Roots News 26th Oct 2020
Now we are well and truly in the midst of Autumn ‘mellow mists and fruitfulness’, we celebrated the Harvest Festival (singing harvest hymns to ourselves), we’ve gathered in our crops, we are preparing the farm for shorter working days and our thoughts are moving towards protecting our food and families for the winter to come, at least that is how it feels here.
In one of the more surreal moments of vegetable gathering this year, Meg told us of the moment she reached forward for the next onion in a long row that was being collected to see a large, knobbly, carefully camouflaged toad looked back at her as if to say … a caption competition!
In one of the more surreal moments of vegetable gathering this year, Meg told us of the moment she reached forward for the next onion in a long row that was being collected to see a large, knobbly, carefully camouflaged toad looked back at her as if to say … a caption competition!
Leave us your caption here
We’ll publish the best answers on our Facebook page (we could all do with a laugh!) She said “As tempted as I was to kiss him and see if he turned into a prince, whisking me away from the manual task in hand, instead I felt immensely proud at the sight of nature’s slug gobbler who had made his home amongst the onion beds safe in the knowledge that he had the whole season to spend languishing amongst the foliage”. Needless to say, these onions are delicious, storing well and as probably the vegetable most used in the kitchen, a bonus to all.
We’ll publish the best answers on our Facebook page (we could all do with a laugh!) She said “As tempted as I was to kiss him and see if he turned into a prince, whisking me away from the manual task in hand, instead I felt immensely proud at the sight of nature’s slug gobbler who had made his home amongst the onion beds safe in the knowledge that he had the whole season to spend languishing amongst the foliage”. Needless to say, these onions are delicious, storing well and as probably the vegetable most used in the kitchen, a bonus to all.
Of course, winter vegetables become our staple food and here at Roots we want to embrace that bounty, try something you thought you didn’t like, fall in love with some greens again! And there are plenty to choose from. Our ‘kale menu’ this year includes the well-known ‘Westland Winter’ a curly kale with great flavour and texture, popular with juicers; ‘Red Russian’ a spicy kale, ideal for a sauté with chilli and garlic, great accompaniment for sausages; ‘Cavalo Nero’ a traditional variety of black cabbage, very popular in Italian homes for adding to stews and soups. Cabbages, carrots and turnips, late ‘Florence’ fennel, beetroot and squashes, plenty to keep us going. Keep an eye on the recipe section of our website for tasty ideas.
On the farm love is in the air! Caught canoodling under the oaks in our parkland our new ram ‘Reggie’ has joined the flock – pictured here ‘blowing kisses’ to the ewes around him, at least that is what we tell the children …
Elsewhere on the farm Will’s orchards are patrolled by his gaggles of geese. With an established reputation for organic poultry raised to the highest standard, processed by hand here on the farm, the finest quality birds are made available for family feasts. We are proud to open our order book for Christmas 2020. None of us really know how the latest restrictions will affect the festive season for us, but one thing we do know is that we can provide families in this region the most fabulous Christmas feast, which accompanied by Meg’s kitchen notes for Christmas, is one that can easily be prepared and enjoyed whatever the scale.
Elsewhere on the farm Will’s orchards are patrolled by his gaggles of geese. With an established reputation for organic poultry raised to the highest standard, processed by hand here on the farm, the finest quality birds are made available for family feasts. We are proud to open our order book for Christmas 2020. None of us really know how the latest restrictions will affect the festive season for us, but one thing we do know is that we can provide families in this region the most fabulous Christmas feast, which accompanied by Meg’s kitchen notes for Christmas, is one that can easily be prepared and enjoyed whatever the scale.