Welcome

This is an attempt to document my efforts to grow and eat locally around Melbourne, Derbyshire. My family own a nine acre smallholding on which we grow fruit and vegetables and keep bees, and chickens, but that won't feed us alone, so the idea is to get to know our local produce and to see how easy/hard it is to follow a diet that is local to within 30 miles. The fun part is also trying some new (easy) recipes that use home-grown and local produce. Feel free to comment, send in recipes, and share your experiences of buying and eating locally.

Wednesday 26 December 2012

Local Christmas dinner

We are lucky to have no end of local suppliers for our Xmas lunch. I read in the paper that Selfridges sell the Packington chickens that are sold in Chantry Farm shop. We didn,t raise turkeys this year but had one in the freezer from last year. It was a bit of a risk but it appeared just as fresh! The veg were from Heaths - red cabbage, sprouts, carrots, parsnips, onions and accompanied by Chantry pigs in blankets. I have tried unsuccessfully to grow cranberries ( They don't fruit for me) but red currant jelly is just as good.
Xmas pudding is a decidedly international affair as most of the fruits are imported. I wonder if it would be possible to make a local one - a challenge for a future year, perhaps when the fruits from the forest garden are matured.
Boxing Day is even more enjoyable, with all the cooking done we can feast on leftovers.