Good morning,
Reporting to you today from a chestnut farm in the south of France, where I camped last night on my Eat Pray Love tour of France & Spain - taking the eating part most seriously.
Between the boulangeries & apricot farms, I have caught up with the boots on the ground for your weekly farm update: the spring barley sown earlier this year in our new fields is showing signs of dehydration. The good news is our other fields are faring much better, which goes to show that years of cattle-led soil management does work in building resilience. Andrew & Nev have been plying the compost pile into some fields to protect the soil in case of a potential downpour.
They’ve made 750 bales of silage from 100 acres, and hope to get to 1,200 so we have plenty of reserves for the winter, should we have a similarly soggy spring next year. There are two groups of 30 cows & 30 calves rotationally grazing the fields, spending about 3 days in a paddock before moving on to the next.
The yard shop is open this Saturday 11-4pm and sells the best beef, cider & eggs in the village. Probably the county, possibly even the country. It’s certainly well worth popping in for a cold drink, have an amble around the farm and to pick up some thoughtfully grown grub for your weekend’s menu.
Our market is coming together brilliantly and we can now announce a few of the traders who will be joining us -
Sussex Gourmand (charcuterie and hampers), Rowdy & Fancys (chocolate covered strawberries), Slake (gin & vermouth), Gywn’s Bakery, Clare’s Chillies, Hand Brewery, Perfectly Preserved (jams), High Weald Dairy & Old Tree Kombucha. We will have hot food from 3Bros Burgers, SoPi Pizza and Slam, who will be serving nourishing boxes of local veg topped with something from the BBQ.
It is free to attend, but we’d appreciate you booking here so we have an idea of numbers - thank you!
And a couple of holiday snaps, which I know you didn’t ask for. A mug of delicious Breton cider in Sens, and Moo with a view in Ardèche. À bientôt.