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AUTUMN NEWSLETTER 2008
SEE US in the JUNE issue of 'COUNTRY LIVING'MAGAZINE and the JULY issue of 'ENGLISH GARDEN' MAGAZINE! If you missed them in the summer, you'll probably find them in the doctor's or dentist's waiting room! Chef GORDON RAMSEY featured our unique culinary lavender essence and culinary lavender heads on his TV show 'The F Word' on Tuesday 1st July, making a raspberry and blueberry couli with Greek yoghurt and honeycomb. The recipe is available on the Channel 4 website. And those who are up early on a Sunday morning may have heard us on the BBC Radio 4 'On Your Farm' programme in early August. The LAVENDER SEASON EVENTS of food tastings, painting days, aromatherapy massages and tours were all enthusiastically supported again this year, with thousands of visitors to the farm. HOP PICKING started in mid August, with the bines looking wonderfully full and green this year - no doubt thanks to all the rain! Lots of fresh bines have been despatched around the country - including a vanload to southern Ireland for the filming of Season Three of the TV series 'The Tudors'. Dried bines are also now available and will be in stock throughout the year. PYO APPLES. The recent rain has also benefitted the apple crop and the orchard's trees are weighted down with the glorious red fruits. The orchards will be open for PYO apples (Norfolk Royals and Cox) from Thursday 11th September until Sunday 12th October - weekdays 1pm - 5pm, weekends 10am - 5pm. Please note if the very weather is wet on a particular day, we may close the orchards and just sell the apples from the shop - so, if in doubt, please phone before making a special journey. HARVEST FESTIVALS. It's the time of year when stooks and sheaves of wheat are in big demand for decorating harvest festivals. They are generally made up to order so give us a ring if you need lots! ENGLISH-MADE OVENPROOF POTTERY. As part of our drive to provide 'wholesome' and unusual home-ware, we have sourced a range of English terracotta pots including chicken bricks - pottery containers for slow cooking meat (including beef) to retain its moisture and full flavour. HAMPERS are going to be a major theme for our shop this autumn, with lots of gift ideas for using local traceable 'green' produce. OTHER NEWS It's been a good year so far for THE HOP SHOP - not only were we selected as one of the 8 FINALISTS in a national competition to find the 2008 FARM SHOP OF THE YEAR - but... the whole farm was judged the WINNER of the ENVIRONMENT AWARDS FOR KENT BUSINESS for SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MANAGEMENT and we featured on ITV's 'Tales from the Country'. The competition was amongst all types of businesses (not just farming) and assessed our policies of environmental awareness, practical conservation measures (such as hedgerow and grassland management), buying policies (including support for local businesses and fair trade schemes) and the implementation of systems for recycling packaging and waste materials. REMEMBER - WE ARE OPEN EVERY DAY throughout the year 10.00am - 5.00pm |
