Local Links

In a slight departure from the usual ramblings I’ve added a new category to the right of the page – Local Links. This lists some local food and drink places we use and visit, obviously not much use for most of you from outside of the local area but hopefully interesting all the same. The more observant may notice there are three breweries in the list! Sheffield used to have several large breweries all of which have now closed – which apart from Stones is no bad thing! We now have a thriving micro-brewery industry.

The Hillsborough Hotel is a local pub that brews its own beer on the premises – and very good it is too. We’ve had a couple of get togethers for the Allotment Association there. Anyone thinking of going, the Stannington Stout is amazing!

Kelham Island Brewery has a special place in my heart, it was the last major project of my degree before my finals (just a few years ago…) to produce a simulation of the brewery to see how they could increase production. Obviously I’d like to think I had a hand in the fact they built new premises next door after we found they couldn’t increase production in the premises they were in… However, more importantly they do some very nice beer, Pale Rider being my favourite.

Bradfield Brewery is a relatively new find. Situated on the outskirts of Sheffield, about 10 minutes away from us but in the middle of the countryside, they do some more than passable beers and we’re hoping to try the pub out soon.

Not just beer!
Probably the most regularly visited on the list is Coppice House Farm Shop. We probably go at least twice a month to stock up on meat. They raise their animals in the Valley just a few minutes from home, and just down the road from the allotment (plot no 1). They have a good philosophy in raising their animals, the meat is very good, and they also supply manure for the plot!

Our Cow Molly is in fact an ice cream maker on a local dairy farm. It is seriously good! I think we picked up our first pot at Coppice House Farm Shop, but on Easter Sunday we made it to the farm where it is produced – where the kids got to feed the new born lambs as well. Again the farm isn’t far away from home and still officially in Sheffield, but was in the countryside.

Finally, picked up the South Yorkshire Good Food Directory from Our Cow Molly, which lists a whole variety of local suppliers of food, restaurants, farmer’s markets, etc. Looking forward to trying out some of these in the book.

Yes, I know it’s snowing!

After an early morning dash to cover up the recently planted potatoes before the frosts and snow returned on Good Friday, I was determined to get out to the plot at some point over the holiday weekend. So today, during yet another snow flurry I went to plot number 2.

Sadly the recent strong winds left the (plastic) greenhouse in need of repair. Unfortunately it was far too cold to be standing around trying to fix it properly, not to mention not having any tools to do so. So I propped the sides up as best as possible and wedged some bricks against them in the hope it will hold until the next visit. Despite this and the door constantly being blown open, the broad beans are finally through, the strawberries are looking well and two of the three trays of salad leaves are through.

Beds looking up the plot

Beds looking down the plot from the pond

Back outside in the cold, I dug over another bed and dressed with rockdust and tidied up a bit more. I discovered some mint and oregano (I think), seemingly randomly planted in the middle of a bed – OK so I know mint has a habit of appearing anywhere, but oregano? Dug up the remaining parsnips that had been left behind – all three of them -before digging out numerous dandelions and started on the couch grass… Get the feeling I’ll be cursing that a lot soon.

Despite the weather, the trees and rhubarb are showing signs of life. The rhubarb always looks like some weird alien creature when it first starts to appear like this to me! One of the fruit trees has some sort of growth on the ground around it, that I’m not sure what they are, but despite this being the main reason I took the camera up for I forget to take a picture of it…

So, instead here’s the ‘spot the shed’ competition!

However, because of the weather it was just a short visit to the plot! Maybe some time at one or both of them later in the week, let’s hope it warms up a bit.

Fruit beds, still a work in progress!