Fields of Gold at Yare Valley Oils

Photos: © Yare Valley Oils

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Ever since settling beside the Norfolk Broads in the early 1900’s the Mack family have been farming the rich soil of the Yare Valley.

Oilseed rape has been grown across their fields for many years and the crop has become an important part of farming along with potatoes, sugar beet and cereals. From plough to plate every single seed is grown, pressed and bottled for you to enjoy.

The oil has full traceability from field to table and nothing goes to waste – the pulp from the pressing goes straight back into the biomass boiler to fuel the farm.

The oil seed rape is sown on the farm the first week of September with approximately 2½ Kilos of seed per hectare. Pigeons are often a problem as they love the brassica seed. In March the fields are fertilised and by April and May the rape begins to flower creating a brilliant yellow display. After enjoying the sun and insect pollination, the flowers produce pods which are full of rapeseeds.

The rapeseed plants are left in the field and allowed to mature naturally and dry before harvesting in late July to early August. The seed is collected and then stored before being cold pressed using a mechanical screw and then filtered twice to obtain the highest quality when it reaches your plate.

Being cold pressed, Yare Valley’s oil is the purest form of rape oil, no other heat or chemical extraction processes are used and it is healthy too with many nutritional benefits.

As well as selling pure rapeseed oil, Yare Valley also produce a range of dressings containing it carefully blended with other ingredients, some locally sourced to retain the true Norfolk taste. Look out for Chilli, Norfolk Honey & Mustard and Norfolk Vinaigrette.

To find out more about Yare Valley Oils visit their page on The Artisan Food Trail here