“In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.”
William Blake.
With Autumn now well and truly upon us and lots of lovely Christmas goodies arriving on an almost daily basis, it feels like only last week I was sitting down to write last year’s column.
It’s been something of a tumultuous year here at the Farm Shop as well as on the Farm. The weather has been perfect for our vegetables and we are seeing some fantastic food coming into the shop cut fresh every morning and into us in less than 10 minutes. Beat that supermarkets!
Our free range turkeys and geese are growing well with the mild weather meaning they can spend more time outdoors foraging for food. Last year some of you may remember we were crowned the inaugural National Game Champion and on the back of that we have seen big increase in not only sales but also in the amount of local shoots wanting supply into us. One of the things the judges commended us on was how we were trying to educate the public on not only the food and how fantastic and easy it is to cook, but also the role shooting serves with regards to land management.
Harvest on the farm this year was difficult to say the least. Our Farm Manager and Company Director Andrew sadly passed away (more on this inside) and the terrible weather meant big delays, right at the time when they couldn’t have any, but all the lads stayed resolute and in true Blagdon fashion got everything in. High winds and torrential rain when combined really do make a mess and the wet soil makes vehicle movement virtually impossible.
The issue of farming sustainably has always been at the front of our minds here at Blagdon (we were one of the very first LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming) farms in the UK and its only right the shop should follow suit so over the last 12 months we have been doing all we can to reduce our carbon footprint, more on which I discuss on page 2.
So in closing, can I thank you all for you continuing custom and support over the last 12 months I would like to wish you and all those close to you a very Happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
After what seemed like one of the mildest winters on record here at Blagdon our eyes are now firmly focused on looking for the early signs of Spring.
Springtime is a very special (and busy) time here at the farm shop with all those little things being put in place, ready so we...
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