Saturday 27 August 2011

Autumn Arrives at Hartley Farm


As September starts to arrive I always look forward to more autumnal scenes in the countryside and the seasonal food available suddenly turns heartier. Salads and soft fruits give way to roots and with it summer spreads turn to stews and casseroles.

Wrapping hay bales.
The twelfth of August marks the “Glorious Twelfth” when Grouse comes into season. Duck, Partridge and Pheasant follow on from the start of September for the first two and a month later for the latter. Local game will be available from our counter as usual but be sure to order with Ed to avoid disappointment!

To help us make the best use of all this wonderful seasonal produce on our doorstep we have managed to convince our newest member of the Hartley Farm team to join us. Our new chef, Ollie, has been working with us for some time from a kitchen in the Cotswolds and some of you may have met him at our Christmas Fayre a couple of years ago. He brings with him a tremendous wealth of experience, knowledge and passion for working with food and as our farm continues to grow and produce more and more food the opportunity to join us here and put to best use all our home grown produce must have been too mouth watering!

Already we have seen steak & ales pies, vegetable terrines and baked egg custard tarts all with made with produce from Hartley Farm.

From the 17th September to 2nd October we will be celebrating British Food Fortnight in the shop. Details of how you can get involved and events at the farm will be on our website and also available in our newsletter. You can be sure that plenty of brilliant British grub will be the headline throughout the fortnight!

We look forward to seeing you all soon

All the best
Tom