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Farm shop
We sell all our fruit from our farm shop
when in season. We also sell other produce from other local farms.
Therefore all produce available from our farm has all either been grown
on the farm or has been grown very locally. We understand the
importance supporting local producers, as we ourselves like to be
supported. Our customers tell us of their pleasure in being able to buy
local, fresh, high quality produce direct from the farm at reasonable
prices.
All the FRUIT sold at the farm - is grown on the farm. (39
varieties apples; 4 varieties pears; 10 varieties plums, damsons - PYO
and ready picked; raspberries and blackberries - PYO, ready picked
fresh and frozen.)
We press our own fresh pressed apple juice from our own apples,
mixed and single varieties which is available completely pure and
untreated straight from the press. We also make our own cider
vinegar from our own apple juice.
Produce from other local farms is sold at the shop: Local
Potatoes from Frating; Local fresh vegetables from around the East
Anglian region; Local Plants and fresh vegetables from a
smallholding in Kirby-Cross; Local Honey from Tendring; Locally made
Jams and Chutneys from Tendring; Local fresh free range eggs from
Stanway near Colchester; meats from Wick Farm, Tolleshunt Major and
Primrose Pork, Great Bromley; mushrooms from
Great Bromley.
Home Baked Sweet and Savoury Dishes : We bake our own sweet and
savoury dishes, using our own fresh fruit e.g. Cakes, Apple Gateaux,
Pies, Tarts and Flans etc. These are often available freshly baked or
frozen. However, it is best to order to ensure we have what you
require. A full list of the produce we bake is available from the orchard tearoom,
or if you require something different not on the list, or cooked in a
different way, please ask.
Vegetables:
Availability
of fresh locally grown vegetables varies with the season. Honey:
We sell honey produced by a local beekeeper
from Tendring in 1lb jars of honey
(runny and set), gift 'bear' jars, and occasionally honeycomb honey is
sold through our shop. The honey varies in flavour, consistency, and
colour depending on the type , (i.e. the flowers visited by the bees).
Some of the honey will be from apple blossom, this is
normally the darker, runny honey. The honey is pure, untreated and
unblended. It has a smooth flavour and is very popular locally.
Untreated honey retains intact many of the trace elements, nutrients
and oils from the flowers which the bees have visited. These trace
elements of local flowers are meant to have many health benefit, and
are reputed to help ward off many modern day ailments. Jams and Chutneys:
A farmer from Tendring makes
really good jams and chutneys. Most of the fruit and vegetables she
uses she gets fresh, direct from local farms, including plums and
damsons she picks herself from our orchards, or we pick it ready for
her. We sell the jars of chutney and jam from our farm.
Cider Vinegar:
We make cider vinegar on our farm from pure
apple juice with no additives. It is a very long process, first of all
the apple juice is fermented in oak barrels out to dryness. The cider
is then transferred to special vinegar barrels where a secondary
'fermentation' is carried out by encouraging the development of a
natural 'mother vinegar'. The natural process slowly turns all the
cider alcohol into vinegar acid. Once this has happened completely, the
vinegar is bottled for sale. The vinegar is still 'live' i.e.
unpasteurised when we sell it, which means it retains its natural
goodness and rich flavours. It is used in cooking for salad dressings
and vinegarette dressings, for a marinade ingredient and many more
uses. It is also reputed to have very many health benefits about which
many books and articles have been written. Plants:
We sell a small assortment of garden plants
grown on a very small, local nursery at Kirby Cross. The species
availability is dependant on season. I.e. Primulas in winter,
Herbaceous Perennials from late March to early May, trailing basket
plants and bedding plants from mid April, and Heathers in Autumn. Farm Walks:
People are welcome to walk around the
farm on request (at the farm shop) during blossom time in April an May,
and at other times by prior arrangement. The farm can be quite muddy so
please bring your wellies! There is a good network of public footpaths
in the local area which cross some beautiful countryside, especially
towards Holland Brook and towards the seafront if you wish to walk
around the farm as part of your walk, please feel free to ask.