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Dear Friends of River Cottage,
However damp and gloomy March may be, however much it shows its sullen side, I will never let it get me down. I feel defiant,
jubilant even. After all, it’s not February, is it? The days are getting longer, the soil is getting warmer and I’m buoyed up at the
potent inevitability of Spring. I have a real sense of anticipation as I know that, very soon, all of those winter evenings spent perusing
seed catalogues, picking out the perfect varieties of broad beans, carrots, lettuce, peas and spinach are going to bear fruit. Well, vegetables
at least.
On the other hand, you know all of those tidying up jobs you’ve been putting off? Sorry to nag, but you’d better crack on with them now.
Tidy beds, clean tools, get any mechanical equipment fixed, because soon everything – including the weeds – will be growing in such great
abundance you won’t be able to keep up.
Just to make you feel better, we too are doing lots of housekeeping, or garden keeping.
Simon Hansford,
River Cottage’s Head Gardener, and his team are working hard sprucing up the vegetable garden so it’s ready for its close-up when the
cameras return to film the new series (and perhaps when you come and visit us, to partake of its bounty).
When we arrived at the first River Cottage, ten years ago, I was at a bit of a loss as to where to start with
my vegetable garden. My dad gave me a great piece of advice. ‘Look after the soil,’ he said ‘and the soil will look after
the plants’. I’ve never looked back. The twin principles of well-cared-for soil and the right plant, in the right place, underpin
how I garden today. And the thrill of plucking homegrown vegetables, fruit and herbs from one’s plot, and whisking them into the kitchen,
fresh, firm and caked with good soil, is undiminished. I reckon growing your own is one of the most rewarding things a keen cook can do.
Of course, don’t forget there’s plenty of free food around at this time of year too. Wild chervil, young nettles, hogweed shoots and
alexanders sprout abundantly in the fields and hedgerows, so don’t go for a walk without a bag ready to collect your bounty. When you get
home, transform the nettles into a River Cottage perennial favourite - this
dependably tasty soup or
Ricotta and Nettle Gnocchi.
If you’re going to be in Axminster this Easter, do come and visit us at the River Cottage Local Produce Store as we’re
opening up the garden there for the first (more details below). For those of you who aren’t able to tuck into a slab of
Simnel Cake in the
Canteen, here’s our recipe to try at home.
After all of that gardening, it seems like a suitably splendid reward.
All the best, and happy Easter,
Hugh
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Trainees from Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Foundation joined us recently for a day of Building and Baking at River Cottage HQ.
Fifteen put together a podcast of the day: to watch them
in action, and hear River Cottage chefs Dan Stevens and Jake Dodds talk about the
Build and Bake course, click here.
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We're lucky to have a very talented Garden Team here at HQ, and they're certainly keeping busy at the moment, managing both the
farm and the new Store garden.
Not only is
Mark Diacono, our gardening and climate change expert, knuckling down to write the River Cottage Kitchen Garden Handbook, but
he is also in the process of building a Climate Change Garden, here at HQ.
The idea behind this garden is to exploit Britain's warming climate
to grow species which are more usually imported from abroad: Mark's own Climate Change Farm, in Devon's Otter Valley, already produces
almonds, pecans, persimmons and apricots!
No small task - but as if that wasn't enough, Mark will also be hosting our new
Urban kitchen garden
and Green kitchen garden courses this year.
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Caroline Lowery Photo: Joy Michaud |
The fresh produce the Garden Team work so hard to provide is vital in catering for all our guests, but particularly
for our many vegetarian visitors.
As such, it seemed only right that the Garden Team - including Mark and our Head Gardener, Simon Hansford - host our
NEW, All-vegetarian Friday
Night (for more on this, including a sample menu,
click here).
Caroline Lowery, our Produce Gardener, has been recording some of the goings-on during this busy period: we'll bring you her
NEW garden blog in next month's newsletter. |
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Our Local Produce Store and Canteen
in Axminster is going
from strength to strength, as we prepare to host an Easter Extravaganza from Friday 21st – Sunday 23rd March.
Events will include:
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Caroline working on the Store garden
Photo: Joy Michaud |
Friday 21st March
Easter Egg painting with Zoe’s Chocolates
On Saturday 22nd March we'll be opening the NEW Store garden.
To celebrate, we'll be hosting:
- Samplings with a range of local producers
- A children's gardening workshop with
Mark Diacono, River Cottage gardening and climate change expert
- Talks from the River Cottage Garden Team
- A special, spring menu in the Canteen
Easter Sunday, 23rd March
We are prohibited from selling goods in the River Cottage Store on Easter Sunday, but the Canteen will be open for lunch as normal, serving a
special Easter menu.
For more information about events at the Store and Canteen,
click here.
Feedback from some of our recent guests at the
Canteen:
“I just wanted to say, my family and I had a meal at Axminster on Friday night and it was truly excellent. We had the Cornish sardines,
which were simple and perfect, with a lemon wedge and hunk of bread.
Main course was chicken breast, air-dried ham, kale and Jerusalem artichoke puree. Absolutely delicious;
the chicken melted like butter in the mouth. Dad had pollock with capers and anchovies and said it was the best pollock he had had.
The service was also really good.”
To read more feedback from visitors to the Store and Canteen,
click here |
Daily Mail Taste Test winners!
The "resounding winner" of a recent Daily Mail chicken taste test was a bird bought from our very own Local Produce Store.
To read more, click here.
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Some of you may have already noticed that our website has a new look!
We’ve spent the last couple of weeks updating and developing our site, to make it easier to use. We’ve made changes to our online shop,
and have added a handy events calendar, so that you can see at a glance what’s on at RCHQ each month, as well as ticket availability.
Please note: Some important changes have been made to online courses and online shopping.
To read about these changes, click here.
To celebrate our new website, we’re offering selected products at 25% discount for one week only.
Click here to see these discounted items (offer ends 11th March 2008).
Recent additions to our online shop include a selection of suggested
Easter gifts,
and the option to sign up for
regular deliveries of beers, wines and ciders (at 10% off the normal price).
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Some of you may have seen last week's report by The Independent on the impact of our
Chicken Out! campaign. If not, you can read more
here.
Hugh will also be appearing on Richard and Judy on Thursday, 6th March, to talk about the
impact and progress of the
Chicken Out! campaign. Tune into Channel 4 from 5pm to see his interview.
Watch out for us in the Telegraph Magazine on 8th March, where Hugh will be talking about his
contribution to the Soil Association's 'Feast of Albion',
a celebrity banquet hosted in London the following week. The Feast will celebrate the very best in seasonal, local and organic food by using only
ingredients sourced from within 50 miles of Tower Bridge.
Funds raised from celebrity attendees will help to expand the Soil Association’s
Farm School Initiative, which gives schoolchildren and their families direct experience of sustainable farming, food growing and cooking
on a network of organic farms.
Ahead of our visit to their Spring Fair, Hugh will be contributing to the
April issue of Country Living (available from mid-March). This marks the start of a brand new, monthly series
of River Cottage articles, which introduce key members of our team. Don't forget, River Cottage members are entitled to a
30% discount on subscription to Country Living.
Finally, if you missed Hugh's Chicken Run the first time around, there's another chance to catch it on
Easter Sunday, 23rd March, when More4 will be repeating all three episodes consecutively.
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River Cottage at the Country Living Spring Fair
Islington Design Centre, Wednesday 12th – Sunday 16th March
Come and talk to the River Cottage team at the Spring Fair - we'll have special offers on courses and events, and will be selling our full range of books and DVDs. During the show,
John Wright, our wild food expert, and
Mark Diacono, our climate
change gardener, will be giving talks in the theatre. For more information,
click here.
 River Cottage at the Exeter Festival of South West Food and Drink,
Friday 11th – Sunday 13th April 2008
We'll be selling our range of organic ice cream and award-winning organic Stinger Beer, and the River Cottage Team will be on hand to talk
about courses and events at River Cottage HQ. We look forward to seeing you there! For more details,
click here.
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Join us for Lamb and Mutton in a Day on Easter Monday, 24th March.
Whether you keep your own sheep (or plan to), or are interested in buying whole animals direct from a producer,
this course will give you all the know-how you need to deal with the carcass, as well as some delicious recipes
that make the very best of the meat.
Call Hayley on 01297 630 302
for more information, and to book these or other last minute tickets.
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