unusually dry spring has resulted in moisture-stressed crops, but why is our weather so unpredictable? John Hammond pays a visit to the flower farm to explain spring weather using a digger, a hosepipe and a peony!

This year celebrates the 200th anniversary of livestock auction marts and Adam is keen to learn about their history. 85% of store and breeding animals sold in the UK pass through these markets and Adam heads off to Exeter to join in one of the first spring lamb auctions of the year. After some expert tuition from Auctioneer, Russell Steer, Adam takes the stand – but will his auctioneering skills cut the mustard?

Steve Brown Joins Mercury-prize nominated folk musician Sam Lee for a gig with a difference. Sam’s hosting special woodland-based sessions this spring, which aim to encourage Nightingales to sing along. The first ever 91Èȱ¬ outside radio broadcast, recorded Cellist, Beatrice Harrison, playing her cello in her garden, accompanied by the spectacular song of the Nightingale. Steve meets the Anglian Water conservation team and local Wildlife Trust, who are working to encourage Nightingales back to their breeding grounds. Sadly, their numbers have declined by 90% in just 100 years.

Ellie is in North Cornwall with Padstow-based Michelin-starred Chef, Paul Ainsworth. They hop on the Black Tor Ferry from Padstow to Rock, to discover some of the best seasonal produce, available right on his doorstep. From St. Enodoc asparagus to Porthilly oysters – the local network of suppliers have become an extended family. Ellie dons her chef’s whites to help Paul create a spectacular seasonal feast. But will she overcome her dislike of oysters, will Paul’s spring recipe convert her?