AFT Introducing: Oakley Grange Farm

Photos: © Oakley Grange Farm

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Oakley Grange Farm, in the heart of Leicestershire, is over 200 years old, and has been run by the Mee family for the past two generations. Richard and Inger took over the farm in 2001 and farm organically, raising beef cattle, pigs, sheep and laying hens alongside wheat, fruit and salad vegetables.

Their café is part of a busy working farm and boasts views over the countryside as well as into rural life. Tractors and animals alike can be
seen from the café windows and visitors can also benefit from their local
and farming expertise.

As much food as possible is either grown or reared on Oakley Grange Farm, and if not, they try to source from local suppliers. Everything is freshly prepared and served by Inger and the team in a relaxed and welcoming environment.

In the café, breakfast, afternoon tea, coffee and cake, is served as well as a wide range of hot lunches and sandwiches. The breakfast includes their own sausages, bacon and eggs along with roast tomatoes, mushrooms and toast made from the farm's home baked bread.

Organic beef, pork, lamb, eggs produced on the farm can be bought in their shop plus other carefully sourced  groceries including biscuits, preserves, pickles and chocolates.

To find out more about Oakley Grange Farm visit their page on 
The Artisan Food Trail here

Super Beetroot Veggie Burgers

Photo: © childsdesign

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If you’re growing your own veg, you’re probably experiencing a glut right now and we think we have just the recipe to use up some of that bountiful produce. If you’re not green-fingered it is perfectly acceptable to buy things in.

For vegetarians and observers of ‘Meat-Free Monday’, these burgers are delicious and satisfying plus they look good too with their purply-pink hue.
And why do we call them ‘super’? Well, they’re decently packed with healthy ingredients, so they have to be good for you.

View recipe

Photo: © childsd

Roasted Rice-Stuffed Tomatoes

Photo: © childsdesign

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Tomatoes are the very essence of summer. We grow them every year outside in a sunny spot and cross our fingers for a bumper crop. Our tomatoes are promising little green marbles at the moment which will soon swell and ripen after regular watering and feeding.

This recipe is a good way to enjoy the full juicy flavour of a good vine-ripened tomato and is simple to prepare. The dish can even be assembled up to 24 hours in advance.
As well as celebrating the tomato, the filling uses an abundance of fresh herbs, so if you are a herb growing enthusiast, like us, what better way to show off their wonderful flavours.

The stuffed tomatoes can be served as a starter or light meal with a green salad and maybe some bread to mop up the juices.

View recipe

Photo: © childsdesign

Pumpkin Risotto

Photo: © childsdesign

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What do you do with your Halloween pumpkin once the candle’s gone out? Stop! Don’t throw it away! You could actually eat it by making a delicious meal rather than just binning the once scary, but now sad squash.

Not that we want to come over all ‘preachy’, but think of the time and effort the farmer put into growing it. If your pumpkin really is inedible then make sure it goes into the compost.

This recipe can be made with a number of different types of squash – butternut squash is ideal – so once the frightening festivities are over, it makes a meal suitable for any time.

View recipe

Competition! – Win a place on a 'Grow Your Own Fruit & Veg for Autumn & Winter' Workshop with Roots Shoots & Leaves

Photos: © childsdesign

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We're very pleased to offer you the chance to win a place on a Grow Your Own Fruit & Veg for Autumn & Winter workshop with Artisan Food Trail member Roots Shoots & Leaves.

The workshop will be held on Saturday 27th September 2014 at the RSL HQ
in Hampshire.

The workshop looks at the sowing, planting and maintenance of fruit and vegetables for Autumn and Winter. This is a practical hands-on course, so you'll be getting your hands dirty learning the skills and techniques that will help you in your own garden over this time of year.

So if you want to learn more about growing your own fruit and vegetables why not enter the competition. There's just a simple question to answer and we'll draw a luck winner from the correct entries.

Sorry this competition has now closed

Asparagus season is here!

Photo: © childsdesign

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The wonderful thing about eating seasonally is that it really makes an occasion out of consuming the best produce. The British asparagus season is finally upon us and we've enjoyed the building anticipation before it finally arrive in the shops.
Foreign asparagus is available all year round and it does somewhat diminish the specialness of it, plus you really can't top the British variety.

From planting the crowns,  it takes around a cycle of two years before the asparagus reaches maturity and is good enough to harvest. Once fully flourishing though, the spears can be cut after which it takes only 24 hours for a new shoot to appear and grow to an appreciable length. After a slow start it goes off like a rocket!

We discovered that it tastes so much better if you roast it.
The flavour becomes concentrated, something that boiling takes away. Just get the oven nice and hot, put the spears into an ovenproof dish, drizzle with some extra virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil, pop in the oven for about 10 minutes and you have perfectly cooked asparagus.
For a recipe using asparagus cooked in this way, try this recipe using wild venison chorizo from Great Glen Game, which complements the minerally taste of the asparagus so well.

Asparagus Tip: To keep the spears fresh treat them as you would cut flowers. Trim off a small amount from the bottom of the stems, place them in a jug of water and store in the fridge.

Win a place on a Fruit & Vegetable Summer Workshop

Photo: © Roots Shoots & Leaves

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There's nothing more satisfying than growing your own fruit and vegetables. Whether you have some allotment space, a plot in the garden or just a few tubs, you can grow great things to eat. You really can't beat something picked from from the plant or dug from the ground for freshness and above all, flavour.

So if you're looking for something inspiring and educational and would like to learn how to sow, plant and grow your very own fruit and vegetable garden, we are pleased to offer this opportunity to win a place on Roots Shoots & Leaves' Fruit & Vegetable Summer Workshop.

In this summer course (Saturday 26th April 2014) from RSL, learn how to keep your edible food growing. Looking at summer month crops and what to sow in the next few months to give you a continuous crop of edibles.

RSL will look at seed sowing and how successional sowing ensures you do not suffer from large gluts of any one vegetable but can plan for continuous cropping.

Also covered are weeds and pests and how to control them organically. RSL also share with you old family recipes of herbal teas and concoctions to make for your garden that will feed your plants, deter pests and increase the bio-diversity of your garden.

Sorry this competition has now closed

Win a full day on a fruit & vegetable workshop

Photos: © Roots Shoots & Leaves

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There's nothing more satisfying than growing your own fruit and vegetables. Whether you have some allotment space, a plot in the garden or just a few tubs, you can grow great things to eat. You really can't beat something picked from from the plant or dug from the ground for freshness and above all, flavour.

So if you're looking for something inspiring and educational and would like to learn how to sow, plant and grow your very own fruit and vegetable garden, we are pleased to offer this opportunity to win a place on Roots Shoots & Leaves' Fruit & Vegetable Spring Workshop.

In this Spring course, to be on Saturday 8th February 2014, RSL start afresh with what can be grown during Spring – they demonstrate sowing and planting for this year but also what to plant for next year too.

The workshop looks at preparing the soil and what to plant, such as: aubergines, artichokes, broad beans, broccoli, carrots, cabbages, cucumbers, garlic, kale, lettuces, onions, parsnips, peppers, radishes, tomatoes, spinach and much much more!

The workshop takes place in Hampshire and a home-grown lunch and homemade cakes are included as well as a starter pack of seeds to take home.

Sorry this competition has now closed

Photo: © Roots Shoots & Leaves

Truffled Potato & Celeriac Bake

Photo: © childsdesign

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Creamy baked potatoes and celeriac taste sublime but add a little truffle oil and they’re heavenly. The addition of dried mushrooms gives the dish a decidedly ‘woodland’ character – they are something a little extra that we felt would make things more interesting, but you can leave them out if you want.
This is great as a side dish with roasted meats or even with a crisp green salad or just on its own. As it cooks the smell of truffles fills the kitchen as well as making us impatient to eat to it.

View recipe

Autumn Salad

Photos: © childsdesign

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Autumn salad may sound like a contradiction, because who wants to eat salad when the weather is damp and chilly?
This ‘salad’ however, is served warm and has a hint of spice for a cosy satisfying element.
As the cheese melts slightly over the warm roasted squash it makes for a very comforting meal.

This is more of a set of assembly instructions rather than a recipe. There are no strict rules and you are free to improvise but we hope it will inspire you to use some of the great artisan produce on our food trail.

British-grown onion squash is becoming more 
available in the shops now and is a great 
alternative to butternut squash. It is best to 
use a squash or pumpkin that has a denser 
textured flesh and the onion squash is perfect, 
plus it is such a gorgeous deep orange colour.

So what will you need?
Onion squash or butternut squash
Cold pressed rapeseed oil*
Fresh rosemary
Walnuts
Butter
Brown sugar
Ancho powder*
Chipotle powder*
Salt
Ricotta cheese
Smoked goat’s cheese*
Salad leaves eg. baby spinach, ruby chard, rocket
Raspberry Vinegar*

*denotes suggested Artisan Food Trail producers’ products




Putting the salad together
Remove the seeds from your squash and peel it, then cut into chunks or slices. Toss in some rapeseed oil (we used Yare Valley Oils) and sprinkle with chopped rosemary. Put on a baking tray and roast in a hot oven until soft and browned at the edges.

Prepare the nuts. Place a pan on the hob over a low to medium heat add add a knob of butter. When the butter has melted add a tablespoon of brown sugar and stir to melt. Add about half a teaspoon each of ancho and chipotle powder (we used Capsicana Chilli Co), some finely chopped rosemary and some salt to taste. Tip in a handful or so of walnuts and stir until they are well coated.
Tip out on to a plate to cool.

Put some salad leaves into bowls and lightly drizzle with rapeseed oil and some raspberry vinegar (we used Alan Coxon’s).
Put some roasted squash chunks on top and then crumble over the ricotta and smoked goat's cheese (we used some from
The Artisan Smokehouse).
Scatter over the spicy nuts and finish with a drizzle of more raspberry vinegar.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper if you like.

Cajun Salmon with Mango Salsa & Beany Rice

Photo: © childsdesign

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We’ve been almost melting in the recent heatwave but that doesn’t stop us from turning to spicy foods, in fact they somehow seem more appealing. The best approach is to keep things light and not go for heavy sauces but something simple with a refreshing accompaniment.

Fish and fruit might sound like an odd combination but we can assure you that it really does work. The mango salsa is fresh and lively and really complements the spicy warmth from the Cajun Spice Mix on the salmon. The salsa also cuts through the oiliness of the salmon too.

If you don’t want to go to all the trouble of making the rice dish (but it is worth it) you could serve with plain boiled rice or new potatoes instead.

Best enjoyed outdoors!

View recipe

Go large with elephant garlic

Elephant garlic is considerably larger than its cousin. The normal garlic cloves in the foreground are around half the size.
Photo: © childsdesign

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We can't think of many meals that we cook that don't contain garlic in some way. The versatile bulbs have a permanent place in our kitchen and usually occupy a small box inside the spice cupboard.

Recently we tried some elephant garlic from The Elephant Garlic Company. It was recently harvested and has to be freshest garlic we've eaten, each enormous clove still juicy from the last drink in the field.

Technically, elephant garlic is not a true garlic and botanists have classified it as a close relation to the leek. While the top of the plant does indeed have leek-like leaves, the bottom is very much a huge garlic bulb complete with the individual cloves.
The flavour too is also like garlic, perhaps a little sweeter and not so pungent, but unmistakably garlicky.

Because of the elephant garlic's more subtle flavours we found it was very palatable even when eaten raw. There is some hotness which quickly subsides to reveal a sweet nutty garlic flavour.
Cooked it can be used in the same way as normal garlic and is particularly good when roasted whole.

Photo: © childsdesign

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We also tried it mixed with tomatoes to make a delicious topping for toast. Drizzled with some olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and a grind of fresh black pepper then grilled it was very good. You might want to call it it bruschetta but we like to call it 'Posh Things On Toast'!

A taste of British summer… plus recipe for Strawberries & Cream Sponge

Photo: © childsdesign

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Summer has truly arrived when British strawberries are ripe and ready for picking and although they are now available all year round – with foreign countries suppling our needs – you really can’t beat the fruit from our own soil. Reserving them as a seasonal treat makes them so much more special.

Growing your own strawberry plants in your garden is very rewarding and there’s nothing more exciting when lifting up the leaves to find the stems swathed in red juicy jewels. If you’re not much of a gardener or simply lack the space, you can still experience the thrill of the strawberry hunt by visiting one of the many pick your own farms in the area.
When the sun is warm the sweet fragrant smell wafts into the air tempting even the most restrained of individuals to sneak a strawberry into their mouths whilst foraging.

The first berries are not often the sweetest though, they can lack the depth of flavour that the prolonged spells of sun can give them, that said, they are still lovely eaten unadorned. No sugar, no cream, just pure fruit bliss. Plucked straight from the plant whether homegrown or ‘stolen’ they just seem to taste better.
However, dairy produce does create a natural harmony, whether it’s cream, yogurt, creme fraiche or marscapone, you can’t go wrong, but never cook a strawberry unless it was in a jam of course.

Strawberries & Cream Sponge Cake – View recipe

Photo: © childsdesign

New Book: Eat Your Veg by Arthur Potts Dawson Plus Win 1 of 5 signed copies!

We are very pleased to have teamed up with Octopus Publishing who have kindly given us five copies of Arthur Potts Dawson's new book, Eat Your Veg, to give away. Not only will you get the chance to own the book soon after its release but it will be signed by the author himself. This is the start of some very exciting competitions and we hope to bring you more great book prizes over the coming year.

With many people consciously deciding to reduce their intake of meat, whether it is to save money, reduce environmental impact on the planet or just to lead a healthier lifestyle, vegetables are returning to take centre stage on the table.

However this isn't a book about being a vegetarian. Arthur Potts Dawson says,

“We all know we should eat more veg. 

We all know we should eat less meat. This book isn’t a preach or a rant about why cooking and eating fresh, seasonal, local, organic food matters, though of course, it does. Eat Your Veg is simply a storehouse of my favourite recipes encouraging you to do just that – eat more vegetables.”

Arthur Potts Dawson is passionate about good food, eating well and making the most of what’s fresh, local and seasonal. Most people will know him from his appearances on Market Kitchen and also as the founder of The People's Supermarket.

In this new book, vegetables are very much put at the forefront of cooking that celebrates all that is tasty and good about fresh produce.
Eat Your Veg presents a mix of classics, basics, simple food and show-off dishes that make the most of what’s in season. Whether you receive organic food box deliveries, go to farmers' markets or raid what's on special offer at the supermarket – you can enjoy more veg, every day.

There are recipes for beetroot soup with cumin and coriander; butternut ravioli with brown butter; radish salad with pomegranate & cannellini beans; leeks on toast with cheese and Worcestershire sauce; and raw porcini salad with parmesan & parsley – all arranged in an easy-to-use format by vegetable type. As well as individual recipes, there are also four gorgeous Feasts that can be pulled together for entertaining family and friends. Arange of sharing dishes (some which contain a bit of meat or fish) which together will create a fantastic spread centred on vegetables.

Alongside an essential seasonal guide to what’s best when, Arthur also provides key skills that will help you get the most out of vegetables – whether it’s mashing, roasting, pickling, etc. In Eat Your Veg Arthur provides a refreshing range of delicious recipes and adaptable ideas that will provide inspiration for everyone – even a die-hard meat freak.

To whet your appetite here is a recipe from the forthcoming book.

Braised chickpeas with chard, fennel & tomato

This dish is the type of cooking I do every day at home. All the ingredients complement each other brilliantly, are super-nutritious and can be eaten as a complete meal.

Serves 4–6
Ingredients

• 400g dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight and drained
• 400g red chard, cut into 2cm pieces
• 2 fennel bulbs, trimmed and tough outer leaves discarded
• 75ml olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp dried red chilli flakes
• 2 red onions, finely diced
• 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp herb vinegar

Method
Put the chickpeas into a large saucepan and cover well with fresh cold water. Bring to the boil, skimming off any white foam that rises to the surface, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour, or until just tender but still with some bite. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the chard in a saucepan of salted boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain and set aside. Cut each fennel bulb into eighths and cook in a separate saucepan of salted boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the garlic, fennel seeds and chilli flakes and cook over a medium heat for 2 minutes, until the garlic starts to turn golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, again stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes and chickpeas and cook for another 5 minutes before adding the cooked chard and fennel and the vinegar. Stir through, season with salt and pepper and serve.

For your chance to win a signed copy of Eat Your Veg by Arthur Potts Dawson visit our competition page here (Sorry – this competition has now closed)

Eat Your Veg
By Arthur Potts Dawson
Published: 7th May 2012 by Octopus Publishing
Price: £25.00


If you missed out on the competition or didn't win you can buy a copy of the book here:

Tasty, versatile and healthy – we love watercress

Photo: © childsdesign

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May sees watercress being celebrated with its very own ‘week’, the perfect time to explore this humble leafy plant. Experiment with it and don’t just leave it to languish as an undervalued salad garnish on the side of the plate.

Historically watercress is known to be a blood cleanser and more recently there have been suggestions that it could help to suppress certain cancers. Watercress does indeed contain lots of vitamins and minerals as well as antioxidant properties which are all good for our health. That said, it tastes so good and is versatile enough to be used in so many ways that it shouldn’t need to be bolstered by a healthy eating campaign to urge us eat it.

Watercress used to be a very important part of our culinary heritage, when during Victorian times it was sold on the streets of London and eaten by the bunch. Known then as the 'poor man's bread', as impoverished labourers could not lay their hands on bread but could get watercress. People would clutch posies, much like we'd hold an ice cream cone, biting off chunks of leaves.

The county of Hampshire has long been the main producer of Britain's watercress, the chalk landscape giving rise to mineral-rich water that feeds the watercress beds. There is a festival dedicated to watercress and this year it is being held on 20th May in Alresford.
In times gone by, the popularity of the leafy vegetable was so high that a railway line was specially built to carry the watercress to London ensuring it reached its destination as fresh as possible.
Probably less known are the Hertfordshire watercress beds. In fact there are some located near to The Artisan Food Trail's HQ at, Whitwell, near Hitchin.

It may be an acquired taste for some people, the peppery flavour can be quite strong and might be a shock to younger palates, but if used as an ingredient, the flavour can be tempered. If you love it just as it is, then freely stuff it into a sandwich and enjoy it raw and fresh.

Having such a robust almost mustard-like taste, it can be used very much as an ingredient, giving flavour as well as the crunchy juicy texture coming from the stalks.
Try it roughly chopped and stirred through mashed potatoes or it makes an interesting filling for an omlette along with some mushrooms and Stilton cheese.

We have rustled up two simple recipes in The AFT Kitchen which celebrate the boldness of British watercress:
Watercress Soup
'A Very British' Watercress Pesto

'A Very British' Watercress Pesto

Photo: © childsdesign

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We've taken the Italian recipe and transported it into the heart of the British Isles. By taking some elements and substituting them for something from our homeland, it makes a vibrant and fresh tasting sauce.

Rapeseed oil is fast becoming Britain's equivalent of olive oil. In its cold pressed extra virgin form, rapeseed oil is healthy and flavourful. You can find quality rapeseed oil producers on The Artisan Food Trail from Yare Valley Oils.

We prefer to make pesto by hand as it gives a much better texture. There’s something to be said for bruising the flavours out of the leaves rather than just chopping everything up in a food processor.

This pesto is good mixed into linguine pasta or used in which to toss some Jersey Royal potatoes served along side a good piece of poached salmon.

View recipe

Best Ever Apple Crumble

Photo: © childsdesign

Crumble is comfort food, and often a fond reminder of the good things about our childhood. We can’t think of anything nicer than a warm bowl of apple crumble served with a generous amount of custard to cheer us up.

To achieve the best results, the use of butter is highly recommended (cold and hard, straight from the fridge) to make the crumble topping. Please do not be tempted to use margarine spread instead as this will not give you the right texture or indeed the taste.

View recipe

Photo: © childsdesign

Bramley Apple Week: 5th – 12th February 2012 plus a recipe for Easy Apple Sauce

Photo: © childsdesign

Perhaps it seems unseasonal and a little too early in the year to be thinking about English fruit. It is, however, Bramley Apple Week, a time to celebrate all that is great about this versatile and tasty apple.

Name a typically British fruit and bet you'll say the apple, but there is one, in particular, more deserving of the highest accolade, and that is the Bramley. There is no variety better for cooking, with its sharp taste and melting texture, it is superior in every way. Tolerating just about any cooking process, the Bramley is able to retain its distinct appley flavour that other apples cannot match. The Bramley is a 'cooker' and 'king of apples' in the kitchen.

History
The Bramley apple is just over 200 years old and sprung in to life when in 1809 a young girl by the name of Mary Ann Brailsford planted some pips in her Nottinghamshire garden.
Later in 1846, a local butcher, Matthew Bramley bought the cottage and garden, but it wasn’t until 1856 that the apple became properly established as a new variety. Henry Merryweather, a local nurseryman, asked if he could take cuttings from the tree and start to sell the apple. This was agreed by Matthew Bramley, who insisted that the apple bear his name – hence ‘Bramley’s Seedling’ as it’s properly known.

Bramley Apple Week
Every year, the Bramley is celebrated with an awareness week, and this year it will be held between 5th–12th February.
Joining in the celebration of this versatile fruit, The Bramley Campaign has enlisted the culinary talents of the BBC’s Great British Menu winner, Mark Hix to develop some delicious recipes.

In the Kitchen
There really is so much you can do with a Bramley. Cut into big chunks it makes a perfect filling for pies and crumbles of course, but it really does have so many uses for both sweet and savoury dishes.

Try them simply baked whole in the oven, just core them, score the skin around the equator of the apple (this prevents them bursting) and then fill the centres with a mixture of sultanas, cinnamon, and lashings of muscovado sugar and butter. Place them in an ovenproof dish and bake at 200C, Gas 6 for about 25 minutes until the apples puff up.
When they’re done the apple flesh will be gloriously fluffy and there will be lots of rich syrupy juices to spoon over.

They are also great made into chutney and go well with meats such as pork and game, they even work well with fish such as mackerel. The sharpness complements well by cutting through the oiliness.

Easy Apple Sauce
Next time you’re having roast pork or even just some humble sausages, try making this easy apple sauce to perk up your meal.
It is so simple to prepare and more delicious than the shop bought stuff.

Ingredients

• 500g Bramley apples
• 50g sugar
• 1 tbsp water

Method
Peel and core the apples, then slice them.
Place into saucepan with the water and sugar and cook gently, stirring occasionally until fluffy.
Leave to cool before serving.

For a dessert version, add raisins and some more sugar if required – this is lovely as a filling for pancakes or yogurt topping.

For more information on Bramley Apple Week visit the website
www.bramleyapples.co.uk

A chilli weekend in December with Edible Ornamentals

Photo: © childsdesign

Good news for chilli fans, because this weekend Edible Ornamentals will be at various markets and fairs selling their delicious Bedfordshire-grown chilli products.
If you know someone who loves chillies maybe you'll find the perfect Christmas gift for them.

You'll be able to find Edible Ornamentals at the following places this weekend:


Saturday 3rd December

• Mill Road Winter Fair,                                                                       Cambridge – starts 10.30am (map)
• Wyboston Christmas Fayre,                                                             Wyboston Village Hall – starts 10am (map)
• Four Seasons Market,                                                             Potton Market Square, Beds – 9am – 1pm (map)

Sunday 4th December

• Queens Park Farmers Market,                                                         Salusbury Primary School, London – 10am – 2pm (map)
• Marylebone Farmers Market,                                                   Cramer Street Car Park, London – 10am – 2pm (map)

For more information about Edible Ornamentals visit their page on 
The Artisan Food Trail here

Bedfordshire's Hottest Kept Secret: Edible Ornamentals

From their base at at Cherwood Nursery, in the Bedfordshire hamlet of Chawston, Edible Ornamentals are commercial growers of chillies, herbs, vegetables and edible flowers. Their product range includes chilli plants, fresh chillies, dried, smoked, and pickled chillies along with our their gourmet range of fiery sauces and salsas.
The Edible Ornamentals nursery and farm shop are open to the public and, depending on the season, you can even pick your own chillies or fresh vegetables in the dedicated PYO polytunnel. 

The nursery is also a destination for thousands of people participating in scheduled cookery classes or chilli tour and tasting experiences. Their products can be purchased from website or at exclusive farmers’ markets, food and wine shows, and garden shows throughout the United Kingdom.
Edible Ornamentals also supply wholesale quantities of their entire product range to exclusive delicatessens, restaurants, farm shops, garden centres, Waitrose, Fortnum and Mason, Harrods, and other specialist chilli companies in the UK and Europe.

Photos: © childsdesign

Joanna and Shawn Plumb developed a passion for Mexican and Tex-Mex food while living in San Antonio, Texas in the early 90’s. They started growing their own fresh vegetables including Jalapeno chilli peppers. After moving to England in 1996 they started selling chilli plants, part time, in 2001.  In 2004 they began selling pickled Jalapeno and Fresno chillies in jars and later a traditional red salsa recipe (Salsamania).

Their first production kitchen was set up in 2005 in a rented unit at Vinegar Hill near Upper Caldecote, Bedfordshire and later in 2007 they purchased Cherwood Nursery, in the Bedfordshire village of Chawston. 

The former flower nursery had fallen into disrepair and since Joanna and Shawn arrived they’ve cleaned up the site, erected six polytunnels, built a log cabin for the farm shop, built a new commercial kitchen and storage facilities, as well as taking on staff.

Today, all cooking and growing activities are now consolidated at Cherwood Nursery and are also open to the public who can come and pick their own fresh vegetables and more than 50 varieties of chillies.

Craft and gourmet products are produced using traditional methods by Edible Ornamentals and they use as many of their own ingredients as possible.

As part of the Slow Food movement, Joanna has visited local schools speaking to young children about where fruit and vegetables come from and the importance of seasonality.

Edible Ornamentals frequently entertain groups such as the Women’s Institute, Rotary and other civic associations with talks, tours and delicious food! They also support Hidden Britain, Taste Real Food Bedford, and are proud to be Charter Members of Tastes of Bedfordshire.

Visit Edible Ornamentals on The Artisan Food Trail here