Notes from the Farm - June 2024
FROM RICHARD SMITH
Farm Managing Director
SILAGE SEASON
Although we are grateful to be seeing more sunshine, the farm team doesn’t get much time to rest and sunbathe. Farm life means always thinking ahead, and we know how important it is to preserve the fresh grass for winter feed.
Also known as “pickled pasture”, silage is made by mowing grass and clover leys, covering it in large silage pits or clamps and leaving it to ferment. Our livestock love eating this nourishing, protein-rich feed over the colder months, when fresh grass pasture is scarce.
As a grass-based regenerative, organic farm, homemade silage is an essential part of our sustainability and self-sufficiency.
IN THE MARKET GARDEN
At this time of year, our farmshop shelves are filled with juicy berries and ripe tomatoes from our organic Market Garden. These ingredients are an invitation to embrace light, fresh flavours that sing of warmer weather and balmy evenings.
Strawberries are synonymous with the British summer. Sweet, juicy and delicious, they are also high in vitamin C and antioxidants. They make the perfect snack just as they are, or as part of a picnic or a delicious breakfast.
Our Market Garden team grows around forty varieties of tomatoes, nurturing over 3,500 plants to give us the most sensational, sweet, organic fruit in all shapes, colours and sizes from tiny cherry to weighty beefsteak tomatoes. We always look forward to the colourful mixed punnets arriving in our farmshops – and they are now available to buy online.
Rosé wine pairs beautifully with both tomatoes and strawberries, and with temperatures rising and Wimbledon to look forward to, it’s no wonder that this light, refreshing drink seems even more popular in June.
IN OUR CAFÉS
NEW SUMMER MENUS
The best flavours of British summer are on our new café menus. We recommend starting with Freshly Baked Olive, Chilli & Sun-dried Tomato Fougasse with soft herb whipped butter for the table, before moving onto a starter of Vine Tomato, Oregano & Adlestrop Arancini. A hearty summer salad such as our Griddled Courgettes & Greek Style Cheese makes a light yet satisfying main course, and there is always room for a serving of Daylesford strawberries with elderflower cream for pudding.
Our bakers have developed a new pastry for summer, combining classic croissant dough with peach compote, raspberries, toasted hazelnuts and a custard infused with meadowsweet, a native wildflower with flavours reminiscent of vanilla, honey and almonds.
Launching early July.
CIRCULAR COFFEE
We recently celebrated a new addition to Bamford's B Vibrant range, which upcycles coffee grounds from our cafés into a deeply nourishing treatment that leaves skin smooth, soft and ready for summer. The Tonifying Body Polish provides natural exfloiation by blending the coffee grounds with sugar, shea butter, coconut oil and essential oils.
At Daylesford, we take extra care to source responsibly from overseas. We have worked with Extract Coffee Roasters for years to find the very best organic arabica beans from farms that use sustainable methods and have a positive impact on local communities. You can read more about it here.
'June may have had a decidedly wet start, but it is important to remember that nature is always changing and she never really disappoints. Spotting the different flowers coming into bloom throughout the garden has been a constant source of joy on my morning dog walks. These range from wild orchids and peonies to my favourite New Dawn rose and thousands of daisies covering the wildflower meadow. I don’t remember them ever looking so good - or so plentiful.
Thankfully, we have enjoyed a little more sunshine and warmth following last week’s summer solstice, and with these have come plenty more strawberries from the market garden and our first cucumbers from the polytunnels - a delicious addition to some of the crunchy and nourishing new seasonal salads on our farmshop deli counters at the moment. Speaking of seasonal recipes, it feels exciting that there are just a couple of weeks to go until the launch of my new book, Daylesford Living: Inspired by Nature, in which I open up the doors to my kitchen, garden, cottages and life on the farm throughout the year. For a glimpse of what to expect, find behind the scenes snippets on my Instagram page, or click here to preorder your copy.'
