Food Link Newsletter March 2011
Foodlink History.
NWS Foodlink had now been in existence for 5 years, and in this time, has provided a network for producing and selling
fresh local produce. The objectives of Food Link were to encourage local producers to grow crops, and provide an outlet for these goods by holding sales around the North and West coasts. It soon became clear that transport and wage
costs, and the time involved made this unpractical. The costs of driving a round trip of 150 miles, to collect and sell a few hundred pounds worth of vegetables just isn’t on.
Where to now?
The area neatly divides into West and North coasts. It makes better sense to concentrate on these areas individually and develop a network of growers, producers, and markets within these areas. I have been running reasonably successful sales in Scourie, while also attending events further afield in Durness and Lochinver. The main problems I have faced are finding enough produce to sell. We had a bad growing season last year, and this limited the produce available. We were unable to hold weekly sales, and this also affected demand, as customers were unsure when the sales were taking place. We would like to hold stalls on a weekly basis in Scourie, providing regularity for customers, and attend events in Durness, and Lochinver.
We have had many discussions over how to serve the North coast area, and feel that producers have ready outlets in place already, and while we could provide a stall, to hold sales in the area, we don’t want to “step on the toes”
of the goodwill of current set-ups. Let us know if you feel there is anymore we could do.
Plans for 2011.
Seedy Sunday will be in Durness Village Hall on 3rd April, 12:00-14:00. A soup lunch will be served, with luscious home baking. There will be a stall selling jams and preserves, seed potatoes and onion sets. Entertainment for all the family. Come and exchange seeds, knowledge, and more.
Seedling Sunday will be in Durness Village Hall on 5th June, 12:00-14:00. Lunch will be provided in the café, featuring homemade delicacies. Plants will be on sale, tomatoes, peppers, cabbages, strawberries, soft fruit bushes, summer bedding plants, plus a range of early produce.
Durness Games. We will be attending the Durness Games with the stall. This has now become a regular
event for us, and can prove quite profitable if the weather is kind to us. Also a great day out with entertainment for all.
Assynt Games. We attended these games last year and plan to do so again this year, and although sales were not
great, it was a good advert for Food Link showing us to still be active in the Assynt area.
We hope to hold weekly stalls in Scourie, from mid summer onwards. Stalls are held on the patch of ground between the garage and campsite.
Tattie Festival. Unfortunately we had to cancel this event last year, but plan to hold a bigger and better one this year. A lot of arrangements still have to be made, but will probably be in Durness village hall during November. Lunch will
be available, with the normal “potato twist”. Starters, main course, and sweets. Games for the children, including painting, “splat the tattie”,“tattiepult”, and more..
For further, and up to date, information on these, please look at the web site www.nwsfoodlink.co.uk, or the blog at
http://nwsfoodlink.blogspot.com/. If anyone would like us to attend other events, please contact us.
Local Producers.
I am trying to set up a local directory / list of producers for the Food Link web-site so that people can find out where
to get local, fresh, produce. If you wish to have your produce included, please contact me, Pete Tuck (01971 502430,
pj.tuck@btinternet.com), and I will add you to the list. The listing will be free, but if you do get lots of contacts from
this, we would ask you to become a member of Foodlink (currently £10 per year).
Crops and Varieties – What can we grow?
To help growers I would like to set up a data-base of what crops and varieties, grow well in our highland climate, and when to sow. What did well for you last year? When did you sow, and harvest, did you start of in a propagator or
cold-frame, or plant direct? Did you enjoy eating it, and most important, will you grow it again? Please let me know, and I’ll set something up. Last year I had some superb carrots, parsnips (they’ve been in store overwinter, and we’re
still eating them), onions and shallots did well, but potatoes were a bit of a disaster. Please share you successes and
failures.
Recipes.
Once you’ve grown these wonderfully fresh local vegetables, how do you cook / prepare them? We’d like to produce a booklet of recipes from local people. So dig out your grannies secret recipe, and we’ll add it to our booklet. We hope to make this available for the Tattie Fest, and Christmas Fayre. Example below.
Chanterelle Mushrooms - Cantharellus cibarius
One of our best food mushrooms growing wild in Scotland (June-August). You can use it just the same as other common mushrooms. Perfect in crème soups, stewing, or lightly fried to accompany fried meats. It makes a wonderful filling for an omelette. Perfect stewed as an accompaniment for wild game, or mutton.
Fry the chanterel lightly in butter with chopped onion until the onion is clear and soft. Add single cream and simmer until the mixture is beginning to thicken, add salt, pepper, and finally some fresh parsley. Enjoy.
Supplies.
I have a large stock of supplies available for packing produce, plastic and paper bags, plastic and card punnets, jam jar lids (various sizes), egg boxes, and soup cartons. These are available to producers, please ask if you need more information.
Item Description Amount
Paper bag 10” x 10”, 254 x 254 mm 5,000
Paper bag 12.5” x 12”, 317 x 305 mm 2,500
Paper bag 14” x 18”, 355 x 455 mm 500
Film front bag 8” x 8”, 210 x 210 mm >1000
Film front bag 10” x 10”, 250 x 250 mm >1000
Plastic bag 17 x 22 mm Roll
Plastic bag 200 x 250 mm 1000
Plastic bag 250 x 250 (perf - breathable) 8 x 100
Plastic bag 300 x 400 6 x 100
Carrier bag White plastic 5000
Plastic punnets 130 x 90 x 50 mm (with lids) 300
Egg Boxes Half dozen’s 200
Jam jar top 43 mm 10
Jam jar top 48 mm 10
Jam jar top 53 mm 20
Jam jar top 58 mm 60
Jam jar top 63 mm 70
Jam jar top 70 mm 60
Jam jar top 77 mm 10
Jam jar top 82 mm 10
All items on the above list are brand new, but I also have a wide range of pre-used items, plastic punnets, plastic mushroom boxes, jam jars. We try to re-cycle as much as possible, while staying within Health and Safety rules.
Foodlink Membership 2011
We have costs that need to be covered. Purchase of packaging, office supplies, licence fees, insurance and auditors. We charge a commission of 20% on sales through the stall, but still need to raise more. So this year (we didn’t collect last year) we will ask for a donation of £10 for all producers who use the stall. You will get a regular sale point, access to packaging, and advertising on the Foodlink web-site, and support and advice. There is a membership form on the website, and will be available at the stalls held throughout the year. Please support us to help support you.
Courses.
Last year we organised a course on Propagation, to be held by Audrey Litterick from the Crofters Federation. Unfortunately, this was postponed due to illness. It will take place this year on 6th April in Scourie. See flyer for
details.
North West Training are running a course on Kitchen Food Preparation and Hygiene. If you would be interested, please contact them at North West Training Centre, Kinlochbervie High School, Manse Road, Kinlochbervie, IV27 4RG.
If you have any other ideas for courses that we could run, please contact us.
NWS Foodlink had now been in existence for 5 years, and in this time, has provided a network for producing and selling
fresh local produce. The objectives of Food Link were to encourage local producers to grow crops, and provide an outlet for these goods by holding sales around the North and West coasts. It soon became clear that transport and wage
costs, and the time involved made this unpractical. The costs of driving a round trip of 150 miles, to collect and sell a few hundred pounds worth of vegetables just isn’t on.
Where to now?
The area neatly divides into West and North coasts. It makes better sense to concentrate on these areas individually and develop a network of growers, producers, and markets within these areas. I have been running reasonably successful sales in Scourie, while also attending events further afield in Durness and Lochinver. The main problems I have faced are finding enough produce to sell. We had a bad growing season last year, and this limited the produce available. We were unable to hold weekly sales, and this also affected demand, as customers were unsure when the sales were taking place. We would like to hold stalls on a weekly basis in Scourie, providing regularity for customers, and attend events in Durness, and Lochinver.
We have had many discussions over how to serve the North coast area, and feel that producers have ready outlets in place already, and while we could provide a stall, to hold sales in the area, we don’t want to “step on the toes”
of the goodwill of current set-ups. Let us know if you feel there is anymore we could do.
Plans for 2011.
Seedy Sunday will be in Durness Village Hall on 3rd April, 12:00-14:00. A soup lunch will be served, with luscious home baking. There will be a stall selling jams and preserves, seed potatoes and onion sets. Entertainment for all the family. Come and exchange seeds, knowledge, and more.
Seedling Sunday will be in Durness Village Hall on 5th June, 12:00-14:00. Lunch will be provided in the café, featuring homemade delicacies. Plants will be on sale, tomatoes, peppers, cabbages, strawberries, soft fruit bushes, summer bedding plants, plus a range of early produce.
Durness Games. We will be attending the Durness Games with the stall. This has now become a regular
event for us, and can prove quite profitable if the weather is kind to us. Also a great day out with entertainment for all.
Assynt Games. We attended these games last year and plan to do so again this year, and although sales were not
great, it was a good advert for Food Link showing us to still be active in the Assynt area.
We hope to hold weekly stalls in Scourie, from mid summer onwards. Stalls are held on the patch of ground between the garage and campsite.
Tattie Festival. Unfortunately we had to cancel this event last year, but plan to hold a bigger and better one this year. A lot of arrangements still have to be made, but will probably be in Durness village hall during November. Lunch will
be available, with the normal “potato twist”. Starters, main course, and sweets. Games for the children, including painting, “splat the tattie”,“tattiepult”, and more..
For further, and up to date, information on these, please look at the web site www.nwsfoodlink.co.uk, or the blog at
http://nwsfoodlink.blogspot.com/. If anyone would like us to attend other events, please contact us.
Local Producers.
I am trying to set up a local directory / list of producers for the Food Link web-site so that people can find out where
to get local, fresh, produce. If you wish to have your produce included, please contact me, Pete Tuck (01971 502430,
pj.tuck@btinternet.com), and I will add you to the list. The listing will be free, but if you do get lots of contacts from
this, we would ask you to become a member of Foodlink (currently £10 per year).
Crops and Varieties – What can we grow?
To help growers I would like to set up a data-base of what crops and varieties, grow well in our highland climate, and when to sow. What did well for you last year? When did you sow, and harvest, did you start of in a propagator or
cold-frame, or plant direct? Did you enjoy eating it, and most important, will you grow it again? Please let me know, and I’ll set something up. Last year I had some superb carrots, parsnips (they’ve been in store overwinter, and we’re
still eating them), onions and shallots did well, but potatoes were a bit of a disaster. Please share you successes and
failures.
Recipes.
Once you’ve grown these wonderfully fresh local vegetables, how do you cook / prepare them? We’d like to produce a booklet of recipes from local people. So dig out your grannies secret recipe, and we’ll add it to our booklet. We hope to make this available for the Tattie Fest, and Christmas Fayre. Example below.
Chanterelle Mushrooms - Cantharellus cibarius
One of our best food mushrooms growing wild in Scotland (June-August). You can use it just the same as other common mushrooms. Perfect in crème soups, stewing, or lightly fried to accompany fried meats. It makes a wonderful filling for an omelette. Perfect stewed as an accompaniment for wild game, or mutton.
Fry the chanterel lightly in butter with chopped onion until the onion is clear and soft. Add single cream and simmer until the mixture is beginning to thicken, add salt, pepper, and finally some fresh parsley. Enjoy.
Supplies.
I have a large stock of supplies available for packing produce, plastic and paper bags, plastic and card punnets, jam jar lids (various sizes), egg boxes, and soup cartons. These are available to producers, please ask if you need more information.
Item Description Amount
Paper bag 10” x 10”, 254 x 254 mm 5,000
Paper bag 12.5” x 12”, 317 x 305 mm 2,500
Paper bag 14” x 18”, 355 x 455 mm 500
Film front bag 8” x 8”, 210 x 210 mm >1000
Film front bag 10” x 10”, 250 x 250 mm >1000
Plastic bag 17 x 22 mm Roll
Plastic bag 200 x 250 mm 1000
Plastic bag 250 x 250 (perf - breathable) 8 x 100
Plastic bag 300 x 400 6 x 100
Carrier bag White plastic 5000
Plastic punnets 130 x 90 x 50 mm (with lids) 300
Egg Boxes Half dozen’s 200
Jam jar top 43 mm 10
Jam jar top 48 mm 10
Jam jar top 53 mm 20
Jam jar top 58 mm 60
Jam jar top 63 mm 70
Jam jar top 70 mm 60
Jam jar top 77 mm 10
Jam jar top 82 mm 10
All items on the above list are brand new, but I also have a wide range of pre-used items, plastic punnets, plastic mushroom boxes, jam jars. We try to re-cycle as much as possible, while staying within Health and Safety rules.
Foodlink Membership 2011
We have costs that need to be covered. Purchase of packaging, office supplies, licence fees, insurance and auditors. We charge a commission of 20% on sales through the stall, but still need to raise more. So this year (we didn’t collect last year) we will ask for a donation of £10 for all producers who use the stall. You will get a regular sale point, access to packaging, and advertising on the Foodlink web-site, and support and advice. There is a membership form on the website, and will be available at the stalls held throughout the year. Please support us to help support you.
Courses.
Last year we organised a course on Propagation, to be held by Audrey Litterick from the Crofters Federation. Unfortunately, this was postponed due to illness. It will take place this year on 6th April in Scourie. See flyer for
details.
North West Training are running a course on Kitchen Food Preparation and Hygiene. If you would be interested, please contact them at North West Training Centre, Kinlochbervie High School, Manse Road, Kinlochbervie, IV27 4RG.
If you have any other ideas for courses that we could run, please contact us.
