Cowdray Farm Shop & Cafe, Midhurst, West Sussex

Welcome to the Cowdray Farm Shop & Cafe nestled in the heart of the South Down National Park, West Sussex.

If you have an opportunity to explore the beautiful South Downs National Park in West Sussex this summer do make time to visit the Cowdray Farm Shop & Cafe located on the Cowdray Estate near Midhurst, West Sussex. For more information click here. 

I can highly recommend buying a box of Cowdray eggs; a flock of Light Sussex chickens occupy a rather lovely patch on the estate and are free to scratch around as much as they like which results in them having an incredibly diverse diet. The flavour of the egg is delicious and the yolk a fabulous rich yellow!

Sometimes it's the simple dishes you cook that can be the most enjoyable - for example an omelette made using organic, free range eggs accompanied by seasonal tomatoes - just delicious! At Cowdray they sell tomatoes sourced from Nutbourne Nursery, Pulborough, West Sussex. Click here to learn more about Nutbourne Nursery. 

On the other-hand you may fancy using a tasty cheese to make yourself Welsh rarebit on toast click here for recipe. I love cheese and would recommend the Sussex Charmer to you. It's produced by Bookham Harrison Farms based in Rudgwick, West Sussex and is a cross between Cheddar and Parmesan; it's a hard-pressed cheese matured for up to 1 year. To learn more about Bookham Harrisons Farms click here.

The Cowdray Farm shop is incredibly well stocked with a variety of organic, seasonal, artisan and locally sourced produce - who can resist a bar of chocolate!  To learn more about nomnom chocolate please click here. You have to try this.........

Do visit the Cafe too, the food is so good all made from scratch using traditional artisan techniques and the best Cowdray/local produce, I can certainly vouch for their toasted tea cakes and scones! 

Beginner's Guide to Kitchen Gardening - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

A gift from Kew!

Yesterday I attended a day's course at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew called 'A Beginner's Guide to Kitchen Gardening'. The course was aimed at gardeners who were interested in starting a vegetable garden; its content included site preparation, sowing, growing, protecting and harvesting crops. It was hosted by Joe Archer, lead horticulturist and kitchen gardener who was featured in the series, on BBC 2, called 'Kew on a Plate' during 2015. He was responsible for growing heritage produce alongside Raymond Blanc and Kate Humble who spent a year at Kew growing produce and cooking delicious seasonal recipes. Joe is also the co-author along with Caroline Craig of 'The Kew Garden's Children's Cookbook: Plant, Cook, Eat click here. For more information on short courses at Kew click here.

Joe and a golden beetroot!

A small selection of garden tools needed to start your kitchen garden!

Beautiful cornflowers - these look amazing grown amongst the vegetables!

Beetroots pulled straight from the ground and cut to show their beauty.

The student garden for more information click here.