Welcome to this months edition of our newsletter. As always we have lots to tell you about! Much of this months activity has been on the farm. Despite the unpredictable weather we managed to get all our silage cut towards the end of June. The recent wet and warm weather has provided us with a bumper crop - almost twice as much as last year's that will keep our cattle fed when the weather turns and the grass stops growing later in the year. We will hope to be cutting again later in the summer when the grass has had time to grow again, as always we are dependant on mother nature for that though!
This week we have welcomed to the farm nine healthy Gloucesteshire Old Spot piglets that were born on Monday night. Over the next few weeks, you will see them playing about in the mud with their proud mum next to our allotments. All our Gloucesteshire Old Spot mum's are expecting so there will be plenty of little oinks larking about soon enough!
Kate has been trying to look on the bright side this month and ignore the rain, cold, wind and slugs. So in positive news: the yummy tender early broad beans are now available in the shop, along with her favourite lettuce variety: Marvel of 4 Seasons, a beautiful red crinkly butterhead. Plus the spring onions are now ready, and tomato plants are looking good in the tunnel - just need some more sun. The leeks been transplanted from the poly-tunnel and are now happily settling into their rows in the.field. Fingers crossed that July will be warm and sunny...
We have also had an update from Robert, our beekeeper extraordinaire. Last year our bees didn't enjoy the climate and so were unable to produce any honey but our hopes are higher this year. All the bees came through the winter very well and all six hives are looking healthy. The weather turned for the worse in April which didn't help matters and delayed any hopeful harvests as quite a bit of the honey reserves were gobbled up by the bees to keep them going through the horrible days (comfort eating!). As is the case with the rest of the farm we are in need of a calm, sunny period to get us going again. Lets keep our fingers crossed for honey later on in the summer!
The Bath Good Food Awards voting end this Saturday on 30th June. We have voting cards in the shop and you can also vote
on-line through this link. We are going for the "Best Farm Shop" category so if you think we've got what it take please vote for us before Saturday! Click where it says VOTE HERE on the right!
In June I sent Mum & Dad down to Exeter with some of our finest offerings from the farm shop to enter the 2012 Taste of The West Awards. They were armed with our home reared Aberdeen Angus Beef sirloin, homemade chicken liver pate, spinach & feta lasagne and our chocolate brownies. We should be hearing in the next few weeks about how we did so keep your fingers firmly crossed!
The long awaited, slightly sparkling version of Bob Honey's Midford Cider is now bottled and in the farm shop. We now have the sparkling version alongside the more traditional farmhouse cider and Bob Honey will be here on 7th of July to offer samples of both and talk about his cider making days in Midford, near Bath.
As Wimbledon kicks into action and British hopes are raised again we have the very best Somerset strawberries as well as a few of our own grown fruits to enjoy alongside uncle Geoff's Ivy House Farm cream. Summer is the time for fruits, we are currently enjoying some wonderful Wiltshire-grown gooseberries and soon to be, blueberries too. Nectarines & peaches have also just come into season and are beautifully ripe and juicy and best enjoyed now!
Throughout June we have had some fantastic, high welfare British veal in the counter. All our veal has come from the Jurassic Coast in Dorest and has proved really popular. Much media attention has been drawn towards veal recently and we have made the decision to back British produced veal as its a really tasty and healthy meat that is produced to extremely high standards of animal welfare and just as importantly supports British farming. More information on the farm we source our veal from and the veal industry is available through the following link,
Click here to read more on our Rose Veal...
Over the last couple of weeks we have been developing more great sausage recipes such as smoky barbecue pork, venison and our new version pork & fresh leek. In addition to this we have a few special offers from the butchery to take advantage of whether your dining indoors or out!
Pork
Chops 6 for £4
Homemade Beef Burgers 6 for £4.50
Marinated Chicken Skewers 10 for £8
Homemade Beef Burgers 6 for £4.50
Marinated Chicken Skewers 10 for £8
All our meat is cut straight from whole carcasses, in-house and so we are able to offer all the cuts from our own beef, pork and lamb. If you are tempted by a certain recipe, want to try out an old fashioned cut or just wanting something a bit unusual please let us know and we can prepare it especially for you.
From the kitchen this month we have launched our new range of homemade treats available from the deli counter. Along with our own scotch eggs we have tartlets, an assortment of pies and salads to compliment our other fine produce from the kitchen. Our homemade meat pies use only our own high welfare, high quality meat from our farm and local farmers. You can try our pies in the cafe too as we will have a select range on our daily specials board. Choose from Steak & Willy Good Ale, Lamb with Mint and New Potato, Chicken & Leek and Pea and Ham pies.
On July 14th we will be celebrating Bastille Day to give a bit continental flair to our events calendar! We will be hosting our first ever boules competition at the farm and teams can be entered now. If you wish to enter a team in this year's competition you will need to sign up in the shop. Team entry fee is £20 per team and proceeds will be going to Cancer Research UK.
We will also be joined by Great Western Wine from 12pm to taste some of our range of wines along with some cheese in true French fashion at our deli counter. A few french specials will be served up in the cafe too so not for the first time in the newsletter, lets hope the sun shines!
This month we have also launched WildFit. WildFit is a not-for-profit social enterprise that aims to make a real difference to the community. Specialist skills are used to design the ultimate fitness and well-being trails, parkour circuits and eco-gyms in the local community. Trails will set off from the farm shop on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for different abilities to get fit and enjoy the countryside. The first session is free so there's no excuse to try it out!
For more information on all our events check our noticeboard at the farm shop or our events page.
Flower workshops will be going ahead on 16th and 17th July. If you have always wanted to learn how to arrange a hand-tie of stunning flowers, now is your chance! Come and enjoy an evening with Young Blooms, pimms will be served and there will be a short demonstration from Grace & Laura. They will be on hand to guide you through as you learn how to create a hand-tie. Workshop cost will be £50 and will run from 7pm till 9pm, to book please phone 01225 580271, or 07980199452.
The BBC Good Food and Farming Awards have launched for 2012. This is what the awards are for...
"This award celebrates the local shops that enrich our lives, selling delicious, carefully sourced and affordable food. High street butchers, bakers and delis, farm and community shops - tell us what's great about their food, and the difference they make to your community and local food producers"
If you think we fit the bill please nominate us through the following link. Thanks!
BBC Food & Farming Awards Nominations 2012
We look forward to seeing you soon.
All the best,
Tom
