Great Garnetts Farmers Market

This morning, Essex was turned into a massive deep freeze with temperatures falling to a mind numbing -15 that sapped the body of heat and chilled the brain so deeply that I almost came to a stand still as I set up stall at Great Garnetts ready for the first Farmers Market this year.  Whilst the 'freezer like' temperatures were chilling you to the bone you could at least enjoy the beautiful clear blue sky and sunshine so bright not even a pair of Ray Bans could not save your retinas from being vaporised in a millisecond!

No honey making today!

If you've not been to Great Garnetts before I assure you that it is well worth a visit. During the week it is a traditional farm that rears in the region of 2000 prize winning pigs for bacon and delicious sausages that have won numerous Taste Awards.  White and free range bronze turkeys are also reared for the Christmas table. This is is a great environment to bring the children and they get to see some of the farm animals as well if the weather is not too cold.  Jonathan and Julie operate the family run business which has been developing since 1971.

Prize Winning Porkers!

Once a month the barns are thrown open to an army of would be retailers selling their homemade products. This is a thriving local market with stalls selling anything from Colchester Oysters to tomb stones!  Yes, you read that correctly! This morning there was a guy selling his skills as a stone mason who would happily carve your details into a block of granite given half a chance.  Fortunately, he wasn't selling coffins otherwise I'm sure he could have had you suitably buried on site. 


Other interesting products include handmade dog biscuits, soaps, soft and flakey pastries, fiery chorizo sausage from Dunmow, locally cured smoked salmon and meats. Traditional pork sausages and bacon, hand reared and slaughtered on the farm are of course available. 

Katy's Kitchen delights

There has been a lot of talk that many farmers markets just offer cheap tat!  Well, that is not the case at Great Garnetts it is full of quality products. I've probably tried nearly everything, apart from the dog biscuits, from this market and I've always felt I've received great service, quality and value for money. 

You can pick up a delicious handmade cake from Katy's Kitchen, some champagne truffles from the Chocolate Truffle Company, hand raised pies from Farm 2 Table, honey produced on the farm, fruit and vegetables from Rocket and Rhubarb grown not more than 10 miles away and a delicious curry for Saturday night?  

The Chocolate Truffle Co

If you're looking for presents then choose from a great selection of pottery and silverware. Great Garnetts farmers markets are held on the second Saturday of each month, from 9.30am-12.30pm. 


Dates for 2012: Feb 11, Mar 10, Apr 14, May 12, Jun 9, Jul 14, Sep 8, Oct 13, Nov 10, 


PUT THEM IN YOUR DIARY NOW!!


Address: Great Garnettts, Bishops Green, Barnston, Nr Dunmow, Essex CM6 1NE

The Lordship Tea Room and Food Hall

At last!  
You can almost hear the Foodies of Essex shout with joy as the Lordship Tea Rooms, come deli, come gift shop arrives in Writtle, care of, Wilkin and  Sons Ltd, better known to you and me as Tiptree Jams.  A short bike ride from the centre of Chelmsford and you're in the world of 'local produce' far away from the crowded shopping lanes of Tesco and Asda. 


This charming shop is overseen by manageress, Tina, who said that since opening in December, business has been brisk and as we were stood chatting the place was certainly filling up quickly.  Not only is the shop providing a really important service to the people of Writtle and surrounding area but it is also providing jobs to several local people. With all the doom and gloom around it is good to hear that business is thriving! 

Apparently, Wilkin and Sons, have opened three other tearooms in Dedham, Heybridge and Tiptree all very lovely places to visit. 
The tea room seems to be particularly popular with cyclists even on a cold January day they were sat outside enjoying a sandwich or piece of cake to help them on the next leg of their journey.  I imagine in the summer the tearoom will be doing a roaring trade!

Wilkin and Sons:  The firm was originally founded as the Britannia Fruit Preserving Company in 1885. The then owner, Arthur Wilkin, stipulated that has jam should be free of preservatives, colouring and glucose. In 1905 the company renamed to Wilkin and Sons, to avoid confusion with 20 or so other companies running under the Britannia banner. In 2010 the Queen visited the Tiptree jam factory as the company celebrated 125 years of making preserves.



Ok, back to present day. I applaud Wilkin and Sons for sourcing as many of their products from local suppliers including sausages and raw meats from Great Garnetts, Barnston and handmade breads from Danbury Fine Foods to name just two.  

Tony Hopkins - Farm2Table

Nowadays all too often the traditional family butcher has been disappearing from our high street.  It is a wonder that children know what a cow or a turkey even looks like!  Fortunately, for many of us, Tony Hopkins, a butcher for 25 years, of Farm2Table is continuing the great traditions but with a modern approach.  He is very keen to ensure that animal welfare and complete traceability of his products remains of paramount importance.  


Coming from a catering background myself I understand how nowadays customers want to know where their Sunday fore-rib has come from and whether the eggs to make the Yorkshire pudding batter are British and Free Range.  You can either buy from Lordship Food Hall, online or find Tony at Great Garnetts Farmers Market which starts again on Saturday 11 February.  


We certainly enjoyed our handmade pheasant pate with a slice of delicious Poppy Seed Plait.  If you enjoy haggis I spotted a few in the chiller so I for one will be looking forward to Burns Night!


The place is packed with loads of other goodies including chocolates, handmade meringues, patisserie, cheese, Maldon Salt, and as you pay at the till you can consider ordering your vegetables from Rocket and Rhubarb.


I would have liked to see some smoked meats and perhaps a few more deli options such as olives but overall a great start to the New Year!