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At long last, a drift of white on a hill side is more lightly to be Blackthorn blossom rather than the pestilent snow.

Whilst tending my orchard and I have noticed a rapid; oh, all right, a steady surge of new growth on all of my fruit. Spring may be weeks late but I fancy that with a bit more warmth everything we cherish will be back on track for a bumper year. All of the fruit trees and bushes will be brim full of pent up energy, not having produced a harvest last year, so let’s all hope for a bumper crop of everything. I’m tied up in knots here not just fingers.

Talking of pent up energy, we are fairly busy on the market this year with a host of extra events celebrating the rich food heritage the North of England is rightly proud of. We will be visiting a number of venues round the Dales with our meet the producer roads show and cannot wait for our Taste of Teesdale Festival at Raby Castle in July.

The next Road Show is on the 19^th of May at the Crown in Mickleton. This is a chance for us to team up with one of the area’s most outstanding food destinations in one of the Dales loveliest villages. There will be about 10 producers and they will be providing the main ingredients for the owner and Chef Andrew Rowbotham to demonstrate with. There will be ample opportunity for everyone to find out how the produce on sale is reared, grown or produced. Why not book in for lunch in the Crown and make a proper day of it.

Taste Teesdale in July will be a celebration of food and farming with something for everyone. The icing on the Teesdale cake is that it will only cost £6 per car to get in to the event. More about that later.

Barnie Farmers Market is proud to be sponsoring the Teesdale Mercury’s “Young Achiever of the Year” in their Pride of Teesdale Awards. This Saturday we will be presenting the winner with a special hamper filled to the brim with the finest produce the market can provide. This award recognises young people up to the age of 18. The Mercury has always recognised the achievements of the dale’s young people and we are looking forward to meeting the winner.

The 16-22 April was National Bread Week but we are giving it a little extension with Sue’s Bread and her extensive range of yeast blown goodies. Just about every accompaniment the heart could desire can then be found on our other stalls to place on your favourite slice. There are jam’s, cheeses, fish pates and salami to choose from and lots lots more; what a feast.

Every Barnie Farmers Market is a Food Festival.

It’s Gainford Farmers’ Market, (inside the village hall) this  Easter Saturday. Sample some of the very best food and drink from around the region. From puddings to parsnips, from cheese to chutney, there’s something for every taste.

Planning the 48-hour family-eating binge (which in our home starts early Christmas Eve, ending sometime around midnight Boxing Day), requires each dish to be carefully planned in juxtaposition of those, which follow. I think upon the Christmas Eve supper as the starter to the entire two-day, festive menu.  Crusty bread rolls filled with hot roast leg of pork and homemade apple sauce. If we’re really naughty perhaps a few potatoes roasted in goose fat.

We do attempt to break away from tradition and although I’m happy to accept the dismissal of the goose by the arrival of the three-rib roast, the sprout however remains a permanent fixture. Even if I do fight like a girl, I’ve sworn to forever defend its place on the winter dining table, or at least until they wheel me from this place into whatever retirement home they have planned. On this particular issue there is no compromise.

This year however, we’ll be enjoying a well aged, fore rib of Dexter beef. The anticipation is all part of the pleasure and although our rib has arrived early (already in the mother-in-law’s freezer), I confess having lain awake of a night thinking of the gorgeously marbled flesh, the rib I mean, not the mother in-law. I digress.

If we don’t eat a goose I will make every effort to purchase the goose fat to roast the vegetables, (from Bluebell Organics) including parsnip, carrots, leeks, garlic, celeriac and potatoes.  Pudding is still yet to be agreed, but you can be sure it will include ginger and be very sticky. Day two of the binge will begin with sausages cooked very slowly with buttered eggs. A light lunch of trout fishcakes, will conclude with an evening meal and the three-bird roast. Christmas meals are sacred. I trust you all enjoy purchasing your Christmas goodies as we hope to see you at the last farmers’ market before Christmas, on Sunday 23 December at the Auction Mart.  Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to you all.

Barnard Castle Farmers’ Market – Roadshow will be at Gainford Village Hall this coming Sunday 10.00am-4.00pm Live food talks and presentations with our usual line up of local food stalls, including: meat, jams, puddings, ginger wine, cheese, organic veg and lots more.

For the next week or so, the sound of fireworks filling the night sky will be a siren
to many pet lovers to draw the curtains and turn up the telly. Guy Fawkes aka ‘Guido’ and his conspirators failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament, might seem a strange event to celebrate, although I’ve heard mumblings (in a slightly tongue in cheek kind of way), that some people are really just honoring his effort to do away with the government. Avoiding any political biases I have to admit the enjoyment of partaking in the occasional banger myself, I refer of course to the kind that sizzle and pop in the frying pan rather than those which howl across the night time sky leaving a trail of litter in my garden.

Even if Bonfire Night isn’t your thing, November’s still a fabulous time to sample some of the delicious bangers available at Barnard Castle Farmers Market. The origins of the great British banger can be traced back to ancient times. Bangers have been part of our staple diet throughout the 19th century. Unlike today’s artisan array of pork, beef and even chicken sausages, those from the period of two world wars consisted of far less meat and more cereal and water causing them to pop and hiss when cooked- hence the word banger.

In Nigel Slater’s ‘Appetite’, he drools over the crucial dark oniony gravy that makes bangers and mash one of our favorite dishes. Nigel adds chopped mustard, juniper berries, chopped thyme, sage leaves and fennel seeds or anything else aniseedy to improve the lusciousness of his gravy.

What ever you do to spice up your gravy, the quality of the Barney Bangers will stand up to anything you throw at them. Beef, rare breed pork, chicken and even venison. Take a packet home, toss in the pan, a squirt of Cumbrian mustard and a homemade roll will be enough to make your bonfire night go with a, well…bang!

Don’t forget to make a note in your diary of our Barnard Castle Farmers’ Market Roadshow at Gainford Village Hall on Sunday 18th November 10am-4pm with live food presentations and local farmers’ market goodies.