Indie Farming Photos and Stories from 2014
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year It’s been an incredible year at Indie Farmer – the website went...
Food
Advanced Meat Course
Driven by a desire to learn more about butchery and retail the beef and lamb from our family farm I booked myself onto the Advanced Meat Course at the School of Artisan Food, a course designed for existing butchers, chefs, small holders and enthusiasts. Read more about my experience on the two day course by clicking below...
Meet the Craft Brewer – Beavertown
Nigel met Logan Plant, the founder of Beavertown Brewery and Dukes Brew and Que Restaurant, in their shiny new home in Tottenham Hale to talk about the inspiration for starting up, how his business and the craft beer industry has changed since 2012 and what excites him about the future. We also get his advice to aspiring craft brewers out there...
Biodynamic Dairy Farming: The rise of ‘small milk’
In contrast to the vast US-style ‘mega dairies’ appearing in parts of the UK, one Sussex biodynamic dairy farm says small-scale milk production can work, both sustainably and economically. But does it stack up? Andrew Wasley reports
RAW – The Artisan Wine Fair 2014
We visit RAW - The Artisan Wine Fair 2014 at Truman Brewery in East London to meet some of the small natural wine producers and other artisans there. Not knowing a huge amount about wine we manage to grab Isabelle Legeron, the founder of RAW and only female Master of Wine in France for a quick chat about natural wine, how it differs from commercial wines and some helpful tips to avoid hangovers. We also find out more about her book which is due to hit shelves shortly...
A Cup of Colombian Coffee
You'd be surprised how hard it is to find a good cup of coffee in Colombia. It's the third largest coffee producer in the world after Brazil and Vietnam, but on every corner all you can buy is coffee tinto with sugar, served in a small plastic cup. Order your coffee unsweetened, and the vendor will ask you twice if you really really want your coffee that way. It is bad tasting, thinned out muck, made from the leftover beans of the quality brew coffee - the ones that float on top as they soak in water after the harvest. The good stuff, the quality brew, gets exported.
Bristol Food Connections
We spend bank holiday Monday at Bristol Food Connections meeting some of the small artisan producers in the Slow Food Ark of Taste Market, get to try traditional authentic pizza from the pop up pizzeria and join the free Eat-In event organised by the Sustainable Food Trust with food and drink kindly donated by local producers from the South West, the Gleaning Network and Feeding the 5000; Winners of the Best Food Initiative in the BBC Food and Farming Awards 2014..
HiSbe ‘how it Should be’ independent supermarket
We visit the hiSbe pilot independent supermarket store in Brighton and interview co-founder Amy Anslow about the inspiration behind the venture, how the horse meat scandal helped get it off the ground and their sourcing policy of working with local small farmers and suppliers...
POST CODE URBAN BEEKEEPERS
We spend an afternoon following urban beekeepers Chris and Paul from Barnes & Webb carrying out bee hive inspections in East London. We find out more about the inspiration behind their bee hive rental and honey brand startup, discuss whether the increase in urban bee hives is sustainable and ask if eating their post code honey can help alleviate symptoms of hay fever...
Meet the craft brewer – Gosnells Mead
We meet Tom Gosnell at his Peckham based meadery to find out what inspired him to start brewing craft mead...