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July is when home-grown cherries come into their own. In shops and supermarkets you’ll find mostly modern “improved” varieties but if you’re after our heritage varieties, F G Meakin in Kent is worth a visit.
Their farm shop sells the fruits of their 10 acre traditional cherry orchard. So revel in such historic names as Napoleon, Noir de Guben, Frogmore and Waterloo.
For more details and to buy, click here
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Peas
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Ludlow Food Centre is a place to watch. At least 80% of produce sold is either own made, sourced from Shropshire or its three surrounding counties.
Fruit and vegetables are about as local as you can get with “sweet as the moment” peas, a current highlight. To complete the weekly shop, there’s a butchery, bakery, dairy and deli stocked with own made goodies from ice cream to cheese.
For more details and to buy, click here
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Green Beans
| On the other hand, if you want to grow-your-own. Rocket Gardens remove the stress by offering a nationwide mail-order instant organic garden with established seedlings.
Grown in unheated greenhouses for hardy plants, they come in various permutations that include dwarf green and runner beans, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuces, beetroot, cauliflower.
For more details and to buy, click here
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Fennel
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The old-fashioned village shop – complete with local bicycle delivery - is making a comeback. Secretts of Rudgwick, West Sussex is the village shop to Secretts Farm.
More of a food hall with a butchery, bakery, cheese counter and – of course – the fruit and vegetables from the farm itself, harvested daily and delivered to the shop to ensure they’re all in fine fettle.
For more details and to buy, click here
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| Sometimes, even better than the fresh fruit itself, are the jams. Ouse Valley Foods forage locally to make small batches of crystal-clear jellies, additive-free lightly-set conserves and all manner of chutneys and pickles.
With red and blackcurrants at their peak now, try their Peach & Redcurrant conserve for a high summer tea or their rich, creamy Blackcurrant curd.
More details and to buy, click here
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