Earlier this month, Nick attended the launch of our local Food Assembly in nearby market town Dingwall.
Truth be told, we didn’t know what a Food Assembly was until its organiser approached us six weeks ago.
And for the benefit of those in the same position as we were, the Food Assembly network (
thefoodassembly.com/en
) hails from France and launched in the UK three years ago – in London’s Hackney – and is essentially a farmers’ market, of sorts.
The big difference is that consumers place and pay for their orders online in advance.
Local producers and suppliers then take their wares to a local venue on a specified day at a specified time once a week where the consumers collect their orders.
I guess it’s the equivalent of the big supermarkets’ click and collect service, except that all the produce is grown and made locally. It’s also akin to a farmers’ market in the way both producers and consumers can interact.
With more than 900 assemblies open across Europe and the UK, the simple principals of the system and its success speak for themselves.
The inaugural event of our local assembly was held in Dingwall Academy with the purpose of raising awareness and promoting the food and drink available.
Nick took along samples of our yoghurt, milk and ice-cream to give away and a small amount of stock to sell on the day.
We will have to wait and see how popular our produce was when the online ordering system goes live next week.
Hopefully we will receive enough orders for the first proper assembly on October 27 to justify being a part of this exciting new local marketplace.
Elsewhere on the farm, the spring barley has been harvested, treated, bruised and stored for the winter months ahead.
Building works continue in the bottom shed, where a pen is being constructed for the newly calved cows so they are close to the robots for easy milking.
Nick and the farm crew are also conducting a major tidy-up in the bottom shed and around the central steading ahead of Bonfire Night because in a moment of community-minded madness, I suggested to Nick that we host a Guy Fawkes’ Fundraiser at the farm.
Thankfully, lots of the lovely parents at Daisy’s school have volunteered to help with the event where we plan to have a bonfire (obviously), fireworks, sparklers (eek!), as well as hot drinks and snacks for sale to raise money for the school.
We love Daisy’s school – it has a roll of less than 60 pupils – but as a tiny rural school, it doesn’t have a lot of funds for extra curricular activities, excursions or new playground equipment.
So clearly I am hoping for a big turnout on November 5 as well as being secretly pleased we won’t be travelling to a big organised event this year.
Meanwhile Nick is hoping it’s not going to turn into an annual event (we’ll see!).
In other farm news, regrettably Nick’s righthand man, Duncan, is leaving us at the end of the month. He will be missed but we wish him well in his new post in sales with JCB.
Nick is currently looking for a replacement and is relieved that the robots are in place and working well.
It is a blow to lose Duncan but in the past, it has always been much worse when a cattleman leaves as it puts Nick under tremendous strain having to milk the herd as well as manage his usual daily duties.
The production and processing arm of the business is also at its quietest going into the winter months, which reduces the pressure Nick would otherwise be under when a member of staff leaves.
It is also the time of year when Rosie can experiment with new products. This year we are thinking to try flavoured yoghurts, using natural fruit purees, crème fraiche and possibly buttermilk.
With Hallowe’en just around the corner I am, as ever, campaigning for a seasonally flavoured ice-cream although it seems that I am rather in the minority when it comes to my love of pumpkin-flavoured foods.
I remember the first time I ever tasted pumpkin pie.
It was almost 15 years ago when one of my best friends made it for dessert. Rachel, her Tennessee-born husband Jim and their little boy, Dylan, were visiting during trick or treat season, and she made me the iconic all-American pie.
I thought it was delicious, Nick wasn’t as keen.
The texture and crumbly pie crust reminded me of a baked cheesecake and Rachel had used a can of pureed pumpkin (as is traditional in American recipes) spiced with aromatic autumnal spices cinnamon and nutmeg.
There are lots of recipes online using fresh pumpkin, too, which is how I intend to use up the scooped out orange flesh leftover from our pumpkin lanterns this season. Although I also have a lovely recipe for pumpkin muffins.
Again, however, I tend to be their biggest fan so I should probably make them to go into an ice- cream, although that’s not exactly a healthier option if I end up consuming them within a gelato.
Pumpkin soup might be the way to go . . .
NEXT MONTH: Preparing for winter
- Rootfield Farm is on the Black Isle, 10 miles north of Inverness, where Jo lives with husband Nick, a fourth-generation dairy farmer, their daughters Daisy and Mollie, and 150 cows
