On an outing to central Oxford the other day, I came across Cow Mead Allotment on Abingdon road. They had an open house and were selling their produce for donation only. There was plenty to choose from – Fresh damsons, swiss chard and giant marrows which would just go to waste if not eaten and shared.

What a fantastic way to support ZeroWaste week I thought! So I snapped a few pictures and bought some beautiful swiss chard which we fried up with some garlic to have with our fresh farm eggs. Delicious!!

July is one of the most abundant months for PYO and foraging.

Raspberries

As the strawberry season ends so the raspberry season begins! Vividly pink, juicy, fresh raspberries are a real late summer treat. Long Summer days in the UK help produce the most delicious berries. Get yourself down to one of my recommended PYO spots to sample some of the best raspberries in the country. Top tip – as with strawberries – sometimes you can buy ‘jam’ raspberries which are cheaper as they don’t look so pretty. Yet they make gorgeous purées served with yoghurt and are delicious in smoothies.

Beetroot

Beetroot is an underrated vegetable that you usually find pickled in supermarkets. Yet this earthy sweet and vibrant purple root is delicious grated in the coleslaw, made into a feta and beetroot burger (recipe here) and even in Chocolate beetroot fairy cakes (recipe here) using the flesh to colour the icing a luscious pink.

Cherries

You all must have seen cherries being sold at the side of the road. Don’t miss out, you can get some real bargains, and they are juicy and sweet at this time of the year. Why not head down to Q Gardens in Steventon, nr Abingdon and pick your own. The also do home made cherry ice cream for a real treat!

From the hedgerow

Look out for early blackberries. They start to juice up around now and make beautiful jam or blackberry and apple pie – yummy!

Elder-flowers are also in season and you can make a fragrant and refreshing cordial for next to nothing by steeping the flowers in sugar syrup for 24 hours (recipe to follow).

Don’t forget to pick wild nettles and dandelion leaves to make your own iron rich pesto, sauté them in garlic and olive oil, or use them as a replacement for spinach in saag aloo – delicious!

Have you  been enjoying the pickings of July? I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to. Please drop me a line or leave me a comment.

Did anyone make it down to the pilot of the Oxford Food Surplus Cafe at East Oxford Community Centre last Saturday? We certainly did, and what a success!!!

The Oxford Food Surplus Café was an event were wonderful volunteers, some from the Cultivate Oxford team are reclaiming surplus food and transforming it into delicious healthy meals for everyone to eat.

Using the pay as you feel system, customers are able to contribute/donate either what they can afford or what they think the food, space and idea is worth. The hope is to create a place that encourages the community to engagement and reconnect people with the food they eat.

The wonderful menu that was invented on-the-spot to incorporate all the donated ingredients, included a delicious vegetable tagine with brown rice, scrumptious black beans and a freshly foraged nettle and potato. I hear there were also some yummy puddings too. Here you can see my daughter Melissa tucking into the healthy delights.

I believe the event was a total success – feeding around 500 people. Here’s hoping it’s the start of many! WELL DONE EVERYONE!

My daughter Melissa’s at home with me on Tuesday’s, we like to get out and about and do some market research for the blog.

I stumbled across Q Gardens in Steventon just south of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. I took a fancy to the name as I’m a huge fan of Kew Garden’s in London where I used to work in a little health food store for a few years.

Q Gardens Farm Shop specialises in seasonal produce that has been grown, reared or made as locally as possible –  including fruit from their own orchards (notably yummy cherries) and meat from their own farm just a couple of miles away from the shop.

They also stock bread, dairy products, a wide range of local beers and wines. They have a huge display of locally milled flour, cakes and biscuits, honey and preserves.  But the crowning glory was the refrigerator full of home made ice cream – I couldn’t resist a sample of the raspberry sorbet. The fruit in the ice cream is grown on the farm too!

I splashed out on a joint of Top Side Beef for Easter Weekend. It was only £7.99 a kg, and is large enough to supply at least two meals for our family. The equivalent joint is £13 a kg in Tesco’s. An absolute bargain.

We’ll be back in the Summer to sample the strawberries and famous cherries! Can’t wait!

Here are the shop details –

How to find Q Gardens
Milton Hill, Steventon, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX13 6AB
01235 820988 info@qgardensfarmshop.co.uk 

On the A4130 just a few hundred metres from the Milton Interchange of the A34. At the roundabout take the Wantage exit, go through both sets of traffic lights and we are the cream building on your right hand side.

I had  a lovely email from a reader a few weeks ago that told me where to get some fantastic Farm Eggs in Oxford’s very own covered market. I was surprised I have to say, as I hadn’t ventured there believing that I would not find any deals. I was wrong.

Yesterday I ventured to John Lindsay’s butchers at the back of the Covered Market and found 15 Fresh Farm eggs for only £2.10! That’s 14p an egg. Amazing. I couldn’t resist. I also spoke to Stuart the butcher who said the eggs came from Crowmarsh Farm in Wallingford. The butchers also supply local meat at very reasonable prices. Needless to say, I’ll be visiting more often!

When you’re driving along a country road. The sun is beaming and it’s a crisp and cold almost Spring day. At the corner of the road is a sign with Free Range Farm eggs for sale. You pull up and there they are, probably laid that morning, half a dozen beautiful eggs, still with the fluff on ready and waiting to be bought for only £1.

Not only than but there’s no one in site to take the money. Just an honesty box at the side. I love the community spirit and trust of the people in Oxford. It makes me proud and happy to live here.

These eggs were found on route from Islip to Headington. I’m sure there’ll be more around it you keep your eyes peeled!