Eee I eee I oh....old McHodgson's trip to the farm!

This week I'm feeling all at one with the land after being invited to spend an afternoon at Millets Farm Centre in Frilford, Oxfordshire. Not knowing quite what to expect when I got there, this was unlike any farm centre I'd been to before. There's a farm shop packed with fruit & veg grown on site, a selection of local produce sourced within 50 miles & an assortment of other foodie goodies. There's also a garden centre, restaurant, farm zoo, children's play area, trout fishing lake, 10 acres of woodland & wetland walks, a craft gallery & if that's not enough to keep you occupied there's 50 acres of pick your own fruit & veg...phew!

I was invited to explore the PYO fields & learn a little more about what it takes to successfully grow such a wide selection of crops. Our guides were the very experienced & knowledgeable Orlin Atanasov & Les Britten. Orlin looks after the fruit, Les looks after the veggies! I love PYO farms, so much so that I even visited one on my birthday last year...I know not very rock & roll. That said I'd never given much thought to the work that goes on behind the scenes to bring you all that lovely produce.

Now I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to gardening of any nature, I live in a flat and my basil plant is about as good as it gets! So I thought I'd share some of the interesting facts I picked up, along with some of my favourite photos of the day.

Teepee's for peas! A favourite fun pass time for Rooks is pulling up broad beans, they don't eat them, just pull 'em up!

Beautiful beetroot, one of my favourites, but unfortunately not ready for picking yet :-( Orlin & Les will choose several different varieties of one crop so that the season is staggered, bringing us more delicious produce for longer!

This is the start of the brussel sprout crop, this lot will be ready for Christmas. They have a bunny barrier round them, I always thought bunnies liked carrots not sprouts?

Rhubarb or beebarb as we call it in our family. Apparently it's like a weed & will completely take over your garden if you let it.

The most delicious raspberries I think I've ever tasted, these are a variety from Canada.

Succulent cherries, yum! I can see why they call the fruit of coffee plants cherries, these look almost identical!

I'd like to say a big thank you to Jo & the guys at Millets Farm for inviting me along, I had a lovely afternoon. If you find yourself in the Oxfordshire area, the centre is well worth a visit. Have a look at their website for details of special events. I'm intrigued to experience the Maize Maze which is due to open mid July! Take care, Rebecca x

I wonder how long the waiting list for a Windsor allotment is?

Windsor Farmers Market Stew

On the first Saturday of every month St Leonards Road in Windsor becomes home to the Windsor Farmers Market. It's organised by the Thames Valley Farmers' Market Co-operative who run markets at 18 locations across the region. Be warned, do not go if you haven't had a decent breakfast as you'll want to eat your way around the stalls. There is a delicious selection of foodie delights to choose from including local meat, veg, fruit, cakes, bread & some very tempting chocolates! I managed to drag myself out of bed early enough to get there this month with the aim of picking ingredients to make a Farmers Market Stew. In this horrible, miserable, damp, cold weather, (can you tell I don't like winter??) I think stews are the ultimate comfort food, of course served up with a massive dollop of mashed potato!

So I started with some beef stewing steak, then had a chat with a lovely farmer about celeriac. I was aware of it & I think had eaten it in a salad, but naively had no idea what it looked like. It's quite an ugly veggie poor thing, looks a bit like a mutant swede! Anyway it's in season at the minute & it was recommended as a great addition to a stew. A few extra veggies & a bottle of Brakspear Oxford Gold organic ale from Waitrose & I was good to go.

500g beef stewing steak
2 tbsps plain flour
Salt & pepper
1 small celeriac
1 large carrot
2 red onions
1 large parsnip
1 bottle of beer
250ml beef stock
2 tbps tomato puree

1. Peel & chop all the veggies into small pieces. Start by frying the onion in a little oil until soft. Season the flour & stir through the beef, then add this to the pan with the onion & fry for 2-3 minutes to seal it.

2. Add the rest of the veggies & the tomato puree, then pour over the beer & stock & stir well. Transfer the stew to a oven proof dish with a lid & pop it in the oven at 150c/GM3 for around 2 hours until the beef starts to fall apart. I took mine out twice during cooking to give it a good stir.

3. Leave to stand for 10 minutes before serving & that's it. Chuck it all in a dish & in the oven...foolproof!


The celeriac adds a lovely flavour to the stew, quite sweet, which complements the beery gravy, to make it even tastier I think I'd add a few herb dumplings next time. Let me know if you have a secret stew ingredient you'd be willing to share? :-) Enjoy, Rebecca x