THE Cheese & Grain Farmers Market will be resuming on Saturday 14th August.
The organisers report, “During our 18 months of Corona related refugee status we managed to hang on in there, holding a micro market on the Cheese & Grain terrace plus a one-off event at Boyle Cross in torrential rain. Now we are finally ‘coming home’ on 14th August 9am-1pm to the Market Hall where we first began trading over 20 years ago. It takes place monthly all year round on the second Saturday of the month, with an additional Christmas event.
“It will feel strange being back inside, but we are thrilled with the new ventilation system installed in the hall which replaces the air every few minutes. We will still be encouraging sanitiser use, welcoming face coverings, safe queuing and contactless payments to ensure everyone feels confident and safe to return indoors.
“The market exists to encourage close links to be forged between customers and the local farming and artisan food producer community; a great example being vegetable grower Tracey Collins, known to all her loyal customers, who has been bringing her home grown vegetables from Bromham since the market was launched.
“The August market will have a range of familiar faces such as Holly with her Beechridge free range poultry, Brown Cows Organic Beef and Wootton Organic Dairy, plus new farms such as Lallybroch Boer Goats of Midsomer Norton who breed pedigree free range Boer goats specifically for meat production and Pig Patch Pigs who are helping to revive the rare breed Oxford and Sandy Black Pig. It is slow grown so ignored by large commercial farming enterprises but considered the ‘plum pudding’ of tasty pork and highly sought after.
“An interesting addition to the market is the incredibly popular Happy Forager, a Radstock based cultivator of gourmet mushrooms and organiser of foraging walks. He is creating a huge mushroom buzz locally and via his Instagram @thehappyforager, so come and find out about all things ‘fungi’.
“It is important to remember how important your spending ‘Super Power’ is! It enables you to support and sustain small local farms with high welfare and environmental standards and food producers who in turn source ingredients directly from local farms; it’s the equivalent to casting a vote for a greener sustainable farming future.
“The Cheese & Grain Café will be open during the morning so enjoy breakfast on the terrace and parking next to the hall at this accessible market venue.
“Visit our website www.somersetfarmersmarkets.co.uk for more information and to sign up for a market e-newsletter to find out who is coming along each month.
NB There is a mistake on market leaflet – the date of the market is the 14th not the 7th August.
