My dream of bringing local food to local people is still firmly in focus as I travel round the UK now, seeking out and helping other farm shops in making the decision whether or not to add an online weekly shopping service like Our Produce to their own businesses. It’s a big undertaking for these farm shops but one they can’t really ignore if they want to remain competitive, so I can help by providing insight and technical solutions on how they can do it cost-effectively. … ‘Be afraid Ocado..be very afraid!!’

Missing you guys though….! Best Wishes, Jennyx

Store cupboard items: Red wine vinegar,whole nutmeg, cloves, brown sugar, cinnamon

Other ingredients: 1 red cabbage, 3 medium onions, 3 English apples, 1 clove garlic

Basically this whole recipe is about chopping and putting everything in the biggest, ideally lidded, dish or bowl you can find, that will fit in your microwave!

Quarter and quite finely slice the red cabbage, removing the white stalk and any large white chunks. Peel and finely chop the onions, apples and garlic, then bung the lot together in your big bowl and mix thoroughly with 2-3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, about the same of brown sugar and then roughly a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, a quarter of a freshly grated nutmeg (or 1/4 teaspoon of ground) and about 6 cloves. Season generously with salt and pepper and then put on the lid or cover with cling film and cook for about 3 lots of 10 minutes on high in the microwave. Stir really well in between bouts and gradually you will see the whole lot go purple. Have a taste and add more sugar, vinegar or seasoning according to how you like the flavour.

You have to get used to tasting your cooking as you go, to find out what works and doesn’t work. I try to be as flexible as possible on quantities and also on ingredients- if I haven’t got something it’s often possible to think of a similar tasting alternative.

That’s not to say we don’t need new ones and with a 100 week track record behind us, now’s the time to spread the word and convince any sceptics to give us a go. At just £5 for a whole year’s subscription, it’s a great value service offering fantastic quality and most importantly supports small, local producers. So have a think who you know who might be up for a change in their shopping habits and get them to check out www.ourproduce.co.uk .

The cold weather has so far had a minimal impact on getting hold of stocks and we’ll continue to do our best to provide a full service.

Take care on those icey roads.

All the best

Jenny x

I was intrigued therefore this week, when I received an email from a customer to see if I could find some. Well a trip down to Suffolk was unfortunately out of the question and said orchard has long since been taken out and put to other use, so I had to find another source. Having drawn a blank with Diana of Jam Today (her greengrocer gets it in from Germany!!), I turned to Richard (of F Jackson & Son) in Melbourne who has all sorts of things growing in his 30 acres and hey presto he had a few roots growing by his garage. The little darling dug it up and passed it on FOC..now that’s service and my customer certainly thought so!

If you’ve got anything growing that’s unusual or surplus in your garden, then do let me know as it’s great to be able to match up produce with grateful users! At bookclub last night, a friend (and customer!) handed round some spare apricots she’d grown in her greenhouse – boy, were they delicious and I just love it when things like that happen…