This Week At Farm Direct......

We're out collecting wild veggies this week and we think you'll love the selection that we have available.

Wild veggies provide a natural solution to the prolonged hungry gap that has been brought about by a rather arctic April and May.

With our stored onions nearing their end, wild onions stems are a great alternative, while in place of spinach, try our sea beet - it is a little saltier and has an even higher iron content.

Our fresh seaweeds (sadly neglected in our diet) offer a wealth of flavour, with virtually no carbon footprint and are flabbergastingly good for you.

On our farms, the first bunched beetroot from wild fields is now ready (albeit in limited quantities), and we are cutting the young leaves off our fennel to add an anice-zing to your soups and salads.

The unpredictable weather is still playing havoc with the planting of next season's veg - seedlings keep getting washed away and with the top soil 'porrage-like', we have to wait for a prolonged dry spell before we can get drilling again.

The first of this year's asparagus (last week) was a bit nobbly and dark - Tony tells us that this is due to slow growth at the start of the season and the asparagus should be a lot greener this week. We have reduced the price of the single and double bunches as an olive branch if you were disappointed with last week's pick.

Our wild veggies forager, Miles Lavers, has also been using nettles to brew 'Cornish Stinger', a clear refreshing beer that is also gluten free. Miles picks his nettles from an organic farm, ensuring no pesticides have been used near them. Try a bottle of stinger for £2.99 this week, or if you fancy a go at making it yourself here's the recipe.

And finally, with spawning season now over, we can expect a greater range of white fish this week. Our fleet have changed gear, dropping the monkfish nets in favour of the smaller white fish nets. With white fish currently at a premium, prices are high, but that should change over the next few weeks. Keep an eye on our fresh fish section to see what we have - it will be updated as the boats land.

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