Food Frome

Thanks to John Boxall for alreting me to this story on the BBC web-site. It's about a Scottish family trying to live on ony food produced in Fife. You can find it at

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7152009.stm

I love the USA notion of 'locavores' - people whose diet consists of local produce - but it is such an ugly word, don't you think?

So how's about Froomivores? I am assuming we can then adopt something like the Farmers' Market definition of '35 miles around Frome'.

Will be pleased to hear other people's ideas about this.

St Louis School Orchard, Selwood Road, Frome
Sunday 20 January 2008
Leader: Tim Baines, Bath Organic Group
11am-3pm Free, but booking essential

Workshop will cover: why prune; tools and care of tools; practical work
pruning the St Louis trees.

More details will be sent when you book through John Payne.

Apple Relish

Fine Frome Food

For some years, the growers of Orchard Street Community Allotments in Frome have put out trays of apples from their two mature apple-trees for passers-by to help themselves. Here’s a recipe from one of our users – Joy King. She says the original recipe came from a Dorset WVS (Women’s Voluntary Service) recipe book. I can confirm it’s really tasty and tangy – with bread from John the Baker’s at Badcox and Keen’s cheddar cheese from Sagebury Cheese in Cheap Street (see photo).

I came across this orchard while out cycling yesterday. I took a few of the apples home to taste, they were quite bitter so I think they are cider apples.

Somerset's small cider orchards are under threat despite the recent increase in popularity of cider. Gaymer's no longer buys apples from small producers and the EU is reviewing the exemption from excise duty of small-scale cidermakers.

Seventeenth Century Feast

24 November 1987. This is part of the Food Frome film project. Recipes have been collected, producers interviewed and filmed, and the cooking, serving and eating of the feast itself have now been filmed.

The film aims to replicate the kind of food the Duke of Monmouth may have received in Frome in 1685, just a few days before his defeat at the Battle of Sedgemoor, the last battle to take place on English soil.

We hope that the film will be shown at the 2008 Frome Festival.

I'm interested in ways in which others are adapting to a less predictable climate? for example, for the last few years I have sown dwarf french beans in late August/early September for a crop in our now familiar long autumn.....
What other ways are people adjusting?

News from Scarborough Local Food Group

Valley Bar wins National Cider and Perry Pub of the Year
CAMRA has named The Valley Bar in Scarborough the National Cider and Perry Pub of
the Year. Congratulations!

Signal Crayfish
The rivers and streams around Somerset abound with life. Not all the creatures are indigenous to the area, some have escaped or been introduced on purpose.
The signal crayfish now lives in many streams in the area. They destroy the banks by burrowing into them and eat much of the wildlife so the native species can no longer compete – much like the grey squirrel.
Signal crayfish are easy to catch – long string, piece of meat, weight – just like crabbing!

Jerusalem Artichokes
Research indicates that this vegetable never came from Jerusalem at all, but in fact was imported from the New World in the early 17th Century. Its name is an English corruption of the Spanish “gerasol” which means ‘turn to the sun’. The plant is indeed a member of the Sunflower family.
This is the first time I have ever grown artichokes. I feel well rewarded, harvesting two buckets from 4 tubers in early November. The plants grew quickly and reached about 8 feet in height. In late summer, they were crowned with lots of small yellow sunflowers.

Sarpo PotatoesThis year we grew some Sarpo potatoes for the first time. Sarpo varieties are supposed to be blight resistent and in our experience this seems to be true. Our other potato varieties suffered badly from blight this year, but the Sarpos which were growing next to the blighted potatoes looked a lot healthier. They had a small amount of blight but nothing too serious.