Happy As Pigs in Muck

It's very difficult to find genuinely ethical pork: a lot of 'outdoor reared' or 'outdoor bred' meat in supermarkets has only spent a few weeks or so outside before being grown on in large sheds. Better than a life in an intensive pig farm, but not quite the free range existence you might imagine.

This week Rob and Em Lawrie showed us round their small holding, where hens roam free, Spike the farm cat purrs round your legs and 30 or so happy pigs are reared in wide open pens.  Brought inside when necessary, a local butcher slaughters and prepares the meat which you can buy at the farm gate.  Their weekends are currently taken up with running full service hot roasts so they aren't doing farmer's markets yet but if you're headed towards Nantwich, phone ahead and they'll let you know what they have available for collection.  We picked up 48 delicious sausages and a 10 person joint of pork for less than £25, with piglet cuddles thrown in for free.

Rob and Em with two of the latest litter - five days old, these little squealers were beyond cute.

 

 

Next week's sausages.  Two fine looking 8 month old Berkshire pigs.

Olly, age 7, gets friendly with Mummy pig.

We found them by chance online while looking for some new chickens to add to our back yard flock.  You don't get more 'local food' than eggs from the garden.  Rob and Em have a wide range of rare and heritage breed chickens - they also sell eggs for hatching, hens of various ages and feed if you fancy having a few feathered friends yourself.

Check out their website at www.harlequinfarm.co.uk

Jen Murphy

This one's for you, Meg!

I have a spring in my step this week.  A kind blog reader emailed in to show appreciation of our last post about using internet search engines:
"Great blog.  I always have a look on Riverford's website for inspiration as you can put in an ingredient and it will come up with applicable recipes...Am hoping to make February soup month, so here goes!", Meg.  Thanks so much for taking the time to email us, not least so we know we know that our witterings are relevant!

Meg's idea to dedicate February 'soup month' is a good one.  It could be a way to further develop a basic skill, is a cost effective way to feed lots of people, and soup can come in many guises.  What's that you are saying?  'Boring?'  No way...and I will prove it by telling you my top tips for keeping everyone soup savvy...

1. there are loads of different kinds of soups: lumpy ones (leek and potato), smooth (cream of carrot), international (thai chicken noodle), hybrid (lentil and bacon/broths/chowder), and we haven't even mentioned my killer minestrone yet.
2.  you can tart it up at the table (ooer!).  Putting a variety of foods on the table for eaters means they can customise their bowl, and is a good conversation starter.  Try grated cheese, posh oils, chopped celery leaves, fresh herbs, pesto loosened with olive oil, chopped mild chilli, toasted nuts, roasted vegetables, bread croutons, a big cheesey crouton.
3.  serving soup with homemade bread is always a crowd pleaser.  I haven't got time for a bread diversion here, but hope to get a guest blogger to share her tips soon.
4.  buy a new vegetable you haven't used before and do an internet search, such as 'Jerusalem artichoke soup'.
5.  buy a new spice mix.  My crowd pleaser here is 'ras al hanout'.  Someone once told me this is a 'bad housewives' spice in Morocco since it can make a success of any dish.  It has lovely warm spices and rose petals.  Use in a creamed soup of root vegetables.

If you are still in need of inspiration, take a leaf from Meg, and get a couple of foody websites on your 'favourites' bar, such as:
www.riverford.co.uk/recipes
www.rivercottage.net/recipes
www.bbc.co.uk/food
www.bbcgoodfood.com  (the GoodFood magazine has good ideas too)

Get in touch if you have any ways that you make a success of soup in your household.

Lisa Reid

Lost Mojo

Boy, am I glad to see February: January is a long month after the expense and over indulgence of Christmas.  Given that I've gone cold turkey on supermarket shopping and pay day is a long wait, I've been seeing how many meals I can make from what is lying around in the cupboards.

Before Christmas I had lost my cooking mojo, too frazzled with festivities to think most evenings, but now it's "Ready, Steady, Cook" every night as I attempt to rustle up something edible from that which is lurking in the darkest corners of my kitchen.

We're all hoarders when it comes to food.  Out of date spices at the back of a drawer; bargain joints of meat lost in the bowels of the freezer.  Most of us are sitting on a fortune of unused ingredients.  I've been checking out the Love Food Hate Waste campaign for advice as I try to avoid chucking perfectly good food for lack of inspiration.  (www.lovefoodhatewaste.com - they have a great newsletter available via email too)  Dig out forgotten bits and pieces, add in a few locally bought fresh ingredients and it's amazing how many different cheap tasty dinners you can produce.

One family I know goes online to maximise their food supplies - they have discovered a few family favourites by typing a list of what is left in the fridge into an internet search engine and seeing what it suggests.  Last night's squash, sweet potato and chestnut risotto was a hit.  Today's lunch of carrot, parsnip, swede and lentil soup finished off the rest of the soggy veg lurking in the fridge.  There is a recipe for the risotto listed at the bottom.  Roasting root vegetables gives them colour and added depth of flavour which stops them being too bland in something like a risotto. We'd love to hear about your successes with leftovers.  Why not tell us about them in the comments section?

Lisa Reid

Squash, sweet potato and chestnut risotto
serves 4

320g Arborio rice
1 small squash
1 large sweet potato
1 medium onion
Packet of ready to eat chestnuts/chestnuts leftover from Christmas defrosted
Vegetable stock

Chop and peel both the squash and potato, toss in oil, sprinkle with salt and roast in an oven for 40 mins until tender and crispy.
Meanwhile lightly fry the onions in some oil, add the rice and fry until translucent then gradually add the stock - stirring after each addition until the rice is cooked through. 
Add the chestnuts to heat through.
Add the cooked potato and squash then serve with plenty of black pepper and grated cheese.

Are You a Reward Card Slave?

It's hard work being a local food lover. At the end of a long day of work, with two hungry teenagers running on empty, there's nothing more tempting than a quick trip to Tesco to pick up an easy meal.

When I meet producers through the local food project or read about supermarkets delaying payments to farmers, it makes me more determined to cut back on the supermarket deals, but they can be soooo tempting.

Take the Tesco Clubcard for example, over the years we've had a family crossing on the Eurotunnel, a trip to Legoland and dinner out at Pizza Express. All handy when you are budgeting for a family of four. But what is the price of those points? The reality is that the pricing is cleverly pushing me into buying items I don't need, and the loyalty card tracks my habits in order to provide Tesco with information to more accurately brainwash me next time!

The average family with two teenagers in the UK fills their trolley to the tune of over £150 per week. The promise of BOGOFs and bonus points draws us back until we develop habits that are difficult to break. We are not always getting the best value and the hard pushed producers at the end of the food chain are being more aggressively squeezed than ever. Over time we fall out of the habit of shopping around, eating seasonally and picking up real bargains locally. 

So, what to do? Well I've made a brave decision: I've cut up my loyalty cards. I'm kicking that habit and going supermarket cold turkey. For branded items I will use the village co-op, but for 2015 I'll be a reward card slave no more!

Local Markets

We've got another busy weekend ahead in our house. I guess that is the case for most people this month. I visited a department store today and was full of empathy for the staff working through this mad period.  They seemed to be bearing up, but only just!

Lymm Sunday Market

It was a totally different experience at the last Sunday Market held at Lymm Youth Club. It was re-launched by Roni (of cupcake fame) in September. She did a terrific job attracting back the food sellers who are needed to make a market successful. She had done a cracking job with the advertising too because the place was busy with customers, and there was a good atmosphere. Food sellers included Kenyon Hall Farm, The Talking Bee (jams & chutneys) and Ken Webb butcher. The next  market is 21st December 11-4.

Talking of markets...it is Abbey Leys Farmer's market this coming Sunday. I will be there running a kids craft stall free of charge and Santa will be there courtesy of the Rotary club.

Apologies for the lack of pictures...my laptop only put in a brief appearance last week before dying again. Don't forget, I simply write this blog based on my experiences: it isn't advertising because I am not paid to write the blog or Twitter feed (@LymmFood). If you have any recommendations you would like to pass on, please email me at Low Carbon Lymm or complete the comments section below. 

Lisa Reid

Love It or Hate It?

Love-Hate
I have a love-hate relationship with both Christmas and technology.  When technology is working fine, I incorporate it into my life and love exploiting its many advantages.  When an individual gadget inevitably stops working, I really do want to throw it through the window.  Such has been the case with my trusty laptop over the last couple of weeks - hence my lack of postings since Hallowe'en. I feel a similar way about Christmas.  I love the genuine sentiment of giving small gifts to family, but hate that there are now shoppers behaving so badly that police were called in many supermarkets yesterday.  We must all make the festive season into whatever celebration we love, and avoid being sucked into someone else's idea of the perfect Christmas.

Festive Cheer
I guess it won't take a genius to work out that if I am spending money this month, I am going to spend as much as possible of it locally, and I will opt out of buying through huge internet-based corporations who pay little UK tax.  The upcoming farmer's markets will be especially lovely this month because they will make an extra effort to have Christmas goodies and a cheerful atmosphere to make even the most hardened Scrooge smile. 

Turkey
I took time out last week to visit Nigel and his family at Broomedge Farm near the Jolly Thresher.  They are extremely busy looking after lots of turkeys in the couple of months before the big day.  They take delivery of the white turkey chicks in August.  The turkeys are barn-reared, hand plucked and game hung for a good taste. 

I was impressed by how happy and well the turkeys looked.  To my knowledge, they are the only turkeys for sale in Lymm which are guaranteed to be both bred and sold here...so truly local.  Nigel is always happy to show people the turkeys, so pop in and have a look.  You can order in person, give them a ring on 01925-752830 or 07979 785421, or email info@broomedgefarm.co.uk

Lisa Reid

All set for the weekend?

Weather
In our house before we consider what to do at the weekend, we first check the met office for an up-to-date weather forecast.  The good news is that it will be largely dry during the daytime this coming weekend...great for all those getting out and about for Halloween or Bonfire evenings.  It will be windy at times - so that is a happy husband for me because he will no doubt squeeze a windsurfing trip in at some point. 

Children
Next on our list of considerations is whether the kids have any commitments.  As it is half term, there are only two things on, so if we do man-on-man marking then that leaves lots of spare adult time.  Oh, while we are on the subject of kids, the wee darlings have been busy carving those pumpkins I blogged about last week:

...and one of them is currently icing some skull biscuits to give away to doorstep callers.

Food
No weekend is complete in our house without some quality food to share around the family table.  As it is Abbey Leys farmer's market (https://www.facebook.com/AbbeyLeysFarmersMarket) this coming Sunday from 10am that is sorted too.  Come Sunday morning, we will be heading down there to buy some truly wonderful grub.  Janet and Tim invite a coffee van every month, and when he isn't available, they lay on hot drinks under a gazebo - so you are always assured of a cuppa to go with your food buys.  They are opening up the old shop for customers to use as a place to eat and drink, or keep the kids busy for a while with a kids activity. 

This fabulous market is very different from those labelled 'Artisan'.  You won't find ornate signage or much gingham bunting.  What you will see is really good food and drink that you can buy from the people who made or farmed it.  That makes a massive difference for lots of reasons.  You can ask the producer any questions you like, which I frequently do; the food hasn't been hanging around in a food chain for ages so it is really fresh; there are minimal food miles; and since the farmer gets loads of direct feedback, the food is top quality. 

Coupled with a hot cup of tea and kids activities, I know what will be top of my list for the weekend.  Hope to see you there.

Lisa Reid

It's a scoop

Spoiler warning: there will be a smattering of pumpkin related puns running through the post!

I officially have pumpkin envy this week.  Regular readers of the blog will be aware that I started to cultivate a friend's unused vegetable plots in January.  I have enjoyed the experience and learned a lot.  Much of what is learned in a food growing situation sticks.  Teachers among us would credit that to the fact that it is learned through doing - 'experiential'.  I am slightly less theoretical than that - if you are faced with literally dozens of radishes to eat because you hadn't realised you should repeat sow them every fortnight - you remember next time!

Harvest
I have harvested 4 pumpkins from the plot.

They are ripening nicely on my window ledge, and I was looking forward to stalking (groan!) the trick or treaters with a scary carving or two. 

New beginnings
At the beginning of September I took on a small allotment at the Star Lane site in Lymm.  It is about 10 x 11 metres and I have had great fun getting the shed, composters and beds ready for action.  My sons came down with me on a beautiful Sunday two weeks ago and we planted garlic, Japanese onions and broad beans.  On a visit this week to check for wind damage, I found that the onions and garlic have sprouted. 

This is no doubt aided by the copious manure I have been ferrying down there from a local stables. 

I remembered that one of the very experienced allotment holders had offered his pumpkins for a small donation.  Hence the source of my pumpkin envy.  They are gargantuan.  He has certainly carved (groan!) up the competition.  Still, that is the beauty of having an allotment: people are always willing to share tips.  Come May 2015 I'll be hot footing it down to Neil's plot to ask how he does it.

Have fun at Halloween, and don't forget to ask if the pumpkins you are buying are UK grown.  Even if they are not, it will encourage the seller to source them closer to home next year.

Lisa Reid

Moss Brow Farm

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Moss Brow Farm (Paddock Lane, Warburton WA13 9TJ).  I haven't been before because living at the other end of Lymm means I rarely travel down that road.  The first picture is dark because the sun was shining directly into the road that day!

There is a good range of fruit & vegetables, eggs, honey and some marmelade.  Like my other favourite farm shops, they stock as much of their own produce as  is growing in that season (in this case - potatoes, cauliflowers and cabbages), buy local produce directly from other farmers, then top up with items from further afield at the wholesale market to make a full range available all year round. Whilst it would be lovely to shop for local fruit and vegetables all year round, the truth is that in our climate we simply can't grow a wide enough range to satisfy demand

As the Cleggs showed me round their shop, it was clear they were proud to stock a lot of their own produce, and to support their neighbours because most of the stunning vegetables there were local...some more unusual than others.

The thing I liked best about Moss Brow was the value for money. I was about to leave the shop having bought much more than I intended, when a man came in to buy the deal advertised at the gate - '2 caulis for £1'.  My jaw literally dropped.  I was compelled to buy what I can only describe as the 2 biggest cauliflowers I have ever seen.  They were 30cm wide.  I gave one to a friend, who had to remove a shelf from her fridge to accommodate it.

They will have local sprouts soon, so bear them in mind for vegetables to go with your roast dinners. The shop is easy to find, because it is over the read from the Saracen's Head pub and near the corner where you turn to go to Dunham Massey.  Just make sure you take plenty of large bags!

Lisa Reid

Let's Celebrate?

It would be easy at this time of year to be fed up about the passing of a gorgeous summer.  I have found this week, though, that I am embracing the change by getting stuck in to some autumnal recipes - and some of you have written to say that you have too:

Sue O'Connor bought some Carlisle Codlin and Baker's Delicious apples from the Oughtrington community orchard at the Lymm Produce Show.  She created a different version of apple crumble using a Raymond Blanc recipe  http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/778642/apple-and-blackberry-crumble

After a bumper crop of raspberries at her allotment, Zoe Cohen sent in a picture of her raspberry, cinnamon and raisin muffins.  They look healthy enough to eat for breakfast, don't they?

My autumnal fare, has included picking my 2.7metre tall sunflower to use as a centre piece for a family meal on top of a bowl of conkers:

I fell in love with some rainbow chard at the Abbey Leys farmer's market on Sunday and bought far too much.  A quick internet search 'can I freeze chard' revealed that I could (phew!), so that is waiting in the freezer for another meal.

Sometimes we get stuck in a rut, even with our favourite vegetables.  Consequently, I have written some recipe cards for parsnip and celeriac to take to Lymm market on Thursday.  Look out for them next to those two lovely British vegetables if you are stuck for ideas.

Lisa Reid plus help from Zoe and Sue - thanks!

What a big delivery

Abbey Leys Visit
I was out and about today having a chat with a local food suppliers - but more about that in a minute.  I popped in to see Janet and Tim at Abbey Leys Farm on Peacock Lane in High Legh.  They host our most local farmer's market which happens monthly on the first Sunday of each month.  That means that you can pop along this coming Sunday to shop for really super local produce.  Tim had just received a delivery of terrific pumpkins - and as you can see one of them almost filled a wheelbarrow.  Until today I thought huge veg like that was only to be seen in county shows.  It certainly made me smile.  They had a lovely array of veg grown in the Farmstart field - which Andrew and I have mentioned in previous blogposts. 

Low Carbon Lymm
The LCL food team are taking stock of their activities at the moment: ensuring their activities match what the local suppliers want, and thinking up some new ideas to enthuse the public about eating local.  We are visiting some of the suppliers to find out what may have changed since we last saw them, and we are interested in hearing from any of you too.  You are very welcome to tell us what you think about our activities, what you would like to see us doing to support local suppliers, or anything about local food & drink generally.  You can email us at lisa.reid0902@gmail.com or pop along to our next LCL meeting in the function room at the Golden Fleece at 1930 on Monday 13th October. 

Lisa Reid

What a week

Lymm Produce Show
It has been the most amazing week.  Last Sunday we hosted another successful Lymm Produce Show at Oughtrington Community Orchard (http://www.oughtrington.co.uk/orchard/).  I felt it was a significant show this year.  The previous shows have been great: people who make or grow food and drink locally getting together to celebrate their efforts.  This year was different in that it had an even bigger feel-good factor than normal.  Everyone registering in the morning 9-11 slot was incredibly enthusiastic about their entries even if they had a go at a loaf of bread for the first time that morning.  In the afternoon, we saw lots more community groups gathered in gazebos on the field.  All that additional zeal gladdens the heart, but my favourite part of the day is seeing people walking home with the produce they have bid for in the auction chatting about what they will make for tea with it.

A revelation!
We were lucky to host a stall with Farmstart produce at the Produce Show.  Regular readers of the blog will have seen mentions of their wonderful work growing organic produce a couple of miles from Lymm.  I brought home a goody bag of their great veg.  I'm such a veggie lover (not a bonefide veggie, but just love great vegetables) that when I find great veg, I just buy a selection and then have fun googling what to do with it all when I return home.  I also love to buy a random item which I haven't experienced.  This time the random item was radicchio.  What a revelation that has been!  I braised it on top of flaky pastry (I didn't get to eat any as the kids wolfed the lot!!).  I have simmered it then added to a vegetable pasta dish, and lastly my son added it to his school food technology recipe for vegetable soup.  It is also good as a salad leaf.  Overall, I found it to be quite bitter, but if used with sweeter vegetables or finely chopped in salads it is great.  The braising would have been better if I'd tossed in some oil, I feel.

Runner Beans in a Thali
The last picture is the Indian thali meal we created to use up a mountain of runner beans harvested from my allotment.  We use Madhur Jaffrey's spicy green bean recipe (http://dinnercoop.cs.cmu.edu/dinnercoop/Recipes/sanjiv/MasaledarSem.html) with anything like beans or okra.  On this occasion, the beans were quite big so we simmered them until quite soft.  Delicious.  The chicken was cooked up using Pattak's tikka paste.  I used Hugh's dhal recipe for the puy lentils(http://www.welovethisbook.com/features/hugh-fearnley-whittingstalls-dahl), just cooking them for longer than the recipe, which uses red lentils. 

A big thank you to all those that supported the 2014 Produce Show.  Not least Lymm.me who wrote a lovely article (http://www.lymm.me/grown-lymm/) in support of our efforts.

Lisa Reid

Abbey Leys Farmers Market

We've mentioned Farmstart a couple of times in this blog, but last weekend at the Abbey Leys Farmers Market was the first time I had seen their stall: and what a bountiful supply of locally grown veg it was. They had some beautiful disc shaped courgettes, beans, tomatoes, onions and peppers - along with everything else you can see on the picture. The stall looked so fresh and appealing!

I picked up quite a bit, including some of the long finger shaped peppers - which I took home and stuffed with a variety of things, including cheese, before roasting off in the oven.

All the fruit and veg that they sell is grown on local farms by local people, and I felt the prices were really cheap when compared to the supermarkets. Everything was priced in pence not pounds - so it was pleasing to only have to hand over a couple of quid for a bag full of veg.

You can also pick up amazing pies, cakes, chocolate, natural juices, meat - in fact you could easily do a weekly food shop there....

Abbey Leys Farmers Market is the first sunday of the month, so the next one is 5th October. Why don't you take 20 mins out of your day to pop down and have a look at the stalls? Let us know what your favourite buy was!

Just showing off?

2014 Produce Show
It's here at last: this year's Lymm Produce Show is on Sunday!  Do you remember last year how fabulously funky the orchard looked decked out in the Guerilla knitting?  Well here is a picture of it hanging up after I had washed it.  There were metres and metres of it.  The other picture is of the 3rd Lymm Scouts helping maintain the orchard in July.  The cubs and scouts needed a temporary meeting space while their hut was being rebuilt.  They offered to help at the orchard in exchange for us hosting them for a couple of meetings.  It was a win-win situation!  They did a great job cutting the hedge and creating some new habitats for bugs.  The craftwork they also did will be on display in the orchard on Sunday.  I hope it will be as eye-catching as the knitting was, and it will be a relief not to have to wash it afterwards!

Why not enter?
The show is run by a team of volunteers from the Oughtrington Community Orchard.  While there are rules and classes to ensure everything is run fairly, it is a relaxed day which celebrates all that is great about growing or making your own produce.  I enjoy marvelling at the monster vegetables which appear in the bigger county shows, but growing a metre long carrot isn't really my thing.  Even if you haven't got a garden, there are some categories such as baking which you can have a go at, and some great categories just for children.  Click on this link to browse the categories: http://www.oughtrington.co.uk/orchard/produce_show_2014.html

Or just come down and eat cake?
If you don't fancy entering, then pop down between 2-4pm when there will be all sorts going on.  There are all the usual favourites such as 'Ask the Expert', but new activities too, such as the Farmstart project selling their locally grown produce.

I hope to see you there...I'll be the one struggling in with a 2 metre tall sunflower!

Lisa Reid

Easy pickings and Local Veg at Abbey Leys

Whilst Lisa normally does all of the work blogging and promoting the food produced in around Lymm, she is not alone in her love of all things tasty and local. She has kindly let me loose on the blog, so I can tell you about my local food adventures too.

First things first though - Last time she posted, Lisa mentioned the FarmStart Manchester and Manchester Veg People, supplying Abbey Leys Farm. Janet has been on recently to let us know that there are locally grown onions, carrots and courgettes available now at the shop, along with all the normal veg and goodies they sell. I'm thinking rare breed pork sausages (also sold at Abbey Leys) with some of the onions, nicely caramelised. Maybe I'll even go for some buttery carrot mash. The weather we have been having over the last few days is already make me think of hearty winter food!

Very berry!

In the last couple of day I went for a walk with my four year old, a friend and her two young children. My friend (another Lisa!), has an annual tradition of going blackberry picking. Even though I have lived in a house backing on to the TPT for 7 years, I have never noticed the vast quantities of berries. Lisa opened my eyes!

After about half an hour of being waist and shoulder deep in prickly bushes, only a few metres from the Star pub, we had two large boxes of blackberrys between us. We would have had three, had the kids not been eating every other berry! I'm promised that with a few of the cooking apples out of our garden, the berries will make a very tasty crumble.....

There are still plenty of berries out there if you fancy getting some for yourself???

Andy Morris

A Quick Update

Good news guys...the Farmstart project that I wrote of in my last blog does have produce for sale locally.  They have some food leftover from supplying the Manchester food network, and it is for sale at the Abbey Leys farm shop (http://www.abbeyleys.co.uk/).  They currently have tomatoes and courgettes.

That is a good excuse for a recipe link, I think!  Of course, there is the popular summer stew - ratatouille to make with those two items.  However, what to create when there are no aubergines?  Have no fear because BBC Good Food has 92 recipes listed which include tomato and courgette! (http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/search/recipes?query=courgette+tomato&=Search)  I'd love to hear how you get on with some of those if I see you out and about in Lymm.  Alas, no photos again on this blog posting I'm afraid.  I'll rectify that next time because my next posting will be about the build up to the Lymm Produce Show on Sunday 7th September...so start planning what you will bring!

Lisa Reid

A complete circle

It was in somewhat different weather that I posted a blog a couple of Sundays ago to say I was heading off on the walk with the Kindling Trust.  I came home weary after an afternoon spent cycling and walking the rolling Cheshire countryside.  It was well worth it, though, to hear about their amazing work. 

Kindling Trust
They have a range of activities under the general 'Kindling' umbrella, and their overall vision is to have a farm near Manchester which sustainably supplies its community with its own produce (http://www.kindling.org.uk/home).  This is a simple vision, but in practice is difficult to implement.  That has not stopped the people involved giving their seemingly endless drive and enthusiasm to push it forward.  'What has all that got to do with the people of Lymm?'  I hear you cry!  Well as well as being a really interesting concept which we can keep an eye on as a role model for the future of all communities, they are training the next generation of growers on our doorstep as part of their Farmstart initiative.  (http://www.kindling.org.uk/farmstart)  You may aware of some of the barriers of entry to farming such as capital, and the fact that those entry barriers as well as other factors are creating a very high average age for farmers.  Farmstart is basically an incubator where would-be farmers can try it out in a supportive setting. 

Produce
I now share a small allotment with friends and it has been incredibly hard work to start up.  At some times of year growing food is very labour intensive, so Kindling again come to the rescue for the farmers:  they encourage anyone that wants to work outdoors to join their Land Army and help out the growers by giving a day of their time.  That hard work is reaping rewards.  Farmstart now successfully supply Manchester Veg People (http://www.kindling.org.uk/projects/manchester-veg-people) - another Kindling initiave which coordinates the supply and demand of some local food in Manchester. 

So basically, we visited a farming initiative on our doorstep which aims to coordinate and support the full circle of supply and demand for local food in the Manchester area.  It was quite humbling to talk to such enthusiastic people, and certainly made me more passionate about local food than ever.  We can support this work by looking out for their food at the Abbey Leys farm shop or their farmer's market.  The next market is on the first Sunday of the month as usual - Sunday 7th September.  The food you will see to buy will be any gluts they have left over from supplying Manchester Veg People.  Organic food grown just a couple of miles away...I will definitely be first in the queue for that stall!

Lisa Reid

A Silver Lining to the Clouds?

Bumper crops
I think it is fair to say that we have been having a beautiful summer this year.  I am so pleased that is has also meant lots of successful harvests so far, unless you are one of the unfortunate growers who have had their home-grown food eaten by a bumper year for slugs.  I'm afraid that I have been so overwhelmed with my small land share plot and helping a friend get her new allotment in shape, that I took my eye off some of my plants.  As a result, I have found aphids a problem.  I tried a spraying with soap solution, but they were too well established for it to make much difference.  I have had a visit from loads of caterpillars on my rocket.  I didn't mind at all since I had a rocket glut, and they have to live somewhere!  When giving away my rocket surplus it has been fun informing friends to watch out for the caterpillars hitching a ride. 

Silver lining
I took this picture a few days ago.  The other adults in the house had gone to work and the kids were still asleep, so I sneaked outside to breakfast in peace.  Bliss!  I was hoping to blog about my intentions to repeat this over the summer whenever my working hours allow, but the weather has other plans.  It will rain, rain, rain until next week at least.  Those who grow food on a larger scale will be glad of the rain but I am happy with an Indian summer because I can water my small plots by hand.  So if I don't need rain for my garden, what will the silver lining be to poor weather?  Well, I guess the aphids will have a hard time clinging on to my sweet peas in downpours[cue evil laugh]!

Lisa Reid

Walking this afternoon in the Cheshire sun

I've been offline for a few weeks because we have had a virus in our house, which has left us all out of sorts.  One of the symptoms was a heavy cold - no fun in this heat!  Luckily the allotment I have taken on with two friends is under control and things are looking beautiful at my land share as my annual flowers flourish....but more about those things on another blog post.

I'm off to see the lovely Janet and Tim at Abbey Leys farm on this side of High Legh today.  I visit their farm a lot either for the well-stocked farm shop or the monthly farmer's market.  I visit for a different purpose today. 

Farmstart
Janet and Tim have been working with Farmstart, (www.kindling.org.uk/farmstart).  This involves some volunteers and new growers using land to learn farming with support.  I can't imagine how difficult it would be if I decided I wanted to be a farmer - it is one thing to visit a farm.  However, deciding properly if it was the right thing for me would be really hard.  This project gives budding (excuse the pun!) growers the chance to make a start.  They also use The Greater Manchester Land Army volunteers.  I'm being sketchy on detail here, but that is for a good reason: I don't know any more.  That is going to be rectified today.

Walk on the Wild Side
Farmstart are hosting a walk this afternoon from 1pm.  Meet at Abbey Leys farm (http://www.abbeyleys.co.uk/).  We will have a farm tour, eat some cake and walk about 4 miles through the surrounding countryside to see the Farmstart initiative.  They will ask for a contribution towards the cost of refreshments and the work of the Prince's Countryside Trust Fund.  As well as finding out about the work on the farm, the new initiative and eating some of Janet's tasty cakes, we will be celebrating all that is great about the countryside.  That won't be hard on such a stunning day. 

So, if you fancy getting away from it all and don't want to do battle on a motorway to get to a beach -  I'll see you there.

Lisa Reid

A Big Welcome to July

What an absolute whirlwind June has been...I was glancing back through my photos this week and it helped bring home what I have crammed in to one short month.  As per usual with my photos, I have more of food & drink than I do of my kids (I can imagine them having therapy when they are older as a consequence!).  This month is slightly unusual in that Lymm Festival has made a big appearance too.  What did you manage to book from the huge choice of activities? 

Foodfest
Low Carbon Lymm were part of the festival from the start at Foodfest 2014.  It was no chore to share some great local food and drink with you all on a sunny evening.  I was a little hesitant about how the samples would be received, but you were complete stars...even guessing the identity of the rogue supermarket Cheshire cheese.  We moved our local food roadshow to Statham the week after for their annual summer fair.  There we spoke to more great people about local produce.  The overwhelming message was positive.  People want to eat more local food, and in many cases just didn't know where to buy it.  If that applies to you, check out our interactive map:  http://bit.ly/1re6lal

Local Summer Food
I think eating seasonal local food it a breeze in summer in any culture because of the prevalence of tasty fruit and vegetables, and Cheshire is no different.  I have had some melt-in-the-mouth new potatoes from the farm on the junction of Weaste Lane and Halfacre Lane over the last few weeks.  The farmer grows his own, so you know they have only a couple of food miles to arrive on your plate.  We currently eat them by the pan full - hot or cold.  My favourite idea is using rocket or broad bean pesto on them (put some rocket or blanched young broad beans with walnuts, strong flavoured cheese, rapeseed oil, seasoning and lemon juice in a blender).  This is a brilliant way to use up a glut of vegetables in a mostly UK pesto (it is possible to buy Yorkshire rapeseed oil in Tesco now at a reasonable price) and yet another excuse to eat Cheshire spuds. Yum.

Lisa Reid