Lincolnshire wins gold in Yorkshire Butchery competition.

Butchers at Uncle Henry’s Farm Shop in Lincolnshire have brought home the bacon after winning 4 Gold awards in this year’s BPEX regional Roadshow in Harrogate.

The team at Uncle Henry’s are no strangers to winning Gold for their home produced meats, but usually the accolades are collected on home turf. Previous wins have included the East Midlands BPEX and Poacher competition.

Husband and Wife Barry and Louise Jarvis entered the Yorkshire competition, which recognises meat product excellence, knowing they would be up against some of County’s finest producers.

Uncle Henry’s picked up for Gold for Lincolnshire Sausage, Hudas Argy Bargy (a spicy pork sausage made with spiced paste) The Bretton Banger (a Lincolnshire sausage with Black pudding) and their Black Bacon (bacon cured using black treacle)
“We believe we were the only Butcher’s there from Lincolnshire. We thought we would be at a disadvantage coming in from Lincolnshire, so we are absolutely delighted to to win and fly the flag for Lincolnshire producers. We were particularly proud to win Gold for our Lincolnshire sausage, especially as we understand Yorkshire is looking to make waves with their own version” say the couple.

Over 50 retailers from Country entered, producing 299 entries into the various award categories.

Another gold winner was their innovative new “Hudas Argy Bargy” sausage devised with local supplier Mr Hudas, who creates Indian pastes.

Made using the Mr Hudas Surma Secrets, Mango Chutney Rubbing Paste and Marinade. It’s called ‘Mr Huda’s Argy Bargy’ as the taste is similar to an onion bhaji!” says Butcher, Barry Jarvis who created the sausage.

“The collaboration with Mr Hudas was something that came about just from chatting to Maz, owner of the company. We are both proud Lincolnshire companies, with something different to offer, so why not combine the two.”

The BPEX Roadshow is an opportunity to recognise and reward such commitment in what can be an extremely tough industry.

The products are evaluated by a team of industry experts and points are given for a range of attributes, among them are appearance, consistency, texture, taste and smell.

“One of the judges said this year has been the highest standard of entry he has seen and judging was very difficult.” added Louise.

Today we went to Winterton Infants School to talk about Farmhouse Breakfast Week.

The children were lovely and very keen to learn more about why this week was so important.
We explained that farmhouse breakfast week is promote why it is important to have breakfast and why a piece of chocolate (as some guilty individuals confessed to having) is not the right way to start the day!

To illustrate this we made a display, made of fruit, cereals and lots of other tasty breakfast products to get them thinking of different things they could ask mum and dad to try. To round off the presentation to the children we invited the children to design a breakfast sausage. After the entry forms from the children are in (and some minor tweaks made) our Butchery Manager Louise will and see the winning class and they can try their hand at making some of their sausages. This will also get the children familiar with the ingredients that can be used in sausages from a farm shop like ours and why buying locally in general is a really good thing.

Soon after we expect the winning recipe to be made at Uncle Henry’s and the Winterton Infants Sausage will be available for all to try!

Lincolnshire Farm Shop wins Retailer of the Year in National Competition

Local farm shop Uncle Henry’s has beaten some stiff competition to bring back to Lincolnshire a prestigious Retailer of the Year award.

The 2011 Food and Farming Awards took place on Friday 9^th of December at the House of Commons.

Guests at the awards ceremony were joined by key industry figures including the Countryfile presenter Adam Henson.

Uncle Henry’s, based near Gainsborough, scooped the non multiple Retailer Of The Year award, beating competition from across the UK including Suffolk Food Hall.

Meryl Ward owner of Uncle Henry’s said “We are delighted to have won, especially when up against such great competition. It just goes to show you don’t have to be the biggest company out there to be successful.”

“As well as being a showcase for the best in locally produced food and drink, we do a lot of charity work and have in place different initiatives and events which benefit the local community. We feel we have developed to become more than a retailer, we have a strong place in the hearts of the local people too.”

The ceremony, organised by Farm Business magazine, recognises achievements in the farming industry and the people that have contributed to its successes, through hard work and innovation.

Uncle Henry’s were amongst other winners who came from large Blue Chip organisations, including Morrisons who won Multiple Retailer of the Year and Dairy Crest who won Highly commended in the Food Marketing Category.

Adam Henson took home the Personality Of The Year awards.

Well, what a grey day!!  Personally I now think we’ve had our fair share of them, I suppose we could blame it on the time of year.  Hey, looking on the bright side this time last year we were up to our armpits in snow and sub-zero temperatures, so I suppose we’ve got a lot to be thankful for!

Right, enough doom and gloom, it has been all systems go on the poly tunnel front.  As it is quite a sizeable structure we had to undertake quite a lengthy amount of site preparation beforehand, several trees had to be felled, their roots dug up, large over hanging branches removed and the whole area levelled and de-weeded.  The next stage was the erection of the steel framework, we found this process was aided by measuring and marking out the footprint of the tunnel first and so the positioning of the metal hoops was easier and more accurate.  The attendance of several strapping farm lads armed with sledgehammers may have also played a crucial part in this. 

A trench 2 feet deep then had to be dug around the entire site, no machinery used only manpower, phew!!  Hot tape was then put on all the metal work, this specialised tape creates a barrier between the steel and the polythene and prolongs the life of the cover preventing the heated metalwork weakening the polythene in hot weather.  The plastic covering was then pulled over the frame and the excess polythene was then buried in the trench to secure the tunnel and pull it taut.

So, we then had our poly tunnel in place, the next job was to install the four large raised beds within the tunnel in which selected crops will be grown.  We used 60m+ of rustic edging to create the boxes which were then manually filled with tonnes of top soil.

In total it took us approximately, 4 days to complete, and by the end I think the strapping farm lads were glad to retire to the comfort of their tractors – bless them!

One of the first tasks I’ve been able to undertake in the warmth and shelter of the new poly tunnel is the potting up of several hundred miniature daffodil bulbs, these pots will provide a welcome splash of colour come the Springtime and will be on sale in the shop.

It was also time to empty all the troughs, pots and hanging baskets around the garden, the majority of the bedding plants had to be discarded but I transplanted the Fuchsias and Geraniums into a nursery bed within the poly tunnel and fingers crossed if they can be kept frost free they will survive until next year.

Things to be getting on with now

Continue to rake up fallen leaves especially on lawns or grassed areas.

Plants sited in inappropriate locations can be dug up and moved.

Good time to clean and sharpen garden tools ready for the Spring.

Put grease bands around the trunks of fruit trees.

Partition off section of greenhouse with bubble wrap to increase insulation.

Although we have been experiencing some pretty dismal and dreary weather you can still escape by grabbing your radio and heading for the greenhouse or shed, plenty to do.

Best regards

Nicky Greenwood

With all this in mind we have decided to put on another of our sell out wine tasting evenings. Mr James Long from Cornery and Barrow wines is back by popular demand will no doubt be armed with some amusing annecdotes to delight his audience. You will be given the opportunity to shop prior to James’s talk at 7pm, which will give the perfect opportunity to taste some cheeses and be inspired for Christmas.

Tickets are only £5 and they are going fast! Please call 01652 640308.

If you haven’t yet checked out the farm shop’s events page of our website please do so http://www.unclehenrys.co.uk/events/

GARDEN BLOG OCTOBER 2011

Autumn, what a visual spectacular, in sharp contrast to the bright, crisp colours of Spring and Summer, Autumn brings deep more mellow tones that compliment one another effortlessly and creates a wonderful calmness to the garden.  You can almost feel life beginning to slow down.  The vivid greens of active growth are replaced by more relaxed shades of brown, gold and russet, even the fruit and vegetables of Autumn are cloaked in chilled out hues, vibrant orange pumpkins, pale buttery squashes, earthy medlars and rosy tinted bramleys.  I really love this time of year, the vegetable garden is gradually returned to its original stark blank canvas and the inevitable concealed excitement of planning for next year begins all over again.

Well, on the news front, we have had literally hundreds of young visitors to the garden over the course of this month and all very keen budding gardeners I might add.  School visits have become a very special and important part of my job here at Henry’s.  The garden has become an invaluable educational tool and creates a highly practical way of teaching children where our food comes from.  This month we have been focussing on Autumn and how it is a very busy time for plants and trees, loosing leaves, preparing to go to sleep for Winter and producing seeds.  The children loved the fantastic colours of the runner bean seeds and holly berries and were amazed that conkers are actually seeds!!  When asked “What tree grows from a conker?” they all answered “a conker tree of course!” – silly me!!

So, after the welcome distraction of the bright welly brigade, I have been busy with the pressing matters of the season.  It’s been time to say good bye to the prolific producing tomato plants in the poly tunnel, fantastic yields this year using Gardener’s Delight, Alicante and Moneymaker.  The enormous pumpkins have been successfully manhandled into the shop – the biggest weighing in at an impressive 6 stone 2!!  I ‘ve also begun the arduous task of trying to remove a bed of Jerusalem artichoke this may take a number of growing seasons to eradicate completely as any tiny piece of root tuber left will grow again.  I have spent time saving and drying seed for next season, herbs are especially easy to do and can save a lot of money.  Any vacated beds have been rotivated and generous helpings of well rotted manure added.  I have also added copious amounts of leaf mould to one of my beds that requires a little extra condition.

We have also begun preparation for our new poly tunnel, this has involved the felling of a couple of old non-producing fruit trees and the removal of some large overhanging branches.  As the tunnel measures 14m x 6m the ground has had to be levelled and sprayed for perennial weeds.  All we need now is a nice calm day and plenty of man power.

Things to be getting on with now

Rake up fallen leaves and apples, the leaves can be used to make leaf mould.

Hedge pruning can begin now.

Clear summer bedding plants.

Pack away garden hoses and irrigation equipment.

Save seed from annual flowers, herbs and beans.

Although the temperatures are falling, on a clear sunny autumnal day there is no better place to be – just enjoy being outside.

To see Nicky’s pumpkin video please click the link How to grow a perfect pumpkin

Best regards

Nicky Greenwood

Our lovely Gardener Nicky Greenwood has been carefully cultivating some of the largest pumpkins we have ever seen (not bad considering the weather this year) In a new video Nicky shares her tips on growing a perfect pumpkin. Remember they are all available to buy in the farm shop, ideal for carving or as the main ingredient for some inspired Autumnal recipes. Hurry there’s not many left!

Click on the link below to see Nicky’s new video.

Our Gardener Nicky shares her pumpkin growing tips

Terms and Conditions

The “Miles of Smiles” competition will close on November  30th at 23.59. A winner will be chosen from all the entries submitted. The most fun and original picture will be chosen as the winner. Photos need to be uploaded via the Uncle Henry’s Facebook fan page.  The winners will be notified by email or via Facebook.

Facebook holds no responsibility for the content of the competition. No employees of Uncle Henry’s are eligible to enter.
Competition prize is one Hamper only. Contents and value of which will be decided by Uncle Henry’s staff and will be emailed to the reciptient of the hamper prior to receipt of hamper prize.
No cash alternative will be offered.

Photos can only be entered by the parent/guardian of the child (if under 18)

By uploading a picture and entering the “Miles of Smiles” competition participants are accepting the full t&c’s of the competition.

Gainsborough’s top local businesses came together last week for an evening of celebration and a star speaker, with an awards ceremony that recognised the cream of local industry.

The Gainsborough Business Awards ceremony, held at the White Heather, Caenby Corner, welcomed “The Apprentices” very own Staurt “The Brand” Baggs as the guest speaker.

Stuart, who has developed a reputation as being somewhat of a character kept the waiting guests amused with his tales from the boardroom, and even managed to win a few fans when he had finished.

However it was the local businesses and the people behind them that people really wanted to know about. The evening, only in its second year is proving very popular and has attracted even more entrants this year, making judging the winners very difficult.

“We had lots more entries this year” said Ceremony organiser Kelly Taylor from Langley’s Solicitors. “Getting in applications is always the difficult part but this year we received 44 applications for the 6 awards, which was great”.

Commenting on why she started the awards, Kelly said “Last year it occurred to me that whilst many local towns and cities have a business awards to celebrate their successes there was nothing in place for Gainsborough.  There are many great businesses in and around Gainsborough which I think deserve recognition. In view of this I set about organising an awards ceremony last year”

“I am extremely proud of the event and of all of the businesses involved”. She added.

The categories were Best Customer Service Award, Outstanding Contribution to the Community, Best Use of Innovation/ Technology, Best New Business, Gainsborough Business Person of the year, Gainsborough Small Business of the year and Gainsborough Business of the Year.

Uncle Henry’s farm shop near Gainsborough won the award for Outstanding Contribution to the Community. “This award is the one we wanted says Meryl Ward business owner. “It recognises the things we do other than being a farm shop, that people may not always hear about. This includes our free school visits around the farm, group tours and the charitable events we do throughout the year. We were up against some stiff completion too.”

Other winners included Cliff Bradley and Sons for Best Customer Service Award, Queen Elizabeth’s High Schools for Best Use of Innovation/ Technology and Eminox Ltd for Gainsborough Business of the year.

List of Winners

Cliff Bradley and Sons- Best Customer Service Awards

Outstanding Contribution to the Community – Uncle Henrys

Best Use of Innovation/ Technology  – Queen Elizabeth’s High School

Best New Business – Retford Health Ltd

Gainsborough Business Person of the Year – Ed Holmes at AO Smith Limited

Gainsborough Small Business of the Year – Freewatt Ltd

Gainsborough Business of the Year – Eminox Ltd

Sponsors are Langleys, Ideafuel Creative, Gainsborough Standard, Gainsborough College, West Lindsey District Council, Wright Vigar, White & Co, The Florist, Double Red.

It’s always an indicator to me when I have to dust off my wellies and don a warmer layer, that its time to say good bye to Summer.  Other obvious signs are the tired appearance of the trees, the vitality and vigour of the previous months has been replaced by visible fatigue.  Although, it’s not all doom and gloom, before we finally say goodnight to our native species they provide us with a spectacular visual display of Autumnal colour that rivals that of any of the other seasons.

It’s been another busy month in the garden with still a great deal of produce being taken into the shop, all of which has a real Autumn feel, Bramley apples, leeks, parsnips, butternut squash and copious amounts of tomatoes, runner beans and courgettes, these ingredients ideal for making delicious soups, stews, pies and ratatouille yum!

Any vacant ground has been dug over and prepared for next season, well rotted manure and leaf mould has been incorporated to put back nutrients and improve the condition of the soil.

Another option at this time of year is to grown green manures on an empty space, this does both of the above and has the added bonus of acting as a weed suppressant.

We have had an absolute glut of Bramley apples this year and as I abhor waste we have been active in picking and storing as many as possible.  As we make all our own apple sauce, and fillings for winter favourites like apple pie and crumble these stored apples will be used as and when required throughout the winter.  When storing apples it is essential that the apples themselves are as perfect as possible (windfalls cannot be stored), as any defect, bruise or disease will cause the apple to rot, the apples need to be dry and stored in containers that allow a good circulation of air.  It is also important that the apples do not touch one another.

Well the Henry’s garden empire is growing (excuse the pun)!  I’m sure many of you are familiar with Hall Farm Nursery at Harpswell, sadly, after 30 years they have decided to close the nursery and in doing so have sold off all their rather large polytunnels, of which, we have purchased a 6m x 14m polymonster, fabulous!  So, a small troop of us descended on Hall Farm to dismantle our designated tunnel.  The sun shone, the sky was blue – perfect!!  Or not quite!  This idyllic atmosphere was spoilt only by a gang of heavily perspiring men, wrestling with rather stubborn metalwork, and using on occasion rather fruity language (I shall not divulge!)  Needless to say after a few hours of hard labour we had the entire structure loaded onto a trailer and brought safely back to Henry’s.  Stand by for the next episode when we attempt to erect this rather large greenhouse.(Oh Blimey!)

Another piece of really fantastic news is that the Tawny owl that got entangled in some of the garden netting earlier this summer and injured a wing, has been successfully released back into the woods here at Henry’s.

Things to be getting on with now

Seed collection, sweetpeas, fennel, dill, parsley, sage are all producing viable seed ready for collection, make sure seed is dry, store in brown paper bag, remember to label.

Take hardwood cutting numerous shrubs are ideal for cuttings, provides you with endless free plants.

Plant strawberry plants taken from runners of parent plant into designated growing position.

Bring in potted herbs eg parsley, basil etc

Pick pears bring indoors to continue to ripen.