Our Annual General Meeting is an opportunity for you to join with us to find out what the Food Group has achieved over the past year, and our plans going forward.
It’s also an opportunity to let us know your thoughts on local food and your ideas for continuing to spread the word on its importance.
Continue reading “It’s time again for our Annual General Meeting – you are welcome to join us”
Lamb and lemon recipes are for some reason both associated with the Easter period. I feel that I have supplied you with a lot of savoury recipes in the past and so am giving you a dessert / cake recipe which includes lemons. Please buy the unwaxed ones if possible, or if you do get the waxed ones make sure you scrub the skins well as they have been sprayed.
Two tips, one = you get more juice from fruit if you roll it gently first with the palm of your hand, it breaks down the internal fibres and does work I promise! The Chef at Croydon Catering College taught me that one, or zap it briefly in the microwave he said. Continue reading “April Recipe: Lemon Ricotta Cake”
Sunday 9th July 2017 – a date for your diary
Our own annual Ledbury food and drink festival on the last day of the Ledbury Poetry Festival becomes part of the “Great Ledbury Celebration” this year and moves to Ledbury’s historic High Street market place to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the iconic Market House in a birthday treat of food, drink, music, poetry and heritage.
Arrangements for the event are bringing together organisations across Ledbury to put together a very special day, including Ledbury Town Council, Ledbury Poetry Festival, Ledbury Food Group, the Friends of the Master’s House, the Youth Council, the Ledbury Fringe, local businesses, traders and performers. Continue reading “The Great Ledbury Celebration – food, drink, music, poetry and heritage”
From Friday 7th April, Ledbury Country Market will be at its new home – the Burgage Hall, Church Lane, Ledbury, open between the same times as now 8.30pm to 1pm. The last market at St Katherine’s Hall was on 31st March.
The same friendly faces will be there to greet you with their very locally produced, locally grown and hand crafted produce including free range eggs, home grown fruit, vegetables and plants in their season, as well as a large choice of baked goods – cakes, biscuits, puddings, and savouries. Continue reading “Ledbury’s Country Market is on the move”
Buds are breaking on the Valor plum trees and hurrah, the blackthorn is in full blossom so the pollinators can get to work. These are our free workers so we try to make sure pollen is available early on by planting goat willow and keeping some of the hedges uncut for their early blossom. More on the importance of biodiversity later as what is more pressing is organising our 2017 harvest workers. Like all farmers we rely on seasonal labour to harvest our crops. In our case this means a group of Bulgarians who come every year for 3-5 months. Continue reading “Who is going to harvest our fruit this year?”
The pulses for this recipe you will be able to obtain from Handley Organics. Root vegetables are, of course, very much in season at this time of year, but such small quantities are required that you might want to leave out celeriac and double the quantity of carrots. You could mix the potatoes and use some sweet ones if desired. Continue reading “March Recipe: Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie with Goat’s Cheese Mash”
“Winter work? Surely there is nothing to do now it’s winter” How that makes our farm manager Clive laugh !
One of the foremost things on our minds is tree planting. Orchards are being continually renewed, driven by age, unprofitability and the never ending desire of consumers for the new. It is a necessary and huge commitment in every way not just financial. Other tasks at this time of the year include pruning, machinery maintenance, coppicing, logging, ditching, hedge cutting and planning labour for next season. On wet days catching up on research findings and never ending paperwork deserves a blog on its own ! Continue reading “Winter Work at Castle Fruit Farm”
