Excitement is building for our Wacky Royal Races on the 4th June!

To celebrate the Diamond Jubilee some of the team at Uncle Henry’s Farm Shop will be donning Royal outfits and running (or walking) a mile in aid of Lincolnshire Lives at 12pm on the 4th.

Here is a picture of Uncle Henry’s Gill trying out her Prince Phillip outfit (That is a walking stick in her hands for anyone concerned!) Other members of the “Royal Family” taking part are The Queen of course, Charles and Camilla, Wills, Harry and Kate, and even Fergie is making an appearance.

Why not come along and cheer us on!

On Friday 17^th February, I paid a visit to GAPA in Gainsborough.

GAPA (Gainsborough Adventure Playground Association) is a charitable play orientated organization for children aged between 5 and 14.  They provide a safe place away from street corners where children have the freedom to play, run wild, build dens, paint, make things, in essence just about anything goes!!

I was overwhelmed by the friendliness of the staff and the enthusiasm of the children, who I was staggered to find out could number as many as 100+ on certain days, no child pays or is ever turned away.

On Friday I arrived armed with bowls of compost, pots, lettuce seed and labels and to my delight the children got immediately involved, many had not planted seeds before, but chatted about the sorts of things they liked to eat and might grow in the future.

At the same time another activity organized for the children was outdoor cooking, they had a real open fire and a big black cooking pot and they chopped and prepared vegetables to cook whilst another group built dens in which to eat their food.

It was so refreshing seeing children actually using imaginative play rather than the seemingly sterile world of computer games and they were all genuinely having a wonderful time.

Finally, hats off to the small core of staff and army of volunteers who through their time, hard work and dedication to the centre provide a totally unique and stimulating environment which is obviously well loved by all who attend!

I look forward to my next visit.

Nicky Greenwood

For more information on GAPA see http://gapa.btck.co.uk/

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