Find local food today!

Just put in a keyword or your postcode below and we'll find you your local farm shops, farmers' markets, pick your own farms and farm attractions. First box is for keywords, like the name of a shop or a specific product you're after (like apples); the second box is for your postcode or town name.

Hurray For Asparagus!

For a foodie, discovering the first box of fresh local spears in Spring is somewhat akinto seeing the first homegrown athlete cross the finishing line. It is a sign of hope, a triumph over adverse cold nights, unseasonal drought, and torrential rainfall; a grassy greenness that is recognised as the best in its field.

And there’s no doubt that this year has been a particular challenge for asparagus. A warm dry March promised an early crop, but the return of wet and, in particular, cold weather in April meant the spears have been slow off the mark. The supermarkets are struggling to find an adequate UK supply, but it can now be bought direct from the farm, at farm shops, and farmers’ markets - just call to check availability before you head out. As soon as the weather warms up (even warm rain will do the trick) expect a green deluge!

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Local Food Heroes... Pippin Doughnuts

The expression ‘local food’ most often conjures visions of dew-dripping vegetables in the farm shop, sun-ripened strawberries in a field, or perhaps an unpasteurised cheese, yellow with the milk of a cow that grazes freely in fields of clover.

But local food, made from local ingredients, can include a whole range of items you might not suspect; from curries to melons to sparkling wine. In Swindon, Jim and Carol Webb make delicious, jam-packed Pippin doughnuts from local flour and fruit.

The husband and wife team are both trained pastry chefs with a CV that includes Claridges, Baker & Spice, Ottolenghi and St. John, and quality pervades the entire doughnut-making process: each one is made from scratch, over a long period of time, using flour from Wessex Mill, Oxfordshire. Two proves give the doughnuts a good flavour and a light texture. The doughnuts are fried and filled with plenty of homemade jam - from raspberry to rhubarb and vanilla, lemon curd, vanilla custard or chocolate ganache. Finally, they are whisked off to market the very same day in the peak of fresh perfection.

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